About 15% of all public school students in the U.S., or about 7.5 million children, received special education and/or related services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 2022-23, and this percentage increases each year. To serve these students, each one requires an individualized education program (IEP). Each IEP is tailored specifically to the needs of each child and reviewed annually.
Gaining the skills to become a more qualified educator who can identify students for special education services and prepare a better learning environment for them is the goal of many teachers and future teachers. The online Educational Specialist (Ed.S.) – Educational Diagnostician program from Northwest Missouri State University equips these future educators to implement strategies and conduct evaluations to better serve their students.
Screening and Assessment of Special Education Students
The first step in providing individualized education to students with special needs is the screening and assessment of students who may be at risk for a suspected disability. The National Association of Special Education Teachers (NASET) outlines the testing and procedures necessary to gather the information needed to screen students.
Various types of tests are administered by special education teachers, occupational therapists, school psychologists, academic assessment specialists or speech and language therapists. The different types of assessments for students with special needs include the following:
- Academic achievement: evaluates how the student performs in various subjects
- Developmental assessments: determine if younger students will need additional help
- Intelligence quotient (IQ): identifies intellectual components of the student’s disabilities or behavioral issues
- Curriculum-based assessments: address where the student’s skill level lies within the current curriculum to gauge progress
- Screening tests: identify which students may be below the norm in specific areas
- Adaptive behavioral assessments: look at how students manage daily living skills, social abilities, motor abilities, communication and community participation
- Behavior rating scales: worksheets for teachers and/or parents that rate student behaviors to identify which are more challenging to manage
Four Tips for Utilizing Diagnostic Assessments
Utilizing diagnostic assessments involves key actions. Following the four basic steps allows for effective diagnostic assessments:
- Use data to guide diagnostic assessments. Multiple measures and data points provide a more accurate diagnosis.
- Monitor progress to show whether the intervention is working and if it’s working fast enough.
- Connect the diagnostic assessment to a concrete plan that results in an intervention strategy.
- Track fidelity metrics or whether the plan worked as intended, according to its design.
The purpose of diagnostic assessment is to identify individual learner needs. Adhering to these steps helps teachers provide instruction specific to each student.
Evaluation and Creation of IEPs
Once screening and assessments conclude, evaluation of the results begins. Interpreting, analyzing and integrating the data enables team members to make accurate diagnoses and structure a plan for moving forward.
According to LD OnLine, “The major goal of assessment and evaluation is to enable team members to use data to create a profile of a student’s strengths and needs.” The IDEA, which requires public school systems to provide special education services, sorts disabilities into the following categories:
- Specific learning disability (SLD)
- Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
- Emotional behavioral disorder (EBD)
- Speech or language impairment
- Visual impairment
- Deafness
- Hearing impairment
- Deaf-blindness
- Orthopedic impairment
- Intellectual disability
- Traumatic brain injury
- Other health impairments
- Multiple disabilities
When a student meets the definition of a child with a disability as defined by IDEA, a team develops an IEP for that student. The team includes, at minimum, a special education teacher, a regular education teacher, a parent/guardian, an administrator, a qualified individual who can interpret the instructional implications of the evaluation results, and the child. IEPs must be reviewed at least once a year.
Becoming an Educational Diagnostician With an Ed.S. Degree Online
Educators with a master’s degree who want to become qualified as educational diagnosticians can gain the knowledge necessary to determine eligibility for learners with medical diagnoses, such as ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder. The fully online Educational Specialist – Educational Diagnostician program from Northwest also trains students to utilize research methods to design effective learning plans and implement an evaluation plan for a case study.
Relevant courses include Test Theory and Developmental Assessment, Academic Skills: Assessment for Intervention, Educational Diagnosis and Cognitive Assessment, and more. The program concludes with a capstone project on educational diagnostics. These courses and experiences help educators and students alike. The nation is facing a shortage of educational diagnosticians, and graduates can positively impact the community of students with disabilities.
Learn more about Northwest’s online Educational Specialist – Educational Diagnostician program.
