2
Review and Selection of Standardized Test
Bianca Odoms
Capella University
Introduction
My goal is to obtain my Masters’ Degree in Psychology with specialization in Applied Behavior Analysis. Once I do everything to get certified in BCBA I will be on road to making difference in the black community. I always had the passion to helping others and enjoyed working with children. But for the longest I could not figure out what I really wanted to do with these two passions of mines, until fellow teacher mention ABA therapy and thought it would sound like something, I would be interested in. After doing research on ABA therapy I found that it can be do in many different settings: center based, Clinic or Hospital, in home, school, and government setting. Currently, I do not work with children face to face anymore, but previously I worked as special education teacher and child specialist for domestic violence shelter. I have seen everything from developmental delays, self- injuries, injuries of others, and behavior problem in all age groups. My goal is to take what I have learned for ABA and all the coping strategies, and put it into use in both school and clinic setting in low income neighborhoods to help people become the best version of themselves to live the life that they want.
The three test I have choosing to analyze to the best of my abilities is Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF), Connors 3,and Behavior Assessment System for Children-3 (BASC-3).. Each one of these tests can be use from children of all ages. As a first-time mom I found myself constantly worrying about my child development. So, these tests spark an interest to me because of personal and professional reasons. With this new information I can add it to my skills and knowledge I already gained over the years of working with children to my future career as Applied Behavior Analyst.
Element One
As educator and future applied behavior analyst try to figure out ways to measure test to help students/clients can sometime be difficult. The Joint Committee of Testing Practice Code (2004), stated that element one code was to: “Providing evidence to the test measure, the recommended uses, the intended test takers, and the strength and limitations of the test, including the level of precision of the test scores”. (BRIEF) was created by the Psychological Assessment Resource, Inc. The assessment is most popular in both adult and children, with ages ranging from 18 to 90 years old. The reason BRIEF was created was to help setup ways to make treatment plans that best suited children that was impaired of executive function but help them with establishing self-regulation. Children who had executive function deficits showed that suffer for different types of disorders. These disorders include learning disabilities, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, and other neurologically or psychiatric disorder. The BRIEF assessment can be completed by parents or teachers which make it easy to use daily for concerns about EF. To determine the ability level of executive function BRIEF uses nine clinical scales for measurement. There are questionnaires which contains 75 questions with 3 answers choices as never, sometimes, or often for occurrence over a time frame of 1 month. In the exam effectiveness is tested 3 times to check for accuracy of information with a 90% confidence interval. When it comes to scoring, they are measured and reported as percentiles, raw scores, T-scores on each of the nine trials (Capella, 2018).
The next test the Behavior Assessment for Children-3 (BASC-3) is published by Person. The population that is target is children ranging from 2 to 18 years old. This assessment is more focus in education setting, which is setup as self-reporting and questionnaire format. According to Kamphaus and Reynolds (2015), this assessment is used for assisting educator with meeting the requirements of emotional needs of a child while trying to improve their education. There are two different test that is administrated, one has 60 questions and the other have 87 both are used to see accuracy of data (Capella, 2018). As far as scoring goes someone must score it by hand and the scale of test is ratings is 4 points. Each one of the that is scored by hand have built in validity test of 7 for the parent version and 4 indices for the individual test version (Capella, 2018).
Connors 3 is new and improved version of the old 1997 Connors 2 scale that was created by Multi-Health Systems. This assessment is used for diagnosing ADHD in children ages 6 to 18 years old. It is also used among educators that are in special education field to help assist with IEP planning. Just like the BRIEF assessment parent and teacher can self-report the answer through a questionnaire, with the answering responses being: never, sometimes, or often occurrence over a time frame of 1 month. You can use three different options for the test, one condensed version with 45 questions, another being the full version with 110 questions, and the last option being 10 questions that focus on ADHD index and Global Index (Connor 2008). When the test is scored it starts off as raw score but then translate into T score that gives you suggested diagnosis (Capella, 2018).
Element Two
According to JCTP (2004), element 2 code focus on how test user must be able to “identify the types on content and skills that were selected was tested and how the tests were created.” As stated in element one the BRIEF assessment is used both in education and clinical settings for children and adult to diagnosis executive function skills. Which sometime is developed in people with disorder such as: “autism disorder, ADHD, learning disabilities, and other neurological and psychiatric disorders” (Roth, 2015). In this test the skills that would be focus on is cognitive regulation, behavior regulation, and emotion regulation (PAR, 2018).
Unlike the BRIEF assessment, the Connor 3 assessment only focus on the educational side of the individual, but social and home settings is addition to the educational setting. This assessment was created especially for ADHD diagnoses. Items from the CTRS-R were created to mock the DSM-IV format for ADHD as closely as possible (Cordes 2004). There are couple of things this test targets to measure like: learning problems, peer/family relations, hyperactivity, inattention in children, and impulsivity (Connors 3, 2018). Because of the assessment being measured in the three different settings such as school, home, social environments, it gives a better example of how ADHD is presented in a person and how you can better treat it in all living situations.
The Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC-3) is an updated version of the BASC-2 assessment. BASC-3 is the most popular test to use for screening ADHD in educational setting. The main objectives for the screening are “behavior control, problem solving, attention control, and emotional control” (Karr, 2017). Like the BRIEF, it serves educators or therapists with information that is needed to provide treatment for one or all the four areas that need to be strengthen. This assessment is nothing like Connors 3 where it screens everything about person's life, the BASC-3, is most like the BRIEF, it only used for educational setting.
Element Three
As mention in JCTP (2004), element three show information about a test and its characteristics in a level detail format that is appropriate the test users. To get the BRIEF assessment it must be purchase from Psychological Assessment Resource company. The assessment is also offered in paperback or online as needed. There is an optional offer that is new with 12-item teacher, parent, and self-report (for ages ranging from 11 to 18 years old) forms that is for screening whether addition executive function assessment is needed (PAR, 2018). As stated, before there are two version on this assessment, is self-report for ages 11 to 18 years old or report for teacher and parents. Both assessments have 75 questions with the answer choices stated in element 1. These assessments have an average timeframe of 10 minutes to fully get a screening, but there are no time limit and can be complete at your own pace. With that being say there are 5 minutes for the forms, and 15 minutes to get the results (PAR, 2018). The publisher of the assessment tries to offer more than just a score, so they provide you with facts sheets and summary report that go into detail on the result of the test. Also, there is guide for the scoring that you can follow to assist you through all phases of the assessment (PAR, 2018; Roth 2015). The publisher also made some updates about to the scaling structure which now include two different task and self- monitoring scales, a new top pares with 2 validity indicators for the frequency scale, and improved factor analysis to help support internal scale (PAR, 2018).
The Connors 3 assessment was made by the Mental Health Systems, which offer you 3 different language versions on the test, Spanish and French with English being original format. This test has no time limit, but it usually takes individual 10 to 20 minutes to complete it, and it had 8 different test options. The first three assessments are full length with the number of questions ranging from 41 to 110 question per assessment, and this format of assessment can be used by teachers, parents, and self-reporters. It is also available in paperback or online with the option for hand scoring or software scoring. Overall, the Connors 3 is a well created assessment with good properties. The Connors 3 provides assist for educators or therapists with making decision on treatments and to see with individual is eligibility for special education. The scale of this assessment is more perfect for ADHD diagnosis. This assessment is often combined with other test like the CATA, Connors CCBRS, CPT3, CEFI, and RSI test to get a better understanding how ADHD works not just for one aspect but for all aspects of individual’s life.
Like Connors 3, BASC-3 have different language version of their assessment, one being Spanish, and the original be English. Both are for parents and self-reporters. This assessment is created to tell the different between behavior problems and hyperactivity in both school and home setting. Educator often uses the BASC-3 assessment for BIP’S and FBA’s to form or put into individual IEP. This assessment allows for full insight on which two behaviors are viewed adaptive or maladaptive. As for this test it just like the other two untimed. This assessment can be completed in 10 to 30 minutes depending on the individual. The creators offer assisting with learning how to understand the score result by providing training and online resources with data examples for any individual. This test is not designed to diagnosis, but it is use by educators or therapists to help screen to see if further assessment is needed.
Element Four
There are two levels of qualification for BRIEF, which are S and A. According to Psychological Assessment Resource, the S level requires that individual as degree, certification, or license to actively practices in the healthcare field of: psychiatry, social work, nursing, occupational therapy, medicine, physician assistant, and all other healthcare professions (PAR, 2018). But for level A there are not requires as for as degree or certification. You can purchase the product but only BRIEF 2 Executive Function Interpretation Guide. Also, Psychological Assessment Resource, Inc offers a special training programs for level C, it is for professionals to learn how to administer, score, interpret the test accurately.
As for the Connor 3 there is a B level qualification for this assessment. The company Multi-Health System requires an individual to have graduate level courses that have been completed in test and measurement or have equal training in that area (Connors 3, 2018).
Like Connor 3, the BASC-3 assessment requires level B qualification. But there is a little twist from the way Multi-Health Systems to Pearson requirements of level B. Pearson want you to have either a master's degree, full-time membership in an organization that aligns with their degree level and work field, or active, or degree and license to practice in the healthcare field positions such as OT, speech therapist, and social work.
Compare and Contrast
There are some similarities in all 3 assessment. For the most part each assessment was offer in paper or online. The group population of the assessment were also same as each assessment mention that children or adults can benefit for them. Lastly, each had the ability to screen and diagnose ADHD in school setting.
There were couple of differences in each teat such as the age ranges. All 3 assessments included children, but each one starting age varies from 2, 5, and 8 years old. The other difference was how each test was used. The BRIEF and the BASC-3 are not used to fully diagnose, while they are only use for screening. Both assessments are used in school system. But Connors 3 is use in hone, educational, and social settings. It is also used for screening, but it can be combined with other assessment to provide the understand of individual with ADHD. I have decided to focus on the Connor 3 test for my other assignment because of the fact it can be combine with other assessment and it is not only used education.
Conclusion
In viewing all three assessments it has really open my eyes to all the different types of testing that is going to be available for me in my future career BCBA. I feel the information from my research/assignment is really going to help me get ready for my internship in December. Before all of this felt like I was behind trying to play catch up to my peers. I believe going to focus my time and energy into research more about Connor 3 and all the things it have to offer outside the school setting for my future assignment.
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