From the Field

"I am looking to update our assessment of ability, which tests should I consider?"

"Does the CAS2 and PASS theory Help with Differential Diagnosis?"

Very good question. I would recommend considering the CAS2. The CAS2 is the only cognitive measure that is conceptualized on a researched based empirically supported theory of intelligence called PASS (Planning, Attention, Simultaneous, Successive). PASS has its roots with AR Luraia's theory of cortical organization.  The CAS2 does not "double dip" as other cognitive measures do by assessing academic achievement, such as vocabulary or arithmetic. Additionally, this measure has been found to be a culturally fair assessment for our minority and poverty populations. The administration time is relatively short, 30 to 90 minutes with the flexibility to choose the core or extended battery. In addition to the composite scores (Planning, Attention, Simultaneous, Successive) there are also supplementary composites of executive functioning with and without working memory, working memory, cognitive tempo/processing speed/rapid automatized naming and an analysis for the preference for verbal or nonverbal content. 

- MR, Indiana Licensed School Psychologist, Board Certified School Neuropsychologist 

The research supports distinctive PASS profiles to help with differential diagnosis or identifying disabilities. For example, a student who struggles with basic reading tends to have lower Successive Processing while a student with reading comprehension issues tend to have lower Simultaneous processing and/or Planning. There are researched based interventions depending on the particular PASS profile along with specific programs designed to assist with lower academic achievement based on the student's PASS profile. There is a book, Helping Children Learn- Second Edition (Naglieri & Pickering, 2010), with handouts you can include in your report based on the student's PASS profile. Jack Naglieri also provides free software on his website to help interpret PASS/CAS2 results in the context of SLD identification which compares the child's cognitive performance to his/her academic assessment. 

- MR, Indiana Licensed School Psychologist, Board Certified School Neuropsychologist