19.3 – Score, Interpret and Protect Confidentiality of Test Results

Purpose & Context

Career Development Professionals (CDPs) assess clients to inform interventions. CDPs ensure that test scoring, reporting and interpretation comply with test publishers’ requirements. CDPs interpret results informed by the psychometric properties of the assessment, client characteristics that may impact the results, and the purpose of the assessment.

Effective Performance

Competent career development professionals must be able to:

P1. Score test in line with test procedures
P2. Interpret results, considering:
- Technical documentation, e.g. limitations of test results, prescribed use and interpretation of scales, norm or comparison groups
- Psychometric characteristics, e.g. reliability, error of measurement, validity, fairness
- Purpose of the assessment and evaluation
P3. Protect confidentiality of results, for example:
- Obtain consent prior to releasing results to others
- Limit access to results
- Securely store results, e.g. encrypted data files
- Remove personal identifiers from databases of results used for research or other operational purposes
P4. Retain scores as prescribed by organizational or legal guidelines
P5. Report issues relevant to use and application of assessment and evaluation measure

Knowledge & Understanding

Competent career development professionals must know and understand:

K1. Testing principles and ethical use of tests
K2. Psychometrics and measurement, e.g. classical test theory
K3. Descriptive statistics, e.g. frequency distributions, measures of central tendency, measures of variation, indices
of relationships
K4. Scales, scores, and transformations, e.g. types of scales, types of scores, scale score equating
K5. Reliability and measurement error
K6. Validity and meaning of test scores
K7. Fairness, e.g. ensuring test design, content and format do not result in biased test scores for particular groups

Contextual Variables

Competent career development professionals must be able to perform this competency in the following range of contexts:

None

Glossary & Key References

Terms

Industry-specific terms contained in the standard defined here, where applicable.

None

Information Sources and Resources for Consideration

Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing. American Educational Research Association (AERA), American Psychological Association (APA), and the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME), 2014.

Test in Print IX. Buros Centre for Testing. Nancy Anderson, Jennifer E. Schuleter, Janet F. Carlson, and Kurt F. Geisinger, 2016.

Context Rating Scales

Criticality

Q: What is the consequence of a professional being unable to perform this skill according to the standard?

Moderate risk: CRITICAL

Frequency

Q: How frequent and under what conditions is this skill performed?

Routinely, regular course of procedure

Level of Difficulty

Q: Under routine circumstances, how would you rate the level of difficulty in performing this skill?

Moderate difficulty or complexity

Time Required to Gain Proficiency

Q: What is the average length of time or number of repeated events that are minimally necessary for an individual to become proficient in performing the skill to the standard?

A career development professional requires a minimum experience of scoring, interpreting 10 different assessment and evaluation tools as well as a minimum of one year experience in protecting test results.

Autonomy

Practitioners typically perform this competency without supervision, and alone.

Automation

It is unlikely that this competency will automate.

Requisite Work Aids, Tools, Equipment or Materials

None