Supervision of psychological assessment: A developmental model.

Abstract

The supervision of assessment has been greatly neglected in the literature. A model of supervisee development, from novice tn master assessor, is presented. The model focuses on the development of the ability to integrate data into a coherent formulation of the person being tested. Appropriate supervision depends on a matching of the supervisor's behavior to the supervisee's needs, as specified by the supervisee's current level of development. This development is dramatized by improvements in interpreting specific data points and in the recognition of larger patterns in the data. This skill acquisition occurs within the affective context of the supervisor-supervisee relationship as the interaction elicits both inter-and intrapersonal issues.

Supervision of clinical assessment: The Multilevel Assessment Supervision and Training (MAST) approach

“…It is recommended that this training occur through a combination of participation, observation, and review of written reports to supervise the evaluations conducted by the trainees (Dumont & Willis, 2004). An important component to the final stage of this process is encouraging the supervisee to step into the supervisory role in order to further develop and refine his or her assessment practices (Finkelstein & Tuckman, 1997). In the current article, we address this call to "pass the torch" in the final stage of assessment training by focusing specifically on how supervisory skills in assessment are developed (Finkelstein & Tuckman, 1997).…”

“…Second, although others have identified challenges in supervising assessment training, including administration errors and fidelity (Callahan, 2015;Loe et al, 2007) and have proposed suggested remedies, the comprehensive implementation of these solutions has not been explored in any explicit assessment approach. Third, while some models of training have recognized the importance of demonstrating skill in the supervision of clinical assessment as part of establishing competency in this domain (Finkelstein & Tuckman, 1997), a practical approach for developing competency specifically in supervisory skills is lacking. We address these limitations in describing our approach.…”

“…Similar to supervision of therapy, supervision of assessment requires helping supervisees develop mastery in ethical issues, professional behavior, interpersonal relationships, and diagnosis and case conceptualization. However, supervision of assessment also includes an emphasis on strong fidelity to testing procedures, such as flawless administration; familiarity with a wide variety of assessment instruments used for diagnostic rule-out; understanding statistical, empirical, and psychometric properties of clinical instruments; and communicating test results clearly in a comprehensive report (Callahan, 2015;Dumont & Willis, 2004;Finkelstein & Tuckman, 1997). As existing supervision models focus primarily on therapy, they do not fully account for these aspects of clinical assessment, leaving critical gaps in the development of supervision skills in assessment.…”

“…Although these suggestions have good empirical merit, they have not yet been incorporated into a comprehensive approach to developing assessment supervisory skills. Finkelstein and Tuckman (1997) were among the first to develop a standardized model for the supervision of assessment training in predoctoral students, using a developmental approach through which trainees move from apprenticeship to professional autonomy. Additional research on supervision of clinical assessment emphasizes a systems approach, considering the influence of diversity and focusing on the legal and ethical implications of assessment (Allen, 2007;DeCato, 2002;Dumont & Willis, 2004).…”

“…Initially, students are provided with didactic instruction regarding administration and testing procedures that identifies key competencies, are directly observed in both practice and actual assessment administration to provide a baseline measurement of ability, and are provided clear, consistent, and regularly scheduled feedback on both their clinical skills and written work in the context of an ongoing supervisory relationship (Dumont & Willis, 2004;Finkelstein & Tuckman, 1997). However, what we believe is both a unique and a critical addition to our supervisory approach is the inclusion of advanced predoctoral students (who have completed this initial training and demonstrated both proficiency and interest in the area of clinical assessment) to serve as peer supervisors for beginning trainees conducting assessments, which offers several distinctive advantages.…”