Communicating Assessment Results 4

Question 1

What are Common Problems encountered in written reports?

Answer 1

o the use of jargon, poorly defined terms, and abbreviations
o poor or illogical explanations of results
o vague or inappropriate recommendations
o poor organization
o emphasis on numbers rather than explanations
o the exclusive use of computer-generated test reports

Question 2

What is the most frequent complaint cited from clients, parents, teachers, and even mental health professionals in written reports?

Answer 2

Overuse of jargon

Question 3

What are the Qualities of a well-written report? 13

Answer 3

• To keep written reports clear and understandable, the language should be specific and concrete rather than abstract and ambiguous.
• Written in a way that can be understood by professionals as well as parents, clients, and court system
• Avoids jargon and abbreviations
• Refers to the examiner in the third person
• Uses simple words and concise sentences
• Avoid using needless words and phrases.
• Avoid redundancies.
• Begin paragraphs with a strong declarative sentence followed by information that supports the declarative statement.
• Background info and observations are written in the past tense
• Assessment results are written in the present tense
• Information irrelevant to the purpose for the assessment generally should not be included.
• Capitalize test titles.
• Pay attention to punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and grammar

Question 4

What statement should not be abstract?

Answer 4

Abstract statements may be difficult for readers to interpret, and ambiguous sentences are often misinterpreted because they imply different meanings to different individuals.

Question 5

What is the format of Assessment Report?

Answer 5

• There is no single, optimal report format suitable for every setting and assessment
• The exact format of an assessment report depends on the audience, referral questions, and the assessment instruments and strategies administered.
• Because some assessment professionals use tests as one data collection method, some assessment reports will contain a list of the tests that were used during the assessment process. However, when tests are not used in the assessment process, they are not be listed or discussed in the written report.

Question 6

What are the Typical Sections of the Assessment Report

Answer 6

o I. Title and identifying information
o II. Reason for referral III. Background information
o IV. Behavioral observations
o V. Assessment instruments and procedures
o VI. Assessment results and interpretation
o VII. Summary
o VIII. Recommendations

Question 7

Section 1: Title and Identifying Information

What is in this section 1?

Answer 7

•	Identifying information is generally recorded underneath the title as follows:
o	Examinee’s Name
o	Date(s) of Assessment
o	Date of Birth
o	Report Date (date written)
o	Chronological Age
o	Examiner’s Name
o	School and Grade (if assessing a student)

Question 8

Section 2: Reason for Referral

What is referral?

Answer 8

• Typically, the first section of the report

* Referral: reasons why the individual is being assessed

Question 9

Section 2: Reason for Referral

Why this section is crucial

Answer 9

• Because the reason for referral determines the focus of an evaluation and provides the rationale for the assessment
• The reason for the referral will guide the development of the rest of the report.
  (Note: All other parts of the report should be written with the referral question in mind – focus/rationale of the evaluation.)

Question 10

Section 2: Reason for Referral

When drafting the reason for a referral, consider?

Answer 10

• how the results may be used in the future

- who may have access to the data (e.g. attorneys, spouses, case managers…)

Question 11

Section 3: Background Information

What is in this section?

Answer 11

• Provides context for understanding the client

Question 12

Section 3: Background Information

What is the information? And how they are obtained?

Answer 12

o	Social and developmental history
o	Medical history
o	Education
o	Family constellation
o	Employment information

• This information could be obtained through interviews (client or/and collateral sources) and records, previous assessment results, court documents, health records..

Question 13

Section 3: Background Information

What counsellors should be careful about in this section.

Answer 13

• Although this section provides the context in which assessment results are interpreted, if the background information is not relevant to the referral problem, and if it is very personal, counselors should consider carefully whether or not to include it in the report
• The report should not include hearsay, unverified opinions, generalized statements, or potentially harmful or damaging information.

Question 14

Section 4: Behavioral Observations

What type of Observations is included in this sectin?

Answer 14

Observations in all relevant settings (during the assessment process or in other settings) should be included

Question 15

Section 4: Behavioral Observations

How Behaviors can be observed?

Answer 15

o directly by the counselor

o indirectly by reports from teachers, parents, and others who have contact with the client.

Question 16

Section 4: Behavioral Observations

What are some examples of observations made during the assessment?

Answer 16

physical appearance, ease of establishing and maintaining rapport with the client, language style (e.g., speed, pitch, volume, and rhythm of speech), attention span, distractibility, activity level, anxiety level, mood, attitude toward the assessment process, attitude toward the examiner, and unusual mannerisms or habits

Question 17

Section 4: Behavioral Observations

What can be the Area of observation?

Answer 17

• Areas of observation often include academic, social, and emotional functioning and often have significant positive or negative impact on the individual’s behavior

Question 18

Section 5: Assessment Instruments and Procedures

What to provide in this section?

Answer 18

• Provide a brief description (and names) of the assessment instruments and procedures used.
• Provide relevant dates
• Provide names of any assessment methods used

Question 19

Section six: Assessment Results and Interpretation

What to include and provide in this section?

Answer 19

• Provides the results and interpretation of results, as well hypotheses or clinical impressions about the client

Results:

• The results of the instruments administered should be presented descriptively in this section.
• Only include results that are relevant to the assessment
• It’s not mandatory to describe all the results (test scores), only those important for the report and reason for assessment
• It is also important to note any factors that may affect validity and reliability of the results (e.g. cultural differences, language factors, disabilities, health problems..)

Question 20

Section six: Assessment Results and Interpretation

What can be the form of the results and interpretation?

Answer 20

• Provides the results and interpretation of results in text format and graphs

Question 21

Section six: Assessment Results and Interpretation

After presenting assessment results, how results should be interpreted?

Answer 21

-in a manner that is meaningful and relevant to the client, the referral source, and other relevant collateral sources.

• Interpretations should be supported by:
  1 information obtained from other test scores
  2 behavioral observations during the assessment or in other contexts
  3 background information from the interview and from collateral sources

Question 22

Section six: Assessment Results and Interpretation

How Section six: Assessment Results and Interpretation?

Answer 22

by:
o Domain
- separate paragraphs with different domains, (e.g., cognitive skills, achievement, social functioning…), and each paragraph may include data from multiple instruments and strategies.
o Ability
-similar to previous but the domains in each paragraph are more specific and based on specific abilities rather than general domains, (e.g., memory, expressive language, mathematical reasoning…)
o Test
-each paragraph describes the results of one individual assessment instrument
-most commonly used organizational format
o Charts and graphs
-In addition to reporting results using one of the three formats, counselors may also provide instrument data in a chart or graph format as an appendix.

Question 23

Section 7: Summary

What to do in this section?

Answer 23

• Integrates key pieces of information from all sections of the report
• Counselors briefly restate the reason for referral, pertinent background information, behavioral observations, and test results and interpretations.
• Written as any other summary: brief and clearly worded, concise, new information is never included, shouldn’t exceed 1 page
• Remember that some people may only read this part of the report!
• Integrates key pieces of information from all sections of the report

Question 24

Section 7: Summary

Why is this section important?

Answer 24

This section is particularly important since some may read only this section out of the entire written report.

Question 25

Section 8: Recommendation

What are the do’s in this section?

Answer 25

• The recommendations section should offer specific suggestions for future action and resources that may be available.
• Recommendations should be tied directly to the reason for the assessment. (e.g. recommendations for a student would focus on behavioral intervention, recommendations for a patient in a mental health clinic would focus on treatment recommendations based on the diagnosis)
• The recommendations section should offer specific suggestions for future action and resources that may be available, i.e.: programs, strategies, interventions, treatment
• Recommendations should be tied directly to the reason for the assessment.

Question 26

Many times, a counselor is required to communicate test results to other professionals, such as teachers, principals, correctional officers, and judicial staff members. What are the basic guidelines for presenting assessment information to other professionals?

Answer 26

Goldfinger and Pomerantz (2013)

1. Find out exactly what information the recipient needs, what the individual plans to do with it, and what qualifications the individual has.
2. Make sure ethical and legal procedures are followed, such as securing a client’s writ-ten permission to release information.
3. Check to see whether procedures have been established for test information. Normally a policy is already in force.
4. Aim the report as directly as possible to the particular question asked. This practice saves time and provides clear communication of needed information.