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EducationalAssessmentReportRationale
TheEducationalAchievementReportanalyzesastudentfrommanydifferentlevels.It

measurestheiracademicstrengthsandweaknessesaswellastheirsocialandemotional
developmentthroughtheireyes,theirparentsview,theassessorsobservationsandtheresults
oftheassessment.Togivethisassessment,Ihadtoworkwithothereducatorstochoosea
studentwhowasshowingsignsofstruggleinmath,readingorwriting.Ialsohadtogain
knowledgeabouthowtheassessmentwasproctoredandIhadtobesurethatIwasfollowingall
oftheappropriateprocedurestoprotectthevalidityoftheresults.Thisstudentsparentbrought
himtoschoolafterthedaywasoverandwesatdowninchunksoftime,thetestwastoolongto
justgiveinonesitting.Igavehimtheassessmentusingtheteacherguideandallofthe
appropriatematerials.Iwassuretomaketheenvironmentconduciveforhimtoachievethebest
scorepossible.CompletionoftheEARdemonstratesmasteryoftheCouncilforExceptional
Children(CEC)professionalstandards1,4,and6relatedtolearnerdevelopmentandindividual
learningdifferences,assessment,andprofessionallearningandethicalpractice.
CECStandard1addresseslearnerdevelopmentandindividuallearningdifferences.
ThroughcompletionofmyEAR,IdemonstratedmasteryofthisCECstandardbycreatingan
assessmentenvironmentthatiscomfortable,openandunderstandingtothestudentfromthevery
minutethatthestudentmeetswiththeassessor.Opendialoguewasestablishedimmediatelyso
allpeopleinvolvedcanbeawareofanyandallemotionalorbehavioraloccurrencesduringthe
test.Duringthetest,Iwasalertandawareofthestudentsmoodsandemotionalcuessothey
canprovideabreakorstoppingpointsandkeepthetestingenvironmentpositiveandnurturing
ofhisneedsandfeelings.Eventhoughthisstudentdidnothaveadiagnosisoracorresponding
IEP,theconsiderationswerestillmadethathisexceptionalitiesmaybeinteractingwithhis

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developmentsothishadtobeameaningfulbutchallenginglearningexperience.Thestudent
shouldalwaysbeworkingwithsomeonewhohasalevelofcommunication,understandstheuse
ofpositivebehaviorsupports,isfamiliarwiththeirbackgroundandcultivateadeveloping
relationshipwiththatstudent.Beingcompassionateandhavinganopendialogueabouthow
theyarefeelingthroughoutthetestcandothis.Themorethatwecanunderstandaboutthe
childandtheirthinkingprocesses,thebetterablewewillbetoknowhowandwhythescoresare
whattheyare.ThesevaluesaredrawnfromCECStandard1.Hislearningshowedthatthere
weresomeissuesthathemayneedinterventionsfor,buttheassessmentprovidedfurther
informationfortheteacherandhisparents.
CECStandard4addressesassessment.ThroughcompletionofmyEAR,Idemonstrated
masteryofthisCECstandardbycompletingtheadministeringoftheassessmentaccordingtothe
guidelinesthatwereprovidedwithinthetest.Forthisassignment,therewasonlyone
assessmentthatwasgivenbutallpartsofthattestweretakenbythestudent.Eachofthe
differentpartsgaveparentsandteachersinsightintothelearningprocessesandcapabilitiesof
thisstudent.Thedata,theobservationsandgeneralexperienceoftheassessmentshouldbe
sharedwithparentsandtheteamthatisworkingtobuildaneducationalplan.Behavioral
interventions/supports,anyidentifiedpatternsoflearningfromallexperienceswerealso
consideredaswellwhenconsideringwhetherornotformalassessmentisappropriatefora
specificstudent.Eachpieceofthatdatawillgiveanewperspectiveintowhatwillbebestwhile
buildingaplanforthisstudentintheclassroom.AllofthatCECStandard4requires
professionalstoexhibitaconstantlevelofpositiveandrespectfulbehaviorwhendealingwith
parents,colleagues,studentsandanyoneelsewhomayhaveinputintotheinformationthatis
partoftheassessment.

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CECStandard6addressesprofessionallearningandethicalpractice.Through

completionofmyEAR,IdemonstratedmasteryofthisCECstandardbycollectinginformation
(formalandinformal)andtreatingthatinformationwiththehighestlevelofprofessional
integrityandconfidentiality.Allwrittenandspokeninformationtoparentsandotherteachers
werewrittenupwiththemostimpartialofviews.Therearebenodefiniteopinionsor
declarationsaboutthestudentinthefinalreportthataretobeshared.Thereportisacompletely
unbiasedandnonjudgmentalrecordofhowtheassessmentwascompletedandwhatthefinal
resultsare.Standard6demandsthatwhileworkingwithastudent,theparentneedstobeas
involvedaspossible.Theyaretobetreatedwithreverenceandcommunicatedwithopenly
throughouttheprocessregardlessofculturaldiversityorcompleteunderstandingofthefull
process.Aseducators,wearenotonlycompletingthisassessmenttohelpseeadetailedpicture
ofachildbuttoprovideparentswithadeeperunderstandingoftheirchildwithoutbias.During
thetimethatisspentwiththestudent,theirparentsorcolleaguesthereshouldbeanexpected
understandingofprivacyandprofessionalbehavior.Thestudentwasalwaysworkingwith
someonewhohasalevelofcommunication,understandstheuseofpositivebehaviorsupports,is
familiarwiththeirbackgroundandcultivateadevelopingrelationshipwiththatstudent.Being
compassionateandhavinganopendialogueabouthowtheyarefeelingthroughoutthetestcan
dothis.Allinformationthatiscollectedshouldmaintainanutmostlevelofprivacyandrespect.
Anyandallpeopleworkingtogatherthatinformationneedtobeawareoftheprofessionaland
legalexpectationsthataredemandedinthesituation,whichdemonstratesCECstandard6.This
standardisalsoaddressed,astheassessormusthaveaninformedconsentfromparentsthatis
culturallyappropriateandallowsthemtobeanempoweredpartnerintheeducationalplanning

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process.Backgroundinformationandtheirviewoftheirchildiscollectedfromparents,making
themanintricatepartoftheassessmentprocess.Themoreinformedthattheassessorandteam
are,thebettertheycanappropriatelyworkwiththestudentfromthestart.Thiscontinues
throughthepreassessmentprocess,astheassessorandtheteamshouldbesurethattheparentis
awareoftheirrightsandbuildarelationshipofopencommunicationsotheyknowthattheteam,
alongwiththeparentisworkinginthebestinterestsofthechild(CECStandard6).While
keepinginmindthatcultural,economicdifferencesshouldalwaysberespectedaswellas
safeguardingprivacyandconfidentialityinanappropriaterelationship.Ensuringaparents
cooperationandunderstandinginturn,keepstheteachersaccountabilityincheck.Itpromotes
ongoinglearningandevaluationofethicalpracticestoadaptandmeettheneedsofeachlearner.
ThisartifactassessesalllevelsofmasteryoftheCECstandards.Thereareverystrict
expectationsoflegalityandconfidentialitythatwerefollowedastonotmisrepresentastudentor
theassessor.Alloftheseexpectationsareoutlinedinthepreassessment,assessmentandpost
assessmentproceduresprovidedbythetestandthestateofMaryland.Understandingmyroleas
anassessorofsuchaabundantamountofinformationthathassuchgreatramificationscomes
withahugeamountofresponsibility.Therewasaconnectionmadewithparentsbasedon
mutualrespect,opencommunicationandunderstandingofdifferencesinallpeople.Throughout
thisprocessmyknowledge,skills,anddispositionsgainedwillhaveapositiveimpacton
workingwithstudentswithandwithoutdisabilities.Therehavebeenmanynewthoughtsand
ideasthatIhavehadaboutstudentsacademicprocesses,learningabilitiesandpsycho
educationalimpactontheireverydaylearningintheclassroom.Therehavealwaysbeen
assessmentsthathavehelpedtolabelindividualandgroupsofstudentsinpublicandprivate
settings.Theseassessmentshavenotalwaysconsideredallofthethingsthatneedtobethought

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aboutthatcanhaveenormousinfluenceonastudentsabilitytoperformduringanytest.Ifthose
factorsarenotaccountedforandcompletelyunderstoodthenstudentsneedscouldnotbe
completelymetwhiletakingthetestorwhileaneducationalplanisbeingdeveloped.This
erroneousflawhasaffectedhundredsofthousandsofstudentsoverthecourseofpublic
educationandweoweittothenationscurrentstudentstomakesurethatweareaccountingfor
alloftheirneeds.DuringthisprocessIhavealsolearnedthatbeforemakingany
accommodations,plansorsupportsforastudent,thereshouldbeathoroughlookattheir
backgroundandinformativesessionwiththeirparents.Themorethatweknowaboutthe
studenthasawhole,themoreeffectivetheirinterventionscanbe.Ilearnedthisverywellwhile
workingwithmystudent.Hehadbeenreceivingworrisomegradesfromhisteachersandthere
wasaconcernfromhismotheraboutcertainaspectsofhislearningability.Heisachildwhois
veryintrovertedandhastroubleparticipatingwhenheisnottotallysureiftheanswerisgoingto
becorrect.Ialsonoticedthatheneedsafewextrasecondsofprocessingtime.Theseareall
thingsthathavenotbeenidentifiedasanissueorarepartofanIEPor504soheisnotgiventhis
extratimeduringanystandardizedteststhathemaytakeatschool.Ifeelasthoughheisabit
misunderstoodbythepeoplewhoworkwithhimandiftheygottoknowhimbetterthenthey
wouldbeabletobetterconnectwithhim.Aftertheassessment,sheisnowawareoftheskills
thathecontinuestoworkonandtheskillsthathehasshowntobeongradelevelin.Thiswasan
extremelyinformativeexperiencethatallowedmetounderstandwhysomuchbackground
informationwasgatheredbeforehandandhowitwasusedtobetterworkwiththestudent.It
alsoshowedmethatbuildingapositiveandnurturingrelationship,eveninasmalltime,isvery
importanttothesuccessofthestudent.Oncetheassessmentisover,theamountofinformation

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thatispresentedneedstobetreatedwithprivacyandrespectbeforebeinganalyzedand
presented.Thatinformationiscriticaltobuildingasuccessfuleducationalplanforthestudent
andmustbeviewedascompletelyunbiased.Nojudgmentsordiagnosesshouldbemadebased
ontheinformationandtheteamworkingwiththestudentshouldgetthefinalreportfroma
constructiveperspectivethatconsistentlykeepswhatisbestforthestudentalwaysinmind.