Most testing for IEPs involves standardized testing. As I wrote in a previous post, this is important testing but is not sufficient. A major focus of special education is to make the general education accessible as possible. Hence, curriculum based testing is an important complement to the standardized based testing. For example, the KeyMath3 assessment will speak to problem solving or geometry but those are broad categories. If I am working with a 3rd or 4th grade student, I would be interested in the student’s level of mastery in computing the perimeter of a rectangle.
Also, math is very different than reading because math has a variety of categories of math, aka domains. A student testing at a 4th grade level in math does not reveal much information, as I explain in this previous post.
When I conduct evaluations or assessments, I go to the Common Core Standards and assess each with curriculum based problems, see below. The photo shows my planning document and then I transfer the problems to a student handout for the student to complete.
