Week 12 Blog

Week 12 Blog    Chapter 14 & Anastasi article

Chapter 14 “Assessment in Education” did a great job of summarizing one of the primary functions of school counselors. I must admit, I was a bit overwhelmed when I read this chapter. I kept thinking, “How will I know what to do?” “Where will I look for answers on how to proceed?” I might get lucky in my placement and be working with another more seasoned counselor who can show me what me what needs to be done. I might be on my own and then I will need to be very resourceful. I think the Drummond & Jones textbook could come in handy as a reference.

One area I did not know much about was “Assessing Specific Learning Disabilities”. Drummond & Jones gave helpful descriptions of the academic areas to be aware of when assessing these specific learning disabilities. I enjoyed reading about the history of working with SDL’s and the transition from assessing this potential population with the achievement discrepancy model vs. responsiveness to intervention. (Drummond & Jones, 2010). The three-tier RIT Model seems to make sense to me although I don’t know a lot about it in practice.

I also found the section in the textbook on “Assessing Giftedness” quite interesting. I also was not very familiar with these assessments apart from the work we did with the KBIT-2. I didn’t know that assessments existed for assessing giftedness in dance, drama, music and visual art. I have a good friend who is a respected gifted teacher in a local elementary school. I know she will be a great resource for me in the future.  (Drummond & Jones, 2010).

The section in the textbook that I could relate to most was the topic of “Test-Wiseness”. When I decided several years ago to apply to graduate school, I knew I would have to take the GRE. I was nervous as I had not taken any exam like this high school and I felt very rusty in regards to my mathematical skills. I bought a study guide and for several months I went through it, made flashcards, and took practice tests. It was very helpful to hone my verbal and math skills but also to learn about the specifics of taking this particular test. All my preparation made me feel much more confident on test day and I ended up being very happy with my final GRE scores.

Assessment is an integral part of our job as school counselors. It is crucial that we know what and why we do what we do in regard to assessment. It is important to be knowledgeable on many assessment fronts and have the resources to back up our decisions as well as to help us move forward.

 

Drummond, R.J. and Jones, K. (2010). Assessment procedures for counselors and helping professionals.

                (7^th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.