School Psychological Examiner
Encyclopedia

Role of Psychological Examiners in schools

School Psychological Examiners are assessors licensed by a State Department of Education to work with students from pre-kindergarten to twelfth grade in public schools, interviewing, observing, and administering and interpreting standardized testing instruments that measure cognitive and academic abilities, or describe behavior, personality characteristics, attitude or aptitude, in order to determine eligibility for special education services, placement, or conduct re-evaluation, or occupational guidance and planning.

The work of the School Psychological Examiners is both, qualitative and quantitative in nature. They prepare psychoeducational evaluation reports based on test results and interpretation. Integrated with case history, the evaluation reports should present an accurate and clear profile of a student’s level of functioning or disability, strengths and weaknesses, compare test results with the standards of the evaluation instruments, analize potential test biases, and develop appropriate recommendations to help direct educational interventions and services in a most inclusive and least restrictive environment. Evaluation reports are framed by laws and regulations applicable to testing and assessment in special education, and must follow school district policies and the codes of ethics applicable to education, special education, and psychological assessment.

School Psychological Examiners also provide psychoeducational interventions such as consultation services, collaboration in behavior management planning and monitoring, and devising social skills training programs in public schools.

Unless additionally trained and licensed, School Psychological Examiners do not offer or provide psychotherapy or clinical diagnostic/treatment services, which are attributions of licensed psychiatrists and clinical psychologists, as provided by law and professional regulations.

Qualifications

School Psychological Examiners are highly trained and experienced educators who hold a master’s or higher degree in education or school counseling and at least one endorsement in special education. In addition to school district policies, School Psychological Examiners are bound by professional regulations, as well as by the ethical codes of testing and measurement. Other designations for School Psychological Examiners include ‘Educational Examiners’ or ‘Psychoeducational Examiners.’ Designation of this specialty varies among different school districts.

'Psychometrist,’ from the term psychometrics
Psychometrics
Psychometrics is the field of study concerned with the theory and technique of psychological measurement, which includes the measurement of knowledge, abilities, attitudes, personality traits, and educational measurement...

, is an occupational designation not inclusive of the broader faculties of School Psychological Examiners. Psychometrists deal exclusively with quantitative test administration, do not require coursework beyond the bachelor's level, or licensure by a state department of education. Training of psychometrists is primarily done on-the-job, and their services are valuable in mental health community agencies, assessment and institutional research, or test-producing companies, etc., rather than in K-12 schools.

Graduate Training and Licensure of School Psychological Examiners

Typical training includes coursework beyond the Master of Education, Master of Science in Education, or Master of Arts in Teaching degrees. Currently, School Psychological Examiners complete the courses required by their state department of education rather than by a prescribed self-contained program of studies. The coursework is equivalent to an entire Specialist or Doctoral Degree; unfortunately just a handful of institutions of higher education offer this kind of self-standing graduate program. Graduate courses, of psychological nature include:
  • Special Education Law
  • Advanced Child and Adolescent Growth and Development
  • Psychology of Students with Exceptionalities
  • Abnormal Child and Adult Psychology
  • Advanced Statistics and Research in Education and Psychology
  • Tests and measurements
  • Assessment and Evaluation of the Individual
  • Individual Intelligence quotient
  • Group Assessment
  • Diagnostics and Remedial Reading
  • Ethical issues in education and psychological measurement and evaluation reporting
  • Methods of Instructing Students with Mild/Moderate Disabilities
  • Methods of Instructing Students with Severe to Profound Disabilities
  • Survey of Guidance and Counseling Techniques
  • Practicum for School Psychological Examiners (150 supervised contact hours).


Licensure as School Psychological Examiner demands experience in a special education or school counseling setting, satisfactory completion of the required graduate coursework and practicum, plus a passing score on the 'Praxis II Special Education: Knowledge-Based Core Principles'. Graduate school recommendation and verification of experience by the employing school district complete the requirements. In addition to the practicum, on-the-job mentoring supervision for at least two school years, sometimes four years, allows the transition from initial licensure to standard professional licensure. An annual professional development plan and ongoing performance-based evaluation ensure 'High Quality' professionalism as required by the No Child Left Behind law and related regulations.

School Psychological Examiners’ Competencies

“The clinical and technical skills needed to be a competent behavioral and clinical assessor include the abilities to do the following:[3]
  1. Establish and maintain rapport with children, parents, and teachers
  2. Use effective assessment techniques appropriate for evaluating children’s behavior
  3. Use effective techniques for obtaining accurate and complete information from parents and teachers
  4. Evaluate the psychometric properties of tests and other measures
  5. Select an appropriate assessment battery
  6. Administer and score tests and other assessment tools by following standardized procedures
  7. Observe and evaluate behavior objectively
  8. Perform informal assessments
  9. Interpret assessment results
  10. Use assessment findings to develop effective interventions
  11. Communicate assessment findings effectively, both orally and in writing
  12. Adhere to ethical standards
  13. Read and interpret research in behavioral and clinical assessment
  14. Keep up with laws and regulations concerning the assessment and placement of children with special needs.”



Additionally, high quality School Psychological Examiners exhibit proficiency-level knowledge on:
  • The provisions of the Individuals with Disabilities Act and the Section 504 of the Civil Rights Act and related
  • State and federal laws, and all the applicable regulations, policies, and standards pertaining the provision of psychosocial and educational services to disabled individuals
  • Children and adolescents' advanced development and behavior
  • Multicultural factors in attitudes and behaviors
  • Analysis and diagnosis of learning problems including special consideration of low incidence populations
  • Integration of knowledge, facts, and theory on classroom environment, psychosocial principles, and test results, to plan for prescriptive instruction, management, and education of students with special needs
  • Focused and methodical psychoeducational evaluation reporting, providing sound and accurate information and research-based remediation recommendations to improve individual student's learning, achievement, and behavioral performance
  • Teamwork and collaboration for the process of staffing with other school professionals and collaborative development of instructional strategies for students with special needs
  • Provision of assistance with instructional modifications or accommodations, and programming or transition recommendations for the Individualized Education Program (IEP)
  • Accountability for the monitoring and outcome assessment of services and interventions.

Evaluation standards

Evaluation standards provide guidelines for designing, implementing, assessing, and reporting the psychoeducational evaluation reported by school psychological examiners. The evaluation is informed by professional codes of ethics:
  • Standards for Qualifications of Test Users @ http://www.theaaceonline.com/standards.pdf
  • Code of Fair Testing Practices in Education @ http://www.theaaceonline.com/codefair.pdf
  • Standards for Multicultural Assessment @ http://www.theaaceonline.com/codefair.pdf
  • Association for Assessment in Counseling and Education @ http://www.theaaceonline.com/
  • Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing @ http://www.apa.org/science/standards.html#overview

See also

  • Psychological Examiner
  • Educational Examiner
  • Educational Assessment
  • Psychological Evaluation
    Psychological evaluation
    A psychological evaluation or mental examination is an examination into a person's mental health by a mental health professional such as a psychologist. A psychological evaluation may result in a diagnosis of a mental illness...

  • Psychometrics
    Psychometrics
    Psychometrics is the field of study concerned with the theory and technique of psychological measurement, which includes the measurement of knowledge, abilities, attitudes, personality traits, and educational measurement...

  • Standardized Test
    Standardized test
    A standardized test is a test that is administered and scored in a consistent, or "standard", manner. Standardized tests are designed in such a way that the questions, conditions for administering, scoring procedures, and interpretations are consistent and are administered and scored in a...

  • Intelligence quotient
    Intelligence quotient
    An intelligence quotient, or IQ, is a score derived from one of several different standardized tests designed to assess intelligence. When modern IQ tests are constructed, the mean score within an age group is set to 100 and the standard deviation to 15...

  • Individual Assessment
  • Group Assessment
  • Psychoeducational
    Psychoeducational
    Psychoeducational assessment and intervention target a student's function within his or her educational setting....

     Interventions
  • Psychosocial
    Psychosocial
    For a concept to be psychosocial means it relates to one's psychological development in, and interaction with, a social environment. The individual needs not be fully aware of this relationship with his or her environment. It was first commonly used by psychologist Erik Erikson in his stages of...

     Interventions
  • School Counselor
    School counselor
    A school counselor is a counselor and an educator who works in elementary, middle, and high schools to provide academic, career, college access, and personal/social competencies to K-12 students...

  • School Psychologist
  • Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
    Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
    The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is a United States federal law that governs how states and public agencies provide early intervention, special education, and related services to children with disabilities...

     - IDEA
    Idea
    In the most narrow sense, an idea is just whatever is before the mind when one thinks. Very often, ideas are construed as representational images; i.e. images of some object. In other contexts, ideas are taken to be concepts, although abstract concepts do not necessarily appear as images...

  • Special Education
    Special education
    Special education is the education of students with special needs in a way that addresses the students' individual differences and needs. Ideally, this process involves the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials,...

  • Individualized Education Plan - IEP
    IEP
    IEP can mean multiple things:* Individualized Education Program* International Energy Program* Institut d'études politiques, a group of French university faculties concentrating mainly but not exclusively on political science...

  • Section 504 of The Civil Rights Act.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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