This paper suggests a variety of ways of assessing the curriculum and assessing pupils so that tasks can be matched to special needs learners in the process of curriculum differentiation. The emphasis is on formative and diagnostic assessment but summative assessment is also discussed. (Author/JDD)

Curriculum-based measurement (CBM) is presented as a system linking data collected for special education eligibility with intervention planning and evaluation. The paper describes CBM problem-solving procedures, research outcomes of CBM problem-solving model implementation, effects on student achievement and goal awareness, and effects on teaching…

Design details, operation, and initial field test results are reported for DynaMath, a computer-based dynamic assessment system that provides individually tailored, instructionally useful assessment of students with disabilities. DynaMath organizes and outputs student performance data, graphically shows the "zone of proximal…

Analyzed the diagnostic teaching abilities in the domains of literacy and numeracy of second-year teachers in a Dutch primary school. Assessed student's literacy development using standardized tests, and compared results of these tests with teachers' criterion-referenced judgment of their pupils' literacy development. Found teachers' judgments to…

To tailor instruction to levels of learner proficiency in a domain in adaptive learning environments, rapid on-line methods of assessing learner knowledge and skills are required. Cognitive studies indicate that major factors in expert performance are organised structures in the person's knowledge base. Measuring different levels of acquisition of…

This monograph presents a diagnostic decision-making model for reading, elementary, and special education teachers to use as a guide in assessing and evaluating students' reading abilities to design and provide more appropriate reading instruction. The model in the monograph gives an overall perspective or gestalt of the components and strategies…

A preinstruction questionnaire was used with two small group writing classes at Goodwill Industries of the Miami Valley, Inc. (Ohio). The questionnaire was designed to provide as much information as possible about the students' knowledge and background in writing. The survey had four purposes: determine what kinds of writing students currently did…

This lecture examines the failure of the United States to produce literate, mathematically competent high school graduates and criticizes "cyclic faddism" as a ploy of desperate educators who keep going back to methods that have been tried and found wanting. Bright spots in education are cited, including the achievement of Jaime…

The objectives of this study were to develop, implement, and evaluate the year long project, Microcomputer Adaptive Testing High-Risk Urban Students (MATH-R-US). The project produced diagnostic software to meet the following criteria: (1) help students obtain high school mathematics credit needed for graduation; (2) motivate students to learn…

Curriculum-based measurement (CBM) is described as a method of helping teachers measure student performance accurately and adapt their instruction to improve student achievement. Curriculum-based measurement's features include measurement of student proficiency across the annual curriculum, and use of a standardized, prescriptive measurement…

This book is intended to assist in using the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-Revised (WPPSI-R) and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition as tools for identifying a child's strengths and weaknesses for the purpose of improving academic and behavioral functioning. The first chapter focuses on using the…

The question of whether improvements in assessment data for students referred to special education would result in the increased use of these data and a better basis for teaching decisions was studied. Six versions of an assessment report were prepared for a hypothetical child: four with increasing detail and information, one with an integrated…

This booklet presents descriptions of 31 successful basic skills language arts/writing programs for prekindergarten through grade 12, collected from school districts nationwide by the National Diffusion Network. Information provided for each program includes: (1) program name and brief description; (2) audience focus (noting grade and ability…

This reading text is intended to help teacher education students become successful teachers of reading in the classroom, and is designed to help them to become diagnostic teachers. The text states that diagnostic teaching is a methodology that requires that the teacher ascertain the level of functional skills and abilities of each child in the…

This resource guide provides a set of assessment instruments to help the adult basic education teacher appropriately place each learner at Level I, Level II, and/or General Education Development Level of instruction. An introduction briefly describes instruments and suggests examples of implementation. A teacher's guide contains general directions…