Errors on cognitive assessments administered by graduate students and practicing school psychologists.

摘要

Cognitive assessments are prevalent in U.S. history and policy, and are still very widely used for a variety of purposes. Individuals are trained on the administration and interpretation of these assessments, and upon completion of a program it should be assumed that they are able to complete an assessment without making administrative, scoring, or recording errors. However, an examination of assessment protocols completed by students as well as practicing school psychologists reveals that errors are the norm, not the exception. The purpose of this study was to examine errors committed by both master's and doctoral-level students on three series of cognitive assessments as well as errors made by practicing school psychologists. Three primary measures of intellectual assessment, the Wechsler scales, the Woodcock Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Abilities (WS III COG), and the Differential Ability Scales---Second Edition (DAS-II) were examined. Errors were tabulated and analyzed from 295 Wechsler protocols, 257 DAS-II protocols, and 258 WJ III COG protocols completed by master's and doctoral-level students and practicing school psychologists. Errors were delineated by type and source, and also analyzed for identifiable themes. Results of the study revealed that most errors are manualized, in that what an examiner recorded directly contradicted an instruction given in a test manual. The most common errors found were failure to record responses verbatim, incorrect calculation of raw score, and failure to administer sample items. Based on the outcome of this study, it is recommended that programs instructing students on how to administer cognitive assessment provide ample feedback, and it is recommended that practicing psychologists maintain best practices and take part in continuing education regarding cognitive assessments.