High-Impact Assessment Reports for Children and Adolescents

Robert Lichtenstein, PhD, NCSP, established the school psychology programs at the University of Delaware and the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology. He has served as a school psychologist in three different states; as supervisor of school psychological services for the New Haven Public Schools; as director of training at the Medical–Educational Evaluation Center at North Shore Children’s Hospital in Salem, Massachusetts; and as the school psychology consultant for the Connecticut State Department of Education. He is a recipient of the Presidential Award from the National Association of School Psychologists and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Massachusetts School Psychologists Association.Bruce Ecker, PhD, is Associate Professor and Director of the child clinical concentration (Children and Families of Adversity and Resilience) in the Department of Clinical Psychology at William James College (formerly the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology). He has worked in the Minneapolis, Boston, and Framingham, Massachusetts, public schools as well as at the University of Minnesota Hospitals and at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Massachusetts. With degrees in both clinical and educational psychology, Dr. Ecker has assessed and treated hundreds of children, adolescents, and their families, many of whom have experienced psychosocial trauma, chronic psychiatric illness, and developmental and medical difficulties. He is a recipient of the Excellence in Teaching Award from William James College and held the College's Mintz Chair in Professional Psychology from 2014 to 2016.

• 1. Assessment Reports That Work for Consumers2. Understanding Current Practice3. Assessment Fundamentals4. The Consumer-Responsive Approach5. Consumer-Responsive Report Writing6. Straight Talk: Oral Communication of Findings7. Variations on a Theme: Reports for Special Purposes8. Making It Happen: Implications and ImpactAppendix A. Readability MeasuresAppendix B. Test Administration and Scoring RubricAppendix C. Psychological Assessment Follow-Up ProceduresAppendix D. Sample Assessment Reports and Parent Feedback LetterAppendix E. Background Information Outline and Case ExampleAppendix F. Data Summary TemplateAppendix G. Report-Writing RubricAppendix H. Feedback Conference SimulationReferencesIndex

"A wonderful resource--succinct, straightforward, and comprehensive. This practical guide responds to the current mandate for readable, child-focused, theme-based, defensible reports that satisfy the need for clarity on how to help the child in question. Lichtenstein and Ecker have produced an essential book that ensures that school psychologists understand the rationale and requirements for meaningful assessment reports in today’s schools. Graduate students will need this text in multiple courses, from beginning assessment classes all the way to internship and beyond."--Elaine Fletcher-Janzen, EdD, NCSP, ABPdN, The Chicago School of Professional Psychology"Psychological assessments have the power to change lives, but if they are not well understood by consumers, reports have limited utility. Lichtenstein and Ecker have tackled this issue head-on by providing a roadmap for all psychologists who conduct assessments. From structuring a readable report to integrating test findings and appropriately conveying information--it's all there and more. I've written thousands of reports, and found this book immensely useful for my practice. It will be a required text for any course in assessment that I teach."--Ellen Braaten, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School"Assessment report writing is an often overlooked skill, but Lichtenstein and Ecker provide an excellent resource to help change that. The book is extremely user-friendly, with numerous tables and examples that add clarity. It offers recommendations that are consistent with research on report writing and communication, and that can make an immediate difference in clinical training and practice. University faculty can use this book in any course that teaches psychological assessment, and practitioners can use it to make their data more meaningful to parents, teachers, administrators, and other clinical personnel. The field has needed a work like this one."--Matthew K. Burns, PhD, Rose and Irving Fein Endowed Professor of Special Education, University of Florida; Assistant Director, University of Florida Literacy Institute"This needed desk reference provides information on how to write effective, reader-friendly reports that are valuable to consumers of our services. The summary charts enhance the usefulness of the chapters, as do the sample reports. I am eager to share this book with our interns and school psychologists."--Rivka I. Olley, PhD, NCSP, Director, Psychological Services, Baltimore City Public Schools"This book fills a void in school psychology training programs--the need for more than a book chapter or journal article on writing psychological reports. Practicing school psychologists also will benefit from reading about the qualities of oral or written reports that best communicate assessment results to teachers and parents. Of particular value is the book's consumer-responsive approach, which emphasizes the critical importance of readability, relevance, and practical recommendations that are linked to the reason for referral. Drawing from their wealth of experience, the authors offer crucial guidance to students and practitioners on how to avoid lengthy, detailed, jargon-ridden, score-centered, and time-consuming psychological reports."--George G. Bear, PhD, School Psychology Program, University of Delaware"I am very impressed. This is a valuable book both for seasoned professionals and for students just learning the fine art of report writing. It is not only easy to read, but also well organized and fact based. It covers a wide range of issues relevant to report writing, in chapters that include multiple examples and rubrics. The book also contains several excellent sample reports."--Ron Dumont, EdD, NCSP, School of Psychology (Emeritus), Fairleigh Dickinson University -School psychologists are the likely target audience for this book; however, I believe privately practicing psychologists would find the strategies in the book useful as well. This book was not only helpful in reframing how I currently write reports, but it also has practical, concrete ways in which I can change my report writing to be more consumer friendly….The book's appendices are an excellent resource for practitioners to start to examine how to improve report writing within our field, to make them more reader-friendly, and to move toward finding practical solutions to improve education for children.--NASP Communiqué, 6/1/2020