Abstract: Based on the description ofapplication of the intellectual disability assessment system in special education in China and America, this paper summarizes the difficulties in practice of this field, including the lack of legislative protection, ambiguous classification of children with special needs and the lack of a unified assessment process and appropriate local assessment tools. These limitation may affect the result whether the tested children can take part in special education and which services and corrections are assigned to them. These conditions are not conducive to the benign development of the tested children and the rational allocation of educational resources. Based on the experience of special education evaluation in America, this paper finally puts forward some suggestions to promote the development of intellectual disability education evaluation in China, such as legislative support, establishment of authoritative evaluation institutions or departments, scientific evaluation criteria, improve local measurement tools, increase school social work participation and professional construction of social work.

Key words: special education, children with intellectual disabilities, assessment, social work