ORCID

https://orcid.org/0009-0007-1341-4957

Date of Award

2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Psychology (Ph.D.)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Imad Zaheer

Second Advisor

Mark Terjesen

Third Advisor

Marlene Sotelo-Dynega

Abstract

School Psychologists are tasked with providing an array of evidence-based practices, though research has found that 50% of school psychologists’ time is spent in assessment (Benson et al., 2019). Although school psychologists are not solely making decisions based on assessment data, their evaluations are important and at the forefront of committee decisions within Special Education (Sullivan et al., 2019). Assessment plays a vital role in a struggling child’s educational track; therefore, it is imperative to consider what assessment practices and factors are informing crucial eligibilities and data-based decisions. A particularly challenging category within assessment in special education is determining ED. (Hanchon & Allen, 2013) As a result, school psychologists can risk making critical decisions about a student based on subjective data. Moreover, the definition has led to criticism in methods in which students are identified as ED as well as how to serve students in this population. There has been an increasing concern towards the disproportionately classified youth within ED and their outcomes (Chen, Symons, Reynolds, 2011). The current study reviewed the literature on assessment practices for ED and students' PAR-ED. Key concepts were created and coded as part of the systematic review; (1) EBA characteristics (which included Method and Tools, Processes and Procedures, and Key Concepts and Features), (2) School Based Assessment Characteristics, and (3) ED Assessment Characteristics, to determine hypothesis such as; what are commonly reported assessment practices (i,e., tools), challenges with ED assessment, and how well ED assessment covers EBA. The results indicated that behavior rating scales, observations, interviews, and testing were the most commonly reported assessment practices for ED. Within process and procedures, the search found that a multi-method/multi-trait approach was the most commonly recommended practice. Challenges within ED assessment include definitional challenges of ED. Little to no coverage was coded for key EBA concepts and features, due to a lack of relevant data within the articles reviewed. Overall, EBA’s practices, processes, and methods within school settings when evaluating ED/PAR-ED was mostly absent within this search, suggesting a major gap in the field and thus adding to the limited body of research on this topic.

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