Assessment plays a critical role in the education of all students, especially Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) students with additional disabilities. This chapter reviews the importance and provides an overview of assessment for DHH students with additional disabilities. It begins with the history of assessment needed in order to build an understanding of the current issues related to assessments. This chapter focuses on limitations and challenges, types of assessment, and accommodations and modifications needed to support the academic, social, and behavioral outcomes for DHH students with disabilities.
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Data, which is derived from assessment, should drive educational decisions including but not limited to placements, instructions, and outcomes (Neild & Fitzpatrick, 2020). Assessment results are an important part of helping multidisciplinary teams monitor learning, develop educational programing, and identify children who require special education (SPED) services (Pizzo & Chilvers, 2019).
Educational psychologists are members of the multidisciplinary team and are responsible for administering a variety of assessment batteries (i.e., cognitive IQ tests). Their evaluations can help determine eligibility for SPED services, gifted programs and school readiness, as well as support instructional or behavior plans and identify mental health concerns. Additionally, multidisciplinary teams use assessment data for multiple reasons including but not limited to Individualized Education Plan (IEP) development (e.g., present level of educational performance), determining appropriate placement (e.g., resource room), monitoring progress (i.e., goal attainment), and providing feedback to students and families (e.g., quarterly updates).
According to Neild and Fitzpatrick (2020) teachers are responsible for a variety of classroom functions on a daily basis such as assignments, accommodations and modifications, environmental conditions, rules and routines, etc. to help ensure students with disabilities are achieving optimal academic, social, emotional, and behavioral outcomes. Further, general and SPED teachers, multidisciplinary teams, and ancillary service providers should identify meaningful ways to assess students with disabilities and use the data to document attainment of IEP benchmarks and/or goals (Conley, 2015). For deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) students, language delays and language deprivation can influence how they are able to participate in assessment (Bowers et al., 2018). Due to these factors, DHH students may be viewed as cognitively behind their peers or as having an additional disability (Miller et al., 2015). Unfortunately any misdiagnosis can have a detrimental impact across their lifespan.
From the perspective of DHH students with perceived, misdiagnosed, or actual additional disabilities, assessment plays an integral role in their deaf education experience. This book chapter will share the (a) history and purpose of assessments, (b) address limitations and challenges, (c) share modifications and accommodations, and (d) discuss formal and informal assessments related to DHH students educational outcomes.