Swedish school based speech-language pathologists’ perception of language assessment tools and practices

Abstract

This qualitative study was aimed at increasing the knowledge about Swedish school based SLPs’ perception of language assessment tools and practices. Purposes of language assessments within a school context, experience of existing tools and an assessment’s optimal content was targeted. 19 school based SLPs were interviewed in focus groups and the data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Opinions that existing tools are partly functional emerged from the results, but also experiences of limitations and demands on flexibility. Furthermore, the combination of multiple assessment forms and deliveries and collaboration with other professions in school was perceived as essential. The results have increased our knowledge of how Swedish school based SLPs perceive language assessments and their opinions on how assessments need to be designed. The present study contributes to the growing body of research that shed light on the importance of combining different assessment forms to reach a functional focus.