Abstract
The purpose of this chapter is to provide guidance to effectively engage families in the special education assessment process. Educational personnel must engage families in special education assessments to make informed decisions about eligibility, goals, placement, and transitions for students with disabilities. The involvement of families in the assessment process is critical because their engagement can positively impact outcomes for their children with disabilities. Conversely, a lack of family engagement may have negative consequences, such as data not capturing family priorities, goals, or cultural values. This chapter aims to provide guidance to educational personnel on how to effectively engage families in the special education assessment process. Following the guidance provided in this chapter, readers can ensure that families are meaningfully included in the special education assessment process along the continuum of their child's educational career.
TopIntroduction
Family engagement in special education assessments given from early childhood education to the transition out of high school is crucial for educational personnel to make informed decisions about a student's eligibility, their goals, and services provided to them (Kritikos et al., 2018; Salvia et al., 2017). These assessments also support a student’s transitions, such as the transition from school to postsecondary education and training, employment, or independent living (Sitlington and Clark, 2001). Engaging families during this time is critical as they can provide valuable information about their children, ensuring the data gained accurately reflects the needs and wants of the student with a disability and their families (Kritikos et al., 2018; Lynch, 2018; Salvia et al., 2017). However, lack of family engagement can negatively affect how these assessments are conducted to support a student with a disability across their educational career, as data from assessments may not capture family priorities, goals, or cultural values (Mueller, 2017; Staples and Diliberto, 2010; Turnbull and Turnbull, 2015). To address this issue, educational personnel must prioritize and facilitate meaningful family engagement in assessing their students with disabilities. Therefore, the purpose of this chapter is to provide practical guidance on how to effectively engage families in the special education assessment process, focusing on assessment practices from early childhood education through the transition out of high school. Acknowledging the unique dynamics of each student, family unit, and community, a general framework and thoughts for consideration are provided. Educational professionals should understand the cultural and societal perspectives of disability and the impact of these when engaging with families.
This chapter will provide readers with a framework for critically examining the ways in which families can be included and valued partners in the assessments used in special education along the continuum of their educational career. The assessment process will be broken down into three steps in which considerations for effectively engaging families are provided: Referral for assessment, participating in the assessment, and receiving the assessment results. By following the guidance in this chapter, practitioners can ensure that the assessments accurately reflect the needs and priorities of their students with disabilities and their families, leading to better special education services and support and overall outcomes for school and post-school success. This chapter is broken down into three sections, refer to Table 1. Noteworthy, the guidance provided in this chapter can span beyond the special education assessment process. Many of the recommendations and guidance provided can be adapted to address barriers to family engagement in other areas of special education.
Table 1. Outline of sections within the chapter
| Chapter Sections |
| Section 1: Family Engagement in Special Education Assessments |
| Importance of Engaging Families in Special Education Assessments | Engaging Families in Special Education Assessments |
| Section 2: Knowledge and Skills for Effective Family Engagement in Special Education Assessments |
| Early Childhood Assessment Family Engagement | Elementary Through Secondary School Assessment Family Engagement |
| Transition Assessment Family Engagement |
| Section 3: Further Considerations for Family Engagement in Special Education Assessments |
| General Considerations for Engagement | Assessment Scenarios |
Key Terms in this Chapter
Early Childhood Age: Early Childhood Age refers to children from birth to five years old.
Assessment: Assessment refers to the tools or process of evaluating students with disabilities.
Transition: Transition refers to when a child turns 16 years of age until their 22nd birthday (IDEA, 2004). In some states, transition may encompass students with disabilities starting at age 14 and as old as 26 ( Suk et al., 2020 ).
Elementary-Secondary Age: Elementary-Secondary Age refers to K-12 educational years.
Formal Assessments: Formal assessments may include commercial tests and rating scales, aptitude tests, on-the-job evaluations, and career or interest inventories. Formal assessments usually have related validity or reliability measures associated with the assessment and may even require specific training or qualifications to be implemented. As a result, they may be expensive and are typically standardized. ( Rojewski, 2002 ).
Informal Assessments: Informal assessments are usually non-standardized, free, easily accessible, and simple to implement. They can include observations, work samples, interviews, preference assessments, curriculum-based assessments, or questionnaires. Informal assessments usually do not have validity or reliability data and require few qualifications or training to be implemented ( Rojewski, 2002 ).
Families: Families include parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, extended family members, guardians, or other caregivers who care for a person with a disability.
Educational Personnel: Educational personnel includes special education teachers, general education teachers, and related service providers such as administrators, school-based speech therapists, or psychologists.
Individualized Education Program Team: Members of the Individualized Education Program include the student, parents, related service providers, general education and special education teachers, a district/agency representative who can make decisions, and others who interact with and know the student. (IDEA, 2004).