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Final Project Guidelines and Rubric.html

PSY 550 Final Project Guidelines and Rubric

Overview

Assessments are essential tools used in the field of psychology to support clinicians by informing treatment, understanding the breadth of one’s functioning, providing insight, and helping with diagnostic clarity. Understanding how psychologists use tests, understand and interpret results, and make recommendations based on the assessments is key to providing the best treatment possible for the people you serve.

This final project asks you to develop a conceptualization of a person based on background information and results from a few select tests. You will examine research to understand the purpose of the chosen tests, why they were used, and how they help to inform the overall understanding of the person’s presenting problems. You must understand how to interpret tests and consider cultural and ethical issues associated with the vignette to form a comprehensive conceptualization and suitable recommendations. This assessment simulates what it would be like to examine assessments in your everyday work.

The project is divided into two milestones, which you will submit at various points throughout the course to scaffold learning and ensure quality final submissions. You will submit these milestones in Modules Four and Seven. The final product is due in Module Nine.

You will demonstrate your mastery of the following course outcomes in this assignment:

• Assess for their validity and reliability the primary tools and methods used to develop psychological tests and assessments 
• Distinguish between the different domains of psychological tests and assessments to determine their appropriate applications
• Apply psychometric principles to interpret and evaluate the results of psychological measurement instruments
• Determine the influence of cultural and environmental factors on psychological testing and assessment to ensure psychometric soundness
• Assess the ethical issues involved in the administration and interpretation of tests and assessments

Prompt

You will submit an assessment analysis for your final project. You will choose one of the provided case vignettes of a mock assessment based on your area of interest and use the information provided in the vignette to respond to the critical elements. You must support your analysis with correctly cited information from sources throughout the final project.

Specifically, be sure to address the following critical elements:

1. Introduction: Summarize the vignette you chose and address the following in your introduction:
   1. Develop a problem statement. In your response, identify a reason for the referral and the tests used to evaluate the client. 
2. Test and Assessment Development Analysis: Test One
   1. Describe how to administer the test. 
   2. Describe the populations for which the test is normed. 
   3. Explain the information the test yields. 
   4. Determine the test’s reliability and validity when administered to varying populations. 
   5. Describe the test’s cut scores for normal versus at-risk or clinically significant. 
   6. Assess any cultural concerns for how they impact the effectiveness of the test administration. 
   7. Determine if any ethical issues affect the test administration. 
   8. Assess the methods for interpreting and communicating the results (e.g., scaled scores, percentile ranks, z-scores, t-scores) for their appropriateness. 
3. Test and Assessment Development Analysis: Test Two
   1. Describe how to administer the test. 
   2. Describe the populations for which the test is normed. 
   3. Explain the information the test yields. 
   4. Determine the reliability and validity of the test when administered to varying populations. 
   5. Describe the test’s cut scores for the test results. Be sure to identify the normal versus at-risk and clinically significant cut scores. 
   6. Assess any cultural concerns for how they impact the effectiveness of the test administration. 
   7. Determine if any ethical issues affect the test administration. 
   8. Assess the methods for interpreting and communicating the results (e.g., scaled scores, percentile ranks, z-scores, t-scores) for their appropriateness. 
4. Clinical Formulation
   1. Analyze the test results using industry-standard tools. 
   2. Determine a diagnosis based on the data provided. 
   3. Interpret the psychometric data from the test results to address the reason for the referral. 
5. Recommendations
   1. Recommend actionable ways to best treat the client based on the clinical formulation. 
   2. Assess potential ethical issues for their impact on presenting results to the client. 
   3. Determine ethical and strength-based strategies to present results to the client. 
   4. Discusses limitations of the analysis. 

Milestones

Milestone One: Introduction and Research In Module Four, you will submit a draft of the Introduction of the final project and Parts A through D of Sections I and II for tests one and two (the Test and Assessment Development Analysis sections). This milestone will be graded with the Milestone One Rubric.

Milestone Two: Research and Clinical Formulation In Module Seven, you will submit Parts E through H for tests one and two in the Test and Assessment Development Analysis section and the Clinical Formulation section (Sections III and IV). This milestone will be graded with the Milestone Two Rubric.

Final Submission: Assessment Analysis In Module Nine, you will submit your final project. It should be a complete, polished artifact containing all the critical elements of the final product. You will add your Recommendations section (Section V) to the revised milestone assignments. It should reflect the incorporation of feedback gained throughout the course. This submission will be graded with the Final Project Rubric.

What to Submit

Your assessment analysis must be 8 to 10 pages long (plus a cover page and references) and must be written in APA format. Use double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, and one-inch margins. Include at least six references cited in APA format, including a references page.

Final Project Rubric

Criteria	Exemplary (100%)	Proficient (90%)	Needs Improvement (70%)	Not Evident (0%)	Value
Introduction: Problem Statement	Meets “Proficient” criteria and response demonstrates an advanced ability to distill key details from a vignette to develop a problem statement	Develops a problem statement that identifies the reason for referral and the type of assessments used	Develops a problem statement that identifies the reason for referral and the type of assessments used, but statement is missing key elements	Does not develop a problem statement that identifies the reason for referral and the type of assessments used	2.74
Test and Assessment Development Analysis-Test One: Administered	Meets “Proficient” criteria and description is insightful and contains exceptional detail	Describes how the test is administered	Describes how the test is administered, but description is cursory or lacks detail	Does not describe how the test is administered	4.8
Test and Assessment Development Analysis-Test One: Population	Meets “Proficient” criteria and demonstrates a keen insight into the applications of the test	Describes the populations for which the test is normed	Describes the populations for which the test is normed, but response contains inaccuracies or lacks justification	Does not describe the populations for which the test is normed	2.74
Test and Assessment Development Analysis-Test One: Yields	Meets “Proficient” criteria and response is insightful and contains exceptional detail	Explains the information the test yields	Explains the information the test yields, but response lacks sufficient detail	Does not explain the information the test yields	4.8
Test and Assessment Development Analysis-Test One: Reliability and Validity	Meets “Proficient” criteria and demonstrates a nuanced understanding of test administration on varying populations	Determines the reliability and validity of the test when administered to varying populations	Determines the reliability and validity of the test when administered to varying populations, but response contains inaccuracies	Does not determine the reliability and validity of the test when administered to varying populations	2.74
Test and Assessment Development Analysis-Test One: Cut Scores	Meets “Proficient” criteria and description includes exceptional detail	Describes the test’s cut scores for “normal” versus “at-risk” or “clinically significant”	Describes the test’s cut scores for “normal” versus “at-risk” or “clinically significant,” but response contains inaccuracies or is missing key information	Does not describe the cut scores	3.84
Test and Assessment Development Analysis-Test One: Cultural Concerns	Meets “Proficient” criteria and demonstrates keen insight into the impact of cultural concerns on test administration	Assesses any cultural concerns for their impact on the effectiveness of the administration of the test	Assesses any cultural concerns for their impact on the effectiveness of the administration of the test, but response is cursory or illogical or lacks detail	Does not assess any cultural concerns for their impact on the effectiveness of the administration of the test	4.8
Test and Assessment Development Analysis-Test One: Ethical Issues	Meets “Proficient” criteria and demonstrates a sophisticated insight into the ethical issues	Determines if there are any ethical issues related to administering the test	Determines if there are any ethical issues related to administering the test, but response is cursory or illogical or lacks detail	Does not determine if there are any ethical issues related to administering the test	4.8
Test and Assessment Development Analysis-Test One: Methods	Meets “Proficient” criteria and is insightful and contains exceptional detail	Assesses the methods of interpreting and communicating the results for their appropriateness	Assesses the methods of interpreting and communicating the results, but response is cursory or illogical or lacks detail	Does not assess the methods of interpreting and communicating the results	2.74
Test and Assessment Development Analysis-Test Two: Administered	Meets “Proficient” criteria and description is insightful and contains exceptional detail	Describes how the test is administered	Describes how the test is administered, but description is cursory or lacks detail	Does not describe how the test is administered	4.8
Test and Assessment Development Analysis-Test Two: Population	Meets “Proficient” criteria and demonstrates a keen insight into the applications of the test	Describes the populations for which the test is normed	Describes the populations for which the test is normed, but response contains inaccuracies or lacks justification	Does not describe the populations for which the test is normed	2.74
Test and Assessment Development Analysis-Test Two: Yields	Meets “Proficient” criteria and response is insightful and contains exceptional detail	Explains the information the test yields	Explains the information the test yields, but response lacks sufficient detail	Does not explain the information the test yields	4.8
Test and Assessment Development Analysis-Test Two: Reliability and Validity	Meets “Proficient” criteria and demonstrates a nuanced understanding of test administration on varying populations	Determines the reliability and validity of the test when administered to varying populations	Determines the reliability and validity of the test when administered to varying populations, but response contains inaccuracies	Does not determine the reliability and validity of the test when administered to varying populations	2.74
Test and Assessment Development Analysis-Test Two: Cut Scores	Meets “Proficient” criteria and description includes exceptional detail	Describes the test’s cut scores for “normal” versus “at-risk” or “clinically significant”	Describes the test’s cut scores for “normal” versus “at-risk” or “clinically significant,” but response contains inaccuracies or is missing key information	Does not describe the cut scores	3.84
Test and Assessment Development Analysis-Test Two: Cultural Concerns	Meets “Proficient” criteria and demonstrates keen insight into the impact of cultural concerns on test administration	Assesses any cultural concerns for their impact on the effectiveness of the administration of the test	Assesses any cultural concerns for their impact on the effectiveness of the administration of the test, but response is cursory or illogical or lacks detail	Does not assess any cultural concerns for their impact on the effectiveness of the administration of the test	4.8
Test and Assessment Development Analysis-Test Two: Ethical Issues	Meets “Proficient” criteria and demonstrates a sophisticated insight into the ethical issues	Determines if there are any ethical issues related to administering the test	Determines if there are any ethical issues related to administering the test, but response is cursory or illogical or lacks detail	Does not determine if there are any ethical issues related to administering the test	4.8
Test and Assessment Development Analysis-Test Two: Methods	Meets “Proficient” criteria and assessment is insightful and contains exceptional detail	Assesses the methods of interpreting and communicating the results for their appropriateness	Assesses the methods of interpreting and communicating the results, but response is cursory or illogical or lacks detail	Does not assess the methods of interpreting and communicating the results	2.74
Clinical Formulation: Results	Meets “Proficient” criteria and analysis is insightful and contains exceptional detail	Analyzes the results of the tests using industry-standard tools	Analyzes the results of the tests using industry-standard tools, but analysis contains inaccuracies or lacks detail	Does not analyze the results of the tests using industry-standard tools	3.84
Clinical Formulation: Diagnosis	Meets “Proficient” criteria and determination is insightful and contains exceptional detail	Determines a diagnosis based on the data provided	Determines a diagnosis based on the data provided, but diagnosis lacks justification or detail	Does not determine the diagnosis based on the data provided	3.84
Clinical Formulation: Psychometric Data	Meets “Proficient” criteria and demonstrates a complex grasp of the psychometric data	Interprets the psychometric data from the test results to address the reason for the referral	Interprets the psychometric data from the test results to address the reason for the referral, but submission contains inaccuracies or is missing key details	Does not interpret the psychometric data from the test results to address the reason for the referral	3.84
Recommendations: Treat	Meets “Proficient” criteria and recommendations are insightful and detailed	Recommends actionable ways to best treat the client based on the clinical formulation	Recommends actionable ways to best treat the client based on the clinical formulation, but recommendations are cursory or illogical or lacks detail	Does not recommend actionable ways to best treat the client based on the clinical formulation	4.8
Recommendations: Impact	Meets “Proficient” criteria and demonstrates a sophisticated insight into ethical issues related to presenting results to a client	Assesses potential ethical issues for their impact on presenting results to the client	Assesses potential ethical issues for their impact on presenting results to the client, but assessment is cursory or illogical or lacks detail	Does not assess potential ethical issues for their impact on presenting results to the client	4.8
Recommendations: Results	Meets “Proficient” criteria and demonstrates keen insight into strategies that are ethical and strength-based	Determines strategies to present results to the client that are ethical and strength-based	Determines strategies to present results to the client that are ethical and strength-based, but strategies are not appropriate or lack detail	Does not determine strategies to present results to the client that are ethical and strength-based	4.8
Recommendations: Limitations	Meets “Proficient” criteria and discussion is insightful and exceptionally detailed	Discusses limitations of the analysis	Discusses limitations of the analysis, but response is cursory or illogical or lacks detail	Does not determine limitations of the analysis	4.8
Articulation of Response	Submission is free of errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, and organization and is presented in a professional and easy-to-read format	Submission has no major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization	Submission has major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that negatively impact readability and articulation of main ideas	Submission has critical errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that prevent understanding of ideas	4.02
Total:	100%