chapter 19 communicating test results robert j. drummond and karyn dayle jones assessment procedures...

Chapter 19Communicating Test Results

Robert J. Drummond and Karyn Dayle JonesAssessment Procedures for Counselors and Helping Professionals, 6th editionCopyright ©2006 by Pearson Education, Inc.Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458All rights reserved.

Methods of Reporting Test Results• Individual sessions• Group sessions• Written reports• Internet• Interactive approaches• Video approaches


Levels of Reports

• Level 1: Copied out of manual• Level 2: Minimum level of conceptual input used• Level 3: Personalized interpretation


Acceptance of Report Results

Counselors can enhance acceptance of the test results by:

• Involving the clients • Establishing rapport• Spending sufficient time interpreting the results• Translating the results • Showing the validity of the information


Negative Results

The test administrator should consider the following:

• Understand the test taker’s perceptions and feelings.• Accept the test taker’s right to disagree. • Be genuine and express your thoughts/feelings. • Identify other information about the client that supports or does

not support the test data.• Discuss the implications.


Steps in Conveying Test Results to Parents

• Establish a good relationship.• Explain the test results.• Discuss the implications for the child.• Establish goals for the parents and select strategies.• Involve the child in the conference with the parents.


Types of Questions Parents Ask About Tests• What is a standardized test? How was the test administered?• How are the tests scored, reported, and recorded? • What do these scores really mean?• Why are our school’s scores below the national norms?• Why do you test so much?• How do you use the scores?• How accurately do the tests predict success?


• Is there a relation between the scores and a child’s achievement in class?

• What is scholastic aptitude?• What is intelligence?• What kinds of questions were asked on this test?• Who will see the test results?• Can test scores be improved with coaching?• Is the test fair to members of my race, gender, or ethnic group?


Report Writing

• There is no one "correct" way to write a report. • It is unique to the writer and the client. • There is no standard format. • You can develop a format. • There are some basic guidelines that will help to write reports

clearly and meaningfully.


A good report is:

• Well-written• Brief and succinct (approximately 2 to 3 pages)• Tailored to the reader • Empathic and respectful• Includes a brief summary at the end of the paper


Purposes for the report

• Answer specific questions. • Plan treatment. • Formulate/conceptualize the case. • Monitor progress. • Provide diagnostic input. • Assess counseling outcome. • Make recommendations for counseling,etc.


Improve report writing with good structure.

• The goal of the report is to reach a logical conclusion that answers the referral question(s) and is supported by valid, reliable data.

• Use the body of the report to establish credibility for your conclusions. • There are 3 sources of data:

• Clinical history • Behavioral observations/mental status exam• Tests

• If any one of these is missing (e.g., test data), you still have two sources of data for the report!


Basic Report Format

• Purpose for Evaluation/Reason for Referral• Background Information • Assessment Procedures (if you used tests)• Results• Summary/Recommendations


Purpose of the Evaluation/Reason for Referral

• Get an understanding of what information the report will provide.

• Is your "client" referred by parents, partner, court, or self? following a suicide attempt? because of depression? because of significant fighting with partner?


Background Information

• Mental image of the client you are describing • This is the first hospital admission for this 36-year-old single white female

who has 13 years of formal education and is employed as a sales clerk.

• Brief physical description • Client may be seductively or slovenly dressed, skeletal or grossly obese,

attractively groomed or with nails that have been bitten so short they are bleeding.

• Present the details in a meaningful, orderly, and functional manner.


• Group related pieces of information together in a single paragraph.

• Use separate paragraphs only if you want to emphasize a particular issue.

• Affect and mood • Behavior• Any other relevant information


Results of Assessment• In this section you want to do more than just copy the interpretive

hypotheses out of the manual or from the computer printout.

• Describe the individual, not the tests. In general there is no need to mention specific tests by name (IQ tests are an exception).

• Rather, present those portions of the test data which you can confirm during the diagnostic interview, from collateral reports, or from review of records.


Example: Ms. Johnson’s full-scale IQ score is in the low average range of intelligence. As indicated by the Verbal Comprehension Index and Perceptual Organization Index, Ms. Johnson’s verbal comprehension skills and perceptual organization skills appear to be relatively equally developed, in the low average range. Ms. Johnson did demonstrate a weakness in working memory as evidenced by her percentile score on the Working Memory Index. Among subtests, Ms. Johnson demonstrated a significant weakness on arithmetic (basic math skills, mental concentration) and a significant relative strength on coding (psychomotor speed, visual short-term memory, visual-motor coordination, concentration). Overall, these assessment results indicate generally low average ability with strength in clerical speed and weaknesses in short-term memory and especially in long-term retrieval and retention.


Diagnose, conceptualize, or both? • Opinions differ as to whether the report should emphasize formal DSM diagnosis or

focus on an effort to conceptualize the case (i.e., present a systematic description of the individual, his problem, how the problem developed, and the forces that maintain the problem).

• It is appropriate to include a DSM diagnosis, so long as you also provide a

"paragraph style" conceptualization of the case. • Don't just label the person. • Go beyond DSM and help your reader understand the individual.

• Weak: Results of this evaluation reveal the presence of an avoidant personality disorder.• Better: Results of this evaluation reveal the presence of an Avoidant Personality Disorder, as evidenced

by (list the relevant DSM criteria). This client displays a chronic inability to establish and maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships (or to maintain employment). He is a relatively anxious individual who experiences marked internal conflicts over dependency issues. He has intense, unmet needs for attention and affection. However, his emotionally abusive childhood has led to extreme fear of rejection or humiliation in interpersonal relationships. His cool, detached public presentation represents a defensive effort to shield himself from emotional pain.


Recommendations

• Your conclusions and recommendations at the end of your paper should be well-supported by your observations and inferences within your paper.

• Do not recommend counseling unless you have identified a problem within your paper. We don't do counseling "just because..."


Conclusions

1. Identify whether counseling is warranted.2. Consider medical evaluation?3. Further assessment? What kind?4. Non‑psychological, non‑psychiatric interventions

needed?5. Environmental interventions needed?6. Issues that might interfere with treatment and how to

address them.Robert J. Drummond and Karyn Dayle JonesAssessment Procedures for Counselors and Helping Professionals, 6th editionCopyright ©2006 by Pearson Education, Inc.Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458All rights reserved.

1. Identify whether counseling is warranted.

• If so, related to what specific issues? What mode? What kind? What frequency, intensity, setting, and urgency? To achieve what goals? Of what expected duration?

Example:• “Continued inpatient hospitalization is warranted due to Mr. Smith’s suicidal ideation

and plan, concurrent severe anxiety and lack of social support.”• “Individual, outpatient, cognitive-behavioral counseling, once weekly, to address

Mary’s adjustment to college and separation anxiety is recommended. Mary should begin working with the college counselor this week if possible, as she is considering terminating her enrollment and returning home.”


2. Consider medical evaluation?

• To alleviate what symptoms?

Example:• “If Mary’s anxiety does not abate within two weeks, the UCF

Counseling Center should schedule Mary for a medical evaluation to determine whether antianxiety medication is needed. Specific attention should be paid to evaluating her sleep pattern at that time, as she reports sleep deprivation due to excessive worry at night.”


3. Further assessment? What kind?

• By whom (what specialty)? • To resolve what questions?Example:• “Neuropsychological assessment is recommended to assess the

extent and nature of brain damage Mr. Smith has suffered as a result of his substance abuse. Rehabilitation evaluation is recommended to identify interventions that may help him cope with his impairments.”


4. Non‑psychological, non‑psychiatric interventions needed?

• What kind? • By whom? • Other agencies need to be involved?

Example:• “Given the nature of Mrs. Smith’s cultural and religious beliefs, and their

impact on her willingness to seek therapy, consultation with and/or referral to her rabbi is recommended. This consultation should identify whether the rabbi is capable of helping Mrs. Smith with her depression, or whether the rabbi can assist her in accepting the professional help she clearly needs.”


5. Environmental interventions needed?

Example:• “Johnny needs to be seated at the front of each

classroom, so that he is able to see the board.”• “This employee should be switched to a position

that minimizes interaction with customers, and provides him with opportunity to socialize with a small cadre of fellow workers.”


6. Issues that might interfere with treatment and how to address them.

Example:• “Mary’s parents see her as a victim of “the university’s

impersonal, uncaring environment.” They repeatedly sympathize with and encourage Mary’s distress. Unless the parents can be helped to adopt a supportive yet adaptive approach, this student may fail in her transition to college. It is recommended that the Dean of Students arrange to meet with the parents and that they be referred to the Parents-in-Transition outreach program.”


Report Signature

• Finally, include a formal signature block, which looks like this:

Respectfully submitted,

__________________________________________Your name, highest EARNED and RELEVANT degreeExaminer


Tips• Avoid using jargon. State what you observe rather than just

saying ....impaired "reality testing", or that the client appeared "characterological", "neurotic", or that he displayed "cognitive slippage", or "perceptual insensitivity."

• When referring to yourself in a report there is no clear consensus whether you should use personal pronouns or refer to yourself as "the examiner." One option is to find ways to avoid references to yourself. For example,

• Weak: The client was angry with me for interrupting his scheduled activities on the ward.

• Better: The client voiced frustration and hostility over disruption of scheduled ward activities.


• Use past tense to talk about things that have happened; use present tense to talk about things that are happening or that will continue. That is, "He was dressed casually in clothes appropriate for work," but "He is a 28-year-old male."

• shorten sentence lengths• minimize the number of difficult words• reduce the use of acronyms• omit passive verbs• increase the use of subheadings


• Use your clients' names. They are people, not objects. Instead of "The client said..." say "Ms. Jones was..."

• Refer to adults by a title and last name (e.g., Dr. White or Ms. Brown); this is more respectful.

• Refer to children and teens by first name after identifying them by first and last name in your opening paragraph.

• You may draw inferences—in fact, you should—but support your conclusions with observations. For example, "She was cooperative during the interview, responding to all questions and expanding on these."


• Use good paragraph structure. The first sentence of the paragraph tells what the whole paragraph is about. The last sentence sums up the paragraph.

• Within each topic, follow a chronological development. You don't want the reader to have to stop and figure out which admission came first or which symptoms appeared last, and so on.

• Keep information under the appropriate subheading. Don't put Mental Status details or Behavioral Observations under Background Information, or vice versa.

• Report information clearly and with confidence. Avoid excessive use of words like "reportedly; according to the client; or the client stated." Once you've made it clear that the history came from clinical interview, you don't need to repeatedly qualify the data. One way to avoid this is to use quotation marks occasionally to let the reader know you are relating the client's opinions.


• Qualifiers are important at times, but excessive use reveals indecision or uncertainty. Avoid excess use of "appears to, suggests, may be, apparently,” and so on. Rather, say "The client is..." Use of behavioral descriptors can help here. For example:

• Weak: The client may have conflicts dealing with authority figures.

• Better: The client's difficulty with authority figures is evident in his multiple expulsions from school, arrests, and frequent loss of jobs due to "personality conflicts" with employers.

• Generally, don't repeat information. If paragraph one stated that the client has been repeatedly fired from jobs, don't repeat this in paragraph four as part of the "social issues" paragraph. Find a way to convey all the information and only say it once. Exceptions to this rule include repetition for emphasis and limited repetition in the summary.


• Include only details that are relevant to your conclusions.

• For chronic schizophrenia you might spend several paragraphs on past treatment efforts and only a sentence or two on family issues.

• For child being emotionally abused during the parents’ separation, you might spend several paragraphs on the effects of divorce on children, while devoting only a couple of sentences to prior treatment.

• Remember, the purpose of the psychological report is usually NOT to provide a comprehensive social or medical history. Include only relevant details.


chapter 19 communicating test results robert j. drummond and karyn dayle jones assessment procedures...

Documents

test resultsrobert

test fair

standardized test

test data

conveying test results

upper saddle river

pearson education

new jersey