Collaborative Assessment
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What is collaborative assessment?
When is collaborative assessment appropriate?
Why should I use collaborative assessment?
Is collaborative assessment more expensive?
What happens in a collaborative assessment?
What forms do you use? Can you send me some examples?
Where can I get more information?
What is collaborative assessment?
Collaborative assessment is a problem-solving process, originally developed by Bruce Chalmer, Ph.D., that can be used as an alternative to psychological evaluation. It draws from the ideas and techniques of narrative therapy (Freedman and Combs, 1996; White and Epston, 1990), as well as those of individualized psychological assessment (Fischer, 1985). Note: For a more in-depth discussion, click here to download a paper (in PDF format) by Bruce Chalmer, called Collaborative Assessment: An Alternative to Psychological Evaluation.
When is collaborative assessment appropriate?
Any time a psychological evaluation would be used, when the people involved prefer a collaborative, problem-solving approach. For example:
Why should I use collaborative assessment?
Because it promotes results that you may find preferable to the results of psychological evaluations. (See comparative table for a summary on the differences between the two approaches.)
One effect of the collaborative approach is to invite the people who are affected by the problem to work together against the problem, rather than to work against each other. The "heat" is put on the problem, not any one person. This in turn frees people to assume responsibility for opposing problems, rather than engaging in blame or other damaging practices.
Another effect is that the collaborative approach produces solutions already in progress, generated by the people concerned. This is in contrast to "expert" recommendations that may be of limited usefulness or acceptability to the people involved. Collaborative assessment seeks useful and practical outcomes, rather than diagnoses or classifications of people.
Is collaborative assessment more expensive?
No. The cost is comparable to psychological evaluation. In both types of process, some circumstances can be handled briefly, and others involve more time (and therefore cost). Insurance can often be used on the same basis.
What happens in a collaborative assessment?
A facilitator meets with the person(s) requesting the assessment to determine who should be invited to participate. The facilitator then arranges to meet with the participants individually or in one or more groups, as seems appropriate. If any standardized testing or specialized (e.g., neuropsychological or medical) procedures are to be included, these are carried out by the facilitator or specialist.
The focus of collaborative assessment is on clarifying the effects of the problems, and identifying ways that participants in the process (and perhaps others) have found effective.
What forms do you use? Can you send me some examples?
Collaborative assessment does not use predetermined forms. If any standardized procedures are to be used, that is determined collaboratively by the people involved.
Regarding examples, collaborative assessment need not generate a report per se. However, we do have some examples of documents written to fulfill administrative requirements as part of collaborative assessments in school settings. Contact us for more information.
Where can I get more information?
Contact the Vermont Center for Collaborative Assessment at 802-860-6671, or email us at: vcca@someware.com.
References:
Fischer, C. Individualizing Psychological Assessment.
Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole, 1985
Freedman, J. and Combs, G. Narrative Therapy. New York:
W.W. Norton, 1996.
White, M. and Epston, D. Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends.
New York: W.W. Norton, 1990.