Assessment: Meeting Colorado 's Standards

by Arlene Stredler Brown, CCC-SLP, CED

Why Assess? How do I do it?

Professional practice supports the need to assess children at specific intervals. District policies support assessment. And, of course, IDEA requires that children with special needs receive assessments at prescribed intervals. The assessment protocols that are used may be prescribed by the district, by the state, or they may be chosen by the teacher, the speech/language pathologist, and/or the educational audiologist.

Over the past several years, the Colorado Department of Education formulated a plan to assess all children with hearing loss using specific assessment procedures. These procedures are designed specifically for children with hearing acuity that is not within the normal range. The FAMILY Assessment is used for children from birth until 36 months of age. The Pre-CIPP is used for children in preschool. The CIPP is used for children who are school-aged. Each assessment will be reviewed individually in this article. So, please read on!

All of the assessments are supported by grant funds and carry no additional cost to families, therapists, or schools. These assessments constitute the assessment battery used for state accountability. Please refer to the table to learn more about the specific assessments. And, be sure to ask your interventionist, therapist, preschool teacher, or members of your child's education team about them.

FAMILY Assessment: This assessment was initially developed by the Colorado Home Intervention Program (CHIP) in 1986. It was intended to assist the early interventionist to plan goals for family-centered intervention. The FAMILY Assessment became a valuable research tool that helped support the development of universal newborn hearing screening in Colorado , in the United States , and abroad. The good news is that the assessment remains a clinical tool that continues to guide the early interventionist to identify strengths and needs for the child and the family. It is available to all children under the age of three, irrespective of the program in which they are enrolled.

Pre-CIPP (Preschool version of the Colorado Individual Performance Profile): The Pre-CIPP was designed in the early 1990's to provide professionals working with preschool aged children with educationally significant hearing loss an evaluation tool specific to the needs of this population. It can be used to establish goals for an individual child, to evaluate a child's progress within the selected program, and to determine placement into a variety of different types of preschool settings. The Pre-CIPP is recommended when a child enters preschool and when the child is preparing to "graduate" from the preschool program. It can also be used at additional intervals during preschool programming.

CIPP ( Colorado Individual Performance Profile): The CIPP is a multi-purpose tool that collects information from standardized and functional assessments. It can be used to assist IEP teams to determine initial and ongoing services, supports and educational placements. It can be used to identify progress for an individual child. And, it can also be used to support funding decisions related to maintaining and improving services for youth who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing.

Assessment Protocols:

TYPE OF ASSESSMENT	FAMILY ASSESSMENT	Pre-CIPP	CIPP
Cognition / Learning Potential	Subtest of the Kent Inventory of Developmental Skills (birth-12 months) Subtests of the Minnesota Child Development Inventory (13-36 months)	Minnesota Child Development Inventory Performance IQ	Performance IQ Functional Assessment CSAP
Expressive Language	Subtests of the Minnesota Child Development Inventory Macarthur Communicative Development Inventory Language Sample Analysis from videotape	Subtests of the Minnesota Child Development Inventory Expressive One Word Picture Vocabulary Test Macarthur Communicative Development Inventory Language Sample Analysis from videotape Pragmatics Checklist	Functional Assessment CSAP
Receptive Language	Subtests of the Minnesota Child Development Inventory	Subtests of the Minnesota Child Development Inventory	Functional Assessment CSAP
Speech Development	Phonologic Evaluation from videotape Speech Intelligibility Checklist	Phonologic Evaluation from videotape Speech Intelligibility Checklist	Functional Assessment
Functional Auditory Skills	Functional Auditory Performance Indicators	Acuity Functional Auditory Performance Indicators	Functional Assessment
Personal-Social/Social Emotional Skills	Subtests of the Minnesota Child Development Inventory	Social Skills Questionnaires Child Behavior Checklist	Social Skills Rating System Functional Assessment Classroom Participation Questionnaire CSAP
Physical Development	Functional Vision Checklist Subtests of the Minnesota Child Development Inventory	Subtests of the Minnesota Child Development Inventory	Functional Assessment
Family Needs	Family Needs Interview Sign Vocabulary Checklist for Parents
Math			CSAP
Reading			CSAP
Student Participation			Classroom Participation Questionnaire

Adobe Acrobat / PDF Version

THE BUZZ ON THE CIPP

by Leeanne Seaver

In this day and age of testingtestingtesting kids, why should students and teachers be subjected to yet another assessment protocol? Well, here's why: school accountability. The Pre-CIPP and CIPP are not "tests", they're profiles (i.e., the Colorado Individual Performance Profile) of the individual student that, especially over a period of time, can indicate the effectiveness of an educational program. Let's say that another way: if your child's Pre-CIPP or CIPP doesn't show him or her making reasonable progress from year to year, (especially for a student with normal cognition), it's time to start taking a critical look at the educational program itself.

Pre-CIPP and CIPP data can identify models that are really working, and red flag programs that don't produce appropriate, grade-level results. The first publication of CIPP data showed that deaf/hh students in Colorado were an average of three years academically behind their hearing peers, ( DeConde Johnson , Colorado Department of Education, 1/00). That kind of data tell us about the effectiveness of programs for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. It substantiates the need to reform and improve the quality of education for our kids. It takes the subjectiveness out of the equation and clearly tells the facts of Colorado 's story. And Colorado 's story is not unique -- the statistics nationwide reflect the same subpar examples of underachievement for deaf/hh students.

If your school district isn't routinely, consistently administering the Pre-CIPP or CIPP for all eligible students on schedule, then parents had better start asking why. This is also the day and age of school accountability, and the Pre-CIPP and CIPP provide a "report card" of useful, applicable information-- not only on students who are deaf or hard of hearing--but on deaf/hard of hearing educational programming as well. Before your next IEP or Triennial be sure to request that your child's Pre-CIPP or CIPP outcome be included in your plan.