Assessment Guidelines

The assessment tools suggested in this kit are intended to be components of a rich pool of material that comprises a student's portfolio of achievement.  They fall on a continuum ranging from informal, periodic student self-assessment to more structured and formal criterion-referenced tools. The goal of the assessments is two-fold:  (1) to provide a means to track progress of skills development leading to self-determination, and (2) to be used as a tool to support the student in self-directed learning.

The emphasis placed on self-directed learning has evolved in recent years and is being utilized in traditional classrooms as well as in special education.  Allowing students to make decisions about their lives, in this instance education,  is fundamental for successful transition from school to adult life .  The role of self-assessment in developing an internal locus of control is essential and one of the key foundations for self-determination.  Outcomes for self-determination as measured by the assessments, both educator and student, include:

  1. The student can articulate his/her interests and preferences.
  2. The student can describe his/her disability.
  3. The student can describe the help they need and who provides it.
  4. The student can describe his/her supports and services (if they have them) and in what ways the supports and services help them.
  5. The student can direct his/her paid supports and services.
  6. The student can describe who makes his/her legal decisions.
  7. The student can explain how Medicaid, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR), Supplemental Security Insurance (SSI), and Adult Public Assistance (APA) work for him or her.
  8. The consumer can collaborate with his/her care coordinator (if they receive services under a Medicaid waiver) or DVR counselor.
  9. The student can direct his/her personal planning/IEP meeting.
  10. The student has a circle of support, including family and friends, which is committed to helping her/him with all of the above.

Several checklists are provided in the toolkit for educator use.  Educators are encouraged to adapt them to fit the individual needs, abilities, and prior experiences of the student.  For applications during early grades more support from adults may be needed.

The assessment checklists can be used in a variety of ways.  The Self-Determination Checklist: Annual Review allows an educator to track self-determining behavior consistently for four years.  Done annually, it's recommended that  the checklist be completed following the IEP review.  The Annual Review should be completed by the special educator responsible for IEP management.  Input from additional staff may be needed to accurately reflect student achievement.

The Self-Determination Checklist: Progress Check is a similar instrument that can be completed by other educators involved with the student, service providers, support staff, and family.  It is intended to be a gauge of progress throughout the year.

The Student Self-Assessment is a tool to help the student evaluate his or her own progress toward developing self-determining behavior and identify the level of support needed to accomplish the tasks queried.  More importantly, it provides an opportunity for the student to reflect on his or her own gains, identify what he or she feels still needs work, and specify how his or her support circle can help the student build the desired skills.  How frequently students assesses themselves will vary depending on prior experience, ability, and opportunities to practice the skills being assessed.  Doing a self-assessment quarterly, however, provides the student with greater opportunity for feedback and the option to make the adjustments he or she feels would benefit him or her most.

The three checklists provided are intended as less formal measures of a student's progress toward becoming a self-determining individual.  While an important part of the student's portfolio of achievement, they are one example of many tools available.  Interviews with the student and family, situational observations, curriculum-based assessment, vocational skills assessment, etc. should also be considered when evaluating skills.  Other tools (available for purchase) include the Arc's Self-Determination Scale, a 72-item self-reporting scale that considers four essential characteristics of self-determination; Steps to Self-Determination: A Curriculum to Help Adolescents Learn to Achieve Their Goals which includes criterion-referenced assessment instruments and student self-reports, and ChoiceMaker Self-Determination Transition Curriculum and Program which included a criterion-referenced self-determination transition assessment tool that matches the curricular sections of the program.

Assessment Guidelines | Table of Contents | Self-Advocacy in the Schools