Kristin Foster

EDSE 321
Reflection #2

In the next few paragraphs I will discuss the change in assessment practices when
qualifying a student for special education.
In the last revision of IDEA the assessment for eligibility in special education was
changed from a full assessment to a comprehensive assessment in the student's area of need.
At first I thought it seemed like teachers were just trying to create less work for themselves. I
was scared that a student may be tested in their obvious area of need and the correlations and
underlying needs. For instance, if a child had a deficit in reading they would not check the
child's other abilities to find that the child really has trouble with memory.
After learning more about the process behind a comprehensive assessment I found that
it is beneficial. With the process of RtI data and assessments will have been taken prior to the
assessment for special education. The data and assessments should contain all the information
about where deficits may be and areas that may relate to the deficit.
This is very dependent on the RtI team doing a thorough job with interventions and
recording data. The RtI team is very important and will have a lot of work to do in order to send
a child to be assessed for special education. They receive all the children who have any sort of
academic, behavioral or social deficit. The RtI process has created less children being qualified
for special education. The children who get assessed for special education have an
individualized assessment which focuses in the area of need.
With RtI the assessment for special education is now been streamlined through the
extensive process of RtI.