Psychometric Testing of Students – a work in progress Andy Watts February 2011 “All of us do not have equal talent, but all of us should have equal opportunity to develop our talent.” John. F. Kennedy

 Year 10 Case Study  What is Psychometric Testing?  How can this help students?  Where are we now?  Questions

Confident, precocious, intelligent child who never showed any signs of problems, pressures or frustrations until her personal circumstances changed Initially tested at 13 due to a mother’s intuition about possible depression – nobody involved in her education seemed to be able to do anything to help Following results from EI and PPA, which alerted the fact there was a problem, she was taken to an educational psychologist who identified her to be exceptionally bright but diagnosed her with Dysgraphia; a form of dyslexia. Before being diagnosed with this condition, the child exhibited anger and frustration thinking she was stupid, resulting in her withdrawing and disengaging from lessons. She now understands her own problem and with the help of the school has put strategies in place to deal with this. Year 10 Case Study

Following her diagnosis and work with the educational psychologist, she was tested again and has dramatically improved on areas of her EI which initially indicated depression. Her parents now consider her to be back on track but fortunate that they were lucky enough to have access to something extra to help their daughter.

Extension after representation 3 workshops were held in July involving 18 year 10 students. The workshops covered communications and self awareness, preparation for and practice of job interviews and a Thomas ‘PPA’ psychometric test which was reported to each student. All agreed that the pilot programme had been successful and helpful.

What is Psychometric Testing? Psychometrics is the study and measurement of individual differences in human beings to see how they are different from each other. Tests include the measurement of knowledge, abilities, attitudes, and traits. It has a 100 year history and tests sell over $2 billion per year internationally. Thomas offers three different assessments to look at the various aspects which make up an individual: Behaviour-Personal Profile Analysis (PPA) Aptitude-General Intelligence Assessment (GIA) Emotion-Emotional Intelligence (EI)

Thomas Assessments Competency Behaviours Personality & Awareness Hard Skills Aptitude & Ability

GIA EIQ Skills360 PPA Thomas Assessments Competency Behaviours Personality & Awareness Hard Skills Aptitude & Ability

Personal Profile Analysis (PPA) Provides an insight into how people behave. Understand Strengths and Limitations? What can an individual bring to the team? Communication Styles. Fears, Motivators & Values.

Marston’s Theory PERCIEVED SITUATION Hostile, unfriendly, antagonistic ACTIVE BEHAVIOURS PASSIVE BEHAVIOURS Friendly, favourable DOMINANCE(POWER)COMPLIANCE(POLICY) INFLUENCE(PEOPLE) STEADINESS(PACE)

Personal Profile Analysis (PPA)

Dominance  Driving  Competitive  Forceful  Inquisitive  Direct  Self-Starting  Assertive  Mild Mannered  Low Decision Need  Non demanding  Accommodating  Hesitant Working Strength - Efficiency Factor

 Influential  Persuasive  Friendly  Verbal  Communicative  Positive  Reserved  Reflective  Probing  Serious  Suspicious  Self-Conscious Influence Working Strength - Efficiency Factor

Steadiness  Dependable  Deliberate  Amiable  Persistent  Good Listener  Kind  Mobile  Alert  Active  Restless  Demonstrative Efficiency Factor Working Strength -

Compliance  Compliant  Careful  Systematic  Precise  Accurate  Perfectionist  Logical  Firm  Persistent  Stubborn  Strong-Willed  Independent Working Strength - Efficiency Factor

Self Awareness

General Intelligence Assessment (GIA) Provides an insight into an individual’s fluid intelligence and speed of learning Do they prefer to do things quickly and accurately; slowly and accurately; quickly and inaccurately or slowly and accurately Looks at 5 cognitive areas; reasoning, perceptual speed, number, speed and accuracy, word meaning and spatial visualisation

Emotional Intelligence (EI) Provides an insight into how people get on with each other and it is critical to successful work An index of an individuals perceived ability to understand process and utilise emotion related information in every day life. Looks at how well they manage their own emotions and the emotions of others Individual facets looked at include self esteem, self motivation, adaptability, stress management

How can this help students? Rather than a broad brush approach, gives each individual increased self awareness regarding their own: behaviour including strengths and limitations and preferred style of working/learning their level of emotional intelligence and can highlight issues such as self esteem and confidence which may prevent a small problem spiralling out of control cognitive skills; are they more literate or numerate?; do they prefer data and spreadsheets or graphics?; do they solve problems quickly or prefer to take their time and think about things?

Where are we now? Two distinct groups of student selected (May/Jun) Students invited to undertake assessments & Parental agreement sought with Parent’s Information evening (Sept/Oct) Staff trained by Thomas to interpret Assessments (Nov to Jan) Intervention strategies being formulated (on-going) Feedback to individuals started (Feb)

Issues… and other stuff…. Involvement of parents Time to feedback EI Intervention strategies to be employed Working with other agencies Informing staff and integrating into classroom practice How to measure Impact

Questions?