Identification and Assessment of Student

with Disabilities

According to R. Daniel (1996) Identification of students for special education

serves multiple uses. Students with disabilities or suspected disabilities are evaluated

by schools to determine whether they are eligible for special education services and, if

eligible, to determine what services will be provided. Most disabilities with a clear

medical basis are recognized by the child’s physician or parents soon after birth or

during the preschool years.

PURPOSES: There two main function of identification and assessment of students with

disabilities are to know whether they are appropriate for special education services and

to decide what those services it will be.

A special education service needs two findings:

1. The student must meet at least one criterion out of the thirteen disabilities

distinguished in the Individual with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

2. Special education services should be required for the student to obtain an

appropriate education.

It is true that a number of students are appropriate for special education services but

they do not need it, while other students need the services but are not eligible according

to criteria.

Current Practices: For some reasons, students are classified by their main disability;

despite the fact that it is not extraordinary for a student to have disabilities in more than

one category.

Categories

Thirteen disabilities are briefly defined in the federal IDEA regulations: Autism,

deaf-blindness, deafness, hearing impairment, mental retardation, multiple disabilities,

orthopedic impairment, serious emotional disturbance, learning disability, speech or

language impairment, traumatic brain injury, and visual impairment.

Medical and Social Models

The special education classification system engages a combination of medical

and social system models of deviance. The least unclear disabilities are the obviously

medical disabilities, often identified by the child’s physician quickly after birth or

throughout schooling years. Also, there is a study connecting biological factors to mild

disabilities such as learning disability, and in particular reading disabilities.

Distribution and Severity of Disabilities: It is important to remember that (1)

prevalence of disabilities differ by age and category, (2) the high-incidence disabilities

such as learning disability and speech or language impairment occur primarily at mild

level, and (3) even “mild” disabilities may constitute formidable barriers to attaining adult

goals such as high-status career.

Diagnosis, Classification, and Treatment: Classification for learning disability

typically involves teacher or parent referral because of concerns on attainment lagging

behind the child’s obvious intelligence or measured IQ. The assessment naturally

consists of observation in the regular classroom, analysis of the child’s educational

history including past test scores, assessment with standardized tests of achievement

and intellectual functioning, and eradicates other potential causes of the learning

problem.

Stigma

The degree to which lifelong, permanent negative effects of labeling occur is disputed.

Concerns about the effects of classification on individuals have led to calls for removal

of the common classification categories.

Relation of Classification to Treatment

The information needed to find out whether or not a student is appropriate to be

classified as learning disabled, mildly intellectual disability, or seriously emotional

disturbed usually DOES NOT relate closely to treatment decisions regarding individual

goals, objectives, observing of interventions, or evaluating product.

Positive Features of the Current Classification System: The modern categorical

scheme has served as:

a rallying point for advocacy groups seeking support for programs,

structure for passage of legislation, and

basis for allocation of monies to establish educational services for students with

disabilities.

Alternatives to the Current System: In general objective of the special education

disability classification system should be used to improve the value of interventions and

enhance outcomes for children and even youth with disabilities.

Dimensional, Not Typological

Classification systems should be based on dimensions of performance (reading,

social conduct, and the like).

Knowledge Based on Effective Intervention

There is a body of information linked to the usefulness of instructional interventions.

Classification systems focus on functional dimensions of performance will ease the

application of knowledge base.

Number of Deficits

Quantity of deficits exhibited by the student serves as bases for age group. Students

with important discrepancies over greater numbers of functional dimensions over larger

numbers of functional dimensions usually need more special education services.

Degree of Discrepancy

Bigger discrepancies typically point out greater need, requiring greater resources for

valuable intervention. In one moment, this should not be applied as a reason for giving

low priority to early intervention for students whose differences from the norm are not

yet great.

Conclusions

Using of the accessible knowledge base and assessment technology is required to

additional goal of improving the outcomes of educational interventions for children and

youth.

Reference: The Future of Children SPECIAL EDUCATION FOR STUDENTS WITH

DISABILITIES Vol. 6 * No. 1 - Spring 1996 Pages 40- 51