Psycho-Educational Assessment of the At-Risk/Disabled Learner
When registering for this class, I had no idea what to expect. At the time, “psychoeducational assessment” meant nothing to me. Assessment had just been a topic I covered in most undergraduate classes that involved discussions about rubrics, tests, and portfolios. For me, assessment had only ever been provided for me based on my own academic performance. Up until this point I had never produced assessment information on another individual. The fact that this class did not use college students to simulate assessment procedures was the best choice it made. Administering tests, evaluating scores and analyzing student’s behavior and skills were all aspects of this course that have forced me to become a future educator with the ability to formally and informally assess students.
For me, the most valuable portion of this experience was going out in the field and working with the same student each week. We were told to build rapport with our students, something I have not had a lot of practice with. The opportunity to just sit with a student and try to get to know her has helped me become more confident in my ability to relate to young students. While building this rapport was easier than I expected it to be, administering the WIAT-II was not. Each section covered a different subject area or section of a specific area and we constantly had to shift gears. To keep the student and myself focused while moving forward was not an easy task. It was also difficult to complete sections that required timing the student while simultaneously observing their behavior and recording their score. It was hard to read the script that the test provided verbatim, instead of adding information to help the student understand the directions more clearly. It was hard not to help the student when they got stuck, but in order to produce accurate scores, I was not allowed to intervene. Just these factors alone made the sessions worthwhile. I now realize that administering any type of standardized assessment is hard because it is not very flexible. When teachers spend half the year teaching to the test, I understand why they no longer design creative or fun lessons. It is simply difficult to make a lesson fun when trying to teach students how to follow a very rigid structure. While I probably will not have to administer the WIAT, I will have to administer some form of standardized test at some point during my career and this experience has helped prepare me for the difficulties I will face. I know now, when faced with an assessment so formal it is necessary to first go through the test myself to make sure I understand what is being asked and try my best to stick as close to the test requirements as possible in order to produce accurate results.
For me, evaluating the student’s scores was the easiest part of this process. Taking the student’s raw scores and converting them first to standard scores and then to grade level equivalents was not nearly as difficult as obtaining the information itself. Once the information has been obtained and the scores become numbers, it is a lot easier to visualize the student’s success or failure. The part that makes the numbers so difficult is analyzing how a student’s behaviors and skills forced them to arrive at these numbers.
Through this course I think the most important lesson I learned, is that the number is not the most important thing to observe. Instead, watching the student while they work and determining how they react to certain areas of the assessment is the type of assessment that is truly important. While I got to administer types of formal assessments, I was also asked to use my visual skills to administer informal assessments too. I was able to notice when the student seemed anxious or comfortable. I was able to observe behavior in order to determine where the student might need extra help or the area where the student seemed the most confident. I was able to observe when the student was losing focus and what areas captured the student’s interest. I realized that while the score is of importance, the student’s behavior while producing that score makes up half of that importance. This course has taught me that a student’s body language and attitude can say a lot more than a number. As a teacher, we are working to help the student’s achieve success and not just increase their scores on tests. While a lot of focus is put on scores, not enough focus is given to the students. If this is to be reversed, the students will be able to become successful, consequently raising test scores, but the student must be what is most important. The ability to administer a standardized assessment and to be able to determine a student’s strengths and weaknesses through informal assessments at the same time is a skill I learned from this course and will probably continue to use for the rest of my career.
Any course that gets me out in the field and boosts my confidence level in working with students is in my opinion a valuable course. This course not only accomplished those two things, but also brought the topic of assessment to a whole new level for me. I now not only feel confident about administering standardized tests, I also feel confident in working individually with students, evaluating their scores and being able to use their behavior and attitude as a means to understand their academic achievement. This course was not just about the knowledge I obtained, but the experience it provided.
For me, the most valuable portion of this experience was going out in the field and working with the same student each week. We were told to build rapport with our students, something I have not had a lot of practice with. The opportunity to just sit with a student and try to get to know her has helped me become more confident in my ability to relate to young students. While building this rapport was easier than I expected it to be, administering the WIAT-II was not. Each section covered a different subject area or section of a specific area and we constantly had to shift gears. To keep the student and myself focused while moving forward was not an easy task. It was also difficult to complete sections that required timing the student while simultaneously observing their behavior and recording their score. It was hard to read the script that the test provided verbatim, instead of adding information to help the student understand the directions more clearly. It was hard not to help the student when they got stuck, but in order to produce accurate scores, I was not allowed to intervene. Just these factors alone made the sessions worthwhile. I now realize that administering any type of standardized assessment is hard because it is not very flexible. When teachers spend half the year teaching to the test, I understand why they no longer design creative or fun lessons. It is simply difficult to make a lesson fun when trying to teach students how to follow a very rigid structure. While I probably will not have to administer the WIAT, I will have to administer some form of standardized test at some point during my career and this experience has helped prepare me for the difficulties I will face. I know now, when faced with an assessment so formal it is necessary to first go through the test myself to make sure I understand what is being asked and try my best to stick as close to the test requirements as possible in order to produce accurate results.
For me, evaluating the student’s scores was the easiest part of this process. Taking the student’s raw scores and converting them first to standard scores and then to grade level equivalents was not nearly as difficult as obtaining the information itself. Once the information has been obtained and the scores become numbers, it is a lot easier to visualize the student’s success or failure. The part that makes the numbers so difficult is analyzing how a student’s behaviors and skills forced them to arrive at these numbers.
Through this course I think the most important lesson I learned, is that the number is not the most important thing to observe. Instead, watching the student while they work and determining how they react to certain areas of the assessment is the type of assessment that is truly important. While I got to administer types of formal assessments, I was also asked to use my visual skills to administer informal assessments too. I was able to notice when the student seemed anxious or comfortable. I was able to observe behavior in order to determine where the student might need extra help or the area where the student seemed the most confident. I was able to observe when the student was losing focus and what areas captured the student’s interest. I realized that while the score is of importance, the student’s behavior while producing that score makes up half of that importance. This course has taught me that a student’s body language and attitude can say a lot more than a number. As a teacher, we are working to help the student’s achieve success and not just increase their scores on tests. While a lot of focus is put on scores, not enough focus is given to the students. If this is to be reversed, the students will be able to become successful, consequently raising test scores, but the student must be what is most important. The ability to administer a standardized assessment and to be able to determine a student’s strengths and weaknesses through informal assessments at the same time is a skill I learned from this course and will probably continue to use for the rest of my career.
Any course that gets me out in the field and boosts my confidence level in working with students is in my opinion a valuable course. This course not only accomplished those two things, but also brought the topic of assessment to a whole new level for me. I now not only feel confident about administering standardized tests, I also feel confident in working individually with students, evaluating their scores and being able to use their behavior and attitude as a means to understand their academic achievement. This course was not just about the knowledge I obtained, but the experience it provided.