Evaluation of the Cooper Screening Tool

Practitioner perspective:

• The tool was easy to score and interpret, the results gave me a better understanding of learner needs
• It was not easy to administer with the learners due to the length
• I plan to use the whole tool as part of the initial assessment and may use parts of the tool for ongoing assessment (reading list, math skills and vocabulary)

Learners' perspective:

• Many of the questions were difficult to understand and the time to complete the screening tool was too long
• The results my instructor shared with me were easy to understand and they will help me understand how to learn better

Writing and reading samples: what they can tell us

Writing Samples

Involvement of the learner

Reviewing writing samples to help understand a learner's strengths and weaknesses and patterns of errors must be a joint process involving both the learner and practitioner. In addition, a number of writing samples in different contexts should be assessed to identify any patterns and consistency of strengths and weaknesses.

Stephen L. Isaacson in "Simple Ways to Assess the Writing Skills of Students with Learning Disabilities" (1996) states that having learners assess their own writing is important for two reasons: