1. Areas of Assessment:Areas of Assessment:
LANGUAGELANGUAGE
Rogine Gaille L. LaurinoRogine Gaille L. Laurino
BSPED 2-BBSPED 2-B

2. WRITTEN LANGUAGEWRITTEN LANGUAGE
It is a basic method of communicationIt is a basic method of communication
in today’s society.in today’s society.
Writing is also an important skill during school years, andWriting is also an important skill during school years, and
its acquisition is stressed in the elementary grades.its acquisition is stressed in the elementary grades.

3. WRITTEN LANGUAGEWRITTEN LANGUAGE
In special educationIn special education
assessment, students’assessment, students’
written languagewritten language
skills are studied toskills are studied to
gather informationgather information
for instructionalfor instructional
planning.planning.

4. ConsiderationsConsiderations
in Assessment ofin Assessment of
WrittenWritten
LanguageLanguage

5. Because many students with mild handicapBecause many students with mild handicap
experience difficulty in this area,experience difficulty in this area,
Written Language is often one of the areas
of focus in special education assessment.

6. PURPOSESPURPOSES
In special education,In special education,
Written Language SkillsWritten Language Skills may bemay be
investigated at the start of assessment toinvestigated at the start of assessment to
determine the student’s eligibility fordetermine the student’s eligibility for
special education services.special education services.

7. PURPOSESPURPOSES
In many cases, however,In many cases, however,
……Assessment is limited to only oneAssessment is limited to only one
aspect of written language , spelling,aspect of written language , spelling,
because that is the language skillbecause that is the language skill
emphasized on the traditional individualemphasized on the traditional individual
tests of achievement used in specialtests of achievement used in special
education.education.

8. CURRENT PRACTICESCURRENT PRACTICES
Most survey tests of academic achievement containMost survey tests of academic achievement contain
some measure of written language, the skills mostsome measure of written language, the skills most
often assessed are spelling, usage, and grammar.often assessed are spelling, usage, and grammar.

9. STRATEGIES FORSTRATEGIES FOR
ASSESSINGASSESSING SPELLINGSPELLING

10. SPELLINGSPELLING is an academic skill usually
included on the individual achievement
tests used in special education
assessment to establish the presence of a
school performance problem.

11. TEST OF WRITTEN SPELLINGTEST OF WRITTEN SPELLING
(TWS-2)(TWS-2)
*a norm-referenced measure designed for
students ages 6-6 to 18-5.
*It contains 2 subtests:
PREDICTABLE WORDS - a test of skill in
spelling words that conform to the rules of phonics.
UNPREDICTABLE WORDS - a measure
of skill in spelling irregular words.

12. INFORMAL TECHNIQUESINFORMAL TECHNIQUES
*Work sample analysis*Work sample analysis
*Informal Inventories*Informal Inventories
*Criterion-referenced tests*Criterion-referenced tests
*Observation*Observation
*Clinical Interviews*Clinical Interviews

13. STRATEGIES FOR ASSESSINGSTRATEGIES FOR ASSESSING
HANDWRITINGHANDWRITING

14. STRATEGIES FOR ASSESSINGSTRATEGIES FOR ASSESSING
HANDWRITINGHANDWRITING
Handwriting skills are evaluated with
informal assessment tools rather than norm-
referenced measures.
Informal strategies are used to assess
the student’s current proficiency in
handwriting.

15. Informal StrategiesInformal Strategies
*Rating Scales*Rating Scales
*Observation*Observation
*Error Analysis*Error Analysis
*Inventories*Inventories
*Criterion-Referenced Tests*Criterion-Referenced Tests

16. STRATEGIESSTRATEGIES
FORFOR
ASSESSINGASSESSING
COMPOSITIOCOMPOSITIO
NN

17. The primary concern in theThe primary concern in the
assessment of composition skills…assessment of composition skills…
……is theis the content ofcontent of
student’s writingstudent’s writing,,
not its form.not its form.

18. Contrived FormatContrived Format
SubtestsSubtests
*Vocabulary*Vocabulary
*Spelling*Spelling
*Style*Style
*Logical Sentences*Logical Sentences
*Sentence Combining*Sentence Combining

19. Spontaneous FormatSpontaneous Format
SubtestsSubtests
*Thematic MaturityThematic Maturity – evaluated on 30 criteria.
*Contextual VocabularyContextual Vocabulary – the number of unique words
with seven or more letters included in student’s story.
*Syntactic MaturitySyntactic Maturity – clauses in the writing sample that
contain errors in a syntax are crossed out; the students score for
this subtest is the number of words remaining in the story.
*Contextual SpellingContextual Spelling - number of words spelled correctly.
*Contextual StyleContextual Style – The student earn points for each
punctuation or capitalization rule used correctly in the story.

20. Other Formal MeasuresOther Formal Measures
Picture Story Language Test
(PSLT)
*An early standardized measure of writing
ability.
*2 Measures that assess a wide range of oral and
written language skills:
- Woodcock Language Proficiency Battery
- Test of Adolescent Language-2

21. Informal TechniquesInformal Techniques
Rating Scales and Checklists
*The scale provides specific questions such as “Do
the sentences in the paragraph relate to one topic?”
*When using the checklist, the teacher considers
several aspects of the student’s writing sample :
type of writing, level of abstraction, productivity,
comprehensibility, and relationship to the reality of
the writing task.
*Checklists and Rating Scales typically assess skill
development by breaking the broad skill of
composition down into more specific subskill areas.

22. Writing Sample Analysis
*Can be used to study students’ writing samples.
*The Diagnostic Evaluation of Writing Skills (DEWS) is an
error analysis procedure that focuses attention on 6
aspects of written language:
~Graphic (Visual features)
~Orthographic (Spelling)
~Phonologic Sound (sound components)
~Syntactic (grammatical)
~Semantic (meaning)
~Self-Monitoring Skills

23. Critical Factors that should be
taken account in the evaluation of
composition skills. (Wallace and Larsen)
*Content
*Organization
*Word Choice
*Usage

24. A no. of other factors may be taken into account
when analyzing students’ writing. This
includes:
*Productivity
*Sentences(Simple, Compound, Complex, or
Fragment)(Declarative, Interrogative,
Imperative, Exclamatory)
*Vocabulary

25. Criterion-referenced TestsCriterion-referenced Tests
*A very flexible type of assessment tool that can be
used to measure a variety of different composition
skills.
*BRIGANCE Inventory of Basic Skills and
BRIGANCE Diagnostic Comprehensive Inventory
of Basic Skills - assess the student’s ability to write
complete and correct sentences that incorporate
several stimulus words.

26. Observational and ClinicalObservational and Clinical
InterviewsInterviews
*Aspects of the writing process can be studied by observation.
*3 stages of writing for skilled and unskilled writers:
1. Planning
2. Transcribing
3. Revising

27. Observational and Clinical InterviewsObservational and Clinical Interviews
*Clinical interviews provide a method for
gathering information…
…about the non observable
aspects of writing and the ways
that the student interacts with the
writing task.

28. Within The Context OfWithin The Context Of
The ClassroomThe Classroom

29. The InstructionalThe Instructional
EnvironmentEnvironment
2 fundamental concerns in the evaluation of
any instructional environment are:
*the amount of time devoted to instruction
*the types of skills emphasized

30. The InterpersonalThe Interpersonal
EnvironmentEnvironment
The major factors within the interpersonal
environment that are of concern in
assessment are:
*social relationships among
students *student-teacher
interactions

31. The Physical EnvironmentThe Physical Environment
*The Physical Environment of the classroom is an
important consideration in written language
instruction. General environmental factors such as
lighting, temperature, and ventilation can affect the
physical comfort of teachers and students, thereby,
influencing the teaching-learning process.
*In addition, the seating arrangements for students
and the writing tools provided can have an impact
on their ability to perform, particularly in relation to
handwriting.

32. Answering theAnswering the
Assessment QuestionsAssessment Questions

33. Nature of theNature of the
Assessment ToolsAssessment Tools
*Some measures are comprehensive and
evaluate a number of the major skill areas of
written language.
*Zaner-Bloser Evaluation Scales - concentrates
on spelling.

34. Relationship Of Written LanguageRelationship Of Written Language
to Other Areas of Performanceto Other Areas of Performance
*Specific learning abilities and strategies can
influence the student’s success in the acquisition
and use of written language skills.
*Difficulties in attention, memory, or other areas
such as visual perception and auditory
discrimination can impede skill development,
particularly the acquisition of basic spelling and
handwriting skills.
*Classroom behavior may be related to written
language performance.

35. Documentation of WrittenDocumentation of Written
Language PerformanceLanguage Performance
*“ What are the student’s educational needs?”
- the general assessment
question that guides the
special education team in its
study of written language.

36. *The goal in this phase of
assessment is to gather
sufficient information for a
precise description of the
student’s current levels of
educational performance.