Informal assessment can answer the following questions about a child’s learning skills:
1) Does the student understand the concept of finished and can he/she indicate it to the teacher?
2) Does the student recognize a need for help and he/she indicate this need?
3) Does the student have the ability to work independently for short periods?
4) Does the student understand the contingent relationship between his/her work and the availability of rewards?
5) Does the student understand the concept of “wait”?
6) Can the student refocus his/her attention after being distracted? Does the student need prompts from the teacher?
7) Does the student initiate the manipulation of materials without teacher prompts?
8) Can the student use trial and error learning and not repeat errors?
9) Can the student correct his/her own mistakes without teacher prompts?
10) What types of prompts and cues are most effective? How much and what kind of prompting is necessary? How quickly can prompts be faded?
Informal assessment can answer the following questions about designing teaching activities:
11) What materials should I use?
12) How much do I need to structure the task?
13) What type of rewards should I use?
14) What type of prompts should I use?
15) Which learning skills do I need to teach?
– adapted from Division TEACCH