Best practice in assessing children for special education services requires that examiners use the most recent version of tests. If an older version is used, the examiner is responsible for stating why the older version is a better choice for the particular purpose it is employed. In working with assessment teams, parents may want to ask if the most recent versions of tests are being used. If not, they may wish to ask for an explanation as to why. If the answer isn’t satisfactory, they may wish to seek an independent evaluation.
One situation in which using an older version of a test may be justified is in re-evaluations. Here, the older version may be employed in order to facilitate “apples to apples” comparisons with previous evaluations.
