Incorporating assessment data

One of the biggest implications for incorporating various assessment data from various personnel is that, as mentioned in the video, often what a student does in one environment is inconsistent with what they do in another environment.  Sometimes a child will perform well on a task in testing, but when observed in the natural environment does not perform the skill.  Also, students will sometimes perform better for one individual than another; maybe one individual has done a more effective job of establishing themselves as a reinforcer, or maybe they simply have more backup reinforcers on hand to motivate the child.  Whatever the case, it is important when incorporating assessment data collected by other individuals, to also check for compatibility with your own.

This can be done in a couple different ways.  If you are looking at a skill you have not previously tested the child on or looked for, test them or schedule an observation.  If the skill you are looking at is something the child was or was not able to do with you, but it is reported he or she was able to perform the skill for another individual, meet with the person for a few minutes to get or give input.  Some assessments have a space to record comments such as “performed the skill in testing, but does not in the natural environment.”  I have worked with some children who perform extremely well in a testing environment and others who may not perform quite so well and need to be reinforced for sitting quietly, attending and/or attempting to respond.  (By utilizing areas or making a space for comments, you can convey this information in the event another person picks up in your absence or someone approaches you about discrepancies in assessment results.)  Sometimes you will discover that one evaluator has less experience than another, and as mentioned in the first half of this video, the most important tool in an assessment is the evaluator.

This being said, it can also be helpful to present as a team when incorporating assessment data.  The occupational therapist will probably be the best person to present OT assessment results, the speech therapist will be the best to report on speech and language assessments and the behavior analyst will be the best to report on the FBA (etc…) because although their individual assessments may have overlap, they are usually looking at somewhat different things.  Using a cohesive approach to incorporating assessment data can allow for the team to identify patterns in assessment data and address them accordingly in their recommendations.