Testing – Assessing & Evaluation in Special Education

Doctor of Education

EDU 970

Breyer State University

Instructor: Catherine Moran, PhD.

COURSE OVERVIEW: Welcome to Testing – Assessing and Evaluation in Special Education a doctorate level course in the curriculum for the Degree, Doctor in Education. I am pleased to instruct you in this course.

This is an upper level course that prepares you to work in the field of Special Education.  In this course you will study a comprehensive overview of the field of special education in assessing and evaluation.  Specifically you will study the processes and procedures for assessing students with special needs.

I know you will enjoy this course. Please learn as much as you can as you progress through it, as it does lay down a solid foundation for the rest of the curriculum. It is my pleasure to have you in the course.

TIME FRAME: This is an (5) five-semester hour course. This course is allotted ten weeks of time. You must complete all of the requirements for the course successfully by the end of the ten-week period. The first day of week one will begin the day that you register for the course, or the day which you notify me that your textbook has arrived and you are ready to begin your studies. Please be cognizant of the time frame. Extensions of time are permitted if needed with my and/or departmental approval. Upon successful completion of this course, you will be awarded five (5) semester hours of credit.

TEXTBOOKS: There is (1) required textbook for this course.

Book 1: “Assessing Students with Special Needs”, by John J. Venn.  Fourth edition.  Prentice Hall Publishers.  ISBN:  0-13-171296-9

This book may be found in your local bookstore. Your local bookstore most often will order it as a special order for you if it is not in stock. Or, you may purchase this book online from:

	» Click Here to Enter
» Additional Student Resources at StudyTactics

EXAMINATIONS: There is a cumulative final exam required for this course covering the entire textbook. The final exam must be taken by the end of the tenth week in the course.  The exam is programmed and is located in the classroom for this course. The examination is "open book" objective type. You will have one (1) day to complete your exam, once you access it from the classroom. To access the exam, you must send me an email and request to have access to the exam. Upon registration, you will receive my email address. I will then program your access in. You will receive an email back from me telling you that you are now authorized to go ahead and to access your exam. To access, you will come into the classroom, click on testing, and click on the exam you are taking. You will need your User ID and PASS WORD to access the exam. The exam will appear on your screen. Once you access the exam, you have twenty-four hours to submit your answers. The program provides me the exact date and time that you accessed the exam. The program also notifies me of the exact date and time that you submitted your answers. Thus, the program is timing you. When you are ready, go back into the classroom and click in your responses and then click submit. Shortly, you will receive the exam in your email box with your computed score. You will also know what questions, if any, that you missed, and what the correct answer is. I also receive a copy of your exam and your score.

GRADING: The grading scale for this course is as follows:
90-100%    = A
80-89%      = B
70-79%      = C
Below 70% = Fail

COMMUNICATION: You are encouraged to communicate with me. I am available as a teacher, coach, and mentor to assist you in meeting your goals for this course. Primarily, communication is through email. However, I am also available for conversation by telephone if you would like. Our classroom for this course has a "chat" room. I am also very willing to meet with you one-on-one in the chat room at your request. From time to time, depending on how many students are enrolled in this course at a particular time, we will have some scheduled group chats. You will receive more detailed information at the time such chat sessions are scheduled. Please keep my email address handy so that you can contact me whenever necessary. If at any time during this course you change your email address, please be sure to notify me right away.

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT: There is a paper required for this course.  You are to write a paper on one of the topics discussed in chapter 7, 8 or 9 of the textbook.  The requirements for the paper are as follows:

1). Cover page, with your name, course number and title, and title of paper.
2). A minimum of 10 pages.
3). 1-inch margins.
4). Double-spaced.
5). APA style format.
Breyer State University Approved Guidelines for Written Papers

Breyer State University requires adherence to its approved guidelines for any course that requires a written paper. Please access the link below and review the required criteria for required papers. If you have any questions, be sure to contact your instructor.

View Guidelines

ABOUT YOUR INSTRUCTOR: I, Catherine Moran, Ph.D., currently teach undergraduate and graduate courses at Breyer State University and Canyon College. I hold Ph.D. in Education and a Master’s degree in Education from Breyer State University.  A Bachelor of Science from Kent State University with a major in Chemistry and Biology and Speech. I have worked in several hospitals as a Med. Tech. I lecture at conferences on “Assessing and Teaching Children with Learning Disabilities”. 

I am the Registrar of Breyer State University.   

COURSE OBJECTIVES: Upon completion of this course, you will:

1. Have an understanding of the foundational issues.
2. Define test, measurement and assessment.
3. Describe the effect of historical events on current assessment practices.
4. Know how to integrate assessment into the IEP process.
5. Define inclusive assessment.
6. Know alternative grading strategies.
7. Assess teamwork in cooperative learning.
8. Understand the basic statistical concepts of distributions, central tendency and variability.
9. List 4 major types of reliability.
10. Describe the norm-development process.
11. Understand the process of standardizing assessments.
12. Explain the standards for scoring.
13. Understand and use raw scores.
14. Apply the principles of using test scores.
15. Explain the decision model for locating, selecting and evaluating assessment instruments.
16. Prepare for an assessment.
17. Explain the term intelligence.
18. Describe the types of behaviors measured by intelligence tests.
19. Describe the uses of individually administered tests of general intelligence.
20. Use the intelligence test guidelines for teachers.
21. Discuss curriculum-based developmental assessment procedures.
22. Discuss specialized developmental tests for infants, toddlers and preschoolers.
23. Define motor proficiency, perception and perceptual-motor ability.
24. Describe the skills measured by perception and perceptual-motor development.
25. Describe the purpose of language assessment.
26. Discuss current trends in language assessment.
27. Describe the structural components of language.
28. Discuss comprehensive measures for assessing language.
29. Understand the principles of assessing behavior.
30. Understand the use of self-concept inventories.
31. Define adaptive behavior.
32. Describe the range of behaviors measured by adaptive behavior scales.
33. Define career and vocational assessment.
34. Discuss the four stages of career education.
35. Define reading achievement.
36. Discuss the use of norm-referenced reading tests.
37. Have an understanding of Intervention issues.
38. Have an understanding of assessing academic achievement.
39. Describe the skills measured by mathematics.
40. Define the assessment of written language.
41. Understand the subskills measured by tests of written language.
42. Describe advantages and disadvantages of portfolio assessment.
43. Discuss holistic and analytical scoring rubrics.
44. Have an understanding of the personnel preparation issues.

COURSE CONTENT – A brief abstract of content:

1. Define assessment
2. Importance of assessment.
3. The assessment process.
4. The screening process.
5. The eligibility process.
6. The IEP.
7. Definition of inclusion.
8. Assessment of issues in general education.
9. Team assessment.
10. Definition of statistics.
11. Reliability and validity.
12. Norm-referenced assessment.
13. Definition of scores.
14. Problems with test scores.
15. Principles of using scores.
16. The decision model.
17. Evaluating assessment instruments.
18. Using assessment to document teaching and learning.
19. Purpose of intelligence testing.
20. Issues in intelligence testing.
21. Defining and describing developmental assessment.
22. Principles of developmental assessment.
23. Diagnostic scales of developmental skills.
24. Assessing motor proficiency.
25. Assessing learning styles.
26. Importance of language assessment.
27. Assessing the sounds of language.
28. Assessing semantics and pragmatics.
29. Comprehensive measures of language.
30. Behavior Assessment principles.
31. Assessing adaptive behavior.
32. Career and vocational assessment.
33. Assessing academic achievement.
34. Importance of assessing reading.
35. Curriculum-based assessment of mathematics.
36. Assessing written language.
37. Defining portfolios and assessments.

ASSIGNMENTS: For specific assignments, please click on the link "Assignments."

QUESTIONS: If you have any questions about the assignments or the course in general please feel free to e-mail me at the address provided or contact Breyer State at: cm@breyerstate.com

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