The Special Educator′s Guide to Assessment: A Comprehensive Overview by Idea Disability Category

Special education students often learn about the characteristics of disabilities, but can lack an understanding of the relationship between diagnostic assessment and eligibility for special education services. The Special Educator′s Guide to Assessment: A Comprehensive Overview by IDEA Disability Category focuses on the role that assessment plays in the diagnosis of a disability, determination of eligibility for special education services, and education of students with disabilities to provide a meaningful interconnection between assessment concepts and classroom application for teachers. Authors Tara S. Guerriero, Mary A. Houser, and Vicki A. McGinley want to ensure that future special education teachers have the preparation to provide comprehensive instruction to P-12 students through this text.

While special education teachers are often not the ones conducting comprehensive evaluations, it is paramount that they understand their students' individual characteristics, and understand how assessment is used to determine diagnosis and eligibility. Framing the text around The Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) provides students with concrete standards by which all disabilities are evaluated and regulated in our public educational system.

Part I introduces the basic topics of assessment, ethics, and assessment types. Part II moves on to provide diagnostic and eligibility criteria according to IDEA categories that are most commonly diagnosed in an educational setting while Part III describes the criteria for IDEA categories most commonly diagnosed in a medical setting. Features like case studies and sample comprehensive evaluations help bring to life assessment and how it applies in real classrooms.

Dr. Tara S. Guerriero attended Northwestern University where she received a B.S. in Speech, an M.A. in Learning Disabilities, and a Ph.D. in Learning Disabilities, with a concentration in Cognitive Neuroscience. She is an associate professor in the Department of Special Education at West Chester University of Pennsylvania and currently serves as the Faculty Special Assistant to the Dean for Assessment and Accreditation. She teaches at the graduate and undergraduate level in the areas of foundations of Special Education, assessment, curriculum and instruction/methodology, family systems, and communication/language development and assistive technology. Dr. Guerriero was previously a clinician and supervisor in a learning clinic that focused on both the assessment and diagnosis of learning disabilities as well as the remediation of learning disabilities. Her research interests include assessment of learning disabilities, inclusive practices associated with special education, and both assessment and teaching within the areas of mathematics and reading in the field of learning disabilities.

Dr. Mary A. Houser received a BFA in Related Arts from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, an MAT in Special Education from The College of New Jersey, and an EdD in Educational Leadership from Fayetteville State University. She is currently an associate professor in the Department of Special Education at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. She teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses in foundations of special education, behavior management, autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), language development, and family systems. Dr. Houser has also taught graduate special education courses for Walden University where she served as a graduate special education curriculum developer and assessor. In addition, she has taught graduate special education courses and supervised pre-service teachers for Campbell University (NC). Dr. Houser has worked as a learning disabilities specialist and has taught high school special education in both inclusive and self-contained settings to children with various disabilities. Her research interests include families of students with autism spectrum disorders and improving parent-teacher relationships for students with disabilities.

Dr. Vicki A. McGinley, professor, is a faculty member at West Chester University of PA in the Special Education Department. She has taught both undergraduate and graduate courses in foundations, communication and behavioral disorders, action research, family systems, and legal issues. She has served in two states as a due process hearing officer and serves as a university fact finder as well as state mediator. Presently, her service and research focuses on trauma informed education, international special education and working directly with children and teachers in schools. She was recently awarded a research and teaching Fulbright Scholarship to work in Eastern Europe. Her publications reflect her teaching and service work.