1. Ed Cruz, Melissa Guzman, Nicole Murph, Gabriela Pelaez
Ethical Issues in Psychological Assessment in School Settings Linda K. Knauss
Ed Cruz, Melissa Guzman, Nicole Murph, Gabriela Pelaez
Knauss, L.K. (2001). Ethical issues in psychological assessment in school settings. Journal of Personality Assessment 77(2),

2. Most Frequent Ethical Issues Psychologists Confront
1) Process of parental consent and involvement.
2) Obligation to select nonbiased test instruments and use them in a way that is not racially or culturally biased.
3) Appropriate administration and interpretation of projective tests in school settings.
4) Use of computerized psychological assessment.
Knauss, L.K. (2001). Ethical issues in psychological assessment in school settings. Journal of Personality Assessment 77(2),

3. Where Ethical Dilemmas Arise From
Dilemmas arise from needs.
Psychologists need to aware of ethical standards.
Knauss, L.K. (2001). Ethical issues in psychological assessment in school settings. Journal of Personality Assessment 77(2),

4. Informed Consent “Hot” Ethical Issue Definition:
Consent requires “affirmative permission before actions can be taken” (Knauss, 2001).
Knauss, L.K. (2001). Ethical issues in psychological assessment in school settings. Journal of Personality Assessment 77(2),

5. Informed Consent (Con’t)
Elements of Informed Consent Agreements
Must be presented in a clear and understandable manner to both the student & parent.
Reason for the test administration.
tests and evaluations procedures to be used.
How assessment scores will be used.
Who will have access to the results.
Knauss, L.K. (2001). Ethical issues in psychological assessment in school settings. Journal of Personality Assessment 77(2),

6. Informed Consent (Con’t)
Written informed consent must be obtained from the student’s parents, guardian or the student (if he or she has already reached ‘legal’ age).
Knauss, L.K. (2001). Ethical issues in psychological assessment in school settings. Journal of Personality Assessment 77(2),

7. Informed Consent For students who have an educational disability:
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
School mediation.
Knauss, L.K. (2001). Ethical issues in psychological assessment in school settings. Journal of Personality Assessment 77(2),

8. Parents & Informed Consent
Initial contact with parents & the school is crucial.
Conveying results to the parents is extremely important.
Parents, guardians and students must share in the autonomy of making treatment decisions.
Knauss, L.K. (2001). Ethical issues in psychological assessment in school settings. Journal of Personality Assessment 77(2),

9. Nondiscriminatory Assessment
Definition—Larry P. V Riles.
Psychologists are obligated to be culturally sensitive in administering tests to pupils.
Knauss, L.K. (2001). Ethical issues in psychological assessment in school settings. Journal of Personality Assessment 77(2),

10. Nondiscriminatory Assessment
Impact of assessing pupils without utilizing their native language.
Impact of discrepancies caused by translators.
Knauss, L.K. (2001). Ethical issues in psychological assessment in school settings. Journal of Personality Assessment 77(2),

11. Nondiscriminatory Assessment
Effects of cultural factors on test performance.
What can a psychologist do to obtain valid results of the pupil?
Knauss, L.K. (2001). Ethical issues in psychological assessment in school settings. Journal of Personality Assessment 77(2),

12. Nondiscriminatory Assessment
The need to separate personality issues from language issues.
Ensure pupil’s ability to read prior to test administration.
Is ‘language’ the root of the pupil’s academic problems?
Knauss, L.K. (2001). Ethical issues in psychological assessment in school settings. Journal of Personality Assessment 77(2),

13. Nondiscriminatory Assessment
The importance of carefully selecting testing instruments:
test bias
fair and appropriate instruments
Implications of using biased tests
Knauss, L.K. (2001). Ethical issues in psychological assessment in school settings. Journal of Personality Assessment 77(2),

14. Factors that determine the use of Projective Assessment
No definite answer about using projective tests for evaluating students.
What will they gain from the projective test?
Questioning the appropriateness of the testing instrument.
Knauss, L.K. (2001). Ethical issues in psychological assessment in school settings. Journal of Personality Assessment 77(2),

15. Projective Personality Assessment
A problem with informed consent:
Responding to questions
Questions in the informed consent procedure
Confidentiality
Access of school records
Knauss, L.K. (2001). Ethical issues in psychological assessment in school settings. Journal of Personality Assessment 77(2),

16. Projective Personality Assessment
Concern with “unwarranted invasion of privacy” in projective testing.
Questions in projective testing
Student responses
Knauss, L.K. (2001). Ethical issues in psychological assessment in school settings. Journal of Personality Assessment 77(2),

17. Projective Personality Assessment
Other concerns:
Examiner competence
Adequate training
Supervised experience
competent of emotional issues
Test validity
Determining validity and its usefulness
Knauss, L.K. (2001). Ethical issues in psychological assessment in school settings. Journal of Personality Assessment 77(2),

18. Computerized Psychological Testing
Ethical issues in the use of computerized testing:
accountability for the psychological assessment.
appropriate application, interpretation, and use of assessment instruments.
disparity between automated report and the psychologist’s clinical impression of the client.
Knauss, L.K. (2001). Ethical issues in psychological assessment in school settings. Journal of Personality Assessment 77(2),

19. Computerized Psychological Testing
Individuality of computer report v. hand written report.
should not be use to extend the boundaries of one’s competence
Test administration procedures and supervision of assistants.
familiarity with the instruments to be used.
Knauss, L.K. (2001). Ethical issues in psychological assessment in school settings. Journal of Personality Assessment 77(2),

20. Computerized Psychological Testing
Questions regarding the validity of computer-assisted assessment
lack of demonstrated validity for the printed interpretations they generate.
test developer should establish validity and reliability of the test and resulting interpretations should be done with a professional review.
A school psychologist should review and edit the narrative report done by the computer, so that it is specific to the individual who was tested.
Knauss, L.K. (2001). Ethical issues in psychological assessment in school settings. Journal of Personality Assessment 77(2),

21. Computerized Psychological Testing
Computer programs are not a substitute for supervision because they are not designed to teach testing skills to the individual who uses these programs.
must be used in conjunction with the clinical judgment of well-trained professionals
psychologists are responsible in determining whether the test results are valid for a particular individual
Knauss, L.K. (2001). Ethical issues in psychological assessment in school settings. Journal of Personality Assessment 77(2),

22. Our Thoughts What we found particularly interesting:
-This article was not argumentative.
sending a note home is not informed consent.
inadequate training of psychologists in the use of projective techniques.
interns sign computer generated reports and file them in a students permanent record.
Problems with the article
the author did not make a strong case on how to use non-bias in testing.
Knauss, L.K. (2001). Ethical issues in psychological assessment in school settings. Journal of Personality Assessment 77(2),

23. Thank You for your time Any questions, comments or concerns?
Knauss, L.K. (2001). Ethical issues in psychological assessment in school settings. Journal of Personality Assessment 77(2),

24. Discussion
The author discussed a lot about the creditability of school psychologists, but what do you think about the creditability of teachers, since they are the first to interact with the students (i.e. being trained in recognizing students who may have an educational disability)?
Which ethical issue do you feel contributes the most to inaccurate assessment?
Knauss, L.K. (2001). Ethical issues in psychological assessment in school settings. Journal of Personality Assessment 77(2),

25. Reference
Knauss, L.K. (2001). Ethical issues in psychological assessment in school settings. Journal of Personality Assessment 77(2),
Knauss, L.K. (2001). Ethical issues in psychological assessment in school settings. Journal of Personality Assessment 77(2),