The VPA™: Assessment & Clinical Reasoning

Transition: "VPA™ architecture: the Classroom Screen and the Full VPA™, 12 skills across 5 domains."

Open here. "VPA™ Architecture." Two tools, two jobs — the 5-Minute Classroom Screen and the 30-minute Full VPA™.

Say why this section matters for their caseload, then advance.

Ask the poll: "Given 20 minutes with a new referral, what would you run today?"

Options:

• 5-Minute Classroom Screen

• Full VPA™

• A standardized battery

• I would not know which to pick

Take a show of hands or the on-screen tally, then name the pattern you see before advancing.

Run the five levels bottom-up.

Name each level, then say which one you assess first and why.

Contrast the two columns: Classroom Screen (decide whether to look) versus Full VPA™ (measure).

Classroom Screen (decide whether to look):

• 30 observed behaviors, six per level, 3–5 minutes

• Green 0–4 · yellow 5–10 · red 11+

• Automatic-trigger items escalate regardless of total

• Referral history only — never an assessment finding

Full VPA™ (measure):

• 12 skills across 5 domains, about 30 minutes

• Age-band entry, basal and ceiling on 9 adaptive skills; acuity, contrast, convergence are fixed 2-item checks

• Printed calibrated cards for acuity, contrast, saccades, pursuits

• Domain profile that drives goals, dosage, referral

Ask: "Which column is your student living in right now?"

Talk over the visual: "Full VPA™ administration view."

Say the caption in your own words: Say/Do script, level ladder, and the scoring worksheet in one clinician view.

Frame the slide: "Why 12 skills across 5 domains."

Walk each point, one sentence each:

• Each domain samples one level of the framework: Access, Efficiency, Processing, Visual-Motor Integration, Functional Integration.

• Related skills share one setup — fixation with pursuits, convergence with near-focus, discrimination with form constancy, copying with clock planning — which is how the battery fits in 30 minutes.

• Every skill runs its own L1–L5 task ladder, so breakdown is located, not inferred.

• Functional Integration includes both reading and writing — the two referral drivers.

Point at the figure while you talk — name the parts before the labels.

Close with: "If you only take one of these back, take the first one."

Contrast the two columns: What you record at the table versus What the software derives.

What you record at the table:

• Item rubric 0–3 for every task you administer: 0 unable, 1 emerging with maximum support, 2 functional with inefficiency, 3 accurate and efficient.

• A rubric of 2 or 3 counts as passing that task; 0 or 1 does not.

• Observation is recorded alongside every rubric score — head movement, refixations, latency, discomfort.

What the software derives:

• Achieved level L1–L5: the highest task level scored 2 or better on that skill.

• VPL 1–5 (Visual Performance Level): achieved level adjusted for rubric quality — VPL 1 (emerging), VPL 2 (developing), VPL 3 (functional), VPL 4 (efficient), VPL 5 (advanced). Always write the number; “functional” is a descriptor of VPL 3, not the name of Domain 5.

• Gap: VPL compared to the expected VPL range for the student’s age band.

Ask: "Which column is your student living in right now?"

Frame the slide: "When to reach for a standardized tool."

Walk each point, one sentence each:

• A single skill is flagged and you need depth for eligibility.

• A payer or district requires a norm-referenced score.

• Team disagreement about whether the finding is real.

• Use adjuncts to deepen a flagged area — not to replace the level profile.

Point at the figure while you talk — name the parts before the labels.

Close with: "If you only take one of these back, take the first one."

Set up the clip in one sentence, play it, then debrief with "what did you notice?"

Describe what belongs here: Architecture graphic showing domains, skills, and the L1–L5 ladder..

Describe what belongs here: Skill menu view showing the 12 skills grouped by domain..

Land the "so what": The Classroom Screen and the Full VPA™ answer different questions. Choosing the wrong one costs you a session you will not get back.

Explain the mechanism plainly: The screen routes the referral; the Full VPA™ establishes achieved level and profile across 12 skills in about 30 minutes.

Then give them the moves — say each one as something they can do Monday:

• Classroom Screen (3–5 minutes) when the question is "does this need looking at?"

• Automatic-trigger items escalate regardless of the total score.

• Full when you need an achieved level, a domain profile, and a progress baseline.

Tell them what success looks like: Writing a screen result into present levels — a screen is referral history, never an assessment finding.

Ask: "Who has a student this describes right now?" Take one answer, then move.

Two-minute case. Read it aloud:

You have 25 minutes with a newly referred Grade 2 student, an IEP meeting in three weeks, and a teacher report of place-losing and slow copying.

Put the question to them: "Which tool do you run today, and what do you schedule?" Give 60 seconds, no talking.

Model answer (reveal after they commit): Run the Full VPA™ today: about 30 minutes fits the session and gives you an achieved level and domain profile for the meeting. Ask the teacher to complete the Classroom Screen for the two other students on the same referral list.

Close with the rule: Match the tool to the decision and the calendar, not to how thorough you feel.

Reflection prompt: "Which of the 12 skills do you currently never assess — and what has that cost you?"

Offer the sentence starter: "I currently do not assess [skill]. This has cost me because..."

Think for one minute, write, then take two shares.

Knowledge check: "When is the Classroom Screen the right instrument?"

Options:

• When you need a score for the IEP

• When you need to rule a concern in or out and decide the next step

• When the family requests a full evaluation

• When the student is under 8 years old

Correct answer: option 2. Rationale: The screen sorts. The Full VPA™ measures.