School Function Assessment (SFA)

The School Function Assessment looks at everything a student does at school that is not academic work — moving between classes, using the bathroom, eating lunch, managing materials, getting along with other children.

Three parts build on each other. Participation rates how fully the student takes part in six settings: the classroom, playground, transportation, bathroom, transitions, and mealtimes. Task Supports rates how much assistance and how much adaptation the student currently receives, physical and cognitive-behavioural separately. Activity Performance rates specific functional tasks in detail, across scales such as moving around school, eating and drinking, using materials, and behaving safely. Teachers and other school staff who know the student complete it.

Licensing Notes: Published by Pearson (1998). Record forms are consumables. Reproduction requires publisher permission.

Learn More: Two features make the SFA unusually practical for IEP work. Criterion cut-off scores are provided that establish eligibility for special services — the score places a student on a functional continuum rather than measuring distance from a norm. And items are written in measurable, behavioural terms that can be lifted directly into IEP goals.

The full SFA takes 90 minutes to 2 hours, though individual sections take as little as 5 to 10 minutes and can be administered on their own. Multiple staff members can each complete the sections they know best.