A screening assessment is a relatively brief evaluation intended to identify an individual who is at risk for developing certain disorders or disabilities. Screening assessments should not be viewed as definite and can be revised contingent on new information.

 

     Screenings may involve evaluating a child’s readiness into a kindergarten or gifted program or employee’s readiness to enter back into his or her employment setting.

     Diagnostic assessments are a comprehensive evaluation of the individual’s strengths and weaknesses in various areas of functioning (i.e. Cognitive, achievement, personality, social, and emotional).

 

     Diagnostic assessments can be conducted over several sessions and for a variety of reasons including identifying a diagnosis, making recommendations for placement programs, and providing tailored interventions.

     A focused assessment is a detailed evaluation of a particular part of a person’s functioning stemming from a diagnostic question (e.g. Does the child have Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity/Impulsivity Disorder?) or skill (e.g. Does this person have deficits in expressive and receptive language?).

 

     Schools, private medical facilities, and health maintenance organizations are common settings that often use a focused assessment process due to the financial and time-sensitive pressures of the institution or organization.  

     Problem-solving assessments focus on a specific type of problem (e.g. Reducing the frequency of biting behaviors in the classroom or decreasing the number of anger outbursts with customers at work).

 

     Problem-solving assessments involve outcome evaluations (pre, mid, post), a detailed analysis of the problem, and tailored interventions to address the targeted problem behavior(s).