"The National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities (NJCLD) strongly supports comprehensive assessment and evaluation of students with learning disabilities by a multidisciplinary team for the identification and diagnosis of students with learning disabilities. Comprehensive assessment of individual students requires the use of multiple data sources. These sources may include standardized tests, informal measures, observations, student self-reports, parent reports, and progress monitoring data from response-to-intervention (RTI) approaches (NJCLD, 2005). Reliance on any single criterion for assessment or evaluation is not comprehensive, nor is a group assessment, such as universal screening or statewide academic assessment tests, sufficient for comprehensive assessment or evaluation.
This paper is intended to inform administrators, educators, parents, and others concerned about the effective identification and education of students with learning disabilities about the components, processes, and participants necessary for comprehensive assessment and evaluation, as well as optimal practices that should further enhance the education of students with learning
disabilities. The NJCLD has long recognized that inappropriate assessment and evaluation practices may result in questionable incidence rates for learning disabilities." (p.3)
This paper differentiates between assessment ("the collection of data through the use of multiple measures, including standardized and informal instruments and procedures") and evaluation ("the process of integrating, interpreting, and summarizing the comprehensive assessment data, including indirect and preexisting sources"), explaining that the goal of the two together is to "enable team members to use data to create a profile of a student's strengths and needs." (p.4)
The paper reviews relevant research before turning to guiding principles and the traits of effective instruments and procedures for assessment and evaluation. The paper closes with recommendations for research, professional development, families/advocates, and administration/leadership.