COUN 6360 Week 1 Referral Question Analysis Example

"Grades Have Dropped, Teachers See Low Effort": A Referral Question Analysis That Quotes a Junior's Referral as Received, Separates What the Parent, the Math Teacher and the Student Each Want to Know, and Rewrites Those Wants Into One Assessable Question and Several That Testing Cannot Answer

Student Name

Walden University

COUN 6360: Assessment in Counseling and Education

Instructor Name

Month Day, Year

"Grades Have Dropped, Teachers See Low Effort": A Referral Question Analysis That Quotes a Junior's Referral as Received, Separates What the Parent, the Math Teacher and the Student Each Want to Know, and Rewrites Those Wants Into One Assessable Question and Several That Testing Cannot Answer

The Referral as Received

The referral reached the school counseling office as a short note from the student's homeroom teacher: "Jordan's grades have dropped this year, especially in math. Teachers see low effort. Parent requests testing." Jordan, a composite high school junior created for this assignment, earned mostly Bs through tenth grade and is now failing Algebra II, with a C in English and Bs elsewhere.

The note already contains an explanation, low effort, and a request, testing. Neither is a question. Hunsley and Mash (2007) argue that evidence-based assessment begins by identifying the specific decisions an assessment is meant to inform, because the purpose determines which methods and measures are appropriate. Drummond et al. (2016) likewise treat a clear referral question as the starting point of any assessment, since an unclear question leads to testing that answers nothing in particular. The analysis below begins there.

Who Is Asking and What Each Wants

The referral involves three parties, and each wants something different.

The parent, who requested testing, wants a plan for college applications. In a phone call, she said she is worried that Jordan's junior-year grades will hurt admission chances and asked whether testing could show "what's going on" so the family can explain the drop or fix it before senior year.

The math teacher wants to know whether Algebra II is the right level. She said Jordan seemed capable early in the year but has stopped turning in homework and looks lost in class. She wondered whether Jordan should move to a different course.

Jordan, interviewed briefly, said, "I just don't get it anymore. I used to." Jordan did not mention effort and said they still try in English, which they enjoy.

The Wants Rewritten as Questions

Each want can be rewritten as a separate question.

Question 1: How does Jordan's current mathematical reasoning compare with that of same-grade peers, and with Jordan's own reading comprehension?

Question 2: What has changed this year, in school, at home or in Jordan's health, that might explain a drop that appeared in junior year?

Question 3: Is Algebra II, as taught this year, the appropriate placement given Jordan's current skills?

Question 4: What should the family say about the grade drop in college applications, and what can Jordan do this year?

Which Questions Testing Can Answer

Only the first question is suited to standardized testing. A norm-referenced achievement measure can compare Jordan's math reasoning with that of a national sample of same-grade students, and a reading measure from the same battery allows a comparison within Jordan. Whiston (2017) emphasizes that the choice of an assessment method should follow from the question being asked, and that tests answer only certain kinds of questions well.

The second question calls for interview and records review: conversations with Jordan and the parent about the past year, attendance records, a review of whether anything changed in Jordan's schedule or health, and, if indicated, a referral for a medical check. The third question calls for consultation with the math teacher and a review of Jordan's coursework, informed by the testing results but not answered by them. The fourth is a counseling and planning question that draws on all the others.

The Effort Explanation

The referral's explanation, low effort, is treated as a hypothesis, not a finding. Jordan's continued effort in English, the timing of the drop and Jordan's own account, "I just don't get it anymore," are all consistent with another explanation: that Jordan fell behind on a skill foundation and stopped doing homework because it had become impossible rather than because they stopped caring. Testing can contribute evidence on that possibility by showing whether Jordan's math reasoning has fallen behind peers.

Next Steps

The assessment plan will address Question 1 through a standardized achievement battery, chosen in Week 2 onward with attention to its norms, reliability and validity for this use. Questions 2 and 3 will be addressed through interviews, records and consultation. Results will return to all three parties, with each party's question answered in terms it can use. Jordan, who is old enough to take part in planning, will hear the results first, in a short meeting, so that the student whose grades are at issue is not the last person to learn what the assessment found.

References

Drummond, R. J., Sheperis, C. J., & Jones, K. D. (2016). Assessment procedures for counselors and helping professionals (8th ed.). Pearson.

Hunsley, J., & Mash, E. J. (2007). Evidence-based assessment. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 3, 29-51. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.3.022806.091419

Whiston, S. C. (2017). Principles and applications of assessment in counseling (5th ed.). Cengage Learning.