All schools have the primary goal of educating students. All group and individual
services for learners are focused on allowing maximum benefit of instruction in as many academic areas as possible. While some special education students are able to access only small amounts of the general education subject material, other students are able to progress through the majority of grade-level content. hile often not conceptualized as
"functional" skills, the acquisition of common academic skills (e.g-, knowing the names
of letters, saying the alphabet) and concepts are essential for a student to participate in a
wide range of educational opportunities and social activities. When reading fluency and
comprehension, spelling, math, and other core academics are mastered, the learner will be
able to more fully participate successfully in a larger variety of activities, and provide the
learner with access to a greater number of potential friends. Academic skills facilitate the
participation in social clubs, extracurricular activities, and vocational programs that provide the learner with numerous life-changing opportunities. For these reasons, an
emphasis of this module is on assessing these 1mportant academic skills.
Pre Schooling
CORE ACADEMICS
MEAL AT SCHOOL
The Meals at School section assesses eating and drinking with different utensils, using napkins, opening wrappers and containers, and covers basic feeding and food handling skills. Manners essential for social success when eating with peers and staff are included Ordering food in a school cafeteria, carrying items, selecting seats, respecting others space and food items, and social issues (e.g., requesting to sit with peers), and cleaning up are also reviewed in this section.
SOCIAL SKILLS
The ability to interact with others in a socially acceptable manner is essential for
participation in a wide range of activities in school environments and in the community
Some of the earliest social interaction skills involve greeting others and engaging in
common activities with peers such as taking turns on playground equipment and playing
simple games. Additionally, the abilities to initiate and maintain a conversation, request
to join an ongoing activity, and to invite others to participate in an activity are critical for
developing friendships. More advanced social skills including the awareness of group
similarities and differences, social and cultural diversity, and knowledge about social
topics, friends, dating, teasing, bullying, peer pressure, and other social areas required
across all school settings are also assessed in this section.
Common Skills
Skills assessed in this section include basic information that promotes independent
functioning in a school environment. These skills are the foundation of academic and
social functioning, and are necessary for everyday freal life” success. Mastering many of
the skills in the Common Knowledge section will allow a learner to communicate and
interact with peers and adults. This section reviews the learner’s general repertoire of
knowledge necessary to understand current events.