MS, VOCATIONAL EVALUATION
Admission Requirements
Throughout our lives we are faced with the difficult task of trying to find that "perfect" job. For individuals with barriers to employment, this process is even more difficult. The role of the vocational evaluator is to assist individuals who are disabled or disadvantaged identify appropriate education, training, jobs and career paths, in order to improve their overall quality of life.
Vocational evaluation uses many of the clinical skills found in psychology, counseling, and education, such as file review, diagnostic interviewing, standardized testing, behavioral observation, data interpretation, and vocational/career decision making. However, a unique aspect of the vocational evaluation process is the additional use of real or simulated work activities and instruments to explore vocational interest and potential and identify accommodations and supports.
Vocational evaluators work in state vocational rehabilitation agency offices, rehabilitation facilities, community rehabilitation programs, hospitals, institutions, secondary public schools, community colleges, private industry, and private practice.
Roles and Responsibilities
Assists people with a wide range of physical, mental, and emotional disabilities or who are disadvantaged, to identify appropriate vocational interests, abilities, opportunities and service needs.
Provides necessary evaluation services including vocational, educational, personal, social, residential, environmental and community, in order to examine their impact on an individual's overall career development and employment success.
Formulates a variety of employment, transition, education, and rehabilitation recommendations to be used as a planning tool by clients/students and their counselors/teachers. This promotes the process of empowerment and informed choice.
Works on interdisciplinary teams to meet the total needs of persons who are disabled or disadvantaged.
Technical Standards of Practice for Vocational Evaluators
Vocational evaluation is a profession that helps people match their knowledge, skills and abilities with a career path. Vocational evaluators use a variety of tools to insure the career match provides success and satisfaction. Vocational evaluation is defined as a comprehensive process that systemically uses work, either real or simulated, as the focal point for assessment and vocational exploration, the purpose of which is to assist individuals in vocational development. Vocational evaluation incorporates medical, psychological, social, vocational, educational, cultural and economic data into the process to attain the goals of the evaluation (Dowd, 1993). The Registry of Professional Vocational Evaluators has prescribed the following four domains as representative of the knowledge and technical skills that a vocational evaluator needs to enter successfully the profession.
Principles of Vocational Evaluation
- Orientation to test and measurement principles
- Basic philosophies, practices, and processes of vocational evaluation
- Information on standardized tests to include achievement, aptitude, interest, and personality.
- Development and use of situational and community-based assessment
- Use of work samples and commercial vocational evaluation systems
- Systematic behavioral observation skills and techniques
- Data interpretation from different assessment techniques
- Adherence to ethical and legal principles/practices of the profession
Medical Aspects of Disability
- Medical and Psychosocial aspects of disability
- Pharmacology; impact of medications, substance abuse/abuse/addiction on vocational functioning
- Functional skills assessment
- Ecological and personal variables that impact vocational functioning
- Cultural implications of disability
Occupational Analysis/Job Placement
- Career exploration and occupational analysis
- Career development theories
- Career information and standardized occupational information and classification systems
- Workforce and labor market research and analysis
- Job analysis and task analysis
- Job development and job placement
- Transferable skills analysis
Psychometric Testing/Vocational Assessment
- Selection and administration of standardized tests/instruments
- Scoring and interpreting standardized tests/instruments
- Statistical concepts related to reliability, validity, and norming of standardized tests/instruments
- Analysis, synthesis and interpretation of evaluation results
- Principles of psychological measurement
- Legal and ethical uses of standardized tests/instruments
References
Registry of Professional Vocational Evaluators (nd). Registry of professional vocational evaluators application guide. Menomonie, WI: Author. On line available at http://www.ccwaves.org/docs/CVE%20Certification%20Guide_rev523.pdf
Dowd, L. (Ed.). (1993). VEWAA glossary of terminology for vocational assessment, evaluation and work adjustment. Menomonie, WI: Materials Development Center, university of Wisconsin-Stout.
