This is a “how-to” book. More precisely, it is a “how-to-with understanding” book. It concerns conducting assessments that are conceptually anchored and, as much as possible, congruent with the findings of contemporary empirical research. In advance of 14 specialized chapters, the book provides two general, foundational chapters. This means that readers start off with key concepts associated with assessment, human judgment, and measurement. They then learn about three general classes of procedures to avert errors of decision making: a flexible worksheet for listing and updating their working hypotheses, probability nomograms to help quantify categorical decisions, and checklists to assure thoroughness.
The latter 14 chapters concern tools and practices (e.g., rating scales, observations, interviews, oral report preparation, written report preparation). Included are verbatim interviews, profiles from rating scales, as well as words from the mouths of school psychologists as they speak with teachers and parents. Empiricism is also summarized. For example, readers find dozens of effect size statistics associated with diagnostic tools (e.g., BASC-3, ADOS-2; ADHD-5 Rating Scale). Many of these come from instruments’ manuals, others from a review of the vast published literature on social-emotional tools. Numbers like these help readers understand the capability of various instruments to assist in categorical decisions (e.g., autism, ADHD). The same numbers might be used in completion of probability nomograms.
This is a book for school psychologists. Accordingly, specialized chapters deal with school-based assessment for emotional disturbance, autism, and ADHD. There is also a dedicated chapter on role expansion in the 21st century, and even one on understanding projective techniques and their limitations for school practice. Abundant cases/vignettes are found in each chapter. Across the book’s 16 chapters, they total more than 80. Readers should note that these represent composites based on experience and were created for pedagogical purposes. They are not real individuals.
I’m convinced that these 16 chapters fill a need. This is because school psychology graduate students require a resource that actually guides them in the execution of social-emotional assessments. Beyond how, students benefit from knowing why. Through several iterations, considerable colleague and student feedback plus some trial-and-error, I’ve become confident that this product teaches practical skills buttressed by logic. Both the book and the accompanying 150 page Skills Workbook help to provoke students’ critical thinking and foster development of vital assessment skills. In fact, classes comprised entirely of EdS students, as well as those filled with mostly PhD students, have helped me understand what does and does not work, and how much practice and repetition is needed before students master important skills and attain essential understanding. The book reflects these lessons.
To enhance the book’s utility for instructors, I have prepared a set of quiz and exam items. These, together with tips on using the text in class, appear in a separate Instructor’s Manual & Test Bank. That said, the book is equally suited to current school psychologists who want to update or refine their skills. Those in the field will find the Reproducible Forms & Checklists, also available from the author, most valuable. Please contact me at dwodrich@arizona.edu for information on any of these supplemental materials or to offer feedback on the book.
DLW