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The Nonverbal Assessment of Academic Skills

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Handbook of Nonverbal Assessment

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Abstract

In the first version (of this chapter), which appeared in McCallum (2003), the discussion of nonverbal assessment of academic skills began with an overview of academic skill areas commonly assessed in educational settings (see Frisby 2003, followed by a discussion of the three conditions in which the nonverbal assessment of academic skills is most likely to occur with high frequency. In the first condition, instead of an examiner orally giving directions that require a verbal or behavioral response from the examinee, a respondent (parent, teacher, or other caregiver) observes and records the presence of naturally occurring academic skill behaviors (which may or may not be displayed verbally) by an examinee (e.g., as in tests of adaptive behavior). In the second condition, examinees with disabling conditions that involve severe speech and physical impairments (such as cerebral palsy) are unable to speak or write intelligibly due to a variety of neurological, physical, emotional, and/or cognitive limitations. These individuals need assistive technology (AT) to demonstrate what they know and can do. In the third condition, individuals with some degree of hearing loss may require test instructions to be read directly from print, which are administered by means of a nonverbal sign language. In turn, examinee responses are given either in writing of by nonverbal sign language. Compared to the first previous version of this chapter, this chapter focuses with greater detail on this third condition—i.e., the application of nonverbal assessment issues and practices involving individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing (HOH).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Missouri, 5A Hill Hall, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA

    Craig L. Frisby

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  1. Craig L. Frisby
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Correspondence to Craig L. Frisby .

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  1. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA

    R. Steve McCallum

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Frisby, C.L. (2017). The Nonverbal Assessment of Academic Skills. In: McCallum, R. (eds) Handbook of Nonverbal Assessment. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50604-3_15

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