Readings

Introduction to Readings

Each week of the course includes assigned readings, such as videos, multimedia presentations, web-based resources, articles from professional journals, and chapters from the assigned textbooks. A reading may be integrated within a specific activity during the week or provide some key information to assist your learning. As good preparation for the week’s activities, read all assigned readings first before working on course activities.

Required Readings
 

Your readings this week are important because they provide a foundation for understanding assessment and testing. Drummond (author) reviews the many disciplines that employ the activity of assessment for such purposes as screening, identification and diagnosis, intervention planning, and progress evaluation. This process of assessing individuals uses multiple sources to yield accurate information. This information is needed to provide relevant, accurate, and reliable information obtained from all the methods listed, and then to integrate the information gathered from all assessment methods and sources to answer the referral question. Then, you as a counselor, are required to make recommendations that are relevant reflections of the assessment results and the referral question.
 

As you read, consider tests and assessments you have taken, and see if you can categorize the test itself, and categorize the format type of the item.

Please complete the readings and listen to the podcast listed below:

• Textbook: Assessment Procedures, Chapter 1 “Introduction to Assessment”- As you read through this chapter, keep in mind the importance of the changes that have taken place in the last 100 years. Through major national crisis, and social and political change, the field of testing has changed to meet the needs of the nation. With this, the computer age and internet-based assessment continues to become more prevalent and more easily affordable in the assessment field.
   
• Textbook: Assessment Procedures, Chapter 2 “Methods and Sources of Assessment Information”- The second chapter covers even more in-depth material about assessment data and courses. How do we get the information we need to assess the client with? Keep this in mind as you read. There are ways to elicit information from the client, as well as ways to elicit information from observing the client. Other sources of information may be used as well – from relationships the client has, as well as from past records, events, reports, or assessments. Counselors are required to look at multiple areas of assessment and must be able to integrate information from multiple data collection methods and multiple sources to form correct and accurate impressions and to make recommendations about the individual being assessed
   
• Podcast: What Do Counselors Really Need to Know About Assessment?- In this podcast, the instructor reviews why assessment is integral to counseling, and what counselors need to know about assessment. The notion of “therapeutic assessment” is also explored.