Psychological Assessment in Educational Settings

Overview

This unit prepares students to conduct psychoeducational assessments in educational settings using evidence-based, culturally responsive, culturally safe, and ethically informed approaches. Students will develop competence in selecting, administering, scoring, interpreting, and evaluating psychoeducational assessment methods, and in gathering and integrating information from multiple sources to formulate evidence-based understandings of students’ strengths, needs, learning profiles, and developmental functioning. The unit emphasises communication of assessment findings and recommendations, educational planning, ethical and professional practice, and consideration of developmental, cultural, family, and contextual influences on learning and development. Experiential learning activities support the development of practical psychoeducational assessment skills.

Unit learning outcomes

Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:

1. Select, administer, score, and evaluate psychoeducational assessment methods using evidence-based, culturally responsive, culturally safe, and ethically informed approaches to assess cognitive, academic, behavioural, social, emotional, adaptive, and developmental functioning in educational settings.
2. Gather assessment information from multiple sources, including developmental histories, interviews, observations, psychometric measures, educational records, curriculum-based data, and collateral information, to evaluate student learning, development, and educational functioning.
3. Interpret and integrate psychoeducational assessment information to formulate evidence-based understandings of students’ strengths, needs, learning profiles, developmental functioning, and presenting concerns within their educational, cultural, family, and socio-ecological context.
4. Evaluate the quality, utility, and outcomes of psychoeducational assessment processes and recommendations to support evidence-based educational decision-making, intervention planning, and ongoing monitoring of student progress.
5. Apply ethical, legal, professional, culturally responsive, and culturally safe principles throughout the psychoeducational assessment process, demonstrating professional reflexivity and adherence to professional standards in educational settings.

Teaching methods

Hawthorn

Assessment

Content

• Foundations of Psychoeducational Assessment
• Developmental History, Interviews and School Observation
• Cognitive Assessment
• Academic Achievement Assessment
• Specific Learning Disorder Assessment
• Executive Functioning and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Assessment
• Autism Spectrum Disorder Assessment
• Behavioural, Social, Emotional and Wellbeing Assessment
• Formulation and Clinical Reasoning
• Recommendations, Intervention Planning and Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS)
• Psychoeducational Reports and Feedback
• Consultation, Collaboration and Inclusive Practice
• Professional Competencies and Ethics 
• Ethical, culturally safe, and responsive practice with diverse groups, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples
• Graduate Attribute 1 – Communication Skills: Verbal communication
• Graduate Attribute 2 – Communication Skills: Communicating using different media
• Graduate Attribute 5 – Digital Literacies: Information Literacy
• Graduate Attribute 6 – Digital Literacies: Technical literacy
• Graduate Attribute – Future Ready Skills: Professional Judgement
• Graduate Attribute – Future Ready Skills: Cultural Competency