Study Guide

School Psychologist
Test Design and Framework

The test design below describes general assessment information. The framework that follows is a detailed outline that explains the knowledge and skills that this test measures.

Test Design

Format	Computer-based test (CBT)
Number of Questions	100 multiple-choice questions
Time	2 hours
Passing Score	220

Test Framework

 

Content Domain		Range of Competencies	Approximate Percentage of Test Score
I.	Understanding Human Development, Diversity, and Learning	0001–0003	25%
II.	Addressing Individual and Schoolwide Needs Using the Data-Based Decision-Making Model	0004–0009	50%
III.	Working in the Professional Environment	0010–0012	25%

Domain I–Understanding Human Development, Diversity, and Learning

Competency 0001–Understand human development and behavior.

For example:

• Demonstrate knowledge of early childhood, child, and adolescent development in the cognitive, social/emotional, sensorimotor, and language domains.
• Analyze how characteristics or changes in any one domain (e.g., cognitive, social/emotional) may affect performance in other domains, and demonstrate understanding of the interrelationship between a student's skills in one domain and skills in other domains.
• Apply knowledge of variables that affect students' behavior and development (e.g., prenatal and early environment; chemical use or abuse; psychopathological, cognitive, biological, temperament-related, social, gender-identity and gender-related, and linguistic variables; family issues; prior experiences; socioeconomic status; cultural or ethnic background; parent/guardian and teacher expectations).
• Demonstrate knowledge of the biological (e.g., developmental, neuropsychological, physiological), social, and cultural bases of behavior and how they interact.
• Demonstrate knowledge of medical and pharmacological influences on behavior and development.
• Examine how giftedness and/or disabilities, including students who are twice-exceptional, may affect development in the cognitive, social/emotional, sensorimotor, and language domains.
• Apply knowledge of human exceptionalities, including students with disabilities and students who are gifted and/or twice-exceptional, with regard to development, including similarities and differences between students with exceptionalities and other students of the same age.

Competency 0002–Understand processes of learning and learning environments that are responsive to the strengths and needs of students.

For example:

• Demonstrate knowledge of theories and processes of learning.
• Apply knowledge of factors that affect students' learning (e.g., prenatal and early environment; psychopathological, cognitive, biological, temperament-related, social, gender-related, and linguistic factors; student motivation; family issues; prior experiences; socioeconomic status; cultural or ethnic background; parent/guardian and teacher expectations).
• Recognize the advantages and limitations of different types of learning environments and experiences for students with diverse strengths and needs (e.g., demonstrate knowledge of the importance of the match between the instructional environment and students' needs; demonstrate knowledge of the importance of successful transition readiness experiences).
• Evaluate the effects of different learning environments, classroom management strategies, and instructional and intervention techniques on students' achievement and social/emotional development.
• Recognize research- and evidence-based strategies for modifying learning environments to meet the diverse physical, social/emotional, behavioral, cognitive, language, career development, and academic needs of students with specified characteristics, strengths, and needs.
• Apply the principles of generalization and transfer of learning to various interventions, including those aimed at assisting parents/guardians and other caregivers with the implementation of behavior-change programs in the home and facilitating successful transitions of students from one environment to another.

Competency 0003–Understand curricula and instruction that promote learning, achievement, and competence in students with diverse strengths and needs.

For example:

• Apply knowledge of research- and evidence-based strategies, programs, and practices for promoting development in all domains for students from birth to age 21.
• Demonstrate general familiarity with the K–12 curriculum (e.g., language arts, mathematics) as it relates to human development and learning.
• Demonstrate knowledge of research- and evidence-based strategies and programs for supporting differentiated instruction, remediation, and intervention techniques that enhance the academic, social/emotional, communicative, and functional living competence of students with diverse strengths and needs.
• Evaluate the appropriateness of various instructional approaches and resources, including technological resources that meet identified student needs.
• Identify appropriate research- and evidence-based recommendations for curriculum and instructional modifications in various situations (e.g., early intervening services, during Individualized Family Service Plan [IFSP]/Individualized Education Program [IEP] development to support students with disabilities in the least restrictive environment).
• Demonstrate understanding of when and how to use authentic and dynamic assessment procedures that directly inform interventions.

Domain II–Addressing Individual and Schoolwide Needs Using the Data-Based Decision-Making Model

Competency 0004–Understand how to select, adapt, and develop assessments that provide accurate, useful information for working effectively in a multi-tiered system of support, determining appropriate interventions, measuring the progress and outcomes of intervention, determining educational placements, and making educational recommendations for students with diverse strengths and needs.

For example:

• Identify the characteristics, benefits, and limitations of formal and informal assessment instruments, and demonstrate knowledge of screening, diagnosis, and planning procedures and formative and summative assessment in evaluating the progress of school-age students in various areas (e.g., cognitive/intellectual and social/emotional development, language, classroom behavior, adaptive skills, mental health).
• Apply procedures for selecting, adapting, and developing curriculum-based assessments and curriculum-based measurement (e.g., portfolios, observations, writing samples, interviews).
• Demonstrate knowledge of legal and ethical guidelines and key issues in assessment (e.g., bias; generalizability; norm-referenced versus criterion-referenced assessment; special considerations in the assessment of infants and toddlers; the significance of cultural diversity, native language, socioeconomic diversity, and gender; rapport in testing situations), and recognize the importance of using appropriate assessment methods and techniques.
• Examine the role that diversity factors and students' cultural backgrounds play in choosing and modifying assessment instruments in specific contexts, and evaluate the appropriateness of different types of assessment for given students (e.g., English language learners, students with autism spectrum disorders [ASD], students with moderate and/or multiple disabilities).
• Demonstrate knowledge of procedures for collecting and reviewing comprehensive information in regard to prereferral services, initial referrals, and reevaluation.
• Apply knowledge of the process and procedures involved in conducting a functional behavioral assessment (FBA) and in analyzing the results to create effective behavioral intervention plans and/or behavioral goals as part of an IFSP/IEP.
• Apply knowledge of how to use and provide the information from various assessment models to help the IEP team address referral questions and make appropriate educational placement and programming recommendations for students with diverse strengths and needs.
• Demonstrate knowledge of guidelines, procedures, practices, and methods for identifying the presence of a learning disability, including applying the Response to Intervention (RTI) process or use of the discrepancy model.

Competency 0005–Understand how to conduct assessments of students with diverse strengths and needs.

For example:

• Demonstrate knowledge of standard procedures for administering various types of assessments (e.g., cognitive, academic, behavioral, adaptive) for young children through school-age students who may require academic and/or behavioral intervention and support, special education, early intervention, gifted education, or other services or interventions.
• Apply knowledge of how to adapt assessment procedures for individual students in various contexts, and analyze how procedural modifications for administering standardized assessments may affect assessment results.
• Apply knowledge of nondiscriminatory assessment strategies for culturally and linguistically diverse students, and analyze the significance of linguistic, cultural, and socioeconomic diversity for student assessment.
• Apply knowledge of how to administer assessments in ways that provide information that is accurate and useful for planning instruction and environmental modifications to help students with diverse strengths and needs achieve desired goals.

Competency 0006–Understand how to interpret assessment results to increase knowledge about students' individual strengths and needs.

For example:

• Demonstrate knowledge of concepts of test measurement (e.g., mean, standard deviation, percentages) and different types of scores (e.g., z-scores, age- and grade-equivalent scores, percentiles, standard scores), their relationships, and their implications for interpreting test results.
• Demonstrate knowledge of scoring and reporting methods used with various assessment instruments and how to interpret the results of assessments of school-age students.
• Analyze assessment data to determine the presence and nature of a student's giftedness, including the identification of gifted students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
• Analyze assessment data to determine the presence, nature, and severity of a student's disabilities; current level of academic performance (e.g., specific strengths and needs, mastered and unmastered skills); and mental health needs for purposes of making a recommendation for eligibility for services and placement.
• Recognize conclusions about a student's educational and mental health needs that can and cannot be drawn from given assessment data.
• Examine psychometric properties of testing instruments (e.g., different types of reliability and validity, acceptable levels of reliability and validity, measurement error, standardization) and their implications for assessment selection and interpretation of results/scores.

Competency 0007–Understand how to use assessment information within the Individualized Education Program (IEP) team process to make recommendations and develop interventions that respond to students' identified educational and mental health needs and enhance students' educational functioning.

For example:

• Demonstrate knowledge of how to interpret and communicate assessment results to assist parents/guardians and the IEP team in determining the appropriate placement within the continuum of the least restrictive environment and in developing and evaluating the effectiveness of academic and behavioral interventions.
• Demonstrate understanding of ways to prepare clearly written reports that address referral questions appropriately, report data accurately, communicate assessment results clearly and in a manner that is understandable to the audience, and provide guidance to parents/guardians and the IEP team in determining appropriate interventions.
• Use assessment results and knowledge of various educational placement, service, and programming options (e.g., general education class, Chapter I, English for Speakers of Other Languages [ESOL], extended school year services, Response to Intervention [RTI], Individualized Family Service Plan [IFSP], Individualized Service Plan [ISP], IEP, Individualized Healthcare Plan [IHCP], Section 504 Plan, gifted education) to make recommendations for addressing students' identified educational and mental health needs.
• Demonstrate knowledge of the general procedures and legal requirements for developing IFSPs, ISPs, IEPs, and IHCPs for students with disabilities who may require early childhood intervention, special education, or other services.
• Demonstrate knowledge of the components of IEPs, including annual goals, instructional setting or placement, related services, assistive technologies, and testing modifications or accommodations.

Competency 0008–Understand research- and evidence-based prevention and intervention techniques and resources for addressing individual, group, and schoolwide needs.

For example:

• Apply knowledge of School-wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (Sw-PBIS) prevention and intervention strategies and interventions that promote academic achievement through safe, effective school environments.
• Demonstrate knowledge of research- and evidence-based culturally responsive practices and strategies to create a positive school community (e.g., antibullying programs, services for students facing homelessness and/or abuse, depression and suicide prevention).
• Apply knowledge of effective crisis prevention and intervention models and strategies for collaborating with school personnel, parents/guardians, and community service providers to implement crisis prevention and intervention approaches.
• Identify resources for addressing a wide variety of psychological, behavioral, academic, and health problems and the procedures to access appropriate services provided by district, community, and state entities.
• Apply knowledge of principles and research related to resilience and risk factors in mental health, including fostering and developing protective factors through services that support multi-tiered prevention and evidence-based strategies.
• Demonstrate knowledge of effective prevention and intervention strategies (e.g., consultation; individual, group, and schoolwide counseling; instructional and classroom modifications; behavior modification) to recommend in responding to students' identified educational and mental health needs.
• Apply knowledge of the multi-tiered system of support, including screening, identification of research- and evidence-based strategies, and progress monitoring, to support students' academic needs across domains.

Competency 0009–Understand research methods, program evaluation, and principles of data-based decision making and accountability.

For example:

• Apply knowledge of research methodology and design (e.g., single subject, quantitative, qualitative), statistical procedures, and data analysis for evaluating published research (e.g., effect size) and for planning and conducting program evaluations for the purpose of improvement of services.
• Demonstrate knowledge of methods for evaluating, selecting, and using assessment instruments and techniques in support of program or systems-level evaluation.
• Apply knowledge of effective data-based decision making to systems-level problems (e.g., identifying factors that influence learning and behavior, evaluating the outcomes of services, facilitating accountability).
• Demonstrate knowledge of the uses of data in designing and monitoring research- and evidence-based intervention strategies, evaluating the efficacy of interventions, modifying intervention plans, evaluating the outcomes of services, and facilitating accountability.
• Demonstrate understanding of the use of technology for monitoring student progress and instructional programs, facilitating decision making and accountability, and assisting in the assessment of group and system-wide interventions.

Domain III–Working in the Professional Environment

Competency 0010–Understand effective communication, consultation, and collaboration processes for working with educators and other professionals, families, and community agencies to provide students with appropriate educational services.

For example:

• Demonstrate knowledge of theories of consultation (e.g., integrated model, behavioral model, collaborative model) and their applications to educational settings.
• Demonstrate understanding of skills for promoting effective communication with students and for facilitating communication with school personnel, families, community professionals, and others.
• Demonstrate knowledge of various communication modes (e.g., written, verbal, nonverbal, visual, technological) and their use in communicating effectively with a diverse constituency, including constituencies that are culturally and linguistically diverse.
• Demonstrate knowledge of consultation models and methods, including use of technological tools, in collaboration with others at the individual, group, and system levels and ways to communicate clearly with diverse audiences (e.g., students, parents/guardians, teachers, administrators, school boards, policymakers, community leaders, colleagues).
• Demonstrate understanding of the importance of interpersonal skills in the consultative process (e.g., active listening, conflict resolution, group facilitation), and demonstrate awareness of factors related to cultural diversity in the consultative process.
• Apply consultation and collaboration skills and strategies in working with other members of the learning community (e.g., students, parents/guardians, teachers, school administrators, related service providers, state and community agencies) to communicate about and address student needs (e.g., identifying problems, processing referrals, gathering and documenting information, conducting formal and informal assessments, making recommendations for prevention and intervention services, maintaining confidentiality, providing information about relevant research).
• Demonstrate knowledge of the role of diverse family systems in student development, behavior, socialization, and learning, and identify strategies for involving students and their families in the education process.
• Demonstrate understanding of the importance of family involvement in education and strategies for promoting and facilitating collaboration and partnerships among students, their families, and educators.

Competency 0011–Understand the roles and responsibilities of school psychologists.

For example:

• Examine the school psychologist's roles and responsibilities in various contexts while serving as an advocate for students (e.g., processing referrals, serving as case manager for the assessment process, conducting eligibility assessments and reevaluations, participating in Individualized Education Program [IEP] team meetings, conducting functional behavioral assessments [FBAs], providing intervention/treatment services, engaging in crisis prevention and intervention, conducting research and program evaluations, engaging in consultation and counseling, assisting school administrators and others in problem solving and decision making).
• Apply knowledge of the organization and operation of schools and school systems, including general education, special education, multi-tiered system of support, and other educational and related services, to assist in designing, implementing, and evaluating policies, practices, and programs (e.g., Response to Intervention [RTI], discipline, grading, staff development).
• Demonstrate knowledge of the importance of continued professional development, strategies for participating in professional development activities, the uses of technology for continued professional development, and the importance of active involvement and participation in professional organizations (e.g., National Association of School Psychologists [NASP], Missouri Association of School Psychologists [MASP]).
• Demonstrate knowledge of information sources and technology relevant to the practice of school psychology.

Competency 0012–Understand the historical, legal, and ethical foundations of the school psychology profession.

For example:

• Demonstrate knowledge of the philosophical and historical foundations of education and psychology as applicable to the role of the school psychologist.
• Apply knowledge of the legal requirements (e.g., mandated reporting), ethical issues, and standards of professional practice affecting school psychologists.
• Apply knowledge of special and general education laws and related regulations regarding students with and without disabilities (e.g., Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, Americans with Disabilities Act [ADA], Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act [IDEIA], Elementary and Secondary Education Act [ESEA]).
• Apply knowledge of state policies and procedures (e.g., referral, evaluation, eligibility criteria, due process, confidentiality, timelines, discipline procedures, seclusion and restraint, least restrictive environment, graduation requirements) to help ensure equity and an appropriate education for all students.

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