Thursday, April 25, 2013

Blog 11: Assessments


This chapter on selecting, administering, scoring, and interpreting assessment results was familiar due to the testing experience that we had.  I feel as though the hands on experience of actually working with an assessment and going through the proper steps helped me more than just reading about it.  I have always been the type of person that I do better with hands on assignments.  Even though the testing instrument was chosen for us, as future counselors it is important to choose the appropriate assessment needed.  It is imperative to determine the information that you are looking for before choosing an instrument.  Drummond and Jones (2010) brought up a valid point regarding identifying the available information.  When evaluating a child, you want to determine what you already know and look at the existing assessment information that is already out there.  It is hard enough for students to take a test the first time; therefore, you do not want to administer the same test or type of test again.  This could lead to a lack of motivation and with my experience with teaching in the elementary school, the students are tested extremely too much.  There needs to be a purpose and I believe you should make them aware of why you are giving them this assessment.  In addition, when evaluating the assessment you want to look at the time required to administer, ease of administration, scoring, interpretation, format, readability, and the cost.  As a counselor you may have limited time to pull these students out of class and you want to make sure it goes as smoothly as possible. 

            In addition to selecting the test, the administering is very important.  I thought that Drummond and Jones (2010) did a nice job breaking down the before, during, and after.  It made it a lot easier to become familiar with what you should be doing when administering the test.   The chart that was presented was a great check list that you could post and have readily available if you are asked to administer a test.  Next, with scoring, it is important to take your time.  When reporting results you want to be accurate in the information that you are providing to the parent and child regarding their levels.  These results could affect their placement in particular classes so you want to ensure that you are accurately scoring the assessment.  In conclusion, I feel as though the information presented allowed me to have a clear understanding of the important factors when going through the process of assessment.   
 

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

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