GUIDANCE Counselors’ services can not be underestimated. There is a need to provide an assessment of the status of mental health, emotional, and other concerns that might affect one’s mental health status. Counselors are constantly required to communicate assessment results both to clients and to others, including parents, agencies, and other professionals. Five steps for communicating results in an assessment interview are also outlined. Communicating assessment results is a balance of art and science: Counselors provide comprehensive information to clients about specific assessments and their implications while fostering a therapeutic relationship so that clients and others are engaged in the assessment process and ultimately apply results in a meaningful way. Assessments are often used to diagnose and predict; communication must lead to the desired understanding and results. It must be remembered that a huge number of factors are involved in producing assessment data. These factors include clients’ inherited characteristics; their educational, cultural, family, and other experiences; their experiences with other assessments, particularly psychological tests; their motivation; their test anxiety; the physical and psychological conditions under which they took the test; and the lack of consistency in the assessment itself.
Communicating Assessment Results • Use only tests that you have personally scored and interpreted for yourself. Whenever possible, self-administer the assessment to maximize familiarity. Know the reasons a particular test was administered, what was expected from its interpretation, and the validity of the test for the purpose for which it was used. • Remember that an assessment procedure is generally an anxiety-producing experience for most people and usually involves a discussion of personal information; thus, clients may feel vulnerable or exposed in the process. • Know and understand the test manual as this information is imperative for communicating assessment data to clients.
By using the information from the manual, the counselor can relate the validity and other psychometric properties of the assessment to the purpose for which the test was used. The manual is also likely to contain information regarding the limits to which the test can be used and suggestions for interpreting the results. • Review the purposes for which the client took the assessment and its strengths and limitations. It is also helpful to go over with the client, the questions that the client wanted to be answered using the assessment process. • Explain the procedure by which the assessment is scored or evaluated and explain percentile ranks or standard scores if they are to be included in the interpretation. • Where possible, present results in terms of probabilities, which can be understood by clients in the same way as a weather report, rather than certainties or specific predictions. Keep in mind standard errors of measurement and the intervals they represent as applicable. • Emphasize during the process that a client’s understanding is most important. Where appropriate, encourage clients to make their interpretations. It is the client’s understanding of the results, not the counselor’s, that is ultimately important because it is the client who will use, misuse, or ignore the results. • Fully integrate assessment data with all other available information about the client. • Ensure that the client understands the interpretation of the test information and encourage him or her to express reactions to the information.
Remember that clients prefer an interactive interpretation over one that is simply delivered. • Adjust the pace of interpretations to clients’ ability and understanding. Have clients summarize often to make sure the results are being understood. If necessary, additional information or alternative methods of interpretation can be used. • Examine any relevant information or background characteristics, such as sex or dis- abilities, along with any apparent discrepancies or inconsistencies that appear. • Discuss both strengths and weaknesses revealed by the assessment results. • Adjust interactional style to match eye contact, use of personal space, and rate of speech to the client’s cultural norms. • Listen attentively to what the client says and be alert for unexpressed or nonverbal emotional reactions, especially when the test results are not what is expected or desired.
As a central elementary school principal, there is a need to provide a periodic assessment to address immediate concerns, issues, and difficulties met by the personnel, that might affect work performance.
