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Training and professional development is not only a vital part of learning how to properly administer, score, and interpret the assessments you depend on, it’s also a critical part of our own professional growth. Obtaining that training directly from the source is the best way to ensure you’re using each measure with fidelity.

As with anything else, there is a “recipe for success” for using Cogmed working memory training, and following it closely almost always leads to the best outcome. I'm Kyra Minichan, Pearson Healthcare Assessment Consultant and SLP for 30 years and I wanted to share with you MY recipe for success in using Cogmed in my practice.

Celebrate 10 years of Q-interactive with us!

Chances are, everyone’s appreciation for digital assessment looks a little different (and is hopefully a bit less dramatic), but no matter the setting, for the last decade, Q-interactive has been making an immeasurable impact. The last 10 years with Q-interactive have given us a better understanding of how our customers use our tests and how we can help them discover even greater efficiencies, greater accuracy, and — most importantly — greater connections through digital assessment.

“Not enough hours in the day.” That's a lament of most educators — and most moms and caregivers. As a result, caregivers who are also educators are especially familiar with this struggle. It’s one I can relate to, as a former school psychologist and current mother of two, with another on the way. The truth is, it’s common to feel as though there's not enough of you to go around.   

Research tells us that children with ADHD have deficits in working memory compared to their typically developing peers. The same data also tells us that attention and working memory are essential to learning new information, so it should not come as a surprise that when you increase attention and working memory, learning comes faster and is more efficient. 

As an OTR (registered occupational therapist) and Director of Portfolio Management and Delivery at Pearson Clinical Assessment, I have extensive experience working with students who have been diagnosed with a variety of conditions. And, as a mom of an autistic daughter, I understand on a personal level how challenging it can be to get the diagnosis that’s needed — and why it’s imperative that schools join caregivers in their quest for answers.  

In testing and in research, you must have an effective and reliable way to measure change. While raw scores have typically been the go-to for this important role, Growth Scale Values (GSVs) are quickly becoming the preferred method.

Our Director of Pharma Sales, Lynsey Psimas, had the opportunity to speak with Mark Daniel, author of Growth Scale Value (GSV): Theory, Development, and Applications to discuss the importance of GSVs. He spent some time explaining GSVs and their importance in test scoring and pharma research.

As schools grapple with the after-effects of the pandemic, they’re focused on potential learning gaps, especially among certain demographics. It’s an issue they’re eager to address, and one that has captured our focus at Pearson. As a licensed special educator, learning disabilities specialist, researcher and published author, I have extensive experience teaching students but also conducting assessments, and my team at Pearson is seeing the effects of learning loss up close.