Assessment Design and
Framework

Field 042: School Psychologist

The assessment design below describes general assessment information. The framework that follows is a detailed outline that explains the knowledge and skills that this assessment measures.

Assessment Design

Format Computer-based test (CBT)
Number of Questions 80 multiple-choice questions (85% of score)
1 constructed-response assignment (15% of score)
Time* 150 minutes
Passing Score 220

*Does not include 15-minute CBT tutorial

Framework

 



Domain Range of Competencies Approximate Percentage of Assessment Score
I Understanding Human Development, Diversity, and Learning 0001–0003 25%
II Assessing and Addressing Individual and Schoolwide Needs 0004–0009 50%
III Working in the Professional Environment 0010–0012 25%
Domain I–Understanding Human Development, Diversity, and Learning

0001 Understand human development and behavior.

Includes:

  1. Demonstrate knowledge of early childhood, child, and adolescent development in the cognitive, social/emotional, sensorimotor, and language domains.
  2. Analyze how characteristics or changes in any one domain (e.g., cognitive, social/emotional) may affect performance in other domains, and demonstrate an understanding of the interrelationship between a student's skills in one domain and skills in other domains.
  3. Apply knowledge of variables that affect students' behavior and development (e.g., prenatal and early environment; chemical use or abuse; psychopathological, biological, temperament-related, social, gender-related, and linguistic variables; family issues; prior experiences; socioeconomic status; cultural or ethnic background; parent and teacher expectations).
  4. Demonstrate knowledge of the biological (e.g., developmental, neuropsychological, physiological), social, and cultural bases of behavior and how they interact.
  5. Demonstrate knowledge of medical and pharmacological influences on behavior and development.
  6. Examine how giftedness and/or disabilities may affect development in the cognitive, social/emotional, sensorimotor, and language domains.
  7. Apply knowledge of human exceptionalities (including students with disabilities and students with special gifts and talents) with regard to development, including similarities and differences between students with exceptionalities and other students of the same age.
  8. Apply knowledge of ways to promote development in all domains for students from birth to age 21.

0002 Understand processes of learning and learning environments that are responsive to the strengths and needs of students.

Includes:

  1. Demonstrate knowledge of theories and processes of learning.
  2. Apply knowledge of factors that affect students' learning (e.g., prenatal and early environment; psychopathological, biological, temperament-related, social, gender-related, and linguistic factors; student motivation; family issues; prior experiences; socioeconomic status; cultural or ethnic background; parent and teacher expectations).
  3. Recognize the advantages and limitations of different types of learning environments and experiences for students with diverse needs (e.g., demonstrate knowledge of the importance of the match between the instructional environment and students' needs).
  4. Evaluate the effects of different learning environments, classroom management strategies, and intervention techniques on students' achievement and social/emotional development.
  5. Recognize strategies for modifying learning environments to meet the diverse physical, social/emotional, behavioral, cognitive, language, career development, and academic needs of students with specified characteristics, strengths, and needs.
  6. Apply the principles of generalization and transfer of learning to various interventions, including those aimed at assisting parents/guardians and other caregivers with the implementation of behavior-change programs in the home and facilitating successful transitions of students from one environment to another.

0003 Understand curricula and instruction that promote learning, achievement, and competence in students with diverse strengths and needs.

Includes:

  1. Demonstrate familiarity with the preK–12 curriculum (e.g., language arts, mathematics) as it relates to human development and learning.
  2. Demonstrate knowledge of differentiated instruction, remediation, and intervention techniques that enhance the academic, social/emotional, communicative, and functional living competence of students with varied strengths and needs.
  3. Identify learning opportunities that take advantage of student strengths, facilitate learning and achievement, enhance transition readiness, and promote effective functioning in a variety of school and nonschool settings.
  4. Evaluate the appropriateness of various instructional approaches and resources, including technological resources that meet identified student needs.
  5. Identify appropriate recommendations for curriculum and instructional modifications in various situations (e.g., early intervening services).
Domain II–Assessing and Addressing Individual and Schoolwide Needs

0004 Understand how to select, adapt, and develop assessments that provide accurate, useful information for determining appropriate interventions and making educational recommendations for students with diverse strengths and needs.

Includes:

  1. Identify the characteristics, benefits, and limitations of formal and informal assessment instruments, and demonstrate knowledge of procedures used for screening, diagnosis, and planning and for evaluating the progress of infants through school-age students in various areas (e.g., cognitive/intellectual and social/emotional development, language, classroom behavior, adaptive skills, mental health).
  2. Apply procedures for selecting, adapting, and developing curriculum-based assessments and curriculum-based measurement (e.g., portfolios, observations, writing samples, interviews).
  3. Examine psychometric properties of testing instruments (e.g., different types of reliability and validity, acceptable levels of reliability and validity, measurement error, standardization) and their implications for assessment selection.
  4. Demonstrate knowledge of legal and ethical guidelines and key issues in assessment (e.g., bias; generalizability; special considerations in the assessment of infants and toddlers; the significance of cultural diversity, home language, socioeconomic diversity, and gender; rapport in testing situations), and recognize the importance of using appropriate assessment methods and techniques.
  5. Examine the role that diversity factors and students' cultural backgrounds play in choosing and modifying assessment instruments in specific contexts, and evaluate the appropriateness of different types of assessment for given students (e.g., for English Language Learners).
  6. Demonstrate knowledge of procedures for collecting and reviewing comprehensive information in regard to early intervening services, initial referrals, and reevaluation.
  7. Apply knowledge of how to use and provide the information from various assessment models to help the multidisciplinary team address referral questions and make appropriate educational placement and programming recommendations for students with diverse strengths and needs.
  8. Demonstrate understanding of when and how to use authentic and dynamic assessment procedures that directly inform interventions.

0005 Understand how to conduct assessments of students who have diverse strengths and needs.

Includes:

  1. Demonstrate knowledge of standard procedures for administering various types of assessments (e.g., cognitive, academic, behavioral, adaptive) for infants through school-age students who may require special education, early childhood intervention, gifted education, or other services or interventions.
  2. Recognize how to adapt assessment procedures for individual students in various contexts, and analyze how procedural modifications for administering standardized assessments may affect assessment results.
  3. Identify nondiscriminatory assessment strategies for culturally and linguistically diverse students, and analyze the significance of linguistic, cultural, and socioeconomic diversity for student assessment.
  4. Demonstrate knowledge of how to administer assessments in ways that provide information that is accurate and useful for planning instruction and environmental modifications to help students with diverse needs achieve desired goals.

0006 Understand how to interpret assessment results to increase knowledge about students' individual strengths and needs.

Includes:

  1. Demonstrate knowledge of concepts of test measurement (e.g., mean, standard deviation, percentages) and different types of scores (e.g., z-scores, age- and grade-equivalent scores, percentiles, standard scores), their relationships, and their implications for interpreting test results.
  2. Demonstrate knowledge of scoring and reporting methods used with various assessment instruments and how to interpret the results of assessments of infants through school-age students.
  3. Analyze assessment data to determine the presence and nature of a student's giftedness, including the identification of gifted students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
  4. Analyze assessment data to determine the presence, nature, and severity of a student's disabilities; current level of academic performance (e.g., specific strengths and needs, mastered and unmastered skills); and mental health needs for purposes of making a recommendation for eligibility for services.
  5. Recognize conclusions about a student's educational and mental health needs that can and cannot be drawn from given assessment data.

0007 Understand how to use assessment information within the multidisciplinary team process to make recommendations and develop interventions that respond to students' identified educational and mental health needs and enhance students' educational functioning.

Includes:

  1. Demonstrate knowledge of how to interpret and communicate assessment results to assist parents/guardians and the multidisciplinary team in developing and evaluating the effectiveness of interventions and services.
  2. Demonstrate an understanding of ways to prepare clearly written reports that address referral questions appropriately, report data accurately, communicate assessment results clearly and in a manner that is understandable to the audience, and provide guidance to parents/guardians and the multidisciplinary team in determining appropriate interventions.
  3. Demonstrate knowledge of effective prevention and intervention strategies (e.g., consultation; individual, group, and schoolwide counseling; instructional and classroom modifications; behavior modification) to recommend in responding to students' identified educational and mental health needs.
  4. Use assessment results and knowledge of various educational placement, service, and programming options (e.g., general education classroom, Chapter I, English as a second language [ESL], extended-year services, Response to Intervention [RTI], Individualized Family Service Plan [IFSP], Individualized Service Plan [ISP], Individualized Education Program [IEP], Individualized Health Care Plan [IHCP], Section 504 Plan, gifted education) to make recommendations to address students' identified educational and mental health needs.
  5. Demonstrate knowledge of the general procedures and legal requirements for developing IFSPs, ISPs, IEPs, and IHCPs for individuals with disabilities who may require early childhood intervention, special education, or other services.
  6. Demonstrate knowledge of the components of IEPs, including annual goals, instructional setting or placement, related services, assistive technologies, and testing modifications or accommodations.
  7. Use functional-behavioral assessment information to help develop appropriate behavior intervention plans and behavioral goals for IEPs.
  8. Analyze student needs for appropriate placement within the continuum of the least restrictive environment.

0008 Understand prevention and intervention techniques and resources for addressing individual, group, and schoolwide needs.

Includes:

  1. Demonstrate knowledge of schoolwide prevention and intervention programs that promote the academic achievement, mental health, and physical well-being of students, and demonstrate knowledge of strategies for collaborating with other professionals to promote healthy behaviors.
  2. Demonstrate knowledge of effective crisis prevention and intervention models and strategies for collaborating with school personnel, parents/guardians, and community service providers to implement crisis prevention and intervention approaches.
  3. Demonstrate knowledge of individual, group, and schoolwide counseling and behavioral intervention methods and procedures.
  4. Identify resources for addressing a wide variety of psychological, behavioral, academic, and health problems and ways to access appropriate services provided by district, community, and state entities.

0009 Understand research methods, program evaluation, and principles of data-based decision making and accountability.

Includes:

  1. Apply knowledge of research methodology and design (e.g., single-subject, quantitative, qualitative), statistical procedures, and data analysis for evaluating published research (e.g., effect size) and for planning and conducting program evaluations for the purpose of improvement of services.
  2. Demonstrate knowledge of methods for evaluating, selecting, and using assessment instruments and techniques in support of program or systems-level evaluation.
  3. Demonstrate knowledge of strategies for providing information about relevant research findings to school personnel, parents/guardians, and the public.
  4. Apply knowledge of effective data-based decision making to research and systems-level problems (e.g., identifying factors that influence learning and behavior, evaluating the outcomes of services, facilitating accountability).
  5. Demonstrate knowledge of the uses of data in designing intervention strategies, evaluating the efficacy of interventions, monitoring student progress over time, modifying intervention plans, evaluating outcomes of services, and facilitating accountability.
  6. Demonstrate an understanding of the use of technology for monitoring programs, facilitating decision making and accountability, and assisting in the assessment of group and systemwide interventions.
Domain III–Working in the Professional Environment

0010 Understand effective communication, consultation, and collaboration processes for working with education and other professionals, families, and community agencies to provide students with appropriate educational services.

Includes:

  1. Demonstrate an understanding of skills for promoting effective communication with students and for facilitating communication with school personnel, families, community professionals, and others.
  2. Demonstrate knowledge of various communication modes (e.g., written, verbal, nonverbal, visual, technological) and their use in communicating effectively with a diverse constituency.
  3. Demonstrate knowledge of technological tools for accessing, managing, and disseminating information to enhance the consultative and collaborative processes.
  4. Recognize ways to use consultation and collaboration skills to promote change at the individual, classroom, building, and district levels and ways to communicate clearly with diverse audiences (e.g., students, parents/guardians, teachers, administrators, school boards, policy makers, community leaders, colleagues).
  5. Demonstrate an understanding of the importance of interpersonal skills in the consultative process (e.g., active listening, conflict resolution, group facilitation), and demonstrate awareness of factors related to cultural diversity in the consultative process.
  6. Apply consultation and collaboration skills and strategies in working with other members of the learning community (e.g., students, parents/guardians, teachers, school administrators, related service providers, state and community agencies) to communicate about and address student needs (e.g., identifying problems, processing referrals, gathering and documenting information, conducting formal and informal assessments, making recommendations for prevention and intervention services, maintaining confidentiality).
  7. Demonstrate knowledge of the significance and impact of diverse family systems for student development, behavior, socialization, and learning, and identify strategies for involving students and their families in the education process.
  8. Demonstrate an understanding of the importance of family involvement in education and strategies for promoting and facilitating collaboration and partnerships among students, their families, and educators.

0011 Understand the roles and responsibilities of school psychologists.

Includes:

  1. Examine the school psychologist's roles and responsibilities in various contexts while serving as an advocate for students (e.g., processing referrals, serving as case manager for the assessment process, conducting eligibility assessments and reevaluations, participating in multidisciplinary team meetings, conducting functional-behavioral assessments, engaging in crisis prevention/intervention, conducting research and program evaluations, engaging in consultation and counseling, assisting school administrators and others in problem solving and decision making).
  2. Apply knowledge of the organization and operation of schools and school systems, including general education, special education, and other educational and related services, to assist in designing, implementing, and evaluating policies, practices, and programs (e.g., discipline, grading, staff development).
  3. Demonstrate knowledge of the importance of continued professional development, strategies for participating in professional development activities, the uses of technology for continued professional development, and the importance of active involvement and participation in professional organizations (e.g., National Association of School Psychologists [NASP]).
  4. Demonstrate knowledge of information sources and technology relevant to the practice of school psychology.

0012 Understand the historical, legal, and ethical foundations of the school psychology profession.

Includes:

  1. Demonstrate knowledge of the philosophical and historical foundations of education and psychology as applicable to the role of the school psychologist.
  2. Apply knowledge of the legal requirements (e.g., mandated reporting), ethical issues, and standards of professional practice affecting school psychologists.
  3. Apply knowledge of special and general education laws and related regulations regarding students with and without disabilities (e.g., Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, Americans with Disabilities Act [ADA], Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act [IDEIA], Elementary and Secondary Education Act [ESEA]).
  4. Apply knowledge of state policies and procedures (e.g., those related to referral, evaluation, eligibility criteria, due process, confidentiality, timelines, discipline procedures, least restrictive environment, graduation requirements) to help ensure equity and an appropriate education for all students.