Skills Assessment
Also called: skill assessment, criterion-referenced assessment, curriculum-based assessment
Definition
An evaluation of what a person can currently do across areas such as communication, social, self-care, play and academic skills, usually against a fixed set of criteria rather than against other people. Direct testing and observation are preferred over informant report. The results identify skills to teach and the order to teach them in.
In plain language
Finding out which skills a person already has and which they still need. It is used to choose what to teach next.
Example
A learner is asked to complete a series of matching, imitation and requesting tasks, and the first missing skills become teaching targets.
Not skills assessment
Assessing why a learner hits. That is a functional assessment, about problem behavior rather than skills.
See also
Written from
- johnston-pennypacker-2020
Written from general assessment practice and Johnston, Pennypacker and Green (2020) on criterion-referenced measurement. No textbook glossary consulted.
This entry has not yet been through clinical review. Treat it as a draft.