Team Assessment Process
For the most part, children who will benefit from an Active Learning approach are served by a multitude of individuals in any given year. Usually the team includes a classroom teacher, paraprofessionals, physical, occupational, or speech/language therapists, teacher of students with visual impairments, teacher of the deaf and hard of hearing, orientation and mobility specialists, family members, and administrators. Each of these individuals has a role and possesses expertise crucial to the success of the student. Therefore all the players need to be a part of assessment, implementation, documentation and re-evaluation steps.
When completing the Functional Scheme assessment one approach is to divide and conquer.
- Some teams find it useful to have pairs of team members work together initially on specific “fields” (e.g. Gross Movement) of the assessment.
- Their results is shared with all other team members to reach consensus about the child’s functional level in each field of assessment.
- Then the entire assessment is reviewed with the parents or caregivers to determine if the child functions differently in the home environment.
It Takes a Team!
Below is a chart showing possible “lead pairs” for completing the various fields of the Functional Scheme. These are only suggestions, and each educational team should determine who best to involve in initially completing this document. Also, before finalizing the assessment, all team members (including parents and paraprofessionals) should have input.
Key to Lead Abbreviations:
- COMS (orientation and mobility specialist)
- OT (occupational therapist)
- PT (physical therapist)
- SLP (speech and language pathologist or therapist)
- TDHH ( teacher of the deaf and hard of hearing)
- TVI (teacher of students with visual impairments)
|
Functional Scheme Fields |
Possible Lead(s) to Complete |
|
Gross motor |
PT/ COMS |
|
Fine motor |
OT/ TVI |
|
Mouth movements |
OT/ SLP |
|
Visual perception |
TVI / COMS |
|
Auditory perception |
TDHH/ SLP / TVI |
|
Haptic-tactile perception |
OT/ TVI |
|
Smell & taste |
OT / TVI |
|
Spatial Relations |
TVI / COMS |
|
Emotional Perception |
Classroom Teacher/ Paraprofessional / Parents |
|
Object Perception |
TVI / Classroom Teacher |
|
Language: Non-verbal |
SLP / TDHH / TVI |
|
Language: Verbal |
SLP / TDHH / TVI |
|
Comprehension of language |
SLP / TDHH / TVI |
|
Social Perception |
Classroom Teacher / Paraprofessional / Parents |
|
Perception thru play & activity |
PT / OT |
|
Developmentally impeding functions |
Classroom Teacher / Parents |
|
Toileting skills |
Classroom Teacher / Paraprofessional / Parents |
|
Undressing & dressing |
OT / Classroom Teacher |
|
Personal hygiene |
Classroom Teacher / Paraprofessional / Parents |
|
Eating skills |
OT / Classroom Teacher / Paraprofessional |