Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children - Assignment Example

Assignment Educational Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – Fourth Edition (WISC-IV) The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – Fourth Edition (WISC-IV) is one of the world’s most widely used tests to determine the level of intelligence in children (Prifitera et al., 2005). Due to the frequent use of WISC-IV in the educational setting, numerous researchers guarantee the test’s psychometric fitness (Watkins et al., 2006). The tool helps in the diagnosis of the student’s cognitive strengths and limitations in regards to learning disabilities, execution functions, attention problems, intellectual disability and giftedness (Prifitera et al., 2005). The scale can be used in an educational setting when there are inconsistencies in a child’s performance or a child is struggling to understand grade appropriate activities (Watkins et al., 2006). The WISC evaluates a student’s learning, capability and ability (Watkins et al., 2006).  The tool is used as a part of a complete psychoeducational evaluation to help instructors assess the strong points and limitations of their students and design the classroom activities accordingly (Watkins et al., 2006). Apart from determining the intelligence of children, the WISC-IV also offers vital information and significant clinical insights into a childs cognitive functioning (Watkins et al., 2006). Furthermore, WISC-IV helps in determining the placement of students in different programs, usually gifted programs (VanTassel-Baska & Baska, 1993). Thus, Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – Fourth Edition (WISC-IV) will help me assess the learning potential and abilities of children (Watkins et al., 2006). Moreover, it will also help me identify special needs children, including the gifted to place them in appropriate programs which will further enhance their skills and abilities (VanTassel-Baska & Baska, 1993). References Prifitera, A., Saklofske, D. H., Weiss, L. G., & Rolfhus, E. (2005). The WISC-IV in the clinical assessment context. In A. Prifitera, D. H. Saklofske, & L. G. Weiss (Eds.), WISC-IV clinical use and interpretation: Scientist-practitioner perspectives. New York: Elsevier. VanTassel-Baska, J. & Baska, L. (1993). The role of educational personnel in counseling the gifted. In L. Silverman (Ed.) Counseling the gifted & talented. Denver: Love. Watkins, M. W., Wilson, S. M., Kotz, K. M. Carbone, M. C., & Babula, T. (2006). Factor structure of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children–Fourth Edition among referred students. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 66(6), 975-983. Assignment 2 Robert, you are using Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – Revised (WISC-R) in an educational setting. In order to determine the strengths and weaknesses of students, WISC-R is the best possible psychological tool because not only it is one of the most widely used intelligence instrument (Prifitera et al., 2005), its reliability and validity has been verified by numerous researchers (Watkins et al., 2006). Furthermore, you suggested that previous studies indicate that diverse assessment is linked to direct and indirect interventions which are quite appropriate because WISC-R tests both the verbal and the performance aspects of the students (Watkins et al., 2006). Moreover, the test is a comprehensive measure of cognitive ability of children which makes it even more suitable to be used in an educational setting (Watkins et al., 2006). Robert, you also suggested that you would use the scale to design Individual Educational Plan (IEP) for the students so that they get the required support to excel in an academic environment. This is quite right as the scale allows the instructors to gauge the strengths and limitations of the students and then set goals for the children during a school year accordingly. This would allow you to meet the unique educational needs of the children and help them accomplish the desired goals (Hammer, 2004). On the other hand, you can also use the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – Revised to identify behavioral issues or learning disabilities (Watkins et al., 2006). Furthermore, the scale can help in the identification of special needs children including gifted children and determine different placement programs for them (VanTassel-Baska & Baska, 1993). References Hammer, M. R. (2004). Using the self-advocacy strategy to increase student participation in IEP conferences. Intervention in School and Clinic, 39. Prifitera, A., Saklofske, D. H., Weiss, L. G., & Rolfhus, E. (2005). The WISC-IV in the clinical assessment context. In A. Prifitera, D. H. Saklofske, & L. G. Weiss (Eds.), WISC-IV clinical use and interpretation: Scientist-practitioner perspectives. New York: Elsevier. VanTassel-Baska, J. & Baska, L. (1993). The role of educational personnel in counseling the gifted. In L. Silverman (Ed.) Counseling the gifted & talented. Denver: Love. Watkins, M. W., Wilson, S. M., Kotz, K. M. Carbone, M. C., & Babula, T. (2006). Factor structure of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children–Fourth Edition among referred students. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 66(6), 975-983. Assignment 3 Educational Issues related to testing Of the numerous issues related to psychological testing, the two most discussed issues are privacy and confidentiality and informed consent. The right to privacy and confidentiality is the individual’s right to decide the degree to which he/she reveals his/her personal information and the guarantee of the personal information being kept privacy (Anastasi, 1982). Thus, to the degree that some psychological tests are designed in such a way that the students taking them might not be conscious that he/she is disclosing certain information about himself, the tests are evidently an invasion of that individual’s privacy (McIntire & Miller, 2007). Similarly, a student is entitled to complete information regarding the reason behind the conducting of the test, the usage of the results and the meaning of the results (McIntire & Miller, 2007). Implications of tests and measurements The first and the foremost step to overcome privacy and confidentiality issues is to keep the personal information of the examinee safe so that his/her right of protection of personal information is not violated. Moreover, written permission from the examinee should be taken if the information collected from the examinee is required for another purpose. In regards to the informed consent of the examinee, it should be made sure that the parents of the child are also informed about the purpose of the research. On the other hand, parental permission should not be considered as permission from the students. Teachers hold the responsibility of making sure that the students along with their parents are aware of the requirements and implications of the test even before it is conducted (McIntire & Miller, 2007). References Anastasi, A. (1982) Psychological Testing. (5th ed.). New York: Macmillan. McIntire, S. A. & Miller, L. A. (2007). Foundations of psychological testing: a practical approach. (2nd ed.). United Kingdom: Sage Publications. Assignment 4 Issues related to testing Jannia, in regards to the issue related to testing, you suggested that there are concerns of generalizability and comparability in performance assessment. You are quite right in suggesting this because studies carried out by Brenan (2001) regarding generalizability and Linn (1993) regarding comparability indicate that in order to provide the indicators of trends in academic achievement, large scale performance assessment must be generalizable and comparable across administrations (Brenan, 2001; Linn, 1993). Similarly, you mentioned that performance assessments are limited in use due to their high. This might be true for large-scale administration but performance assessment is a part of everyday classroom activities for a number of teachers (Linn, 1993). Implications of tests and measurements In regards to reducing the cost of development, administration and scoring of performance assessment, you suggested the use of technology which is quite appropriate because the use of technology will not only make the development of the test easy but it will also help in reducing the chances of biasness and inaccuracy in administration and scoring as well (Naglieri, 2004). Regarding the generalizability issue, you suggested the use of intelligent software which is quite appropriate as well (Naglieri, 2004). On the other hand, excessive use of technology in the field of performance assessment may raise the issue privacy and confidentiality of the personal information of the examinees (Naglieri, 2004). Therefore, the privacy and confidentiality must be kept in mind before using technology to enhance the performance assessment development, administration, scoring and generalizability (Naglieri, 2004). References Brennan, R. L. (2001). Generalizability Theory]. New York: Springer-Verlag. Linn, R. L. (1993). Educational assessment: expanded expectations and challenges. National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing. Retreived November 10, 2010, from http://www.cse.ucla.edu/products/Reports/TECH351.pdf Naglieri, J. A., Drasgow, F., Schmit, M., Handler, L., Prifitera, A., Margolis, A., & Velasquez, R. (2004). Psychological testing on the internet: new problems, old issues. American Psychologist, 59(3), 202-336 Read More