The School Version of the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (School AMPS) was developed in response to the need for a valid, reliable, and clinically useful evaluation tool for measuring student's schoolwork task performance in typical classroom settings. The School AMPS is a naturalistic, observation-based assessment conducted in the context of a student's regular classroom, during his/her typical routine, while the student performs schoolwork tasks assigned by the teacher. Other than the unobtrusive presence of the occupational therapist who observes the student performing schoolwork tasks, an important feature of the School AMPS is that no disruption of the normal classroom routine occurs during its administration.

The School AMPS helps an occupational therapist answer the following questions:
• What is the quality of this student’s schoolwork task performance?
• Has there been a change in this student’s ability to do schoolwork since the last School AMPS evaluation?
• How does the quality of this student’s performance compare with that of his/her same-age peers?
• Which school motor and/or school process skills are most impacting this student’s occupational performance in the classroom?
• What intervention strategies will have the most impact on this student’s performance in the classroom?

In its broadest conceptualization, the School AMPS offers a systematic and thorough way of examining the transaction between the student, the schoolwork task, and the environment, and evaluating the quality of a student's schoolwork task performance, measured at the level of complex activity and participation, not body functions. The School AMPS offers a vocabulary and new way of thinking about what and how a student does what he/she needs and wants to do given the constraints of the schoolwork tasks and the physical and social school environment.