Book excerpt: At last, a practical guide to the what, how, when, and where of effective assessment! When determining whether or not a student should receive special education services, what the specific nature of the student′s instruction should be, or the extent to which a student is making educational progress, it is critical to know not only what sort of assessment method is most appropriate, but how, when, and where it should be administered. Including a pretest, posttest, and key vocabulary terms, Effective Assessment for Students With Special Needs helps educators make these weighty decisions with highly practical information such as: Formal and informal methods of data collection When to use various assessment practices and what they can show an evaluator Standards for conducting assessments to ensure accuracy Using data to make decisions about the education of students with disabilities and those who are gifted and talented