Availability and Usefulness of Assessment Information for Emotionally Disturbed/ Behaviorally Disordered Students: A Replication

Abstract

The replication of a 1980 study of special education teachers' reports of availability and their judgments of usefulness of several types of assessment information is presented. Data from this study are reported and compared with those from the earlier study. Patterns of the relative availability and of the ratings of usefulness of most types of information were similar in the two studies. In both, several "more useful" types of information were less available than some "less useful" information. However, progress appears to have occurred, with most types of assessment information as available as or more available than in 1980. Notable increases in availability were found for some types of assessment information, such as formal behavior observation data, that teachers consider educationally relevant. Interpretations and implications of these trends are discussed in the context of those who are responsible for assessment of emotionally disturbed/behaviorally disordered students.

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