Assessment in Special and Inclusive Education

Assessment is a process of collecting information for the purpose of making decisions about individuals. It is this decision-making feature that has led to decades of controversy about assessment in special and inclusive education, especially when school personnel use assessment information to make decisions about students from diverse ethnic, multicultural, and language groups. This entry describes the kinds of decisions school personnel make using assessment information, the most important factors to take into account when using assessment information with diverse populations, and recent promising developments in assessment in special and inclusive education. Throughout this discussion, it is important to remember that special education is a set of services rather than a place, and that students are educated in many settings ranging from the most restrictive ...