Assessments in Education

The measurement of a child’s current level of development, present levels of educational need and potential for the future is something that should be done with great integrity. I work with individuals everyday whose job it is to evaluate children for delays and also to assess families to determine the strengths of the child and the family concerns for the child. A large part of the evaluation and assessment process that I see lacking is the part including the family and the way the child engages in their community and world outside of school. In the early childhood field we work with children and families from birth to kindergarten and have more exposure to the family than the typical school-age child teacher does to the family of the student. I believe that there needs to be more interaction and contact with the family of the child and the child in the world outside of the school environment. In order to really assess the “whole child” the child needs to be assessed in every environment to capture a full picture of who the child really is in relation to the disability and how it affects the child’s relationships.

      Robin McWilliam is a leader in the area of early intervention and early childhood special education. His work in the area of early intervention has been inspiring to me and I utilize his work during my intakes with families. The Routines-based Interview is an evidence-based protocol that I utilize to establish with the family their daily routine and how the delays the child may be experiencing affects the family routine on a daily basis. More information on the routine-based intervention/interview you can review information at www.siskin.org or Google Robin McWilliam.

      I reviewed information concerning the assessment process in France and they utilize similar assessment testing to the United States, however, while reviewing information I began to question what good does it do for me to research how a different country utilizes assessments when I don’t really know how their school system is set up, what the daily routines are within the school, what type of paraprofessional support is offered and how involved the family in the schooling process.

      This questioning made me reconsider the school-age child assessments in the United States, not only in my area but also in the whole of the states. I think that there needs to be a redesign in the evaluation process when it comes to the involvement of the family. I know that everyone talks about how the family is involved in the process, the IEP and the daily interactions with the teacher in relation to what happens in the classroom but with my experience on a daily basis, the mainstreaming society and the trickle-down curriculum of today’s schooling we need to make a more in-depth family assessment a required part of the special education and education process.