History and current trends in testing and assessment

¶ … Testing and Assessment

ASSESSEMENT IN COUNSELING RCE530

There have been a number of recent studies that have been done on testing and assessment, and they have focused on various populations. Many of them have been focused on populations of various individuals in schools, since schools seem to be the largest area where a great deal of testing and assessment takes place. For this reason, this particular paper will focus on school testing and assessment, but will also look at the disability population in schools, since this is somewhat more significant than the school population in general.

Where schools are concerned, especially when it comes to testing and assessment of those that have a disability, care must be taken to ensure that issues and other sensitive concerns are handled properly and with tact. Some of the trends that have taken place recently in testing have affected this population, and it is therefore pertinent that these trends be discussed. The history of testing and assessment is also important, however, because those that study this issue must be aware not only of what is going on now but of what has gone on before as well, in order to really understand the changes that have occurred.

The population that will be dealt with here in this paper must be discussed more thoroughly so that readers will be aware of exactly who this research will likely discuss and therefore who it might also benefit. Without being aware of the main focus of the research, confusion can arise. Reviewing the literature will also be very important, so that understanding can come from what has been done in the past and what has been done somewhat more recently. Both of these areas are significant when it comes to realizing what kinds of testing and assessment practices have been taking place with this specific population. Lastly, what kinds of implications are made to the rehabilitation field is also a significant area of concern, because there is no real point to reviewing an issue and discussing it if there is no further dealings with the importance of it and how it will impact the population that has been studied or discussed. This is why making recommendations and discussing applications when it comes to the rehabilitation field has so much importance for this study.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE POPULATION

The population that will be discussed in this particular paper is that of school-aged disabled individuals. The nature of their disabilities will, of course, matter because some disabilities cause many more problems than others when it comes to what can and cannot be done in schools. For example, children that have physical disabilities may need many special preparations made for them if they must do something physical such as participate in a physical education class as much as they possibly can or participate in an art class where they must paint, sculpt, or otherwise create something tangible. There are students in this population that are not able to do any of these kinds of things at all, but there are also some among their number that are able to perform many tasks, if only they are given what they need to be able to do these things and participate with their more able-bodied peers.

For students that have mental disabilities instead of physical disabilities, there are different standards and different things that must be done to help them. Many of these children are still able to learn, but not on the level of others of their own age. Some of them may be incapable of performing specific tasks or they may simply not be able to grasp some of the more difficult and confusing concepts. Because of this, what these students can do is often overshadowed by what they cannot do, and therefore they are seen as not being able to be helped in many ways.

Despite the fact that this may be true in some instances, there are many ways that these students can still be taught much of what they need to know, but patience and understanding is required for these students if they are to learn. Some of them can excel far beyond what many people think that they are capable of if they are given the chance, but many educators are either not aware of this or do not feel that it is something that is worthwhile. The same attitude often holds true for the physically disabled students that wish to participate in physical education classes or other classes for which their disabilities might limit what they can contribute or the ways in which they can accomplish things.

For the purpose of this particular study, since there is simply not room to discuss both the physically and mentally disabled school populations in this paper, the focus will remain on those that are mentally impaired or disabled in some way. This can include those with a cognitive impairment, mild mental retardation, severe mental retardation, or any other type of mental disability that would limit what an individual can or cannot do when it comes to school-based activities where thinking and understanding is required. It is generally thought that these kinds of disabilities are more significant and require more intervention, care, and understanding of the issue than physical impairments and disabilities.

Physically disabled students have their own unique needs, and they are certainly just as important as those that have mental disabilities. However, mental impairment in many ways is more significant when it comes to the overall experience of school and moving from that schooling out into the world and taking care of oneself. This is why it was chosen over physical impairment or disability to be the focus of this particular research and why the articles discussed in the literature review will focus mainly on this type of disability.

REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Reviewing the literature is significant and important for any study, as there is much that can be learned from examining the work of others and determining how it still applies to what is being done today, or how much things have changed and new ideas and abilities have been discovered since the other work was created. For this study, 12 articles or other informational writings have been examined and will be dealt with, so that an understanding of where this issue began and what has happened to it recently can be seen.

Functional assessment is the term that is generally used for the testing that is designed for school-aged children, especially where disabilities are concerned. There have been a number of articles written on the issue for school psychologists (Daly, Witt, Martens, & Dool, 1997; Kratochwill, Sheridan, Carlson, & Lasecki, 1999). Overall, functional assessment involves the collection of data. This collection allows for generating hypotheses regarding particular behaviors and the consequences that come from these behaviors. When this is done, the data that is analyzed can be used as a basis so that various interventions can be developed. This is important, as many of these interventions are not done because of something that a child is doing wrong, but simply because that child has a disability that makes learning in the same way that other learn more difficult. The interventions that are used help that child to learn more easily and appropriately.

Despite the importance of and focus on functional assessment, however, there is some concern that the term itself may be rather ambiguous, and therefore that it is not something that can be explained with enough clarity to give it a specific definition (Cone, 1997). Often, the functional assessment term is used in a synonymous way with 'functional analysis' although Cone (1997) does not feel that this is accurate, and that functional assessment should be used when discussing the formulation of hypotheses, whereas functional analysis should be used when discussing the ways that these hypotheses are tested and validated.

For many years, functional assessment has been used by those that analyze behavior (Bijou, Peterson, & Ault, 1968; Carr & Durand, 1985; Iwata et al., 1982/1994; Skinner, 1957). Studies into the issue also show that many school problems, even mental disabilities that are considered severe, can be treated effectively by utilizing functional assessment (Lalli, Browder, Mace, & Brown, 1993; Mace, Lalli, & Lalli, 1991; Repp & Karsh, 1994). Functional assessment can also be used to treat problems with emotions, communication, and learning (Dunlap, et al., 1993; Dunlap, Kern-Dunlap, Clarke, & Robbins, 1991), another behaviors that involve disruptive disorders in many individuals (Northup, et al., 1995).

Because of the results that have been seen in many of these studies, various researchers and others have agreed that functional assessment may actually be much more valuable than many traditional school-based or psychiatric diagnostic procedures (Kratochwill & McGivern, 1996; Zentall & Javorsky, 1995). Naturally, this is quite significant, since many of these psychiatric and school-based procedures have been around for a very long time and they have long been considered to be the best available methods for discovering what is needed when it comes to interventions for these students.

The interest that has been generated in functional assessment is not something that is new in psychological circles. However, the interest in it was intensified greatly around 1997 because of amendments that were made to the Individuals with Disabilities Act. These particular amendments mandated that personnel at schools conduct functional assessments on any students that had behavioral problems which resulted in being expelled or dismissed, and that these assessments then be used to look for likely interventions that could help these students and others like them. Schools are also required to deal with in-service training of all of their personnel in ways that have a direct relationship to these functional assessment techniques.

There are many different ways to carry out a functional assessment, however, and the ideas that were created by researchers into the issue are subject to interpretation by the person carrying out the assessment. It is also important to note that the amendments that were made to the Act in 1997 did not specify what kind of functional assessment should be carried out or provide any kind of guidelines when it comes to the issue. Looking at the literature of others shows that there are limitations with functional assessment, including the way that disciplinary problems are handled and the willingness and ability of personnel at various schools to conduct that kind of functional assessment (Cone, 1997; Nelson, Roberts, Rutherford, Mathur, & Aaroe, 1999).

Cone (1997) shows that there are many different issues that surround the application of functional assessments, and that these include distinctions in terminology, how adequate the actual assessment methods are, the difficulties that can potentially come from teaching personnel to conduct functional assessments, and other significant issues. Consistent with the work done by Cone (1997), other studies that are more recent have shown that most administrators in special education and most psychologists that work in schools support the use of functional assessment techniques, but that many of them are uncertain as to the value that these assessments really have when dealing with the creation of interventions for students that are high on the problem-behavior scale, as well as those that cause less difficulties (Nelson, Roberts, Rutherford, Mathur, & Aaroe, 1999).

Nelson et al., (1999) also raise the questions as to whether personnel at many schools are willing to use this assessment technique, whether they are capable of using it properly, and whether the concept of functional assessment in actually used correctly where interventions are concerned. Many different conceptual articles have raised this issue (Cone, 1997; Nelson, Roberts, Mathur, & Rutherford, 1999). Naturally, not all of the research findings that are discussed will correlate with everything that is being done by professionals, and so opinions differ on the issue to some extent. However, there is a great deal of literature that focuses on or addresses to some extent the issue of functional assessment, and much of the literature that is available provides one of the most common and best suited means for making a determination as to whether functional assessment has a great degree of value, not just from an empirical standpoint but from the standpoint of those that work in the field as well. It is important to study both research that has been done and also whether functional assessment seems to work well in the field.

There have been several reviews of functional assessments that have been conducted in school settings (Blakeslee, Sugai, & Gruba, 1994; Dunlap & Childs, 1996; Lane, Umbreit, & Beebe-Frankenburger, 1999; Nelson, Roberts, Mathur, & Rutherford, 1999). As an example, Nelson, Roberts, Mathur, and Rutherford (1999) reviewed 97 other studies that dealt with functional assessment. Information was taken from these studies that appeared in various different journals and involved 23 school-based studies. These studies were all conducted and the findings published from 1989 to 1997. However, no truly comprehensive review of functional assessment studies based on schools has actually appeared. This makes it unclear as to whether many of the conclusions that were based on selected studies would still be valid if all of the school-based studies that were available were to be considered. This would have to include the studies that appeared in psychological journals that revolved around school psychology.

RECOMMENDATIONS AND APPLICATIONS TO THE FIELD OF REHABILITATION

Applying this issue to the field of rehabilitation is very important for several reasons. When students have behavioral or other discipline problems, the reasons are often unclear. Sometimes, these problems stem from learning disabilities and other mental issues that can be dealt with in various ways. This emphatically does not mean that every individual that has problems in school and is disciplined for it has mental retardation, cognitive impairment, or some other problem that makes it understandable that they would act out and cause problems. Students that are just troublemakers are out there in every school, and many of these students are very intelligent. Some of them act out simply out of boredom, while others feel the need to fit in and therefore want the attention that being a troublemaker often gets them. This may be especially true if these individuals do not get the attention that they need from their parents or other caregivers.

However, for all of those students that act out simply because they can, there are also students that do not seem to be able to help this unruly and unwelcome behavior. Many of these students have cognitive impairments or other problems that stop them from performing in the way that they should. Sometimes they will act out because they are frustrated and unhappy due to these problems, and sometimes they are simply incapable of doing anything else, at least with the techniques and understanding that they currently have. Despite this, however, there are many of these impaired students that are disciplined instead of understood, and this is something that can be changed through intervention and rehabilitation for many of these individuals. When they are made to feel comfortable and understand their own abilities, their 'bad' behavior will likely be lessened.

This is important, but it must be gone about in the right way. when it is not, there are often more problems caused than there were in the first place, and this can make it much more difficult for the students, the teachers, and the parents and siblings as well. Having a child with a handicap or mental problem is often already very stressful for parents, especially if the mental handicap is so severe that the child will never be able to live on their own, hold a job, or have any kind of a normal life. Many years ago, most individuals with cognitive impairment were thought to be this way. However, advances in learning and understanding when it comes to mental health issues have shown that this is quite often not the case.