THE ASSESSMENT, IDENTIFICATION, AND PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN FOR THREE CATEGORICAL PROGRAMS FOR HANDICAPPED STUDENTS: FACTORS AND INSTRUMENTS

One purpose of the study was to ascertain from directors of special education and school psychologists the degree of importance placed upon a set of factors (data) in making identification and placement decisions for handicapped students. Examples of these factors are data collected through the administration of tests and data resulting from the observations of teachers and parents. A second purpose was to measure the degree of usefulness, as perceived by directors of special education and school psychologists, placed upon instruments and techniques used in identifying and planning instruction for handicapped students. The instruments and techniques were categorized under the headings: Tests of Academic Potential, Tests of Academic Achievement, Tests of Personality and Adaptive Behavior, and Tests of Specific Attitudes. From the review of literature, a two-part instrument was constructed to measure the importance of factors in making identification and placement decisions and the usefulness of assessment instruments in identifying and planning instruction for handicapped students. The data were examined to determine: rankings of factors and assessment instruments; if rankings were independent of ranking groups; and if consistency existed in rankings of factors and instruments. Demographic data were examined for frequencies and percentages for 11 items. The study was summarized as follows: (1) Generally, the rankings of factors and assessment instruments and techniques were independent of the ranking groups. (2) Factors ranked among the highest for the three handicapping conditions were: data from tests of academic achievement and data resulting from the observation of regular classroom teachers, special education personnel, school psychologists, and parents. (3) Assessment instruments and techniques ranking among the highest five for the three handicapping conditions were: Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised, Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale, Key Math, Peabody Individual Achievement Test, Bender-Gestalt, Interviews, and the Detroit Test of Learning Aptitudes. (4) There was consistency in the rankings of the factors and the instruments and techniques between the two populations sampled