Session D6
Tracks
Stream D
| Saturday, May 17, 2025 |
| 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM |
Overview
- Overcoming challenges in accessing psychoeducational assessment through online assessment at SPELD Qld. | Dr Jane Wotherspoon, Michelle-Ann Noppe (30 mins)
- Australian School Psychologists’ Risk Assessment Self-Efficacy | Cate Rushan (30 mins)
Presenter
Dr Jane Wotherspoon
Speld Qld
Overcoming Challenges in Accessing Psychoeducational Assessment Through Online Assessment at Speld Qld.
3:00 PM - 3:30 PMAbstract
Aim: To share information about online assessment, including its usefulness and limitations, through a case study analysis.
Content: Speld Qld is a not-for-profit organisation that has been supporting people with learning difficulties for over 50 years. A key component of the organisation today is providing access to psychoeducational assessments. Speld Qld currently employs 17 psychologists over three sites in Queensland. While most of our clients are school-aged children and young people, we work with people across the lifespan. Over the past 12 months, an important focus of Speld Qld has been to provide access to assessment for people in all parts of Queensland. Funding has allowed psychologists to travel to regional and remote sites and work with students at their schools. Concurrently, we have also trialled a range of online assessment options to further support access to assessment.
This case study will review how online assessment options have worked at Speld Qld, the benefits we have seen, and the lessons we have learned, including:
• Acceptability of online assessment for clinicians.
• Processes to ensure optimal outcomes for clients, including adjustments to our standard procedures, additional preparation, setting and presence of facilitators
• Ethical and professional considerations for administering psychoeducational assessments online, and how Speld Qld has managed these.
• How online assessment can address a range of client needs beyond geographic limitations.
• When online assessment has worked well, and when it hasn’t.
Goals: By sharing our experience of online assessment, our goal is to provide information to allow other psychologists who undertake assessment to determine if this is a useful and appropriate option for them. We also welcome the opportunity for further discussion regarding online assessment.
Content: Speld Qld is a not-for-profit organisation that has been supporting people with learning difficulties for over 50 years. A key component of the organisation today is providing access to psychoeducational assessments. Speld Qld currently employs 17 psychologists over three sites in Queensland. While most of our clients are school-aged children and young people, we work with people across the lifespan. Over the past 12 months, an important focus of Speld Qld has been to provide access to assessment for people in all parts of Queensland. Funding has allowed psychologists to travel to regional and remote sites and work with students at their schools. Concurrently, we have also trialled a range of online assessment options to further support access to assessment.
This case study will review how online assessment options have worked at Speld Qld, the benefits we have seen, and the lessons we have learned, including:
• Acceptability of online assessment for clinicians.
• Processes to ensure optimal outcomes for clients, including adjustments to our standard procedures, additional preparation, setting and presence of facilitators
• Ethical and professional considerations for administering psychoeducational assessments online, and how Speld Qld has managed these.
• How online assessment can address a range of client needs beyond geographic limitations.
• When online assessment has worked well, and when it hasn’t.
Goals: By sharing our experience of online assessment, our goal is to provide information to allow other psychologists who undertake assessment to determine if this is a useful and appropriate option for them. We also welcome the opportunity for further discussion regarding online assessment.
.....
Jane is an educational and developmental psychologist currently working at Speld Qld and Queensland University of Technology. Her work involves psychoeducational assessment across the lifespan, and supervision of students in the Master of Psychology (Educational and Developmental) program at QUT. Jane recently completed a PhD with The University of Queensland. Her research focused on population-level outcomes for young people at risk of neurodevelopmental disorders, especially the population of children with cerebral palsy, and the acceptability, accessibility, and effectiveness of an online intervention designed to improve fluid reasoning skills for this population. Key professional and research interests for Jane include best practice and innovation in psychological assessment and report-writing, and ongoing evaluation of the evidence base for interventions.
Ms Michelle-Ann Noppe
Speld Qld
Overcoming Challenges in Accessing Psychoeducational Assessment Through Online Assessment at Speld Qld.
3:00 PM - 3:30 PM.....
Ms Cate Rushan
Australian School Psychologists’ Risk Assessment Self-Efficacy
3:30 PM - 4:00 PMAbstract
In this 30-minute peer-to-peer learning session, Cate will present her research focusing on suicide risk assessment self-efficacy among Australian school psychologists.
Aim: The aim of this session is to share current risk assessment practices in schools and explore the factors that contribute to self-efficacy in this important area of adolescent mental health.
Content: This presentation aims to shed light on the self-efficacy of Australian school psychologists in suicide risk assessment, a critical area given the prevalence of youth suicide in Australia. The study identified that factors such as endorsement status and years of experience significantly impact self-efficacy levels. By examining these factors and discussing their implications, the session will explore why endorsement leads to greater efficacy and how experience influences confidence in risk assessment practices. Additionally, qualitative insights into supportive practices and identified challenges faced by school psychologists will be presented, providing a snapshot of the current landscape in suicide risk management strategies within schools, which will provide the foundation for group discussion.
Goals:
Facilitate a discussion among peers to exchange insights, strategies, and resources in suicide risk assessment, drawing on diverse perspectives from psychologists with varying levels of experience and practice areas.
Explore how factors such as endorsement status and years of experience influence self-efficacy in suicide risk assessment, aiming to understand the mechanisms behind these influences.
Identify practical implications from the research findings to enhance support systems and protocols in school environments, focusing on improvements in training, policy development, and resource allocation for school psychologists involved in suicide risk assessment.
Aim: The aim of this session is to share current risk assessment practices in schools and explore the factors that contribute to self-efficacy in this important area of adolescent mental health.
Content: This presentation aims to shed light on the self-efficacy of Australian school psychologists in suicide risk assessment, a critical area given the prevalence of youth suicide in Australia. The study identified that factors such as endorsement status and years of experience significantly impact self-efficacy levels. By examining these factors and discussing their implications, the session will explore why endorsement leads to greater efficacy and how experience influences confidence in risk assessment practices. Additionally, qualitative insights into supportive practices and identified challenges faced by school psychologists will be presented, providing a snapshot of the current landscape in suicide risk management strategies within schools, which will provide the foundation for group discussion.
Goals:
Facilitate a discussion among peers to exchange insights, strategies, and resources in suicide risk assessment, drawing on diverse perspectives from psychologists with varying levels of experience and practice areas.
Explore how factors such as endorsement status and years of experience influence self-efficacy in suicide risk assessment, aiming to understand the mechanisms behind these influences.
Identify practical implications from the research findings to enhance support systems and protocols in school environments, focusing on improvements in training, policy development, and resource allocation for school psychologists involved in suicide risk assessment.
.....
Cate is an early career psychologist who completed her Master of Educational Psychology at the University of Melbourne in 2023. Cate currently works as a school psychologist at St Aloysius College, North Melbourne, a year 7-12 school in the process of transitioning from all-girls to co-education. Additionally, Cate works at The Allied Health Studio Collective, where she primarily supports children, adolescents, and young adults via individual therapy and group programs.
Cate has co-authored several publications on health professionals' confidence and knowledge in recognising and responding to family violence as part of the Victorian Government’s Strengthening Hospital Responses to Family Violence initiative.
Cate is committed to improving adolescent mental health outcomes and is dedicated to providing young people with positive early experiences of seeking and receiving mental health support. Her master's research (currently being prepared for publication submission) explored school psychologists' self-efficacy in suicide risk assessment.
