Important things to Consider with Test Interpretation

The scariest and most difficult part of assessments and administering tests is having to then interpret those scores and relay that information back to a client.  Once you have advocated for a student to take an assessment for any particular reason, the only part to fall back on are your results.  Results become one more piece to the puzzle and the holistic view of a student.  What those results are telling you can become crucial in decision making and goal setting.  It seems quite important that you are able to interpret those scores correctly and that you are then able to determine what they are telling you about your student, their success, and their future.  This week's readings were all about interpreting results and then determining how to explain those results to your student, parents, a school, or the public.  While Drummond and Jones (2010) provided some valuable information on communicating results in general, the article for this week by Tinsley and Bradley (1986) went into greater depth about what you need to consider when interpreting a test.

The first and most important concept that I gained from Tinsley and Bradley (1986) was that assessments, tests, and test interpretation need to become part of the counseling process and not just a separate activity done with our clients/students.  As school counselors we cannot behave a certain way all the time and then when we switch to administering tests or reporting results become robots.  It is crucial that we consider what these results may be telling us and take into account all of the other pieces as well as the student's thoughts and feelings about this test and their results.  An interpretation session should be a conversation between counselor and student/parents about what the results mean and how they may influence decisions that need to be made.  In this conversation, the student should be able to provide feedback, discuss goals, and talk about other reactions to what they are learning about themselves.  Something that seemed really beneficial to me was having the student summarize what has been said so far or even just explain their understanding of the test and the results being presented.  This provides a better look at what the student is really thinking and whether or not they are on the same page as you.  One aspect they may be a little difficult at first is either fully relying on a test or disregarding it.  Tinsley and Bradley (1986) make it clear that we should not fall either way but instead should consider limitations of the test, strengths of the test, similarities and differences with what the test is telling us and other sources/observations have told us previously.

However, I think what scares me the most is explaining results to a parent.  My previous experience with parents is that they care a lot about how their child performs or not at all.  Those who care often times believe their child can do no wrong or want to push them to an extreme that may or may not be appropriate for their child's capabilities.  Drummond and Jones (2010) began to explain the important points that should be made during a session with the parents.  The more parents know about a test, how it is scored, how it is interpreted, how it is stored, and what it will be used for the better they feel about the situation.  Parents like to be in the know when it comes to their children.  As a school counselor, I would hope that I could keep myself as educated as possible so that I would be able to help those parents I am working with to understand the assessment procedures.

Drummond, R. J. and Jones, K. (2010). Assessment procedures for counselors and helping professionals. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.

Tinsley, H. & Bradley, R. W. (1986). Test interpretation. Journal of Counseling and Development, 64, 462-466.