Components of Special

Education and
Inclusive Education
I. CHILD FIND THROUGH A PRE-REFERRAL
PROCESS
Referral for evaluation and special education services begins by identifying
students who have additional needs and who may be at risk for develop mental
disabilities. School guidance counselors, early childhood teachers, primary school
teachers, and community based daycare workers are often the first to notice such
developmental delays in children. In other instances, the parents themselves notice the
delays and seek consultation with pediatricians and other specialists.

A. Pre-referral Process
A child no ted to have significant difficulties in relation to expected competencies
and develop mental milestones may be referred by parents and teachers for
observation and assessment. A team of professionals, known as a p re-referral team, is
comprised of special education teachers, counselors, administrators, and psychologists
who collaborate to determine reasons for the observed challenges (Hallahan et al. 201
4 ). They collaborate to find ways to meet the needs o f children with developmental
delays. Taylor(2009 ) provided an assessment model that begins with a p re- referral
process. Children with noted developmental delays and difficulties are identified
through observations and use of norm- and criterion referenced tests. T hey are not
immediately referred for special education testing but are first provided with the
necessary academic and behavioral sup p o rt needed to address no ted challenges. In
his assessment mo del, T aylo r (2009 ) explained that the initial step is to determine
teaching areas where a learner will benefit from additional support through a variety o
f means. Very young students who are at-risk or suspected to have additional needs
may also be identified through community-based screening. Child development and
social workers use developmental screening tools such as the Early Childhood Care
and Development (ECCD)Checklist that covers items expected for a child's typical
development.
Once a program of pre-referral intervention has been designed implementation
and evaluation follow to determine how effective it is in addressing the needs of the
child.

B. Pre-referral Strategies
Essential in a pre-referral intervention is the use of pre-referral strategies that are
designed to provide immediate instructional and/or behavior management support to a
child. Using such strategies lessens the number o f cases referred for special education
and makes efficient use of time and financial resources that could have been spent for
special education assessment (Heward 2013). T his will also lessen the tendency of
over referrals to special education and wasting time as children wait to be tested rather
than receive the instructional and behavioral support they need Examples of pre-
referral strategies are observation of the child's behavior, including interactions with
parents, teachers and peers interview of parents and teachers to gather more
information about the child: review of school records and analysis of the child's
academic output through error analysis, portfolio assessment, and criterion-referenced
and curriculum based assessment (Tavlor 2009 . Depending on the information
gathered corresponding changes can be made to manage the child's needs, such as
modification of the classroom environment (e.g., seating arrangement group change
and teacher's proximity in class) instructional support and relevant Classroom and
behavior management (Mcloughlin &Lewis 2009)

If despite provision of additional support, struggles and difficulties persist, then

the child is referred for assessment either within the school. if such services are
available, or referred to a professional for further assessment What is essential at this
point is that the teachers have implemented a variety of approaches and practices to
ensure that support is provided before formal assessment.

Carl's Pre-Referral Process

Ms. Reyes, a 3rd Grade teacher, has always been baffled by one of her students, Carl.
She has observed that Carl is very creative. He loves to draw and is quite good at it.
He is fluent and conversant in English and can create such imaginative stories. She
noted, however, that unlike his peers who can already read short stories for Grade 3
and write paragraphs well, Carl is still struggling at the word level. Although he can
create his own stories through oral narration, he can't seem to write them down
without having spelling errors. He gets very frustrated in such tasks that when he
needs to answer essay questions in a test. he just scribbles a word or two and stops
trying altogether.

Ms. Reyes, together with the other subject teachers and the Guidance Counselor,
discussed Carl's behavior and performance in terms o f his strengths, needs, and
strategies that have worked in the past. T hey have no ted that giving Him a list o f
high-frequency words and sight words has been helpful. They suggested to pair him
up with a classmate, who is an able reader to help him during writing tasks. They had
a meeting with his parents and informed them that he will be given supplementary
reading and writing practice worksheets to be answered at home to build automaticity
in reading. And finally, he was recommended to join an after-school English
remedial class to address his reading and spelling difficulties.

Ms. Reyes decided to refer Carl to the school's Guidance Team to determine reasons
to account for his difficulties. The team advised Ms. Reyes on what she needed to do
in the pre-referral process. Ms. Reyes collected his sample works across subject
areas, reviewed his rep o rt cards from the previous grade levels, and had a sit-down
meeting with the rest o f his teachers
II. ASSESSMENT
Assessment is the process o f collecting information about a child's strengths and
needs. It uses a problem-solving process that involves a systematic collection as well
as interpretation of data gathered (Salvia et al. 2013). Teachers and administrators
make instructional decisions based on the assessment results.

A. Assessment purposes
Assessment has variety of purpose in special and inclusive education. It begins
with initial identification that was explained in previous section in Child Find and the
pre-referral process. The results of an assessment are used to decide on a child’s
educational placement and to plan instructional programs for a child identified to have
additional needs. Progress monitoring and evaluation of teaching programs and
services is another, the purpose of which is to determine how effective programs are
to assist the inclusive teachers and the special education teachers (Giuliani &
Pierangelo 2012)

B. Methods of Assessment
Tests. School psychologists, educational diagnosticians, and other related
professionals use a variety of assessment tools to ensure that results are valid and
reliable. No rm-referenced tests are standardized assessment that compare a child's
performance with a representative sample of students of the same chronological age.
Such tests are rigorously made by a team Results are reported as percentile ranks and
age and grade equivalent scores which makes it easier for professionals to determine
class and individual performance. While such quantitative reporting makes it easier to
compare the test performance of children in a class, it has its limitations in terms of
use in instructional planning. Intelligence Tests (e.g., Wechsler Intelligence Scale for
Students and Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale) and Achievement Tests (Wide Range
Achievement Tests and Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement) are examples of
norm-referenced assessments.
On the other hand, criterion-referenced tests compare a child's performance based
on established standards and competencies and can be used to describe student
performance (Jennings et al. 2006 as cited in Spinelli 2012). Scores are typically
reported as simple numerical scores, percentage of correct responses, letter grades, or
graphic score reports. Such assessment data are mo re useful and relevant as these
provide specific skills a child has mastered and those that need additional instruction
(Gargiulo 2012)

Informal Assessment. Professionals also use informal or non-

standardized assessments, which are considered more authentic and thus
can be used primarily to describe performance and inform instruction. Such
assessments can be curriculum-based or performance-based, such as the
teacher-made instruments used in classrooms and portfolio assessments. For
example, the use of reading inventories where a teacher listens to a child
read while counting for accuracy and speed is an example of an informal
assessment.
 Authentic Assessment. The use of tests, whether formal or informal, is
only one method of assessment. There are other ways of assessing students
considered at-risk for developmental delays or have additional needs.One
that is highly recommended by professionals is the use of authentic
assessment methods and tools. Authentic assessments provide students the
opportunity to apply knowledge and skills in meaningful, real-world settings
(es. classroom. playground, etc.) rather than in an artificial and contrived
setting (Dennis al. 2013). Assessment tasks are more real-life are considered
more authentic.
An example of authentic assessment is observation of young students as
they interact with family members, peers, and objects in naturally occurring
activities across settings (e.g., home, school. playground, etc.), and routines.
During observations, teachers and specialists can use running records
which focuses on the occurrence of behaviors as they happen sequentially
Clay (2000 as cited in Dennis et al. 2013) identified essential information to
be included in a running record:

*Date and time of the observation

*Names of children involved
*Location of the incident
*Verbatim recording of what the children said
*Actual events that occurred

Anecdotal records contain shorter descriptions of incidents or anecdotes

that teachers and specialists can use to analyze a student's behavior and
plan strategies for a specific child or group of children. Other examples of
authentic assessment for young children are play-based assessment and
portfolio assessment.
The different assessment methods and tools used to assess Carl after the
pre-referral process are discussed in the following.
 Carl's Assessment
Despite the instructional support and after school remedial class, Carl continued to display difficulties
in reading, spelling, oral reading fluency.and written expression. Because such difficulties persisted,
Ms. Reyes and the team decided to refer him to a developmental pediatrician and a school
psychologist to conduct a psycho educational evaluation to determine theunderlying reasons for Carl's
literacy difficulties. The school psychologist used a battery of tests: intelligence and achievement tests
in reading, spelling, written expression, and math. He also interviewed Carl. his parents, and his
teachers to know about his interests, strengths, and views about himself, and gathered some of Carl's
school work. The school psychologist then analyzed the results and eventually diagnosed
him with a specific learning disability or dyslexia.

Carl's current grade level: Grade 3

IQ Average to High Average Level

Reading level Beginning Grade 1
Spelling Beginning Grade 1
Written expression Below Average
Reading Comprehension Beginning Grade 1
Listening Comprehension Grade 4
Math Average

Based on this clinical diagnosis, instructional decisions were made to deter-

mine the appropriate placement for Carl.

C. Assessment Principles
Assessment practices should be anchored on principles as provided by the
Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Student (DEC) (2014).
Child- and family-centered practices, a team-based approach, application of
individualized and appropriate process, and use of genuine and meaningful
communication that adhere to ethical and legal practices are the recommendations
provided by the DEC.
Thus, a variety of assessment methods and tools, use of authentic measures, as
well as involvement of the family are necessary to make decisions for placement and
instructional planning (DEC 2014).