The Assessment Process of Learning Difficulties: Designing a Non-Standardized Assessment Test for Adolescents

Abstract

This article presents the process of the assessment and a non-standardized test which was designed by special teachers working at a Public Centre for Diagnosis of Adolescents' Learning Difficulties in Greece. This diagnostic test for learning difficulties (DΤLD) is based on the Greek curriculum and aims at identifying the student's cognitive and learning deficiencies by assessing their cognition in listening, speaking, reading, spelling, writing and maths. We use it to determine the type of learning difficulties in combination with standardized tests. We take the results of the assessment test (DΤLD) into account in conjunction with the reports from the school teachers, speech therapists, psychologists, social workers and psychiatrists to clearly understand adolescents’ deficiencies. Furthermore, questionnaires and interviews are applied to parents and adolescents in order to help experts to understand students’ educational profile, which is substantial to the assessment. As a result, the above procedure assists diagnostic evaluation and reveals the cognitive and socio-emotional profile of each student, which can then be used by the multidisciplinary team to propose the structure of the appropriate educational program and interventional techniques. Moreover, the test axes are designed by the authors based on learning difficulties literature so the assessment test (DΤLD) can be used by school teachers to identify adolescents’ deficiencies and to create early and tailor-made interventions depending on the particular needs and educational deficiencies of each student.

Keywords: assessment, learning difficulties, assessment test

DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-20-01

Publication date:July 31^st 2020