Special education assessment and interpretation have a language all their own. Children are screened with a variety of tests to determine if they are eligible for special services under the IDEA law, the federal disabilities law. This highly regulated, legislated, and formulized process is the topic of this thick book.

Chapter One, titled "Introduction to Assessment," gives parents a good overview of what goes on in a school setting when a child is identified as being in need of services. Chapter Two, "The Special Education Process," is a detailed explanation of the process of assessment and the safeguards in place throughout the system.

The remaining chapters give information about 301 tests. These tests are used for assessment in these areas: academic achievement, anxiety and depression, aptitude, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, auditory processing, autism, behavioral disorders, deaf and hearing impairments, emotional disturbance, English as a second language and bilingual education, gifted and talented, infant, toddlers and preschoolers, intelligence, learning disabilities, mathematics, mental retardation, neuropsychology, occupational therapy, personality, psychological, reading, speech and language, visual processing, and written language. The reader is given general information about the test publisher and test availability, followed by the purpose and description of the test and a summary of its strengths.

This publisher is well known for materials for educational professionals. Although this book is extremely valuable for educators, it is of limited value for homeschoolers.

Product review by Christine Field, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, February 2007