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The book examines the preparation and presentation of psychological data reports for various stakeholders (e.g., teachers, parents, caregivers). It details strategies for clear and effective prose and visuals that reach beyond the narrative and emphasize data integration. Chapters are organized around specific themes contained in the overall report and its sections (e.g., cognitive, achievement, social/emotional/personality) as well as the process of data reporting, its description, and eventual communication to consumers.
The volume addresses the rationale for and considerations important to carrying out this mission, including reporting and explaining data obtained from English language learners (ELLs). It provides examples of sample data sets, detailing how to apply and illustrate these principles and reflect contemporary data interpretation. In addition, the book provides checklists as well as appendices, and tables that should be considered when preparing reports. The book discusses the processes and mechanics of integrating data within and across sections of reports, thereby providing alternatives to strictly boilerplate reports as well as practical recommendations that can be readily implemented to benefit students.
Key areas of coverage include:
- Preparing psychological reports for all stakeholders.
- Data presentations for lay audiences.
- Contemporary data reporting not driven by a boilerplate.
- Illustrations of data integration and customized prose.
- Generating intervention recommendations for students using descriptive data.
- Tailoring the writing process to create defensible reports for school, clinical, and neuropsychological referrals.
This volume is an essential resource for researchers, professors, graduate students as well as clinicians, therapists, and other professionals in developmental, clinical child and school psychology, educational assessment, testing, and evaluation, social work, public health and all interrelated disciplines.
List of contents
Chapter 1. Sophisticated Simplicity: Writing Reader-Friendly Assessment Reports.- Chapter 2. Pictures, Effective Prose, and Plain Language Are Worth a Thousand Numbers.- Chapter 3. Cognitive Assessment.- Chapter 4. Educational Assessment.- Chapter 5. Writing with the Whole Child in Mind: Social-Emotional/Personality Assessment.- Chapter 6. Honest and Effective Writing in Multicultural Evaluations: False Caution Versus True Discretion.- Chapter 7. Pulling It All Together - Writing Effective Reports That Will Be Read and Used.
About the author
Rosemary Flanagan, Ph.D., ABPP, is an independent practitioner and college professor and previously worked as a full professor/director of the school psychology programs at Touro College and Adelphi University. She has extensively taught graduate and undergraduate courses in assessment practice and theory. With a degree in clinical and school psychology from Hofstra University, Dr. Flanagan has varied work experience, which informs her assessment practice, teaching, and professional writing. She provided school psychological services for 18 years, has been in independent practice for over 30 years in addition to training school psychologists at several NY area programs. Her publications are in assessment, intervention, and professional issues in school psychology. She co-edited and contributed to special issues of
Psychology in The Schools on Social-Emotional Assessment (2007) and Cognitive Behavior Therapy (2011) and is a co- editor and contributing author of
Cognitive and Behavioral Interventions in the Schools: Integrating Theory and Research into Practice (Springer, 2015). She co-authored
Specialty Competencies in School Psychology (Oxford, 2010). Dr. Flanagan continues to teach both undergraduate and graduate students.
