Methods of developmental assessment in educational and rehabilitational sciences as a foundation of program planning with children with developmental disabilities

Razvojnu edukacijsko-rehabilitacijsku procjenu možemo definirati kao organizirani proces prikupljanja, analize i obrade podataka u svrhu probira, dijagnostike, utvrđivanja razvojnog statusa, planiranja i programiranja rehabilitacijskog rada, kao i za potrebe praćenja i evaluacije napretka djeteta pod utjecajem tretmana. Stoga, procjena podrazumijeva fundamentalni, ali istovremeno složeni i neodvojivi dio rehabilitacijskog procesa djece s teškoćama u razvoju. U praksi postoje i primjenjuju se različite vrste procjene. Prema autorima McLoughlin i Lewis (2009) osnovna podjela je ona na formalnu i neformalnu procjenu. Formalna procjena podrazumijeva korištenje standardiziranih mjernih instrumenata, odnosno instrumenata baziranim na normama kreiranim za utvrđivanje točnog položaja pojedinca u odnosu na normativnu grupu. Pri tome, glavna joj je svrha usporedba rezultata ispitanika s ostalim ispitanicima i prikaz istih na Gaussovoj krivulji te ovisno o instrumentariju, služi za probir i dijagnostiku. S druge strane, neformalne metode procjene koriste se za određivanje trenutne izvedbe ispitanika na određenim zadacima te prate napredak djeteta tijekom rehabilitacijskog programa u funkciji vremena. Manje su strukturirane od formalnih procjena, a rezultati dobiveni na njima ne služe za usporedbu pojedinca s normativnom grupom. Međutim, s obzirom na direktnu povezanost neformalnih metoda procjene s kurikulom, odnosno rehabilitacijskim programom, upotrebljivost rezultata i podataka koji se njome dobivaju potencijalno su od visoke važnosti (McLoughlin i Lewis, 2009). Cilj ovog diplomskog rada jest istražiti napraviti sveobuhvatni pregled recentne stručne i znanstvene literature o edukacijsko-rehabilitacijskoj procjeni djece s teškoćama u razvoju i usporediti ga s postojećom praksom procjene u Republici Hrvatskoj. Također, provedeno je istraživanje kojime su se ispitali čimbenici kvalitete edukacijsko-rehabilitacijske procjene, vrsta i sadržaj procjene, kao i izazovi s kojima se susreću edukacijski rehabilitatori u tom procesu te preporuke za unaprjeđenje postojeće prakse edukacijsko-rehabilitacijske procjene u Republici Hrvatskoj. U tu svrhu uzorak edukacijskih rehabilitatora ispunjavao je Upitnik multidimenzionalne analize edukacijsko-rehabilitacijske procjene kreiran za potrebe istraživanja. Upitnik se sastoji od 95 čestica zatvorenog, poluotvorenog i otvorenog tipa zbog čega se obrada i interpretacija dobivenih rezultata provela na temelju kvalitativne i kvantitativne analize.Developmental educational-rehabilitation assessment can be defined as an organized process of data collection, analysis and processing for the purpose of screening, diagnostics, determining developmental status, planning and programming rehabilitation work, as well as for monitoring and assessing the child's progress under treatment. Therefore, the assessment implies a fundamental, but at the same time complex and inseparable part of the rehabilitation process of children with disabilities. In practice, different types of assessments exist and are applied. According to the authors McLoughlin and Lewis (2009), the basic division is that of formal and informal assessment. Formal assessment implies the use of standardized measuring instruments, ie instruments based on norms created to determine the exact position of an individual in relation to the normative group. Its main purpose is to compare the results of the subjects with other subjects and display them on the Gaussian curve separately about the instruments, it is used for screening and diagnostics. On the other hand, informal methods are used to determine the current performance of the respondents on certain tasks that monitor the child's progress during the rehabilitation program as a function of time. They are less structured than formal assessments, and the results obtained on them do not serve to compare an individual with a normative group. However, given the direct association of informal methods assessed with the curriculum or rehabilitation program, the usability of the results and data that can be obtained is potentially of high importance (McLoughlin and Lewis, 2009). The aim of this thesis is to investigate a comprehensive review of recent professional and scientific literature on educational and rehabilitation assessment of children with disabilities and compare it with existing assessment practice in the Republic of Croatia. Also, a study was conducted which examined the quality factors of educational-rehabilitation assessment, type and content of assessment, as well as the challenges faced by educational rehabilitators in this process and recommendations for improving the existing practice of educational-rehabilitation assessment in Croatia. For this purpose, the sample of educational rehabilitators filled in the Questionnaire for multidimensional analysis of educational-rehabilitation assessment created for research purposes. The questionnaire consists of 95 particles of closed, semi-open and open type, which is why the processing and interpretation of the obtained results was carried out on the basis of qualitative and quantitative analysis