This series is only for qualified Teachers of the Deaf.

Session 1: Principles of Assessment with Trudy Smith

This session will provide a reminder and discussion about the principles of assessment, particularly as they pertain to deaf and hard of hearing children and students. This session will cover assessment terms, variance and distribution of scores, and other topics related to using standardised assessment. A brief discussion will also cover the language features we need to be alert to for deaf and hard of hearing children and students.

Session 2: CELF-Pre with Alison Burdon

Participants will be introduced to the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals – Preschool, Third Edition (CELF-5). The webinar will cover preparation, administration, scoring and interpretation of the assessment tool. Participants will be supported to understand what the test assesses and its relationship to communication, why they might choose this assessment tool and how to set goals from this assessment.

Session 3: CELF-5 with Alison Burdon

Participants will be introduced to the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals – Fifth Edition (CELF-5), including preparation, administration, scoring and interpretation. Participants will be supported to understand what the test assesses and its relationship to communication, why they might choose this assessment tool and how to set goals from this assessment.

Session 4: YARC with Trudy Smith

Participants will be introduced to the York Assessment of Reading Comprehension which allows you to assess the reading comprehension skills of children ages 5 to 18 years. This session will introduce the assessment tools for the Early Years (1-4 tests), Primary Passage Reading and Secondary Passage Reading tests. Participants will be supported to understand what the test assesses and its relationship to communication, why they might choose this assessment tool and how to set goals from this assessment.

Session 5: CC2 and DiRT with Trudy Smith

Participants will be introduced to the Castles and Coltheart Test 2 (CC2) which assesses the functioning of the key processes in single word reading: sounding-out ability and whole word recognition ability. This tests assesses accuracy in reading aloud nonwords (nonsense words), such as /gop/. Whole word recognition ability involves accessing stored knowledge about familiar words, and is assessed by accuracy in reading aloud *irregular words*, such as /yacht/, which cannot be read correctly via sounding-out rules. The test also includes *regular words*, such as /cat/, which can be read correctly via either sounding-out or whole word recognition processes. The full test consists of 40 regular words, 40 irregular words and 40 nonwords, which are presented one-at-a-time, in mixed order, and with gradually increasing difficulty. The test has been normed on over 1000 Australian children aged from 6 years 0 months to 11 years 6 months. The on-line version of the test calculates a separate accuracy score for each item type and converts this to a "z score" for the child's age based on the normative data.

This session will also introduce the Diagnostic Reading Test for Nonwords (DiRT) which tests a person’s knowledge of letter-sound correspondences at the word level. The DiRT evaluates which letter-sound rules a person can apply when reading made-up words (nonwords). While the CC2 assesses whether a person has difficulties with reading nonwords in general, the DiRT assesses which particular letter-sound rules a person can apply at the word level. The DiRT is composed of 105 items (ie., nonwords) which assess the knowledge of over 60 letter-sound-rules. The reader reads the nonwords and the tester records the responses. A detailed analysis allows the tester to assess which of the 60 letter-sound-rules a person can apply in the reading of nonwords. This test is administered to individual students. At the end of the test, the tester gets an overview of which letter-sound rules the reader knows. The tester may then decide to train the rules that the reader does not know yet.

Participants will be supported to understand what the tests assesses and their relationship to communication, why they might choose this assessment tool and how to set goals from this assessment.

Session 6: PPVT-5 with Alison Burdon

Participants will be introduced to the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test – Fifth Edition (PPVT -V). The webinar will cover the practicalities of administering and scoring the test, how and when it might be used, and insights into interpretation. Participants will be supported to understand vocabulary in the context of language development with hearing loss, and to formulate goals following assessment.

This event addresses the following Standards from the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers: 1.Standard 1 (know the students and how they learn), Standard 4 (create and maintain supportive and safe learning environments), and Standard 6 (engage in professional learning). It fits within the Priority Area of Children/ Student with Disabilities. These events are evidence and research based.