Assessing Students with Special Needs (4th Edition) - Softcover

Venn, John J.

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9780131712966: Assessing Students with Special Needs (4th Edition)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0131712969 ISBN 13: 9780131712966

Publisher: Pearson, 2006

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Known for its practical, applied approach, the fourth edition of John Venn's Assessing Student's with Special Needs continues to focus on how teachers can use assessment as a guide to instruction. This noteworthy revision focuses on what teachers really need to know to include assessment in the curriculum. Coverage includes all of the core information expected of an assessment text, but the book goes far beyond the basics by addressing multicultural considerations, technology and assessment, high-stakes testing, and the reauthorization of IDEA. The book clearly shows how assessment is more than giving a test to a child, but is an essential tool for teachers as they help students achieve, learn, develop, and grow.

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From the Back Cover:

This comprehensive, yet straightforward text covers the processes and procedures for assessing students with special needs at all age levels, beginning with preschoolers and continuing into adulthood. A broad range of performance levels is also discussed, including mild, moderate, and severe disabilities. Unique features include:

Strong coverage of curriculum-based assessment integrated throughout the text (emphasis in Part IV), including a discussion of portfolio assessment.
A case or mini-scenario at the beginning of each chapter to help facilitate reader comprehension and understanding of core chapter content.
Diversity and technology issues meaningfully integrated into each chapter to make the discussion relevant to the topic at hand.
Issues, content, and concepts related to specific CEC and PRAXIS standards addressed in each chapter; a listing of these standards can be found at the end of each chapter.
Many resources for study and research offered at the author's website (http://www.johnvenn.com) and the Merrill Education Special Education Resources website (http://www.prenhall.com/venn).

This book is for teachers and prospective teachers who want to learn how to assess student with special needs. The text provides instructors and students at under-graduate and graduate levels with comprehensive information about assessment principles and practices from an applied, practical perspective. In addition to serving as a college text, the book is an excellent reference tool. Thus, the audience for the book extends to teachers, school counselors, psychologists, educational diagnosticians, staffing specialists, speech pathologists, reading specialists, early intervention specialists, and professionals in the health-related professions.

Assessing Students with Special Needs, Third Edition, includes significant revisions and additions reflecting major changes in educational measurement and evaluation. Perhaps the most noteworthy revision is the new focus on curriculum-based assessment. All chapters now include new material on this increasingly important topic. While the expanded and enhanced coverage of curriculum-based assessment is apparent throughout the text, it is especially evident in the section on assessing academic achievement. Significant changes also include (1) expanded coverage of assessment and diversity with emphasis on how to evaluate students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds; (2) the latest resources on assessment and technology, focusing on practical information that teachers can use in their classrooms; (3) updates of published instruments that reflect the newest approaches to assessment; (4) revised information about IEPs and assessment, including the most recent quality indicators; (5) extensive coverage of learning styles and modality assessment; and (6) expanded treatment of processes and procedures for assessing students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This edition incorporates new instructional features while retaining the best existing features, including the following:

Summary tables at the end of each chapter, which outline the instruments reviewed
Sections in each chapter linking assessment with instruction
Numerous vignettes illustrating assessment from practical, applied perspectives
Abundant examples, illustrations, checklists, charts, and graphs
Focus boxes highlighting special assessment considerations
Diversity feature boxes in every chapter
Technology focus boxes in all chapters
Comprehension checks throughout each chapter

This book provides comprehensive coverage of assessment in a single volume. To achieve this goal, the text covers processes and procedures for assessing students with special needs at all age levels, beginning with preschoolers and continuing through high school and into adulthood. Also included is material appropriate for assessing students across a broad range of performance levels, including mild, moderate, and severe disabilities. College and university students, teachers, and others who read this text and learn the material will acquire essential knowledge and skills that will help them meet the unique assessment needs of children and youth with disabilities. The goal is to cover what teachers need to know about assessing students with special needs.

Organization of the Text

This text is organized into four parts. Part One, Chapters 1 through 3, lays a foundation for assessing students with special needs. This section introduces assessment, covers the steps in the assessment process with special emphasis on IEPs and assessment, and includes a complete chapter on the increasingly important topic of assessment in inclusive settings. The second part, Chapters 4 through 6, introduces practical applications and considerations in assessment, including test scores and their meaning. This section explains how to select and evaluate assessment instruments and discusses procedures for giving, scoring, and interpreting tests. The third part, Chapters 7 through 13, covers general assessment considerations, including intelligence testing, evaluating student behavior, developmental assessment, and career assessment. The fourth part, Chapters 14 through 18, focuses on assessing academic achievement. This section emphasizes curriculum-based procedures, including portfolio assessment. It also covers the information that teachers must know about norm-referenced testing of academic performance.

Assisting Teachers With Student Assessment Website

Additionally, the author has developed an online learning environment for teachers, prospective teachers, and professors dedicated to assessing students with special needs. For more resources, self-quizzes, and other chapter-specific links, please visit the author's website at www.johnvenn.com

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