Volume 34, Issue 4 (2005)
Commentary: School-Based Observations of Children at School: Promise With Prudence
Mark D. Rapport
Psychological assessment traditionally entails assessment processes and measures to address questions about children. In school settings, these questions usually center on why children experience difficulty learning, engage in inappropriate classroom deportment, and fail to develop adaptive peer relationships. The current mini-series (Volpe & McConaughy,2005) provides a focused review of one of these methods (viz., direct observation) and the myriad measures and applications of observational assessment appropriate for school psychology practice. Contributing authors detail direct observational assessment procedures and measures appropriate for a variety of school settings, including classrooms (Eckert, Martens,& DiGennaro, 2005; Volpe, DiPerna,Hintze, & Shapiro, 2005), playgrounds (Leff & Lakin, 2005), and test sessions and clinical interviews (McConaughy, 2005). In addition,Hintze (2005) discusses overarching psychometric issues regarding observational assessment.The purpose of this commentary is to provide a clinical perspective on some of the central issues and common themes of the series in relation to child assessment in the school.
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