According to Dr. Bronfenbrenner, ecological assessment engages stakeholders to identify student performance challenges and assist in their analysis. As a first step, in-depth interviews of parents, classroom staff, paraprofessionals, physical education teachers, and anyone involved in the student’s educational sphere can provide qualitative information about the student’s performance. As therapists, we often approach a student with a diagnostic mindset rather than a classroom performance mindset. Interviews can redirect our thinking toward a more participatory mindset, provide a starting point for our clinical observation, and begin to create our hypotheses about performance.
The next step is observation in contexts of concern. We observe what the student is expected to do and what his or her peers do. We observe the dynamics of the classroom staff within those contexts and with the student. These observations can determine the influence of the learning environment on the student’s performance and social interactions within that environment. “In the educational environment, participation includes the student’s attendance, active participation, commitment, and sense of belonging to school activities or routines.”1
The use of an ecological assessment allows the team to make comprehensive decisions regarding accommodations, modifications, and/or appropriate adaptive equipment that can facilitate student participation. “Ecological assessment is a useful strategy for determining environmental demands and student skill discrepancies; These skill discrepancies could be addressed with specific measures. Supplementary aids and services (SaS)”.2 SaS are key elements for students to remain in their least restrictive learning environment (LRE), as required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 2004.
The results of the Ecological Assessment could point to other tools aligned with student performance. Using another tool can augment our overall student assessment and support data collection and outcome measurement. The assessment could also point us in the direction of creating goals based on engagement with our teams. “Given that school therapy services are intended to help students participate in and benefit from their educational program, (IDEA, 2004) student goals that address participation in the context of school activities and routines (hereinafter referred to as goals participation-based student learning) are closely aligned with this intention.”3
As the 2021-2022 school year progresses, using an ecological approach to assessing your students will help you meet your responsibilities as a provider of related services: “developmental, remedial, and other support services necessary to help a child with a disability.” benefit from special education” (IDEA 2004, Section 300.34). Developmental activities and routines must be aligned with developmental expectations appropriate for the student’s age and grade. Corrective and other supportive services must be provided using the expertise of the related service provider, in order to mitigate barriers to access to special education for a student with disabilities. This fulfills IDEA’s overall mandate to prepare students for college and career, using educationally relevant “real-life” activities and experiences within the learning environment to develop the content of the Individualized Education Plan (IEP) and student success.
See Part 1: The “why” of ecological assessment and Part 2: The “what” of ecological assessment.
