This article presents guiding principles for the assessment of competence developed by the members of the American Psychological Association's Task Force on Assessment of Competence in Professional Psychology. These principles are applicable to the education, training, and credentialing of professional psychologists, and to practicing psychologists across the professional life span. The principles are built upon a review of competency assessment models, including practices in both psychology and other professions. These principles will help to ensure that psychologists reinforce the importance of a culture of competence. The implications of the principles for professional psychology also are highlighted. research and clinical practice focus on competency-based education, training, and supervision of interns and postdoctoral fellows; family violence; suicidal behavior across the life span; and family systems medicine. NANCY J. RUBIN received her PsyD from the University of Denver in clinical psychology. She is an associate professor and the Director of Psychology
The authors provide a recitation of events in recent years that document an increased focus on competency-based models of education, training, and assessment in professional psychology, particularly clinical, counseling, and school psychology, based on the work of the American Psychological Association's (APA's) Task Force on Assessment of Competence in Professional Psychology. The article begins with the inclusion of competencies as part of the "Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct" (APA, 2002). Next, accreditation practices in the United States and Canada are summarized. Competency-based education, training, and credentialing efforts in professional psychology are reviewed, including graduate, practicum, internship, and postdoctoral levels; licensure; postlicensure NANCY J. RUBIN received her PsyD in clinical psychology from the University of Denver. She is an associate professor and the director of psychology clinical services, teaching, and research in the
Challenges to the assessment of competence and competencies in professional psychology are discussed in this article. These include difficulties in defining competencies in precise and measurable terms; reaching agreement within the profession about the key elements of each competence domain; establishing an armamentarium of tools for assessing all components of competence, including the knowledge base, skills, and attitudes (and their integration); determining appropriate agreed-upon minimal levels of competence for individuals at different levels of professional development and when "competence problems" exist for individuals; assuring the fidelity of competency assessments; and establishing mechanisms for providing effective evaluative feedback and remediation. But even if these challenges JAMES W. LICHTENBERG received his PhD in counseling psychology from the University of Minnesota. He is a professor of counseling psychology and the associate dean for graduate programs and research at the University of Kansas. His areas of professional interest and research include social interaction processes and dynamics, legal and ethical issues in counseling and psychotherapy, and clinical training. SANFORD M. PORTNOY received his PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Massachusetts. He is on the faculty of the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology, where he serves as director of the Center for the Study of Psychology and Divorce, and is a member of Needham Psychotherapy Associates in Needham, Massachusetts, and of Portnoy Associates in Newton, Massachusetts. His professional and research interests include the psychology of divorce and the effects of the legal divorce process on families, couples therapy, and teaching legal professionals the skills to relate more effectively to their clients. MURIEL J. BEBEAU received her PhD in educational psychology from Arizona State University. She is a professor in the School of Dentistry at the University of Minnesota, faculty associate in the university's Center for Bioethics, and director of the Center for the Study of Ethical Development. Her scholarly work integrates the psychology of morality with ethics and dentistry to design and validate assessment strategies and teaching methods to promote professional ethical development. IRENE W. LEIGH received her PhD in clinical psychology from New York University. She is a professor in the clinical psychology doctoral program at Gallaudet University in Washington, DC. Her presentations, research, and publications have focused on deaf people and issues related to identity, multiculturalism, parenting, attachment, depression, and cochlear implants. PAUL D. NELSON received his PhD from the University of Chicago. He recently retired as the deputy director of education and director of graduate and postdoctoral education and training for the Education Directorate of the American Psychological Association. His focus has been on graduate and postgraduate education and training. NANCY J. RUBIN received her PsyD in clinical...
This article describes characteristics of alternative assessment models deployed in the measurement of professional competencies across the professional life span based on the work of the American Psychological Association Task Force on the Assessment of Competence in Professional Psychology. Assessments of knowledge, decision making, performance and personal attributes, as well as integrated practice-based skills and tasks are described and compared on the basis of their validity, feasibility and practicality, fidelity, and relevance at difference stages of professional development. It is acknowledged that no single assessment can evaluate all competencies and that assessments can be combined in complementary ways. Assessments deployed in the nursing, dental, and medical professions are reviewed and contrasted with current practices in psychology. At the licensure level, differences in the assessments deployed among the 4 healthcare professions are described, and their candidate fees and number of candidates assessed annually are documented. Ideas for developing new assessments in psychology are discussed on the basis of the needs and financial resources available to psychology and the experiences of other healthcare professions.
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