Making Evaluation Meaningful

Determining additional eligibilities and appropriate instructional strategies for blind and visually impaired students

By Marnee Loftin
© TSBVI 2006 430 pp Order # 59443MEM also available as a textfile

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Table of Contents

Meaningful evaluation of students with a visual impairment is an especially complicated task. The population of students with visual impairment is diverse. Often these students have additional impairments that impact their growth and progress. The combined effects must be closely examined to determine effective instructional strategies. Meaningful evaluation will depend on the knowledge and ability of staff to administer tests and interpret results. Good evaluation and assessment results are essential to provide a foundation for the educational planning process.

This book, Making Evaluation Meaningful, is intended to provide guidance to evaluation personnel, teachers of the visually impaired, and families in making the best possible decisions regarding student evaluation. The beginning chapters include basic information about the characteristics of students with visual impairment, as well as information about preparing for evaluation, including helpful observation and interview protocols.

The individual chapters of this guide include pertinent information on types of testing such as Intelligence Testing, Adaptive Behavior Testing, Emotional Behavior Testing, and Educational Evaluations. Specifically addressed are many of the additional impairments seen in our student population, such as Mental Retardation, Learning Disabilities, Autism/Pervasive Development Disorders (PDD), Traumatic Brain Injury, and Significant Multiple Impairment. Extensive Case Studies are included for each of these chapters to allow readers to understand how the concepts are applied in an evaluation situation.

Table of Contents

• Preface
• Foreword
• Acknowledgements
• Glossary of Educational Terminology Used in this Book

Chapter I

• Introduction
• Evaluation of Students with Visual Impairments
• Characteristics of Students with Visual Impairments
• Issues That May Impact Learning and Development
• Visual Impairment is Not a Single Condition

Chapter II

• Preparing for Evaluation
• Determining the Need for Evaluation
• Beginning an Evaluation
• Information for Parents About Evaluation
• Consultation Between TVI and Evaluation Staff
• Functional Vision Evaluation and Learning Media Assessment: Impact on Evaluation 33
• Cautions in Identification of Other Eligibilities
• General Guidelines for Testing Students with Visual Impairments
• Evaluation Checklist
• Diagnostic Do's
• Diagnostic Don'ts
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Functional Vision Evaluation/Learning Media Assessment Report 1
• Functional Vision Evaluation/Learning Media Assessment Report 2

Chapter III

• Observations and Interviews
• Observation During the Evaluation Process
• Interviews as a Source of Information
• Observation and Interview Forms

Chapter IV

• Intelligence
• General Information
• Possible Impact of Visual Impairment on Specific Subtests of the WISC/WAIS
• Frequently Asked Questions

Chapter V

• Adaptive Behavior
• General Information
• Frequently Asked Questions

Chapter VI

• Emotional Behavior
• General Information
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Case Study  

Chapter VII

• Educational Evaluations
• General Information
• Gifted and Talented
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Educational Report 1 - Informal Reading Inventory (Print)
• Educational Report 2 - Informal Reading Inventory (Braille)
• Educational Report 3 - Key Math Diagnostic Inventory of Essential Mathematics

Chapter VIII

• Mental Retardation
• General Information
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Case Study

Chapter IX

• Learning Disabilities
• General Information
• Summary of Suggested Procedure for Determination of Learning Disabilities in a Student
• with Visual Impairment
• Suggested Summary Statement
• Other Characteristics of Specific Learning Disabilities
• Auditory Processing Problems
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Case Study 1

Chapter X

• Autism/Pervasive Developmental Disorders
• General Information for Autism/PPD
• Autistic Disorders in Students with Visual Impairments
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Case Study
• Asperger's Disorder
• Significant Differences
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Case Study

Chapter XI

• Traumatic Brain Injury and Other Neurological Insults
• General Information
• Federal Educational Guidelines Information
• Eventual Prognosis for Recovery
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Case Study

Chapter XII

• Significant Multiple Impairments
• General Information
• General Guidelines
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Case Study

Chapter XIII

• Instructional Strategies
• Anxiety Disorders
• Auditory Processing Problems
• Autism/PDD
• Asperger's Disorder
• Learning Disabilities
• Mental Retardation
• Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
• Traumatic Brain Injury

APPENDICES

• Appendix A " VI Eligibility Criteria
• Appendix B " Additional Facts about Specific Visual Conditions
• Appendix C " References
• Appendix D " Sources for Evaluation Materials