Teaching Students w/ASD 4.2: Self-assessment for students with ASD

The Ministry of Education requires all students to participate in self-assessment which is documents and filed with their report cards each year. This can be particularly tricky for students with ASD because the process of self-assessment requires reflection and abstract thinking and the ability to communicate thinking. From what we know about ASD expressive language and abstract thinking can be challenging, so the key is to make the self-assessment visual. Choosing a couple that you think your student will be able to understand and participate in can be helpful. According to a draft document by the BC Ministry of Education, "Teachers can support students in self-assessment by intentionally noticing, naming, and connecting the Core Competencies to their learning."(2017, p. 1)

Shelly Moore has great document that can help educators support self-assessment for learners with ASD. You can find it here: BC Core Competencies Supported Self Assessment

What might self-assessment look like?

You might choose a particular Core Competency to focus on and a particular facet. 

For example:

Chart courtesy of Blogsomemoore

POPEY also has a collection of editable self-assessment sheets that are early primary friendly. The sheets provide space for writing and drawing. I used this with a student this year.

Image courtesy of POPEY Core Competencies

Once you have chosen the "I can" statement for your student, collect evidence: images, audio, student work such as drawing or writing, etc.

For instance, above I have selected "I can describe my family and community." I might read a story with my student that has a family in it and ask "who is in this family?" and have the student label the family members, and follow it up with "who is in your or (student's name)'s family?" This can be done with the physical features of the family members too. 

Image courtesy of Canva.com

References:

 BC Ministry of Education. (March 2017). Supporting the Self-Assessment and Reporting of Core Competencies Draft [PDF]. Retrieved from https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/sites/curriculum.gov.bc.ca/files/pdf/supporting-self-assessment.pdf