ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION IN SPECIAL EDUCATION Essay - 1

ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION IN SPECIAL EDUCATION - Essay Example Everyone is not born similar. Different children have different learning patterns. Some children learn better through demonstration and diagrams, some learn better by doing things themselves while others learn just by grasping things quickly. Children with different learning abilities respond differently to what they are taught in schools. The purpose of the assessment is to help children with learning difficulty to understand their natural learning pattern and to design and create special and nurturing learning environment for them so that they find learning easy and productive. Richard and Schiefelbusch (1991) described assessment as â€Å"a multilevel process, beginning with screening procedures and continuing through diagnosis, planning of intervention, and program monitoring and evaluation† (Gargiulo & Kilgo, 2005, p.90). The assessment of a child is done with a purpose of knowing his abilities, his inherent qualities, his strengths and the areas where he faces difficulties. Assessment should not only aim at knowing why the child is finding it difficult to learn but also to provide a plan to cure his difficulties. The purpose of assessment is to help the child, his parents and his teachers to work together and create a positive environment which caters to his special needs and hence, make the process of learning easy and fun for him. This not only enhances the learning ability but also helps in encouraging the child to come out with his hidden abilities which were somehow suppressed till now because of the lack of the compatible environmental fac tors. However, purpose of the assessment is not being fulfilled as it ignores the importance of the external