Introduction to Assessment

Assessment Procedures for Counselors and Helping Professionals, 7e

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 What is Assessment?

The term assessment refers to any systematic

procedure for collecting information that can
be used to make inferences about the
characteristics of people.

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 Who Uses Assessments?
 Counselors
 Educators
 Social Works
 Psychologists
 Healthcare Professionals
 Others in Industry, Business, Military and
other setting

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Nature of Assessment
 Assessment involves collecting information
through multiple methods.
 Assessment methods may include testing,
interviews, observations and much more.
 Quality assessment involves multiple
methods of data collection from multiple
sources.

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 Purposes of Assessment
 Screening
 Identification and Diagnosis
 Intervention Planning
 Progress Evaluation

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 Methods of Assessment
 Testing – measures specific attributes of
an individual
 Interviews – gathers background
information relevant to the reason for the
assessment
 Observation – measures what an
individual actually does

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 Sources of Information
 Client
 Collateral Sources
 Personal Sources
 Parents
 Spouses
 Others close to the client
 Professional Sources
 Teachers
 Physicians
 Mental health professionals

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 Methods and Sources

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 The Assessment Process
1. Identify the problem to be addressed
2. Select and implement methods of
assessment
3. Evaluate the assessment information
4. Report assessment results and make
recommendations

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 Historical Contexts
 Testing and assessment is relatively new in
the United States, beginning around the turn
of the 20th century.
 Records of the use of testing and
assessment go back as far as 2200 B.C. in
China.
 Firzherbert used assessments to identify
individuals with retardation as far back as
the 1500’s.

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  Juan Huarte (1530-1589) – one of the first
authors to suggest formal mental testing
 Jean Esquirol (1772-1840) – proposed
measures of language as a way of
determining levels of mental deficiency
 Alfred Binet (1857-1911) - directed the first
physiological-psychological laboratory in
France. Developed a crude scale for
measuring mental ability.

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History of Testing

1900 to 1909:
 Jung Word Association Test
 Binet and Simon Intelligence Scale
 Thorndike Handwriting, Language, Spelling, and
Arithmetic Tests
 Spearman’s measurement theory
 Pearson’s theory of correlation
 Thorndike’s textbook on educational measurement
 Goddard’s translation of Binet into English

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 1910 to 1919:
 Army Alpha and Army Beta Tests
 Stenquist Test of Mechanical Abilities
 Spearman’s Factors in Intelligence
 Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale
 Stern’s concept of mental quotient
 Woodworth Personal Data Sheet

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 1920 to 1929:
 Founding of the Psychological Corporation
 Goodenough Draw-a-Man Test
 Strong Vocational Interest Blank
 Terman, Kelley, and Ruch’s Stanford Achievement Test
 Clark’s Aptitude Testing
 Spearman’s The Abilities of Man: Their Nature and
Measurement
 Morrison’s School Mastery Tests
 Rorschach Ink Blot Test

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 1930 to 1939:
 Buros’s first Mental Measurements Yearbook
 Graduate Record Examinations
 Wechsler Bellevue Intelligence Scale
 1937 revision of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale
 Murray’s Thematic Apperception Test
 Piaget’s Origins of Intelligence

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 1940 to 1949:
 Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory
 Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children
 U.S. Employment Service’s General Aptitude Test
Battery
 Cattell Infant Intelligence Scale

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 1950 to 1959:
 Lindquist’s electronic test scoring
 Technical Recommendations for Achievement Tests
 Guilford’s The Nature of Human Intelligence
 National Defense Education Act
 Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives

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 1960 to 1969:
 National Assessment of Educational Progress
 Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence
 1960 revision of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale
 Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing
 Civil Rights Act of 1964
 Kuder Occupational Interest Survey
 Cattell’s Theory of Fluid and Crystallized Intelligence
 Bayley Scales of Infant Development

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 1970 to 1979:
 Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974
 New York State Truth in Testing Act
 Education of All Handicapped Children Act (became the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act [IDEA])
 Self-Directed Search
 Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised
 Revision of the Standards for Educational and Psychological
Testing
 Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test
 Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory
 Use of computers in testing

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 1980 to 1989:
 Thorndike, Hagen, and Stattler’s revision of the Stanford-Binet
Intelligence Scale
 Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act of 1984
 Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children
 Revision of the Standards for Educational and Psychological
Testing
 Nader & Nairn The Reign of ETS: The Corporation that Makes Up
Minds (Ralph Nader’s report on the Educational Testing Service)
 Bayley Scale of Infant Development
 Computer-adaptive and computer-assisted tests

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 1990 to 1999:
 Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996
 Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire, Fifth Edition
 Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, Third Edition
 Revision of the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing
 Wechsler Individual Achievement Test
 Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale, Fifth Edition
 Internet-based tests

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 2000 to Present:
 No Child Left Behind Act of 2001
 Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004
 Newly revised Strong Interest Inventory
 Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fourth Edition
 Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence, Third Edition
 Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test, Second Edition

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Controversies in Assessment
Despite advances in the area of
assessments, concerns remain:
 Assessment is an invasion of privacy.
 There is too much reliance on test scores for decision making,
without enough consideration for an individual’s background
history.
 Tests are biased; they are unfair and discriminate against
diverse groups.
 Tests may be self-incriminating, and individuals should have
the right to rebuttal.

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  Intelligence tests are not measuring the right constructs.
 We cannot rely on grades and diplomas; we must have
demonstration of competencies on objective tests.
 Multiple-choice tests need to be replaced by authentic and
performance assessment.
 There is too much pressure on students, teachers, and
parents because of high stakes testing.

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