Last Blog

I can’t believe summer is here! I accidentally did chapter 15 last week, a whole semester and I still can’t do this assignment correctly- oh well! :)

 I found chapter 13 to be very interesting. Having started as a School Psychology major there was more attention to the DSM than I would have initially thought but after taking this class it makes a little more sense. All of the different details we have learned about assessments it is still not our job to "diagnose" based off of the results. We can recommend things but we are not to diagnose. Hence this piece clicking about School Psychologist stepping into this role. Even their role is not as extensive as that of a Clinical Psychologist. I always find the diagnostic interpretations of disorders to be fascinating, and again, after taking this class, I'm finding myself asking new and different questions about how these findings are drawn. How does one decide how many times a behavior needs to be exhibited to be considered diagnosable? It makes me think about norm referenced samples and some Psychologist years ago sitting in a mental hospital an observing the behaviors around them relative to each patient. Possibly this is how they started to draw conclusions about what behavior would be considered to be normative enough to generalize. I agree with the statement that clinically there is not as much emphasis on counseling which I think everyone can agree that we are future school counselors because we enjoy the counseling aspect.

The Drummond and Jones text has definitely provided me with a more comprehensive understanding of how assessments work but I have learned so much more from the hands on piece of administering assessments. The feedback that has been given during class participation activities or presentation feedback has been so valuable. I have learned so much about myself and the areas that I can improve on as future counselor. I think that my hesitancy in this class initially has been met with realistic abilities I was not sure I had. I have been distressed that sometimes I was not able to understand concepts fully until after I had presented, or sometimes raised my hand and had an opinion about something; but on the whole I feel more able to compete in the world of competent school counselors! Thank you everyone for a great class and your feedback- it has been really helpful in a lot of my growth areas.

Drummond, R. J. and Jones, K. (2010). Assessment procedures for counselors and
helping professionals. (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Last Blog

            With this being the last blog, I would like to touch on chapter fifteen related to assessment issues with diverse populations and then reflect on the class overall.  Dummond and Jones made a variety of valid points concerning diversity.  It is vital for school counselors to be aware of their students related to the variety of aspects such as race, ethnicity, age, language, gender, sexual orientation, and religious/spiritual orientation.  When assessing a student you want to ensure that it is appropriate for the particular individual.  It is stated that we assume that everyone is given an equal opportunity to demonstrate their capabilities but we have to be cautious due to some assessment not allowing us to do so.  There are many test bias that we should be aware of such as content, internal structure, selection, test-taker, and examiner bias.  Diversity is continuing to become more prevalent in today’s schools and it is essential that we are cognizant about. 

            In regards to the overall class, I found the various assignments to be a meaningful learning experience.  I liked the fact that we went through the process of administering two types of tests with a client and continue the process by interpreting the results from them.  I believed that I did a nice job with the actual test administration and interpretation.  However, when reporting the results to the student I need to be aware of the role I am in.  I believe that this is an area that I will struggle with in transfer from the “teacher” role to the “counselor” but it will be a work in progress.  After reviewing the tape and receiving feedback from my peers, I now feel better prepared if I am required to do this type of assignment in my practicum or as a counselor.  When it came to the paper, it helped me become knowledgeable to how to write a report so that it is clear and precise.  Next, I would like to reflect on the KTEAII that I reviewed and presented on.  Even though this was a comprehensive test, I was able to gather the necessary information needed and made me more aware of how much preparation is needed when choosing and administering a test.  This test in particular had several tasks to do before you administered it and as future counselors we need to be aware of this.  Even though I know that I still have areas of growth, I feel as though this class provided me with hands on experiences that I needed that will help me in practicum.    In conclusion, we have learned valuable information that will help us in the future as counselors. 

Drummond, R. J. and Jones, K. (2010). Assessment procedures for counselors and helping professionals. (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Final blog

This issue of assessment issues with diverse populations is one that we've addressed in class a number of times, and I've appreciated the insights our discussions have offered. Chapter 15 provided some additional clarification and detail which I found useful. In class, specifically, we have discussed the potential test bias of particular exams, which is "construct underrepresentation or construct-irrelevant components of tests that result in systematically lower or higher scores for groups of examinees" (AERA et al., 1999, p.76). Three three different types of test bias, content bias (when the content of a test is more familiar to one group than another), internal structure bias (when internal consistency differs from one group to another), and selection bias (when the test varies in predictive validity across groups) are pretty straightforward, but important to keep in mind as additional considerations when interpreting exams. During my final preparations, I've been reviewing some of the landmark cases related to selection bias, such as Larry P. v. Riles and Diana v. California State Board of Education, and it was interesting to see how these issues play in judicial arenas. I also think the test taker factors, such as language, test-wiseness, motivation, and other cultural differences, and examiner bias, such as language differences and differences in class and culture, are really important factors to consider in our future psychometric roles. The importance of multicultural counseling is something that we've really stressed in our Group Counseling course, so I feel as if I am already fairly sensitive to these issues in general. I appreciated learning more about assessment of individuals with disabilities because I do not have a background in this area. In this section, I thought the specific examples of testing modifications were really useful. For example, when assessing individuals with hearing impairment, it is important to be aware of the following guidelines: 1) make sure individuals have a hearing evaluation if required, 2) keep the test environment controlled and free of distraction, 3) avoid visual distractions, 4) have an interpreter available if necessary, 5) allow the interpreter and the person with a hearing impairment to arrange the seating, and 6) have more than one assessment approach to measure the construct (Drummond and Jones, 2010). Other sections of the chapter provide equally helpful guidelines for administering various exams for individuals with a diverse range of disabilities. Drummond, R. J. and Jones, K. (2010). Assessment Procedures for Counselors and Helping Professionals. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.

Assessment of Diverse Populations and Final Reflection

As I have pointed out several times throughout this semester, an area of particular interest and concern to me is multicultural counseling and assessment.  For me I thought this was a great chapter to end on because it really brought together all the other groups of people that should be given special consideration.  Chapter 15 also made me think about how each individual should be given the correct attention to ensure they are being assessed fairly and accurately (Drummond and Jones, 2010).  I thought it was appropriate to first break down the different ways that a test could be unfair and have bias in order to make us future counselors be aware of these concerns when we have to give different assessments.  I thought it was especially important to be aware of the things that we can avoid such as giving the directions correctly and using the proper scoring procedure.  Another area that was crucial was reviewing the manual previously to giving an assessment tool to make sure that it is appropriate for the group the individual belongs to (Drummond and Jones, 2010).  Were they included in the norming group? Does the tool have reliability and validity?  Is the internal consistency different based on what group is taking it?  This awareness that I have gained throughout the semester and from information in this chapter as given me a framework and foundation to better use assessment tools to the advantage of my students in the future.  I also appreciated the different groupings that Drummond and Jones (2010) provided and giving some background to what is important when working with a student under that category.  It was a good brief summary of the different types of students that will be in our schools.

After completing my final reading assignment, I wanted to take the time to reflect on everything that I have gotten from this class this semester.  First of all Drummond and Jones (2010) textbook is an excellent resource that I am likely to use in my practicum and professional time.  I felt it provided a lot of detail in the areas needed, such as validity, reliability, test administration, ethics, and the different areas of assessment.  I also felt that many subsequent areas were covered in order to provide a good foundation for understanding how to use assessment correctly and its importance for student's success.  Along with the readings in the textbook, we had many additional readings that provided increased understanding of the benefits of assessment.  Even though I did gain a lot from these readings, I believe the experiences that I had in the class provided the most knowledge and understanding.  Being able to give an assessment, write an assessment report and provide an interpretation session began to give me an understanding for how I can use this process in my future career.  Watching each other's videos gave me more ideas and a better framework for how I can appropriately provide an interpretation session.  It really wasn't until we observed each other's videos that I had an understanding of what was appropriate and the best way to provide the interpretation.  Learning through experience is the best approach for me.  That is what I hope to continue to gain more of as I move forward next year into my practicum. Overall I am happy with what I have gained from this class and am excited to take some of these skills into my internship next year!

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

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

Blog #14 - Final Blog

            I actually wrote some about Chapter 15 last week, because I got a little ahead of myself.  The information in the chapter was quite interesting to me.  It did have me thinking about the importance of being sensitive to certain groups when thinking about test administration.  I thought back to the Multicultural Counseling class that I took last semester.  In my mind, one of the most important aspects of being able to work with all different types of groups is educating oneself.  Not only will it be important for me to educate myself before I enter the field, but it is also important to constantly educate myself while I am actually in the field.  It will also be important to evolve with the generational differences.

            Another thing that sparked my interest in the chapter was short section on ADD and ADHD.  It can be argued that both of these disorders are often over or miss diagnosed within children.  When I was in 9^th grade I received a psychiatric evaluation because I was failing half of my classes in school.  I don’t remember much about the evaluation because I remember not taking it serious or caring much about it.  All I remember was the psychiatrist telling my parents that I had ADD, and that I probably be on some sort of medication.  I vaguely remember taking an assessment during that evaluation, but I felt like he didn’t do nearly enough throughout that evaluation to be able to diagnose me with a deficit disorder.  I refused to take the medication, based on the fact that I didn’t agree with the psychiatrist’s evaluation.  Until this day, I still feel like I never really had ADD.  I just didn’t really care about school, and wasn’t interested in applying myself.  I was just too stubborn and immature to be able to focus on what should have been important to me at that time. 

            I know that as a counselor involved in assessing students, I may run into situations where I believe children have been over or miss diagnosed.  It’s just interesting to think about how I may handle those situations as a counselor.  Do I have any kind of ethical responsibility to do anything in that situation? Should I reach out to the psychiatrist? The parents? Or should I just simply trust the diagnosis and move on?  Interesting things to reflect on and think about.

Drummond, R. J. and Jones, K. (2010). Assessment Procedures for Counselors and Helping Professionals. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.

           

Post 14: Assessment Issues with Diverse Populations

                I found a lot of food for thought in this week’s reading from Drummond and Jones (2010).  As I am about to take a Multicultural Issues in Counseling class beginning next week, I thought it was somewhat ironic that this week’s chapter was entitled “Assessment Issues with Diverse Populations.”  I would say that the main idea of this chapter was that test administrators must make sure that they use assessments that are appropriate for use with the students who they plan to assess.  Drummond and Jones (2010) state the need to “make sure instrument’s norm groups are appropriate for examinees from different racial, ethnic, or linguistic backgrounds” (p. 328).  To this end, they also stress the need to assess the acculturation of students who will be assessed.  A third-generation Hispanic student, for example, might identify more with the dominant Anglo-American culture than with their family’s culture of origin.  If this was the case, the student’s worldview might be significantly different from what one might traditionally expect of Hispanics. 

                Another issue to consider when testing students coming from other countries is that of their grasp of the English language.  It would be inappropriate, for instance, to assess a student’s intelligence using a test that is only offered in English, if the student had a limited understanding of English.  Invalid results and interpretations would be gleaned from such a practice.  Drummond and Jones (2010) suggest that “test users should not judge English-language proficiency on the basis of test information alone, as many language skills are not adequately measured by multiple-choice examinations” (p. 332).  When I was learning Spanish in high school, for example, most of my examinations were conducted through writing.  I usually did pretty well with those tests.  However, the true test came when I was later forced to engage in verbal conversations first with my college professor and later with native Spanish-speakers in Bolivia.  I think that all of us understand that there is a difference between how we write and how we speak any language.  To assess only one of those areas (e.g., written) would give an incomplete picture of a person’s true ability to understand and express themselves in that language.

                Another area that I could identify with in this week’s reading was the discussion on test-taker factors that can impact assessment results.  Of particular interest to me was the topic of anxiety and motivation.  This week, some of my students have started taking the Keystone Exams.  I had one student tell me yesterday that he didn’t even attempt to answer the open-ended questions because he was afraid that he would not answer correctly.  What he probably didn’t really consider was the fact that by choosing not to answer the open-ended questions at all, he was guaranteeing that his answers would be incorrect!  One of the things that scares me about high-stakes standardized tests, such as the Keystones, is that the people who are scoring the assessments can’t account for why a student might have scored the way that they did, and the impact of low-scores on such tests often affects more people than just the student receiving the score.  For instance, my student will probably fail his English exam due to either test anxiety or lack of motivation or some combination of those two factors.  It is possible that he actually knows the material and just didn’t feel like working hard enough to attempt to answer the questions, and it is also possible that he was so frightened by the potential impact of a low test score that he became paralyzed, so to speak.  It is also possible that he really didn’t know the material.  Whatever the case may be, only my student knows why he performed the way he did, but his knowledge of why he performed this way is most likely not enough to get him the help he may need.  This is yet another example of how important it is to base decisions about the services a student may need on more than one assessment score.

Reference

Drummond, R.J. & Jones, K. (2010). Assessment procedures for counselors and helping professionals ( 7^th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Last Blog!

            I cannot believe it is our last week already!  Congratulations for making it this far, everyone! 

            My brain must have been on vacation last week, because I did chapter 15 for last week’s blog, so I’ll be doing last week’s this week.  :)

            I found the chapter on Clinical Assessment pretty interesting.  While I have been somewhat familiar with basic concepts of Clinical Assessment, it was interesting to learn more about the DSM-IV-TR and the different mental disorders.  I had known little about the DSM-IV-TR, probably because I agree with one of the criticisms of it: it emphasizes pathological symptoms and it has “a strong medical orientation that runs counter to the wellness philosophy that counselors espouse” (Drummond & Jones, 2010).  I have always thought that it is a tool that labels and categorizes people, which it technically does, but I did not realize the extent to which is considers various circumstances surrounding a particular person’s condition.  I can appreciate that.   Of course, I cannot (well, will not) read descriptions of disorders without thinking of people I know and wondering, if they were evaluated, if they would be diagnosed with that particular disorder.  The one that stood out the most was Social Phobia.  I thought of a student that I have who is extremely school avoidant (ex: she missed 23 days in the third marking period alone, and is tardy for school on a daily basis to the point that she has not been to her first period class at all so far in the 4^th marking period).  She is a difficult girl to “figure out,” so to speak.  It took her a good two months to become comfortable enough to even talk to me.  She avoids many peers and teachers, especially of the male gender.  We have tried so many interventions with her, and finally got her mom on board with having a psychiatric evaluation.  When her mom took her to the facility to be evaluated, the girl absolutely refused to even walk in, and threw a fit.  If she ever finally agrees to be evaluated (or if her mom can find a way to do it without her thinking that there is something “wrong” with her), I wonder if she would be diagnosed with Social Phobia.  This makes me wonder: how do you evaluate people who are totally unwilling to participate, let alone walk through the door?

            One type of clinical assessment of which I know that school counselors are involved is risk assessments.  I feel relatively comfortable with a lot of aspects of counseling, but this is an area in which I am very tentative.  I have only referred maybe 2 students for risk assessments in my teaching career, and I still get shaken up from that.  Especially with suicide rates increasing in young people, in many cases as a result of bullying, I am sure that this is inevitable.  I often wondered, too – what do you do if an adult friend is showing signs of being suicidal?  Other than letting them know how much you care and being there for them, paired with sharing your concern with their loved ones, I don’t know what else could be done.  Once older, people often have to decide for themselves to get professional help, unless they makes choices that force them to get help.  I think my hang-up is that I cannot fathom being that “down and out” that suicide seems to be the only way out.   I find it very heartbreaking.

            Thank you, everyone, for a great class! 

Reference

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

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

chapter 15

            I appreciated the importance of considering culture and language in assessment validity.  I saw the importance of this clearly when I worked with refugees in Lancaster who were not familiar with the English language or with American/European culture.  I also saw this somewhat when I was a university student in a German university during college.  I was assessed by my German professors in the German language.  This was very difficult because I was less than fluent in that language, particularly when it came to scientific language needed for my genetics and biochemistry classes.  Additionally the method of testing was quite different than what I had been schooled in during my many years of education.  Both things certainly made it more difficult for me to demonstrate my acquired knowledge and proficiency.  The testing experience was often very frustrating for me as well as intimidating when I met with German professors for oral exams during my year studying abroad.  I would imagine English language learners might have some of the same feelings as they are tested here in the United States.  They might not be able to show the full extent of what they know due to language difficulties, and may appear to process more slowly.  However it would be important to distinguish whether those things are a reflection of their general ability or their language ability.  Additionally it could be very important to give extra direction and practice with the method of testing since that too, may be completely foreign to them.  By the time students are in high school, most American students are well rehearsed in standardized multiple-choice tests.  However, a student from another culture may not have had equal practice or exposure to that type of testing.  Again, in order to be sure that the results are valid and reliable, both these things must be taken into account.

            I also appreciated the section in the book that discussed acculturation.  Being culturally sensitive does not mean that we should make assumptions about those who come from other cultures.  Just as examiners should not assume there are no differences that need to be taken into account, examiners should also not assume that there are differences that need to be accounted for simply because of someone’s background.  The questions that investigate the level of acculturation would be very helpful in determining whether or not an assessment is valid for each individual. 

Reference

Drummond, R. J. and Jones, K. (2010). Assessment Procedures for Counselors and Helping Professionals. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.

Chapter 15 Blog

I think that Chapter 15 highlights so many useful issues in dealing with assessment issues and diverse populations. This is a topic that is very near to my heart as my brother-in-law is from Columbia South America. I know he has encountered many situations where he has run into various instruments where his actual ability is not clearly seen due to issues in translation etc. Now, these issues have gotten fewer and further between as his English has become all but that of a native speaker, but even sometimes now I will hear he and my sister discussion something that translates differently in English than in Spanish and she is explaining why. 

My sister and her husband have been married for almost 6 years. I was not really aware of these types of assessment issues or really thought much about what it would be like to take a test in an unfamiliar format. The closest example I could relate to was that when my sister transitioned back from home-schooling to public school, our district made her take the finals in all of the 9^th grade classes even though she was not a student in those classes all year long. My family tried to fight this and was outraged but it did no use. Having Carlos in our family I was able to see many themes that over the years I have heard him discuss while I was reading chapter 15.  The test taker factors (for more obvious reasons) stuck out to me the most in this chapter, also the brief paragraph about acculturation. I remember during my School Psychology days we were discussing this issue in assessment during an introductory course. The professor, who is of Spanish heritage, explained that on this assessment prompt, respondents were asked to describe what was happening in the picture. In one experience of her administering this test to an ESL middle school student the young lady was unable to explain the picture. As a class we were wholly confused as the picture clearly displayed a burning house and a fire truck that had arrived for assistance.  My professor further detailed that in this young ladies country this is not how fires are put out therefore creating a gap in her ability to explain the situation. Initially the professor (while administering this) was confused as this student had a good working knowledge of English- but when the student explained afterwards she immediately understood where the confusion had taken place. 

 

As learners from different cultures there are hidden assumptions that are specific to each culture that we as natives would not even be aware of where these assumptions may lie. For example, my family took a trip to Amsterdam a number of years ago and one grocery shopping trip we spent at least 20 minutes searching for yogurt because we assumed we would find it in a container in the diary section. What we could not have realized is that in the Netherlands they do not add thickener their yogurt to make it a semi solid, it is eaten in its natural, more liquid form. We finally discovered it in paper cartons like you would find milk.  The parallel being, when administering assessments it is imperative as counselors that we be as aware as possible to the clientele that will be receiving our instruction. This way, should culture gaps become evident we can build knowledge bridges where possible to enhance their ability to be successful on our normative assessment standards.

Week 14

Chapter 15 "Assessment Issues with Diverse Populations" was packed with relevant information that is so crucial to us carrying out our role of School Counselors in an ethical and responsible manner. I do not have much experience in this area directly as I have never given assessments to clients that are from diverse populations but I do have some life experience that I hope will help me in this arena. I have been fortunate to live abroad and travel extensively around the world. These experiences have opened my eyes to different cultures and different ways of doing things, experiencing life, and what people value. I think that exposure to different cultures can be life changing. I know that who I am now has been greatly influenced by my experiences and interactions abroad.

I found the section on test bias quite intriguing and appreciated the list of Test-Taker Factors very helpful. I will refer to that list in the future. When I read the section about Acculturation, it made me think about my time in Germany. While Germany is similar to the United States in many ways, I experienced cultural shock to a degree and found myself quite isolated. I did not know the language well and no one in the small nursing home I worked in could speak English very well. I remember riding the bus into the city and feeling so alone yet I was surrounded by people. I could hear people talking but did not understand a word. It was a very lonely and humbling time in my life. I also recall that my sense of humor did not translate well into German. My jokes which I told in English weren't funny usually when someone translated them into English. I also rarely got jokes in German because of my limited vocabulary and the colloquialisms. Humor has always been important to me and I struggled with the knowledge that my new friends weren't really getting to know the real me. I say all this just to emphasize the point that being from a diverse population manifests itself in a myriad of ways and to many different degrees.

I have mentioned before that my 9 year old daughter has vision impairment. She does very well with glasses but there are still issues that come up all the time she and I deal with. I have insight into the world of caring for a child with a disability. It is devastating to first learn of the problem(s). I still struggle with this at times and I grieve for what she can't see. When little kids made fun of her misaligned eyes (pre-surgery) it broke my heart. Talking to her about the fact that she may not be able to drive has been tough. I think that my own personal experience with this topic will help me to understand and be more sensitive to clients with disabilites and their parents. It is a positive out of a difficult reality in my life.

I would be very interested in attending a conference or at least a workshop on this very subject. I will try to look around to see if anything is being offered locally or perhaps at PSCA conference later this year. I am sure there are also good books and other resources on this subject that would be helpful to us as future school counselors.