communicating results what can we say and to whom

Communicating ResultsCommunicating Resultswhat can we say and to what can we say and to

whomwhom

OverviewOverview

Communicating with the Communicating with the examineeexaminee

Communicating with childrenCommunicating with childrenCommunicating with parentsCommunicating with parentsGeneral principlesGeneral principles

The School Counselor’s RoleThe School Counselor’s Role

Communicating test results toCommunicating test results to– StudentsStudents– TeachersTeachers– AdministratorsAdministrators– ParentsParents

Specific skills are requiredSpecific skills are required

The School Counselor’s RoleThe School Counselor’s Role

Who is entitled to know?Who is entitled to know?

Federal law outlines rightsFederal law outlines rights– The examineeThe examinee– The parents of minorsThe parents of minors– Other professionals within limitsOther professionals within limits

Examinee RightsExaminee Rights

Federal Family Educational Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974Rights and Privacy Act of 1974

Examinee is entitled toExaminee is entitled to– The scoresThe scores– Reasonable level of detailReasonable level of detail– Meaningful interpretationsMeaningful interpretations– Reasonable limitations of the Reasonable limitations of the

scoresscores

Parental RightsParental Rights

Federal Family Educational Rights Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974and Privacy Act of 1974

Parents of minors are also Parents of minors are also entitled toentitled to– The scoresThe scores– Reasonable level of detailReasonable level of detail– Meaningful interpretationsMeaningful interpretations– Reasonable limitations of the scoresReasonable limitations of the scores

Other ProfessionalsOther Professionals

Access should be given to Access should be given to other trained professionals other trained professionals WITHIN the agency who have a WITHIN the agency who have a reasonable educational need to reasonable educational need to knowknow

The counselor needs to be The counselor needs to be aware of how test scores are aware of how test scores are being used or misusedbeing used or misused


Routine release to other schools and Routine release to other schools and colleges – transfers, admissions, etc. colleges – transfers, admissions, etc.

Never disclosed in casual Never disclosed in casual conversationconversation

Access should not be given to other Access should not be given to other trained professionals OUTSIDE the trained professionals OUTSIDE the agency without written permission of agency without written permission of the examinee or parent of a minorthe examinee or parent of a minor


Governed by school system or Governed by school system or agency policy, and state lawagency policy, and state law

Everyone in the agency Everyone in the agency should be aware of the policyshould be aware of the policy

Examinees and parents Examinees and parents should be aware of the policyshould be aware of the policy

Releasing to Trained ProfessionalsReleasing to Trained Professionals

Copy of the scoresCopy of the scoresSummary of the testing Summary of the testing

situationsituationRelevant observationsRelevant observationsWritten permission to releaseWritten permission to releaseRespect confidentialityRespect confidentiality

Releasing to Untrained ProfessionalsReleasing to Untrained Professionals

Written interpretative reportWritten interpretative reportOffer to go over scores in personOffer to go over scores in personAvoid jargonAvoid jargonDo not assume any knowledgeDo not assume any knowledgeFocus on useful information – Focus on useful information –

what the child knows and can dowhat the child knows and can do

Begin at the BeginningBegin at the Beginning

Know the testKnow the test– Know the original purpose of Know the original purpose of

the testthe test– How was it developed and for How was it developed and for

whomwhom– Why does your agency use it?Why does your agency use it?– Power versus speeded testsPower versus speeded tests– Individual versus group testsIndividual versus group tests


Know the testing situationKnow the testing situation– Examinee motivationExaminee motivation– Local conditionsLocal conditions– Become familiar with how the Become familiar with how the

test works in your contexttest works in your context– Develop local normsDevelop local norms


Know the purpose for the Know the purpose for the testingtesting

Know the normsKnow the normsKnow the metrics for the Know the metrics for the

scoresscoresKnow the audience for the Know the audience for the

resultsresults

Communicating with the ExamineeCommunicating with the Examinee

Establish rapportEstablish rapport

Ask the examinee how they think Ask the examinee how they think they did on the teststhey did on the tests

Ask them what they expect to get Ask them what they expect to get out of the testing and debriefingout of the testing and debriefing


Individuals with severe Individuals with severe impairments should be referred impairments should be referred to specialiststo specialists

Keep to the central purpose for Keep to the central purpose for the assessmentthe assessment

Explain the nature of the normsExplain the nature of the norms


Be careful not to force an Be careful not to force an interpretation on the examineeinterpretation on the examinee

Some examinees will be Some examinees will be reluctant, resistant, or even reluctant, resistant, or even defensivedefensive

Avoid a power struggleAvoid a power struggle


Document the exchange Document the exchange

It may give you important It may give you important information about the examinee’s information about the examinee’s perception of themselvesperception of themselves

It may help to save some things It may help to save some things for laterfor later


Try to go over all of the resultsTry to go over all of the results

Emphasize strengths and areas for Emphasize strengths and areas for growthgrowth

Try to make helpful, realistic, and Try to make helpful, realistic, and practical suggestions, such as using practical suggestions, such as using strengths to compensate for strengths to compensate for weaknessesweaknesses


Avoid overstating results, cause and Avoid overstating results, cause and effect statements, direct predictionseffect statements, direct predictions

Try to determine if the examinee is Try to determine if the examinee is understanding the resultsunderstanding the results

Don’t assume they will remember Don’t assume they will remember everything - summarizeeverything - summarize

Communicating with ChildrenCommunicating with Children

Children have a natural curiosityChildren have a natural curiosity

Children have a considerable Children have a considerable capacity for understandingcapacity for understanding

Probably best to work with 5Probably best to work with 5thth grade and abovegrade and above


General overview of the purpose of General overview of the purpose of the testingthe testing

Individual conferences – not public Individual conferences – not public discussion of individual scoresdiscussion of individual scores

Use general terms, children tend to Use general terms, children tend to oversimplifyoversimplify


General discussion of strengths General discussion of strengths and weaknessesand weaknesses

Don’t be discouragingDon’t be discouraging

Don’t overemphasize the positiveDon’t overemphasize the positive

Be realistic in an encouraging wayBe realistic in an encouraging way

Communicating with ParentsCommunicating with Parents

Expect some parents to be Expect some parents to be argumentativeargumentative

Expect some parents to question both Expect some parents to question both the purpose and the accuracy of the the purpose and the accuracy of the scoresscores

Expect some parents to be defensiveExpect some parents to be defensive

Expect some parents to blame the schoolExpect some parents to blame the school

Communicating with ParentsCommunicating with Parents

Discourage hostility toward the Discourage hostility toward the childchild

Don’t reward “passing through a Don’t reward “passing through a phase”phase”

In general, the principles for adult In general, the principles for adult examinees apply to parentsexaminees apply to parents

Consider the Needs of the AudienceConsider the Needs of the Audience

Other professionals often want Other professionals often want just the factsjust the facts

General public needs to know General public needs to know why they should carewhy they should care

Graphic organizers helpGraphic organizers helpBe prepared to answer all Be prepared to answer all

questions – some people will be questions – some people will be the curiousthe curious

If Scores Seem UnreasonableIf Scores Seem Unreasonable

Different sources of information will Different sources of information will sometimes conflictsometimes conflict

Remember what is being measured Remember what is being measured and howand how

Try to look for patterns and make Try to look for patterns and make connections across sourcesconnections across sources


The score could be wrongThe score could be wrongOur interpretation could be Our interpretation could be

wrongwrongBothBothNeitherNeither

Checking helps understand Checking helps understand the whole situationthe whole situation


Check the scoringCheck the scoringHand score a small sampleHand score a small sample

Consider how closely related Consider how closely related the score is to the purpose of the score is to the purpose of the assessmentthe assessment


Age of childAge of childCultural BiasCultural BiasConstruct validity relative to Construct validity relative to

purpose purpose Measurement errorMeasurement errorInteraction between examinee Interaction between examinee

and test formatand test format


Example OutliersExample Outliers– PPVT SS Winter: 71 (z=-1.93)PPVT SS Winter: 71 (z=-1.93)– PPVT SS Spring: 40 (z=-4.00)PPVT SS Spring: 40 (z=-4.00)– Gain = -31 (z=-3.13)Gain = -31 (z=-3.13)

– WJ LWid SS Winter: 110 (z=0.67)WJ LWid SS Winter: 110 (z=0.67)– WJ LWid SS Spring: 67 (z=-2.20)WJ LWid SS Spring: 67 (z=-2.20)– Gain = -43 (z=-3.32)Gain = -43 (z=-3.32)

General PrinciplesGeneral Principles

Test scores can help institutions Test scores can help institutions be efficient and effective at be efficient and effective at making decisions for large making decisions for large groupsgroups

However, they typically predict However, they typically predict the performance of a group the performance of a group better than that of an individualbetter than that of an individual

General PrinciplesGeneral Principles

It is important to remember It is important to remember that test scores “suggest”, that test scores “suggest”, they do not “prove”they do not “prove”

Actual performance (past and Actual performance (past and future) of the examinee and future) of the examinee and others with similar scores is others with similar scores is often best often best

Case StudiesCase Studies

MSA ApplicantMSA Applicant

CombinedHS GPA SAT Score ACT Score

3.550 400 373.000 620 522.500 820 682.000 1010 86

Report Writing ResourcesReport Writing Resources

http://www.msresource.com/format.html

http://www.msresource.com/theory.html

Sample ReportsSample Reports

DSM IV strategyDSM IV strategy

communicating results what can we say and to whom

Documents