Strength-based assessment

Strength-based assessment is founded upon the following set of beliefs ... 

Service plans (e.g., ieps, transition plans) that begin with a focus on strengths rather than with a focus on incompetence and failure, are more likely to be acceptable to children, families, and service providers as they provide a foundation of competence upon which to improve. In 1997, the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (idea) mandated the use of strength-based assessment in the development of the iep. Specifically, idea states that the iep team shall consider the strengths of the child and the concerns of the parents for enhancing the education of their child (34 cfr 300.346). 

Counselors and diagnosticians have frequently practiced informal strength-based assessment (VanDenBerg Grealish, 1996,1998). However, there is no single model of informal strength assessment that applies to all situations. Generally in... 

Table 1. Example of an Informal Strength-Based Assessment...

Only recently has strength-based assessment, particularly informal assessment, received the same rigorous psychometric consideration as deficit-oriented approaches. Specifically, proponents of strength-based assessment are just beginning to investigate the reliability, validity, and fidelity of implementation of their strength-oriented measures. Without such evidence, it is difficult to be certain that... 

The next section provides examples of the use of strength-based assessment, in general, and the bers, in particular. In the first example, the bers was used to assess the outcomes of a school-based wraparound program in Kentucky over a 6-month period. In the second example, the bers was used to monitor the outcomes of the Families and Schools Together program, a national school-based program to prevent violence, dropout, and substance abuse. 

Friedman, K. A., Leone, P. E., Friedman, P. (1999). Strengths-based assessment of children with SED Consistency of reporting by teachers and parents. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 6(2), 169-180. 

Reid, R Epstein, M. H., Pastor, D. A., Ryser, G. (2000). Strengths-based assessment differences across students with LD and EBD. Remedial and Special Education, 21(6), 346-355. 

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