Assessing Learners with Special Needs: An Applied Approach

by Terry Overton

Assessing Learners with Special Needs: AnApplied Approach, seventh edition, is a practical book designedto teach you about the complex procedures of the assessmentprocess. Each chapter starts out with a chapter focusthat contains CEC Knowledge and Skills Standards that show you whatyou are expected to master in the chapter. Concepts are presentedin a step-by-step manner followed by exercises that help youunderstand each step. Portions of assessment instruments,protocols, and scoring tables are provided to help you with thepractice exercises. Additionally, you will participate in theeducational decision-making process using data from classroomobservations, curriculum-based assessment, functional behaviorassessment, and norm-referenced assessment.New to the seventh edition:An emphasison progress monitoring, including progress monitoring applied tothe acquisition of knowledge and skills presented in thistextTheassessment process according to the regulations of IDEA 2004A separatechapter on transition issues and assessmentA separatechapter on assessment in infancy and early childhoodA newchapter on the measurement aspects of Response toInterventionIncreased consideration of students fromculturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in the assessmentprocess

Genres: Education, Nonfiction, Textbooks, Teaching

480 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 28, 1991

Reviews

[Ryan Milbrath · Rating 4 out of 5]

Assessing Learners with Special Needs: An Applied Approach was a textbook that I had to purchase and read for my graduate level course on assessing students with special needs. Did it have new and relevant information on diagnosing and assessing students with disabilities? Yes. Did it summarize, critique, and apply several diagnostic tests to different disabilities? Yes. Did it explain how to implement and asses these diagnostic tests? Yes. Is it dry and hard to get through? Yes. Overtone has a difficult task: take dry material and make it interesting. It's essential knowledge, but you'll need to take this one in small doses.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read as part of curriculum for Instructional Design course. This book gave me a whole new appreciation for the amount of work Special Education teachers are required to do in order to do their jobs. Will be saving this book when I begin my journey in the classroom.

[Will Reeves · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a particularly interesting or enlightening book. I really only have one question, and that is why does practically every chapter have to give us the history of IDEA as it relates to a particular topic. It is as though the author needs to fill a certain number of pages. If you really need to give the history, do it once early on and just get to each topic.

[J.R. Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very condensed information. Glad I was able to study it for 16 weeks.

[Nicole King · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informational and easy to read

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard to rate a book like this. Snoozefest, but some nuggets of wisdom in here that are hard to deny.

[aaron green · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must for SPED educators.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heavy, hard to read, a lot of info but important af

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I initially rented this book but am buying it as a comprehensive assessments reference. The writing is very dense but smart. I especially appreciate its detailed explanations of the statistical methology behind the determination of national norms and special ed eligibility which I will use when informing highly educated and skeptical parents about assessment results data. If parents don't trust the data, you can show them the math and break it down for them in a way that demonstrates why the results are reliable and valid.

[Rebekah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some overview on th ethics and procedures of conducting assessments on students for special education eligibility. The most useful part of this book for me was the list and description of different types of normed assessments, to know what is available, and what tool I would need for any occasion.

[William Dickerson · Rating 2 out of 5]

A typical text book. Poorly designed and organized. Only read it if you have to for a class.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a comprehensive book that deals with assessments of students in special education. I found it very helpful and full of good information for those of us who are special educators.

[Becca · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not sure what I was supposed to get out of this book or the class that went with it.