The Use of Assessment Instruments in School Social Work: Looking Beyond Grades, Discipline Referrals and Attendance

1. The Use of Assessment Instruments in School Social Work: Looking Beyond Grades, Discipline Referrals and Attendance Developed by Faculty and Staff of: The University of Maryland School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry Center for School Mental Health

2. Rational for Using Assessment Instruments Qualitative Quantitative

3. Eligibility for Services • School Based • Enrolment • Discharge • Community Based • Non Public • Residential

4. Assessment • DSM Disorders • Mood Disorders • Disruptive Behavior Disorders • Language Based Learning Disabilities • Cognitive Ability • Treatment Planning • Data Driven • Specific, Realistic, Quantifiable Goals • Progress • Pre/Post Testing • Treatment Planning

5. Progress • Re-Assessment • Set Intervals • Treatment Planning • Interdisciplinary Communication

6. Treatmentand Program Evaluation • Pre/Post Testing • Group Protocols • Individual Protocols • Aggregates of Client Progress Overtime • Program Sustainability • Investment of Team Members to Collaborate

7. Response to Intervention (RTI) • Useful in “Three Tier” Model • Early Mental Health Intervention • Targeted Intervention Services • Identify Individuals “Who Require Intensive Support” • Supports the Ecological and Systemic Models • Biopsychosocial Needs Assessment • Identifies Protective and Risk Factors in Client’s Environment • Evaluates “student progress specific to behavioral, emotional, and mental health concerns and the effect on academic progress. • Team Collaboration • Data Driven Guide to Decision Making • Aides in Team Understanding of Identification and Chosen Interventions

8. Challenges • Cost • Time • Missing Data • Integrity of Instruments • Culture Competency • Confidentiality

9. Challenges Continued • Unethical Usage or “Pigeon Holing” • Difference in Educational and Psychological Coding • Abandoning Traditional Qualitative Interviewing Assessment • Knowledge and Comfort

10. How to Select an Instrument • Purpose • Functionality • Symptomology • Risk • Climate • Program Evaluation

11. Credentials • Licensed Clinical Psychologist • Master’s Degree in Mental Health/Health Field Under Supervision if Unlicensed • No Educational Prerequisites

12. Certification • Site Licensure • Train the Trainer • One Time Training With Periodic Boosters • One time Training • None

13. Cost • Introduction Packet ($99 - $500) • Individual Packets of 25 ($25 - $125) • Individual Scoring Sheets of 25 ($25 - $125) • Clinician Instruction Manual With Reprintable Forms ($25 - $130) • Public Domain Free Assessments Including Tool and Scoring Instructions

14. Instrument Integrity • Reliability • Speaks to the stability of the test and/or administrator • Test Retest - Same data each time • Interrater – Two administrators will score similarly • Internal Consistency – Divided into parts, there is still a likeness in responses • (.70) and Above Optimal

15. Integrity Continued • Validity • Does the Instrument Measure What it Claim • Face - Looks as though is measures the construct • Criterion - Correlates well with present or future results • Construct - When compared to other instruments deemed valid it correlates as expected • Convergent - Strong correlation with instrument measuring the same construct • Discriminant - Less Strong correlation with an instrument measuring a different construct • (.60) an Above Optimal

16. Integrity Continued • Norms • The Numbers of Participants and Population Tested • Standardized • Giving the Same Instrument, the Same Way, in the Same Conditions

17. Resources • Buros Institute • http://buros.unl.edu/buros/jsp/search.jsp • Test in Print (TIP) • Mental Measurements Year Book (MMY) • Center or School Mental Health (CSMH) • www.Schoolmentalhealth.org • www.csmh.org • Locate Instruments and Information For a Fee ($15)

18. Overview of Instruments • Functionality • Risk • Symptomology • Climate • Program Evaluation

19. Functionality • Child and Adolescent Functionality Assessment Scale (CAFAS) • Emotional, Behavioral, Psychological, Psychiatric, Substance Abuse • Home, Community, School, Relationships, Justice System • Separate Caregiver Scale • Ages 6 -17 (PECFAS for younger clients) • Reliability .73+, Validity reported as acceptable • Train the Trainer Model and Boosters (Fee) • Materials (Fee) • 15 Minutes • Kay Hodges, Author • hodges@provide.net

20. Functionality Continued • Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths Assessment (CANS) • Six Areas of Functioning • Problem Presentation • Risk • Functioning • Care Intensity • Caregiver Capacity • Strengths • Certification Training and Booster (Fee) • Materials (Unknown) • 35 Minutes • John S. Lyons, Ph.D. • JSL329@northwestern.edu

21. Risk • Global Clinical Impairment Scales (CGI) • Administered at Set Intervals • Response • Client • Clinician • Parent • Teacher

22. Symptomology • Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale for Children (CES-DC) • Client Response • 20 Items • Range From 0 - 60 • Ages 6 -17 • Cut off score of 15 • Public Domain (Free) • Spence Children Anxiety Scale (SCAS) • Client response • 45 Items • Ages 7 – 18 • Public Domain (Free)

23. Symptomology Continued • NIHQ Vanderbilt Assessment Scales • ADHD and Oppositional Symptoms • 55 items • Ages 6 - 12 • Response • Parent • Teacher

24. Climate • School as a Caring Community Profile – II (SCCP-II) • 42 Items • Response • Students • Adults

25. Let’s Practice!

26. Questions and Comments • Your contact info here….