Assessment is a Road Map – Telling Us What Direction to Go
Children who are deaf or hard of hearing need careful assessment before they enter school. Assessments continue regularly throughout their school years.
What do Learning Assessments Include?
- Tests
- Observation notes
- Language samples
- Parent report scales and diaries
- Anecdotal logs kept by teachers
- Classroom portfolios of the child's work
- Adult charting of classroom and home progress
When assessments are done well, they help to identify the child's strengths, emerging skills, and area of need. It becomes a road map to guide your child's specific objectives for their
Individualized Education Plan (IEP).
In the photo below, Jeff covers his mouth while he says a word. Sophie listens and points to the image that depicts the word she hears.
Ongoing Assessments of Progress
You will become a part of the school team and will meet individuals who will partner with you to monitor your child's academic growth and success. You and the team will assess several important areas; like functional auditory skills (performance through audition alone without any visual cues), speech production, language skills, reading, writing and other academic subjects.
Ongoing assessments provide a good idea of your child's progress. Although we are anxious to see progress, we all try to be careful not to test all the time; that wouldn't leave any time for learning! Every child has different strengths and individual needs. This is true for children who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Sometimes you can get discouraged when assessment doesn't show constant and exciting progress, but remember that
learning happens over time, not overnight. Children have a variety of ways to demonstrate success in school and this is not always demonstrated with perfect grades or perfect performance.
