School Counselor's Role in Assessment

Something that I have struggled with in this class relates to what portions of assessment and interpretation we will actually be a part of in our job.  My previous knowledge as always been that school psychologists do the testing and school counselors meet with students about personal and academic issues.  It seemed clear to me that because school counselors were not getting intensive training on assessment procedures and school psychologists were that they would be the only ones doing so.  As we have been going through this class it is becoming clearer to me that the role of school counselors and school psychologists are not always specific and that these roles change according to where you work and with what age level you work. 

As I was reading this week's article, I started to think about the benefits of gaining more training in this field and its relevance to my future job.  Giordano and Schwiebert (1997) looks at school counselor's perceptions of the usefulness of assessment tools, their frequency within our job and how much training is necessary to be successful.  One important piece I picked up from this week's readings is that school counselors are a part of a multidisciplinary team working to benefit students and our role is to gather information from every source possible.  "The special challenge to school counselors is to gather the assessment information from all sources and to develop a treatment plan that is understandable and relevant to all members of the team, including parents and children" (Giordano & Schwiebert, p. 1, 1997).  I am discovering more and more that this is our role to put the puzzle together.  When it comes to assessment as well as other aspects of school, we need to pull as much as we can to see the full picture of the student.  This does not mean that we will be doing the testing all the time but it does mean we need to have a thorough understanding of what tests are used, how they are used and what the scores mean for our students.  Another important point I took from the article is that not only should we be educated on testing instruments currently in a graduate program but we need to consistently educate ourselves over time.  Giordano and Schwiebert (1997) pointed out that assessment tools are constantly being revised updated as well as new instruments being created for new issues that arise.  Professional development is important and assessment is one area that I will try to ensure I stay up to date with in my field.  The results of this study made it clear that many school counselors wished they had that further training and continued education in the area of assessment.  Being aware of this before I begin my career will be beneficial to my success and how I can benefit my students.

As I was reading Chapters 9 and 10, I was able to gain a better understanding of these two distinct areas of assessment, Achievement and Aptitude (Drummond & Jones, 2010).  I could see their relationships as well as their differences.  One aspect of Chapter 9 that I found to be extremely helpful was the case study done on James (Drummond & Jones, 2010).  This really gave me a fuller picture of what would be expected of us as school counselors when gathering data and using test results.  It also allowed me to see James as a holistic student and how different areas I may not have considered previously may be affecting his success in school.  Assessment clearly can benefit our students and it is our job to understand why.

Drummond, R. J. and Jones, K. (2010). Assessment procedures for counselors and helping professionals. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.
Giordano, F.G. & Schwiebert, V. L. (1997). School counselors’ perceptions of the usefulness of standardized tests, frequency of their use, and assessment training needs. School Counselor, 44(3), 1-9.