Achievement Assessment Techniques: Their Frequency of Use, Perceived Importance, and Relation to Job Satisfaction

A random sample of Nationally Certified School psychologists was surveyed to determine the current academic achievement assessment practices of school psychologists. Frequency of administration and importance of standardized achievement tests, interviews, observations and work sample collection was determined. Further, knowledge of, experience with, and future plans to develop skills in alternative achievement assessment areas was examined. Job satisfaction was investigated and its relationship to involvement with alternative assessment measures. Results indicate that assessment activities still consume about half (45%) of school psychologists\u27 time followed by consultation (22%), and treatment (18%). Informal assessment techniques such as child, teacher, and parent interviews; and observations were reportedly used by the majority of respondents; these techniques were also rated as important. The Woodcock Johnson Tests of Achievement- Revised and the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test were the standardized achievement measure which were used.by the most respondents, and also had adequate importance ratings. Informal Reading Inventories and the WRAT-3 had high mean importance ratings, but were used by a small percentage of the sample. Respondents reported most involvement with the alternative assessment technique referred to as curriculum-based assessment and the least involvement with authentic assessment. These results, and the limitations of the study are discussed