Standard 7: Domains to be Assessed

Those conducting the initial and subsequent assessments of a student who is D/HH should consider assessment in the following areas:

• Audiological

  An audiological assessment should provide individual data regarding hearing ability for tonal and speech stimuli, auditory function, and amplification. This diagnostic assessment data should be combined with an assessment of listening in the classroom, including classroom acoustics, to determine the implications of the hearing loss for learning. Recommendations for accommodations and hearing assistive technology should be based on the individual and classroom data. A plan to monitor the function of both personal and hearing assistive technology must be implemented as required by IDEA 34 CFR 300.113.

  Following the initial audiological assessment, it is recommended that students who are D/HH minimally receive audiological assessments every 3 to 6 months for infants and toddlers ages birth to 1 year and annually thereafter or as determined by the audiologist.

  Although re-evaluation every three years is required for IDEA/Early Childhood Education Assessment Consortium (ECEA), results of annual hearing evaluations should be included into every IEP for a student who is D/HH to monitor hearing function and amplification (if used) and to ensure that the accommodations are adjusted as classroom environments change. Evidence that hearing is changing, known conditions that affect hearing stability, or other unique situations may dictate more frequent assessment.

  For complete information related to components of a comprehensive audiological assessment, the use of hearing assistive technology, and school-based audiology services refer to the relevant practice guidelines of the American Academy of Audiology and the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA Guidelines for Audiology Provision in and for Schools).

• Auditory Function

  Assessment of functional auditory skills should include a broad range of auditory areas (e.g., awareness, discrimination, comprehension, synthesis) under a variety of conditions (e.g., auditory only, auditory/visual, near and far distance from the speaker), and employ a range of stimuli (e.g., sounds, words, sentences, paragraphs). Assessment may compare performance with and without personal hearing instruments or hearing assistance technology when it is desired to demonstrate the benefits of hearing technology.

• Language

  Assessment of language skills of students who are D/HH, including those with deafblindness and multiple disabilities, must be conducted by a teacher of the deaf, a speech-language pathologist or other specialists (e.g., ASL specialist) who is proficient using the child’s primary language and communication approach and endorsed by the assessment team. The assessor must be skilled in identifying, using, and analyzing the student’s language and communication, which may include the use of sign, cues, speech, or a combination.

  The assessment of language includes receptive, expressive, and pragmatic procedures skills, measures of primary and secondary language competence (when applicable), and consideration of home language. This will provide information regarding whether or not a student has age-appropriate language and communication skills, identification of deficits, and a baseline to compare progress over time. Formal tests should also provide norms to compare the student’s performance to that of his/her hearing peers. Other forms of assessment, such as language sampling, may provide useful diagnostic information regarding language competence.

  A language assessment (signed, spoken, and/or written) should provide a comprehensive assessment of language skills in each of the following areas:

  • Expressive and Receptive language ability: How much information can the child/youth understand and how well they can make themselves understood using their preferred mode or bimodal form/forms of communication.

  • Semantics: Including vocabulary mastery, multiple meanings, and basic concepts, both receptively and expressively;

  • Syntax: Including receptive and expressive abilities in the use of word order and morphemes to create grammatically correct sentences;

  • Morphology: Including receptive and expressive abilities to use affixes and inflections that change the meaning of spoken words or signs (e.g., to pluralize, to show verb tense, to show intensity or duration);

  • Pragmatics: Including the ability to use language for interpersonal communication purposes (e.g., turn-taking skills, use of language to express needs, use of language to influence another’s behavior, use of language to refer to experiences out of immediate context).

• Sign Communication

  Forms of sign communication may include but are not limited to:

  • American Sign Language (ASL)
  • Signing Systems:
    • Signed Exact English (SEE I, SEE II)
    • Pidgin Signed English (PSE)
    • Manually Coded English (MCE)
    • Conceptually Accurate Signed English (CASE)

  For a student who uses sign language or a sign system, the assessment of manual communication skills should include the testing and gathering of information in the following areas:

  • An analysis and description of the sign language or sign system used (ASL literacy level)
  • Visual and motor capabilities
  • Semantic and grammatical accuracy pertinent to the sign language or sign system used (e.g., ASL or MCE)
  • Pragmatics

  If simultaneous communication is used, an analysis of the quality of communication, such as percentage of message signed, percentage spoken, and percentage both signed and spoken should be provided.

• Spoken Communication

  The student's performance on the spoken communication evaluation provides information about his or her ability to benefit from amplification or other assistive listening technology, and indicates whether the student needs additional support such as sign, or a combination of supports.

  An assessment of speech production includes analysis of the following areas:

  • Phonetic assessment: Imitation of speech sounds
  • Phonological assessment: Voicing, manner, placement, syllabication, and stimulability
  • Prosodic features: Intonation, pitch, rhythm, and stress
  • Voice quality
  • Intelligibility of connected speech

• Written Language

  A written language assessment provides diagnostic information regarding the student's English language proficiency as well as an informal assessment of spelling and handwriting/print legibility. Formal standardized assessments of written English are available. Informal assessment and analysis of written language samples can also provide useful information for IEP planning.

• Pre-Academic

  For educational planning with young students who are D/HH, a thorough assessment of pre-academic skills is important. This assessment should be done by a teacher of the deaf or other professional who is knowledgeable about early childhood development and education as well as the implications of hearing loss. The assessment provider must also be proficient using the child's language and communication mode. When a student has limited language, or is mixed modality communicator, a team approach may be best. The areas requiring assessment include expressive and receptive language, auditory skill development, functional listening ability, pre-literacy skills, early numeracy understanding, pre-writing ability, ability to sustain attention to task and see a task to completion, and family participation.

• Academic Skills

  Academic assessment provides information regarding the student's present level of functioning and at minimum should include the following areas:

  • Math computation, reasoning, and application in all contexts (e.g., measurement, money, time, word problems, etc.)
  • Style of decoding (i.e., phonetic-acoustic versus visual decoding)
  • Reading comprehension including emergent reading abilities as well as word understanding of vocabulary, phrases, sentences, and passages, as well as literal/inferential skills
  • Reading in real world versus reduced contextual situations
  • Reading preferences, including time spent reading independently
  • Written English literacy including word use, knowledge conveyed, structure, and cohesiveness, spelling and handwriting/print legibility.
  • Writing for specific purposes (e.g., messages, discourse, persuasion, narration, etc.)
  • Spelling and penmanship

  Standardized assessments of academic achievement will provide information regarding the student's achievement in comparison to that of hearing peers. A few academic tests have been normed on deaf/hard of hearing populations. Whether one uses instruments normed on students who are hearing or on students who are D/HH, it is important to consider the assessment results in conjunction with other assessment information (e.g., criterion referenced assessment, portfolio assessment) when developing the IEP.

  In addition to taking part in academic achievement testing for initial and triennial assessments, students who are D/HH must participate in all statewide and local assessment programs.

• Psychological

  A psychological evaluation includes assessment of cognitive abilities, adaptive/self-help skills, behavioral and emotional regulation, and social-emotional development. Evaluation of cognitive abilities provides information about a student's present level of problem-solving skills, which is helpful in providing a context in which to interpret other areas of skill development. Function in areas that are related to learning are assessed, such as language based and visually mediated problem solving skills, logical and abstract reasoning, working memory, and processing speed.

  Most intelligence tests yield measures on subscales or clusters as well as an overall IQ score. For most students who are D/HH, estimates of cognitive ability should be based primarily on subscales or clusters that are comprised only of non-verbal tasks. Ability should be determined without the influence of vocabulary and language development which are often are affected by hearing loss. Extreme caution should be used to carefully assess with each individual student whether language based cognitive tasks should be administered and then, whether performance on those tasks should be incorporated into the student's overall summary IQ score. This will depend strongly on the student's hearing and language history, as well as current language development, and will need to be determined on a case-by-case basis, always erring on the side of caution. As noted, for many students who are D/HH, performance on nonverbal problem solving tasks is the most valid and appropriate indicator of cognitive function.

  A qualified school psychologist who has experience assessing students who are D/HH and who is proficient using the student's language and communication mode, should conduct the assessment. A student should receive a psychological assessment in the early elementary years once it is determined that reliable results can be obtained, with more frequent assessment indicated for some children when special conditions are present (e.g., other disabilities, emotional factors, significant growth in language skill over time, etc.). A psychological assessment may also be used to identify students who may be eligible for gifted/ talented programs. Other areas of psychological assessment include social-emotional development and adaptive self-help behavior.

  With respect to assessment of behavioral and emotional regulation, social-emotional development, and adaptive daily living skills, information often is gathered through the use of standardized questionnaires that are completed by a student's teacher(s) and/or parent(s). However, given that most measures were developed and normed on typical hearing children, careful item analysis is necessary to understand findings and ensure that areas of concern are not directly related to a student's hearing loss (e.g., does not answer a telephone properly to take a message). A qualified school psychologist who has expertise in working with D/HH, and who has an understanding of the impact of hearing loss on children/families and Deaf culture is important.

• Health

  The overall physical health of the student, including nutrition and growth, medical, and developmental history, provides important information for the care of the student and the potential need for a health care plan as part of the IFSP/IEP/504 Plan.

• Vision/Deafblindness

  Students who are D/HH are dependent on their vision as a means to provide information that is unavailable auditorily due to their hearing loss. Further, there are a variety of conditions and syndromes (e.g., Usher syndrome) that can affect both hearing and vision, further impacting communication and language development. This dual involvement must be considered when developing the student’s intervention or IEP. For infants, it is recommended that a vision assessment be conducted for all students who are D/HH. After infancy, students who are D/HH must have a thorough evaluation anytime vision problems are suspected or identified through a screening. The evaluation includes assessment of visual acuity, visual tracking, and visual field. In addition, a functional vision assessment should be completed for all students with visual impairment and students with dual sensory loss. The functional vision assessment should be completed by a teacher certified in the area of vision impairment.

• Multiple Disabilities

  Students with multiple disabilities may have cognitive, academic, motor, sensory, and/or communication issues in addition to hearing loss. Teachers of the deaf are rarely trained to be proficient in assessing all areas of development. As a result, a multidisciplinary team approach to assessment is essential in order to ensure that all areas of need are addressed. This multidisciplinary assessment should include gathering general background information regarding the child and family, observations of the student, functional assessment, and influence of cooccurring problems such as vision and hearing loss, and discipline specific information.

• Motor

  The assessment of motor skills may be especially significant for students who are D/HH. Etiologies that are neurologically based may result in vestibular impairment affecting a student’s equilibrium, body awareness, and visual-motor functioning. If a student is referred for additional motor assessment, it should be conducted by an occupational or physical therapist experienced with students who are D/HH.

• Communication Technology

  When appropriate, the communication skills assessment should include an assessment of the student’s ability to use communication technology (e.g., telephone/cell phone, videophone (VP), video relay service (VRS), text-to-text pager, text messaging). The results of this assessment should be used to develop IEP goals and objectives related to the use of communications technology in everyday activities. All technology used by students must be managed to assure that it functions consistently and that repairs are completed in a timely manner. Any assistive technology must be identified and implemented in accordance with the requirements of Assistive Technology within IDEA. (34 CFR § 300.5-.6 (Part B) and 34 CFR § 303.13(b)(1)(i-ii)(Part C)). (Appendix A)

• Career-Vocational

  Students who are D/HH in secondary schools must be provided with an individual career/vocational assessment as part of the transition IEP or 504 Plan. Career/vocational assessments may include, but are not limited to, interest inventories, college aptitude tests, evaluations of prevocational skills, tests of physical dexterity, work samples, and interviews. Career/vocational education specialists should provide the assessments, interpret the results, provide information in a written report, and provide recommendations for transition services on the student’s IEP. The law requires transition services as a component of the IEP or 504 plan for every student 14 years of age or older and may be deemed appropriate for students younger than 14.

• Vision/Deafblindness

• Family Needs

  The knowledge the family has about their child’s hearing loss, development issues, and their competence in communicating with their child, should be included in the IFSP/IEP/504 Plan. The support/needs the family may have can be identified through interviews, surveys, or questionnaires.

  Family training may include:

  • Subject Workshops (id est. IEP, advocacy, equipment, psychological health)
  • Assistive Technology Supports
  • American Sign Language Classes
  • Child Development
  • Special Needs Family Group

  For families of infants and toddlers, family needs are an integral part of the IFSP and part of family centered intervention. For preschool and school-age students, family support and training is provided through the IEP. IDEA 34 CFR 300.34(8) specifically outlines the provision of family counseling and training for families of students who are D/HH. Family counseling and training includes providing information to the family about child development, their child’s disability, and resources the family may access for additional support. If specific training for the family, such as sign language instruction, is required in order for the student to meet his/her IEP goals, it must be provided through the IEP and at no cost to the family.