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As of 2018, there were nearly 60 million Hispanic people living in the U.S., and about 41 million of those people speak Spanish in the home. Students who take part in language assistance programs are often referred to as English language learners (ELL).

Language acculturation is a process that occurs over a period of time, and it will be different for everyone due to age, education, length of time in the U.S., and adaptation to prevailing social, linguistic, psychological, and cultural norms. In U.S. schools, more than 77% of ELL students speak Spanish, and these students will exhibit different degrees of acculturation.

When these students need psychological assessment to address academic concerns, to determine appropriate classroom placement, or for any other reason, their level of language acculturation could have an effect on test results—and decisions based on those results could have lasting consequences.

The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) position notes “inadequate or inappropriate psychoeducational assessment practices, restricted access to effective instruction, [and] lack of understanding about language acquisition” as reasons for overrepresentation of ELL students in special education and underrepresentation in gifted programs.

The Language Acculturation Meter is a new tool that will ensure you are assessing bilingual and ELL individuals appropriately. It provides information about the examinee’s educational history, including where he or she attended school, in what language, and for how long; his or her level of everyday English-language use; and self-identified English comprehension in everyday scenarios.

This knowledge sets the stage for an ecologically valid assessment by providing a framework that helps you determine the most appropriate assessment—and get the most accurate results.

The Language Acculturation Meter and accompanying White Paper are available to download at no charge. Learn more or download.

 

 

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Have you tried the new PARiConnect 3.0? Now PARiConnect isn’t just the most reliable platform in the online assessment industry, it is the fastest, as well! Plus, its new intuitive design and upgraded features make it the platform you enjoy using! We’ve taken Customer feedback and used it to make the platform even better for you! Here are a few features that we’ve added:

Group clients to keep organized! PARiConnect allows you to create groups of clients. Organize clinicians with their own client rosters, as well.

Change labels as needed. Account settings allow you to customize the labels used throughout the system to better suit your purposes. Personalize terms like client or student, depending on your setting.

Filter your caseload easily. New filter capabilities allow you to easily search by assessment, Client ID, name, and more!

Save your favorites. Save your most-used assessments under My Favorites and quickly access the tools you use most.

Established users can sign right in to your account to see the upgrades for yourself. All client data and inventory has transferred over seamlessly. New users can get started with 3 FREE uses. Simply sign up!

To learn more about PARiConnect 3.0, view an on-demand video tour now or read more about the new features.

We can’t wait for you to try it for yourself!

 

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With the launch of PARiConnect 3.0, we’ve taken Customer feedback and used it to make the platform even better for you! Here are a few features that we’ve added:

Group clients to keep organized! PARiConnect allows you to create groups of clients. Organize clinicians with their own client rosters, as well.

Change labels as needed. Account settings allow you to customize the labels used throughout the system to better suit your purposes. Personalize terms like client or student, depending on your setting.

Filter your caseload easily. New filter capabilities allow you to easily search by assessment, Client ID, name, and more!

Save your favorites. Save your most-used assessments under My Favorites and quickly access the tools you use most.

Established users can sign right in to your account to see the upgrades for yourself. All client data and inventory has transferred over seamlessly. New users can get started with 3 FREE uses. Simply sign up!



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PARiConnect 3.0 is here! Now PARiConnect isn’t just the most reliable platform in the online assessment industry, its new intuitive design and upgraded features make it the platform you enjoy using!

Established users can sign right in to your account to see the upgrades for yourself. All client data and inventory has transferred over seamlessly.

New users can get started with 3 FREE uses. Simply sign up!

To learn more about PARiConnect 3.0, view an on-demand video tour now or read more about the new features.

We can’t wait for you to try it for yourself!

 

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We are getting ready for the imminent release of PARiConnect 3.0. To get ready for the release, here are a few things we’ve added to make your experience even better!

1)      A redesigned user interface creates an intuitive and streamlined PARiConnect experience.

2)      New search and filter options make it easy to find reports, clients, groups, and more! Sort by client name, client ID, group, report, assessment, or test date range!

3)      New e-mail templates offer the ability to save your instructions for further use. No need to write new e-mail text with each assessment, now you can save your work as a template and use it over and over again!

4)      New View Responses screen allows you to edit client demographic data prior to generating a report. This is especially helpful if a birth date or a last name was entered incorrectly.

Best of all, you don’t have to do anything to take advantage of the new system. Upon launch, your data and account information will seamlessly transfer to the upgraded platform. Just sign in with your user name and password and you will be taken to the upgraded PARiConnect experience.

PARiConnect 3.0: Coming soon!


 

 

 

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Though commonly thought of as a sports injury, concussion can occur as the result of everyday play, too. Each year, more than 1 million children and adolescents are diagnosed with a concussion, or mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI).  About 30% of these injuries are non-sports related.

When children and adolescents return to school following a diagnosis of concussion, they may have functional difficulties (like trouble concentrating, memory problems, and irritability) that can affect their ability to perform and learn in school.

The new PostConcussion Executive Inventory™ is an evidence-based instrument for children ages 5 to 18 years used to assess functioning and monitor recovery following concussion. It measures change in cognitive and emotional regulation to determine if postconcussion-related behaviors are due to concussion or were present prior to injury. This information helps schools develop appropriate return-to-learn plans that address the student’s specific postinjury needs, which may include temporary accommodations and interventions.

Items for the PostConcussion Executive Inventory, the first in a new ConcussTrack™ suite of products, were selected from the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function®, Second Edition, the gold-standard rating form for executive function testing. 

Learn more about students returning to school following concussion on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s HEADS UP to Schools webpage. 

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The PDDBI family of products is growing! Free interactive training on how to use PDDBI products is now available on the PAR Training Portal. Whether you are a long-time user and want a greater understanding of the product or are considering purchasing for the first time, this course will give you greater insight into the assessment of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the decisions made when developing the PDDBI, and how the different components work together. The PAR Training Portal is a free, on-demand resource available 24/7. Visit partrainingportal.com today!

 

In addition, we are pleased to announce the release of the PDDBI Parent Form in Spanish! In addition to the Spanish form, we are releasing a white paper by Amy Kovacs Giella that explains the translation process. According the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately 13% of the U.S. population primarily speaks Spanish at home. With autism diagnoses steadily rising, identification of Spanish-speaking individuals who may be at risk is vitally important. With the introduction of the PDDBI Parent Form in Spanish, this significant portion of the population can now benefit from the PDD Behavior Inventory product family for detection, diagnosis, and progress monitoring.

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Life is all about making choices. The Trails-X improves on traditional trail-making tests by allowing individuals to truly blaze their own path—they select a start and create their own path to success. Effectively measuring an individual’s executive planning through a more realistic task, the Trails-X assesses both executive planning skills and efficient decision-making in less than 10 minutes for individuals age 8 to 79 years.

The Trails-X is an innovative take on the traditional trail-making task that includes additional executive function demands by requiring examinees to connect circles of alternating colors with no designated start or end point.

Individually administered, the Trails-X offers nine trails that assess adaptive planning, coupled with psychomotor speed, cognitive flexibility, impulse control, flexible attention, and the ability to adapt to novel or changing situations. The examinee is asked to draw straight, nonoverlapping lines connecting circles of alternating colors and continue until all circles are connected. Individuals must work carefully to avoid crossing lines or being forced to discontinue before the task is complete. Examinees must plan their path and adapt while working as quickly as possible.

 

Learn more!

 

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Though commonly thought of as a sports injury, concussion can occur as the result of everyday play, too. Each year, more than 1 million children and adolescents are diagnosed with a concussion, or mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI).  About 30% of these injuries are non-sports related.

When children and adolescents return to school following a diagnosis of concussion, they may have functional difficulties (like trouble concentrating, memory problems, and irritability) that can affect their ability to perform and learn in school.

The new PostConcussion Executive Inventory™ is an evidence-based instrument for children ages 5 to 18 years used to assess functioning and monitor recovery following concussion. It measures change in cognitive and emotional regulation to determine if postconcussion-related behaviors are due to concussion or were present prior to injury. This information helps schools develop appropriate return-to-learn plans that address the student’s specific postinjury needs, which may include temporary accommodations and interventions.

Items for the PostConcussion Executive Inventory, the first in a new ConcussTrack suite of products, were selected from the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function, Second Edition, the gold-standard rating form for executive function testing. 

Learn more about students returning to school following concussion on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s HEADS UP to Schools webpage. 

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What a year! So many new products were added to our shelves in 2018. Here's a quick look back on what PAR released this year (and a preview of what's to come before the new year!).

In January, we published the SPECTRA: Indices of Psychopathology, a multiscale measure of psychopathology and functioning based on the quantitative (three-factor) model of psychopathology. The only instrument based exclusively on quantitative model research, clinicians can use the SPECTRA to evaluate individuals in a variety of settings. 

Published in early May, the Personality Assessment Screener–Observer (PAS-O) is an informant report designed to be used in conjunction with the Personality Assessment Screener (PAS) to get a well-rounded picture of a client’s functioning. The PAS was developed from the gold-standard test of personality – the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI).

This summer, we published the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC) Screening Form and the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Young Children (TSCYC) Screening Form. These 12-item forms were developed based on a critical need for standardized screening measures that can quickly evaluate trauma symptomatology and risk in children to inform follow-up testing and treatment.

In October, PAR welcomed a new member of the family: InVista. This new division helps Customers better hire, develop, and retain talent using the power of PAR’s proven values and personality instruments and 40 years of success. The best-in-class platform brings science and technology to the hiring market to help businesses improve their hiring process and provide candidates with an exceptional testing experience.

In mid-December, we will be publishing the PostConcussion Executive Inventory, a test that assesses and monitors recovery from concussion in children by comparing retrospective preinjury ratings to postinjury ratings. It is powered by the gold-standard instrument for executive function, the Behavior Rating Scale of Executive Function, Second Edition (BRIEF2), and helps when developing treatment recommendations, providing accommodations in school, and managing activities and expectations at home.

 What a year! 

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