Continuing Education Presentation – Earn 2.0 CEs
Title: Planning for the Future of the Course on Cognitive Assessment
Presenters: Vincent C. Alfonso, Ph.D., Montclair State University, and Dawn P. Flanagan, Ph.D., St. John’s University
Description: Most school psychology training programs have a single course on cognitive assessment. Thirty years ago, it was possible to provide students with comprehensive training on the administration, scoring, and interpretation of intelligence tests. Typically, students learned about the WISC, K-ABC, and Stanford-Binet. Sattler’s book on Assessment of Children was the standard in the field, and Kaufman’s book on Intelligent Testing was a staple in training programs. Limited attention was given to theories of intelligence; the literature that guided the clinical application of these tests was relatively easy to understand and, therefore, readily integrated into the course; and progress in intelligence test development was more or less stagnant for about 20 years after we entered the profession in the early 1990s. However, in the past 10+ years, there was an explosion in cognitive ability test development, psychometric theories of the structure of cognitive abilities, articles and textbooks on the use and interpretation of tests, nondiscriminatory assessment practices, and research articles based on data analyses that few school psychology students are exposed to in their training programs. Furthermore, advances in neuropsychology, cognitive neuroscience, and learning disabilities need to be incorporated into school psychology coursework, particularly the course on cognitive assessment. We will argue that a single course on cognitive assessment is insufficient to prepare school psychology students to use and interpret cognitive tests in ways that maximally benefit students with unique learning needs. During the latter half of this presentation, we will engage with participants to brainstorm about the issues raised and generate innovative ways to ensure comprehensive training of students in cognitive assessment. Our goal is to develop a national committee that will continue the conversation and develop a repository of materials and a shared approach to cognitive assessment training.
Learning Objectives:
Participants will be able to
Date and Time: April 26, 2024; 1-3pm EST
Cost: $15 Members; $5 for Students; $20 for non-members
