School-Based OT Evaluations: Say Goodbye to Standardized Testing?
May 12, 2024
All year long referrals roll in for school-based occupational therapy evaluations. In some cases, OTs are deeply embedded in the referral process and know exactly what to assess upon receiving consent to test. In other cases, you simply receive an email with the go-ahead to start the evaluation and you’re left scratching your head trying to figure out why your services were requested.
Regardless of what triggered the referral, you likely have a go-to process for evaluation and some regular activities and tools to draw from. Chances are that standardized testing is a part of that process.
School-Based OT Evaluations With The Educational Model In Mind
The school-based OT evaluation is a critical part of our role in schools. Under an educational model, we are not evaluating simply to look at deficits to remediate. Rather, the OT evaluation should be carefully crafted to help the team identify a student's strengths, occupational performance related to school routines, and individual factors related to school-relevant tasks.
The educational model separates school-based practice from other practice settings. Yes, we want to understand and consider a child’s underlying skills related to fine motor, visual motor, and sensory skills, but even more than other settings we are obligated to always consider the functional expectations and outcomes within the school setting.
Meaningful Information To Include In School-Based Evaluations
Remembering that our role as school-based OTPs is to facilitate a student’s ability to access and participate in their school routines and academic curriculum, we are essentially evaluating if a student has educationally relevant needs that require specialized intervention from an OTP.
An occupational profile is a necessary part of our evaluation. It’s important to consider information not only from the students themselves, but also from their caregivers and teachers. Both observations in the natural context and structured observation should be included to ensure that we are fully identifying areas that may impact functional performance and access.
We cannot adequately speak to if a student requires our specialized support in schools if we do not have a clear understanding of what is expected of the student in their day.
So, What About Standardized Testing?
Standardized assessments do have their place in school-based evaluations, but aren’t always needed. Some districts may recommend or require a standardized component as part of your evaluation, but many do not.
It is not federally required to include standardized testing to determine the need for school-based occupational therapy services.
Ask yourself what a standardized assessment tool would bring to your evaluation. Will using a standardized tool such as the Sensory Processing Measure (2nd Edition) help you better understand the student’s sensory needs? Perhaps the Developmental Tool of Visual Perception (3rd edition) will help you more accurately discern areas of difficulty and strengths the student has in regard to their visual perceptual skills.
If you are simply including a standardized assessment just because you’re used to doing it or feel like you should, stop and consider the implications. Engaging in standardized tools typically requires pulling the student out of their natural school routines. It can be stressful, and is typically not enjoyable for the student. Yes, there are times when it is needed but we must ensure we are moving forward with standardized testing only when it is in the student’s best interest.
Freedom To Choose The Best OT Assessment Tools
Hopefully you can find some freedom in understanding that standardized testing may not be required (please always check for rules and expectations specific to your district). You may feel some pressure to include standardized tools, especially if it is something you’ve always done before.
I challenge you to be intentional as you select methods of evaluation and carefully question why you would (or wouldn’t) use a standardized tool. You may find that your evaluations become more powerful, and you and your students just might enjoy it more!
Unsure of your scope of practice in the school system? Check out my earlier blog post Understanding the Scope of OT in Schools!
Written by: Jennifer Huff, OTR