Summary literature
Week 1 Lecture
Article 1: Assessment for Intervention: a practice-based model
This paper presents an assessment model for addressing children’s
special educational needs: Assessment for Intervention (AFI) or Needs
Based Assessment (NBA) .
Introduction:
- The aim of AFI is to yield recommendations: how can we improve a
problematic situation and achieve certain goals? In practice there
often is a gap between diagnostic information on the one hand and
useful recommendations on the other. AFI aspires to bridge this gap.
– Decision-making process with stages.
- AFI is functional when the questions concern both an understanding
of a problematic situation (diagnosis) and recommendations on how
to alleviate or solve this situation (intervention).
- Analysing the learning and behaviour problems in the context of the
classroom -> looking for possible explanations -> generating
hypotheses with theoretical and scientifical knowledge -> test it
with valid instruments
o This process is goal directed; it targets relevant risk and
protective factors (or weaknesses and strengths) within the
child, the educational environment and the home
environment.
- Assessment process (generating and testing hypotheses, integration
of information, decision making) assessment methods – AFI focuses
on process.
Recent developments in assessment:
1. Assessment only works if it contributes to teacher instruction and
student learning.
a. Assessment for Improvement -> results in an improvement of
the instructional environment and is in the best interest of the
student involved.
b. Essential for one, beneficial for all; the extra support for
students with special needs is often also beneficial for other
students.
2. Assessment should focus more on the needs of the student than on his disorders.
3. Assessment should focus on solutions and empowerment of clients.
4. Increasing the therapeutic value of assessment makes it more functional.
a. During the assessment process changes occur in the client’s
awareness and understanding of the problem and their
motivation for change
, 5. Regardless of their age, hildren should participate in the assessment
process, according to the International Convention on the Rights of
Children (1990).
6. The assessment process must be as evidence-based as possible.
a. Scientifically based knowledge child development and learning,
effective teaching and ‘good’ parenting.
b. Reliable and valid research tools that have clinical relevance (ecological
validity).
c. Sound decision making to formulate and test hypotheses, to integrate
information into a case formulation and to transform this into SMARTI goals
and effective interventions.
How evidence-based is AFI? It applies 5 guidelines:
1. Utilise recent scientific knowledge when generating hypotheses. In
testing these hypotheses, preferably use instruments that are
adequately reliable and (ecologically) valid and adhere to the most
recent norms and standards.
2. Remain alert to blind spots and avoid pitfalls in decision making,
such as tunnel vision, by seeking alternative hypotheses.
3. When recommending an intervention, use its proven effectiveness
as a strong argument.
4. Invest in ‘generally effective mechanisms’, such as professional
cooperation with clients and conversation skills. Include clients’
personal views, convictions, preferences and values in the decision-
making. Recognise that you are not ‘value-free’ and be aware of the
impact of your preferences on the decisions you make.
5. ‘Investigate, comprehend and decide’, reflect on the assessment
process and its outcomes. Solicit feedback from clients and use this
feedback to improve your assessment.
Article 2: The 7 principles of AFI
1) Goal directed and functional assessment
- AFI’s ultimate goal is to produce effective interventions.
- A successful and workable recommendation requires not only
knowledge of effective interventions, it also requires consultation
with clients: how does a certain approach fit into their daily work?;
what do they already do according to this approach and what can be
done better?
- This means that only functional information is collected; need to
know.
o If we know… then the intervention...
- Assessment is part of a change-oriented cycle of investigation, case
formulation, intervention and evaluation.
,- AFI aims at improving a problematic situation. It focuses on
variables that can be changed, and if needed translated into
intervention-goals.
Which factors can be changed?
- Factors of the child
- Factors in the instructional environment (teacher)
- Parental factors
o Parental involvement in de education of their child
o Parental supervision
o Parental expectations
2) Transactional perspective (a contextual approach)
- Children develop through a continuous interaction with their
instructional and home environments. These interactions are
transactional: children evoke reactions from their teachers, fellow
students, parents, siblings and friends and thereby also indirectly
influence themselves.
- Child and context influence each other; reciprocal influences.
- The development of a problematic situation is related to risk factors
in the child and in the social environment (Braet et. al., 201 4).
3) Special needs of the child
- AFI focuses on the student’s needs related to education and
parenting; from what the student has or is to what the student
needs.
- Parental behaviour can either advance or hinder academic
achievement, behaviour and wellbeing at school. Therefore, the
school-psychologist also focuses on the support the child needs at
home.
4) Support needs of teachers and parents
- Small part of academic achievement determined by school (most of it teachers), big
part by home environment.
- Effective teachers do not treat all students the same, they
intentionally use different approaches with different students
(Marzano, 2011). By proactively supporting students, a competent
teacher is able to prevent learning and behaviour problems. Such
, teachers have strong pedagogical-didactic competencies. Moreover,
a positive teacher-student relationship is a key to success.
- AFI focuses not only on teachers’ skills but also on their relationship
with a particular student.
- As AFI investigates the impact teachers and parents (could) have on
the learning of children, it focuses on their support needs: what do
they need to adjust their approach to the needs of this child?
5) Protective factors and strengths
- Every child, no matter how severe the problems, displays positive
aspects. These can compensate for shortcomings in other areas.
- AFI wonders: which are possible protective factors for this student,
this teacher, this class, this school and these parents? Can we
reinforce these factors and utilise them in the intervention?
- explicitly stating the positive aspects is encouraging.
- A balanced overview of risk factors, protective factors and the
interaction between them produces an ecologically valid case
formulation.
- School-psychologists, children, teachers and parents formulate more
ambitious goals when they involve their positive aspects.
- positive aspects can be translated into the student’s educational
and parenting needs and the support needs of his teachers and
parents
6) Collaborative partnerships
- Assessors cooperate with students, teachers, counsellors and
parents when searching for explanations and formulating goals and
needs. This is an essential feature of professional practice and a key
condition for ecologically valid assessment and effective
recommendations (Carr, 2014)
- The insights and solutions of the child, teacher and parents are just
as valuable as those of the school-psychologist.
Roles and responsibilities:
- Students are co-investigators.
- Teachers and school-counsellors are educational professionals. – responsible for
decisions about teaching and additional in-school support.
- Parents are experts through experience.
- School-psychologists are scientist-practitioners and responsible for the assessment.
Meta- communication:
It requires an assessor with a professional attitude of warmth, empathy,
sincerity and respect. Furthermore, communication skills are needed, such
Week 1 Lecture
Article 1: Assessment for Intervention: a practice-based model
This paper presents an assessment model for addressing children’s
special educational needs: Assessment for Intervention (AFI) or Needs
Based Assessment (NBA) .
Introduction:
- The aim of AFI is to yield recommendations: how can we improve a
problematic situation and achieve certain goals? In practice there
often is a gap between diagnostic information on the one hand and
useful recommendations on the other. AFI aspires to bridge this gap.
– Decision-making process with stages.
- AFI is functional when the questions concern both an understanding
of a problematic situation (diagnosis) and recommendations on how
to alleviate or solve this situation (intervention).
- Analysing the learning and behaviour problems in the context of the
classroom -> looking for possible explanations -> generating
hypotheses with theoretical and scientifical knowledge -> test it
with valid instruments
o This process is goal directed; it targets relevant risk and
protective factors (or weaknesses and strengths) within the
child, the educational environment and the home
environment.
- Assessment process (generating and testing hypotheses, integration
of information, decision making) assessment methods – AFI focuses
on process.
Recent developments in assessment:
1. Assessment only works if it contributes to teacher instruction and
student learning.
a. Assessment for Improvement -> results in an improvement of
the instructional environment and is in the best interest of the
student involved.
b. Essential for one, beneficial for all; the extra support for
students with special needs is often also beneficial for other
students.
2. Assessment should focus more on the needs of the student than on his disorders.
3. Assessment should focus on solutions and empowerment of clients.
4. Increasing the therapeutic value of assessment makes it more functional.
a. During the assessment process changes occur in the client’s
awareness and understanding of the problem and their
motivation for change
, 5. Regardless of their age, hildren should participate in the assessment
process, according to the International Convention on the Rights of
Children (1990).
6. The assessment process must be as evidence-based as possible.
a. Scientifically based knowledge child development and learning,
effective teaching and ‘good’ parenting.
b. Reliable and valid research tools that have clinical relevance (ecological
validity).
c. Sound decision making to formulate and test hypotheses, to integrate
information into a case formulation and to transform this into SMARTI goals
and effective interventions.
How evidence-based is AFI? It applies 5 guidelines:
1. Utilise recent scientific knowledge when generating hypotheses. In
testing these hypotheses, preferably use instruments that are
adequately reliable and (ecologically) valid and adhere to the most
recent norms and standards.
2. Remain alert to blind spots and avoid pitfalls in decision making,
such as tunnel vision, by seeking alternative hypotheses.
3. When recommending an intervention, use its proven effectiveness
as a strong argument.
4. Invest in ‘generally effective mechanisms’, such as professional
cooperation with clients and conversation skills. Include clients’
personal views, convictions, preferences and values in the decision-
making. Recognise that you are not ‘value-free’ and be aware of the
impact of your preferences on the decisions you make.
5. ‘Investigate, comprehend and decide’, reflect on the assessment
process and its outcomes. Solicit feedback from clients and use this
feedback to improve your assessment.
Article 2: The 7 principles of AFI
1) Goal directed and functional assessment
- AFI’s ultimate goal is to produce effective interventions.
- A successful and workable recommendation requires not only
knowledge of effective interventions, it also requires consultation
with clients: how does a certain approach fit into their daily work?;
what do they already do according to this approach and what can be
done better?
- This means that only functional information is collected; need to
know.
o If we know… then the intervention...
- Assessment is part of a change-oriented cycle of investigation, case
formulation, intervention and evaluation.
,- AFI aims at improving a problematic situation. It focuses on
variables that can be changed, and if needed translated into
intervention-goals.
Which factors can be changed?
- Factors of the child
- Factors in the instructional environment (teacher)
- Parental factors
o Parental involvement in de education of their child
o Parental supervision
o Parental expectations
2) Transactional perspective (a contextual approach)
- Children develop through a continuous interaction with their
instructional and home environments. These interactions are
transactional: children evoke reactions from their teachers, fellow
students, parents, siblings and friends and thereby also indirectly
influence themselves.
- Child and context influence each other; reciprocal influences.
- The development of a problematic situation is related to risk factors
in the child and in the social environment (Braet et. al., 201 4).
3) Special needs of the child
- AFI focuses on the student’s needs related to education and
parenting; from what the student has or is to what the student
needs.
- Parental behaviour can either advance or hinder academic
achievement, behaviour and wellbeing at school. Therefore, the
school-psychologist also focuses on the support the child needs at
home.
4) Support needs of teachers and parents
- Small part of academic achievement determined by school (most of it teachers), big
part by home environment.
- Effective teachers do not treat all students the same, they
intentionally use different approaches with different students
(Marzano, 2011). By proactively supporting students, a competent
teacher is able to prevent learning and behaviour problems. Such
, teachers have strong pedagogical-didactic competencies. Moreover,
a positive teacher-student relationship is a key to success.
- AFI focuses not only on teachers’ skills but also on their relationship
with a particular student.
- As AFI investigates the impact teachers and parents (could) have on
the learning of children, it focuses on their support needs: what do
they need to adjust their approach to the needs of this child?
5) Protective factors and strengths
- Every child, no matter how severe the problems, displays positive
aspects. These can compensate for shortcomings in other areas.
- AFI wonders: which are possible protective factors for this student,
this teacher, this class, this school and these parents? Can we
reinforce these factors and utilise them in the intervention?
- explicitly stating the positive aspects is encouraging.
- A balanced overview of risk factors, protective factors and the
interaction between them produces an ecologically valid case
formulation.
- School-psychologists, children, teachers and parents formulate more
ambitious goals when they involve their positive aspects.
- positive aspects can be translated into the student’s educational
and parenting needs and the support needs of his teachers and
parents
6) Collaborative partnerships
- Assessors cooperate with students, teachers, counsellors and
parents when searching for explanations and formulating goals and
needs. This is an essential feature of professional practice and a key
condition for ecologically valid assessment and effective
recommendations (Carr, 2014)
- The insights and solutions of the child, teacher and parents are just
as valuable as those of the school-psychologist.
Roles and responsibilities:
- Students are co-investigators.
- Teachers and school-counsellors are educational professionals. – responsible for
decisions about teaching and additional in-school support.
- Parents are experts through experience.
- School-psychologists are scientist-practitioners and responsible for the assessment.
Meta- communication:
It requires an assessor with a professional attitude of warmth, empathy,
sincerity and respect. Furthermore, communication skills are needed, such
