Telepractice and the Shaywitz DyslexiaScreen

The telepractice information in this document is intended to support professionals in making informed, well-reasoned decisions around remote assessment. This information is not intended to be comprehensive regarding all considerations for assessment via telepractice. It should not be interpreted as a requirement or recommendation to conduct assessment via telepractice.

Professionals should remain mindful to:

Follow professional best practice recommendations and respective ethical codes
Follow telepractice regulations and legal requirements from federal, provincial and local authorities, licensing boards, professional liability insurance providers, and payors
Develop competence with assessment via telepractice through activities such as practicing, studying, consulting with other professionals, and engaging in professional development.

Professionals should use their clinical judgment to determine if assessment via telepractice is appropriate for a particular examinee, referral question, and situation. There are circumstances where assessment via telepractice is not feasible and/or is contraindicated. Documentation of all considerations, procedures, and conclusions remains a professional responsibility.

The Shaywitz DyslexiaScreen (Shaywitz, 2016) is a digital-only, observational rating scale where the “examinee” is the classroom teacher as a respondent. It can be administered in a telepractice context and can be administered via three delivery systems. First, administration is facilitated by using the remote onscreen administration option from Q-global®, Pearson’s secure online-testing and scoring platform. Details regarding Q-global and how it is used are provided on the Q-global product page. Second, professionals may use a standalone, universal screening approach on the PearsonScreen application. Third, the Shaywitz DyslexiaScreen is integrated into the aimswebPlus benchmark and progress monitoring system. Information on all three delivery options can be found on the Shaywitz DyslexiaScreen product page. Additional implementations are underway, as are additional forms.

Shaywitz DyslexiaScreen

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Conducting Telepractice Assessment

Conducting a valid assessment in a telepractice service delivery model requires an understanding of the interplay of a number of complex issues. In addition to the general information on Pearson’s telepractice page, examiners should address five factors (adapted from Eichstadt et al., 2013) when planning to administer and score assessments via telepractice.

1. Telepractice Environment & Equipment

Most often the Shaywitz DyslexiaScreen is administered asynchronously—that is, the examiner sends or assigns a secure form to the student’s classroom teacher to complete at a convenient time. In that case, no special telepractice equipment is needed for this and other similar questionnaire-based assessments. In this way, questionnaires are particularly suited to remote work and learning circumstances.

2. Assessment Procedures & Materials

Considerations

Review Table 1 for the specific considerations for the task to be administered.

Input and output requirements and equivalence evidence

The examiner should consider the input and output requirements for each task, and the evidence available for the specific task type.

Table 2 shows the input and output requirements for the screening form and the evidence for using this digital screening tool. The abbreviations in the Input and Output column correspond to the various input and output requirements of each subtest, and a key appears at the bottom of the table. For example, brief spoken directions as an input requirement is abbreviated as BSD. The numbers in the evidence columns correspond to the studies in the reference list, which is organized alphabetically.

3. Examinee Considerations

Preparedness

Before initiating, the examiner should ensure that the respondent has a working email address and internet connection to access the forms.

Completion

The examiner should emphasize to the respondent to follow the instructions carefully and use the Teacher Guide support during completion of the screening form. Also, the respondent should complete the screener in a timely way; otherwise, follow-up by the examiner may be needed.

4. Examiner Considerations

Administrative and technological tasks

In order to conduct a smooth remote administration, materials must be managed appropriately. An initial virtual meeting with the respondent may be an opportunity for the examiner to provide information about the technology needs and materials. The examiner should also be ready to provide guidance about these issues at the time the respondent completes the questionnaire.

5. Other Considerations

There are special considerations for written reports describing any type of evaluation tool that takes place remotely. The professional completing the written report should state in the report that the screener was administered remotely, and briefly describe the method used. For example, “The Shaywitz DyslexiaScreen was administered via remote onscreen administration on Pearson’s Q-global system. The examiner completed the observational rating scale via computer access to an electronic form.”

Clinical decisions should be explained in the report, including comments on the factors that may have influenced the ratings and to report all (or not to report suspect) results. List and describe these anomalies as is typical in the written report, as well as any observed or perceived impact on the results, and consider these in the interpretation of results. For example, “The remote environment appeared adequate for the respondent to appropriate engage in the task. No significant technological problems or distractions were noted during form completion. The Shaywitz DyslexiaScreen rating scale format, or similar tasks, have received validation for remote and digital administration, and the results are considered a valid description of the student’s skills and abilities.”

Conclusion

The Shaywitz DyslexiaScreen was not normed in a remote assessment mode, and this should be taken into consideration when utilizing this screener and interpreting results. For example, the examiner should consider relying on convergence of multiple data sources. Provided that the examiner has thoroughly considered and addressed the factors and the specific considerations as listed above, the examiner should be prepared to comment about the reliable and valid delivery of the screener via remote delivery. Materials may be used without additional permission from Pearson in the following published contexts:

Shaywitz DyslexiaScreen via Q-global Remote Onscreen Administration
Shaywitz DyslexiaScreen via PearsonScreen application
Shaywitz DyslexiaScreen via aimswebPlus

Any other use of the Shaywitz DyslexiaScreen via telepractice is not currently recommended. This includes, but is not limited to, taking a screen capture of the items to complete in print or uploading a manual onto a shared drive or site.

References

Eichstadt, T. J., Castilleja, N., Jakubowitz, M., & Wallace, A. (2013, November). Standardized assessment via telepractice: Qualitative review and survey data [Paper presentation]. Annual meeting of the American-Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Chicago, IL, United States.

Remote Administration Mode

See Table 2

Reynolds, C. R., & Kamphaus, R. W. (2015). Behavior assessment system for children—Third Edition (BASC-3). Bloomington, MN: Pearson.
Shaywitz, S. E. (2017). Shaywitz DyslexiaScreen (Forms 2 and 3). Pearson.

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