CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGISTS
RESOURCE PAPER
August 15, 2020 5
systems required to do RtI with fidelity for this fall; however, these systems take
much time to implement. Most school districts have backlogged assessments and
assessments due within the first semester of school. It would be unreasonable and
illegal to put off assessments to wait until RtI practices are put into place.
Assessment
Some school districts are providing in-person instruction to students while other districts are
providing distance learning and still others are providing a hybrid. In addition to knowing
how instruction will be delivered, it is important to determine the school district’s current
policies on in-person testing and/or virtual assessments for special education consideration.
Some schools, even though they are providing 100% distance learning, are allowing in-
person assessments through “appointments.”
As with best practice in assessment pre-COVID, data collection should encompass all
available data sources and not just from tests in order to draw the defensible conclusions
about student strengths and potential disabilities. With COVID restrictions in place where
test data might not be available or have questionable validity with modified administration
procedures, data from extensive record review and carefully structured interviews will be
vital to obtain. Some general guidance related to data gathering from records, interviews,
and observations is as follows:
● An extensive review of records can yield useful data about the student’s previous and
current functioning levels (e.g. as comparison). Electronic school records should be
readily available for review which can identify the student’s functioning prior to
school closure and can establish if the student’s difficulties are “chronic” in nature
and/or establish the rate of growth. More current records since school closure,
including student grades and written assignments along with teacher notes regarding
participation in online instruction, will yield insights about student performance and
quality of thinking abilities. Reviewing records from outside service providers, if any,
will also help to determine performance and/or progress and identify the amount and
type of intervention as well as reveal the student’s response to these interventions.
● Interview as a source of data during COVID restrictions should be formal and
structured (e.g., use an interview guide or a published instrument) in order to gain
the best insights from informed respondents such as teachers, parents, and/or
caretakers. Questions should be tailored to the “assessment questions” to be
answered about the student. For example, if it is an initial SPED assessment,
questions should be directed (or instrument selected) to seek evidence of difficulties
that reflect a psychological process deficit or adaptive behavior or social-emotional
behaviors, etc. With older students, interviewing them could identify useful