As we age, the prefrontal cortex begins to deteriorate, resulting in diminished decision-making abilities. As a result, decision-making patterns often go unquestioned in this population.

The new Iowa Gambling Task, Version 2 (IGT2) provides the tools to evaluate decision-making deficits and can be used across the life span, from ages 8 to 79 years.

Based on extensive research and studies, the IGT2 offers fast, easy, and flexible computer administration with immediate results. Get the IGT2 Kit for just $629 through December 31, 2018.

Learn more now!

Test anxiety is a fact of life for most students. They may worry if they studied enough, if they’ll remember everything they studied, and if they’ll pass the class.

College students may feel extra pressure to succeed from their parents (who may be funding their education), their coaches, and their instructors.

For most students, the symptoms of test anxiety (sweaty palms, feelings of helplessness, and difficulty concentrating) end as soon as the test is over. But for students with an undiagnosed anxiety disorder or another issue that affects learning, such as ADHD, depression, specific learning disability, or executive function deficits, the symptoms persist.

According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, 40 million adults in the United States ages 18 and older have an anxiety disorder—yet only 36% of them seek treatment. Many may not even realize they have a treatable medical condition.

College students face enormous amounts of stress, and not just from tests. For some, it’s the first time away from home and the first time they’ve had to manage and organize their lives independently. These students can easily get overwhelmed. If they have an undiagnosed anxiety disorder or ADHD, they may have poor coping skills and suffer from feelings of incompetence, low self-esteem, and helplessness. Their grades may slip and they may even be at risk of dropping out of school.  Teachers and other staff may notice but may not know how to help.

The Kane Learning Difficulties Assessment (KLDA) is a self-report screening tool designed to identify students who struggle unknowingly with a condition that affects learning such as an anxiety disorder, ADHD, an executive function deficit, or a specific learning disability.

The KLDA can be administered by any instructor, counselor, tutor, or coach and takes just 15 minutes to complete. It evaluates difficulties with reading, writing, math, listening, concentration, memory, organization, time management, oral presentation, self-control, and anxiety.  The test is scored online via PARiConnect and provides a report with valuable information about the student’s individual learning strengths and weaknesses. It also identifies if the student is at risk of an undiagnosed learning difficulty so he or she can seek treatment.

The KLDA report helps both students and teachers by providing specific interventions and accommodations that address the student’s identified academic weaknesses.

The sooner struggling students can get the help they need, the sooner they can get their college careers back on track. Learn more at www.parinc.com/KLDA.

Spoken by nearly 40 million people, Spanish is the second-most widely used language in the United States. For Spanish-speaking clients and students who need psychological assessment, a test in English can be a real obstacle. Options such as interpreters, translation services, or referral to outside agencies are sometimes available, but come with their own set of concerns. You can best serve the needs of your clients and students when you have the right assessment instruments. That’s why PAR is proud to introduce our new Spanish language product listing.

PAR offers more than two dozen assessment products in Spanish, available directly for purchase, that cover all categories of assessment. Please refer to this brochure as a reference for your Spanish testing needs. The brochure contains general information on each assessment product as well as information on the specific items available in Spanish. We’ve also included a link to each instrument’s product page on our website for your convenience. 

We are happy to offer you this resource and hope you’ll refer to this brochure as a reference for your Spanish testing needs.

Because we publish our own assessment instruments, PAR has the advantage of being able to provide you with unique insights on our products that simply aren’t available anywhere else. This is exactly why we make white papers available to you—free of charge—for selected tests.

The following white papers are currently available to you:

The Autism Spectrum Disorder Decision Tree (ASD-DT) for the PDD Behavior Inventory (PDDBI). This resource helps readers use the products for screening and intervention planning. You can find the new white paper under the Resources tab on the PDDBI page or via this direct link.

The Development of the Academic Achievement Battery (AAB). This white paper provides you with insights and details on the AAB’s novel approach to reading comprehension. Customers can find the new white paper under the Resources tab on the AAB page or via this direct link.

The Emotional Disturbance Decision Tree (EDDT) family of rating forms. This document helps readers use the suite of products to gain multiple perspectives by comparing dyads or triads of raters. This white paper can be found via this direct link or under the Resources tab on the EDDT, EDDT-PF, and EDDT-SR product pages.

We’re happy to offer our Customers the additional insights available in these documents. We plan to offer you additional white papers in the future, so please watch for updates.

Did you know there are many large organizations that use the Self-Directed Search (SDS) on a regular basis? One of the most widely used career interest inventories, the SDS is routinely administered by universities, colleges, school districts, and other large businesses to a diverse base of clients, students, and even job applicants.

If you’re part of a large organization that you believe could benefit from the insight the SDS offers, than you may be interested in our SDS Partnership program. The program provides customized access to the SDS and offers predetermined payment options.

For any partnership, we can:

• Customize group access via a partnership web page or custom link that can include your logo and branding and any instructions you wish to provide. This is included as part of the regular SDS Partnership fees.
• Allow you to designate a supervisor’s or coordinator’s e-mail address where your clients’ or students’ reports can be sent, so you can monitor usage and results.
• Provide you with a data file of your clients’ or students’ assessment results for further analysis.
• Advise you on our multiple payment options so you can choose the one that best fits your organization.

Want to learn more about the benefits of the SDS Partnership program? Our Customer Support Specialists are available via e-mail or you may call them at 1.866.727.2884. 

You may not know what all of these mean, but PAR does. And we are staying on the cutting edge—we do it voluntarily to keep your data private and secure. PAR chooses to comply with all of these security frameworks in order to provide a system that is as strong as it is secure. It’s as important to us that we keep your data away from the bad guys as it is we keep it available to the good guys—like you.

99.99% availability since 2016.

More than twice as fast as other assessment platforms.

No-hassle service and support.

Learn more about PARiConnect.

The Reynolds Adaptable Intelligence Test (RAIT) is a comprehensive intelligence test that measures crystallized intelligence, fluid intelligence, and quantitative aptitude or intelligence. It was designed to provide continuity of measurement across a wide age span and requires minimal reading skills and no motor coordination. It can be administered on paper or online via PARiConnect. The digital version allows the proctor to administer the full battery or abbreviated battery and automatically calculates a measure of effort. The timing for a full battery is 50 minutes and 30 minutes for the crystallized and fluid subtests.

The Reynolds Adaptable Intelligence Test Nonverbal (RAIT-NV) uses the two nonverbal subtests from the RAIT. The RAIT-NV is ideal for individuals with limited English proficiency or language skills. No reading skill, motor coordination, or visual–motor capabilities are required. It can be administered via by paper and pencil in individual settings or in a group format, making it ideal for use in human resources settings. The RAIT-NV can be administered in 20 minutes.

The RAIT is appropriate for use when looking for a comprehensive measure of intelligence, whereas the RAIT-NV is an ideal way to test intelligence in individuals with limited language capabilities.

Please note that for some products, you may have to go to the parent product page, as not all screeners have their own web page. With so many to choose from, we’re confident that we have a screening instrument to meet your needs.

Reading comprehension is a seemingly simple task. However, teaching, learning, and practicing this skill is not as simple as it would seem—and evaluating it is often just as difficult. The RAND Reading Study Group defines reading comprehension as “the process of simultaneously extracting and constructing meaning through interaction and involvement with written language” (p. xiii).

There have been many assessment formats developed to tap into what (and if) students are comprehending what they read. For instance, the cloze procedure asks readers to fill in a missing word within a sentence. However, test takers may have the tendency to focus on the immediate context of the question instead of the entire passage. Multiple-choice questions, easy to develop and score, may rely on passageless comprehension–that is, the likelihood that an examinee could take an educated guess based on prior knowledge, without reading the entire passage, and still score correctly.

According to the RAND study group, there are four factors that influence reading comprehension: the reader (e.g., his or her skills, knowledge, and preferences); the text (e.g., vocabulary, structure, and reading level); the reading activity (e.g., web site or novel); and reading over time (e.g., cognitive development).

When developing the Academic Achievement Battery Reading Comprehension: Passages subtest, author Melissa A. Messer took these factors into account and developed a valid and reliable reading comprehension test that is accurate and appropriate for all age and grade levels.

The novel approach used to develop this subtest identifies reading comprehension strengths and weaknesses across a wide and grade range. Learn more about the development of this AAB subtest in a new white paper available now on our website.

View or download for free!

PAR is proud to announce we have added a white paper on how to use the Autism Spectrum Disorder Decision Tree with the PDD Behavior Inventory to our website. This supplemental resource will help readers use the products for screening and intervention planning.

Customers can find the new white paper under the Resources tab on the PDDBI page or via this direct link.

The PDDBI: Autism Spectrum Disorder Decision Tree (ASD-DT) can help clinicians navigate the challenging path of a possible autism spectrum disorder diagnosis. Using scores from the PDDBI Extended Form, the ASD-DT can help identify an ASD subgroup or a non-ASD diagnosis. The ASD-DT and the PDDBI provide a standardized measure to help clinicians work through many possibilities to provide precise intervention recommendations.