Below is a question from a WSPA Member
Hello. I was hoping to get some guidance on a recent issue I’ve had. During an eligibility meeting, the parents asked that I take out my narrative explaining what the behavior results meant. They were fine with the results of the rating forms being left in the report, but felt the narrative made their child seem like a behavior problem. I’ve always been told to not change my report once I’ve submitted it. In my chart of ratings, I also have the definitions attached to each of the behavior categories, so those are explained, as well as what elevated ratings are and mean.
I stand by my report and nothing in it is invalid. So, in this case, since it wouldn’t alter the results/data from the rating form, would you say it is okay to take out the narrative? Or would you still not change the report?
If you can provide any guidance on this, or if you have any sources I could reference, I would very much appreciate it.
These are always challenging things when parents request information removed from psychoeducational reports. In my opinion, the first place to start is to look at if the information that is being asked to be removed is relevant to other decisions or paperwork. For example, if a student is eligible for SLD but parents requested social/developmental history information removed that has no impact on decision making for SLD then you could remove the information. However, if that information is relevant to the decisions being made in meeting, then ethically that information should remain in the report as that was the basis of the team or your determination of something. So if the information is relevant to eligibility determination or services/supports in the IEP then it should stay so as to show why the team made a decision. Also behavior rating scales measure specific areas and narratives add context to the scores to give a frame of reference to what was going on and the concerns brought up for the evaluation.
This reminds me of two areas of the NASP ethics that indicate that the information in our reports should be useful for decision making and is from reliable sources, which sounds to be the case here for you.
Standard II.4.2
School psychologists maintain school-based psychological and educational records with sufficient detail to
be useful in decision making by another professional and with sufficient detail to withstand scrutiny if challenged in a due process or other legal procedure.
Standard II.4.3
School psychologists include only documented and relevant information from reliable sources in school
psychological records.
Personally, I like Shawn’s advice and stance. In my experience, this is going to sound bad, but I’m impressed the parents read your report. Honestly, I have never had any parent take issue with an entire section of my report, just parts or sentences. So, I might ask what in particular they are not liking and maybe soften it a bit. While I know many psychs object to making changes and “stand” by their work, a little PR work never hurt anyone in my book.
In my opinion, both David and Shawn are on target. Sometimes we get too much data from the scoring programs, which may not be critical and/or helpful. Having faced similar situations, having a strong, effective, and supportive relationship with the parents is vital. PR is not only important but critical in future dealings with the parents. Sometimes we need to ask ourselves, “is the the hill I want to die on?”
Not the hill I would die on.
Compassion might just keep the ‘Team’ together.
Submitted to WSPA via email:
Reports can be edited/modified after you have submitted them. You can change errors of fact and you can change your opinion about some interpretation. What you should not do, ethically, is simply avoid giving an accurate picture of a child’s needs because a parent is uncomfortable with the facts or with your well-supported professional opinion.
A parent is entitled to dissent and to write a letter of dissenting opinion and place it in the record right alongside your report. Without knowing what you wrote, you should review your statements and make sure they reflect facts based on accurate data and reliable information. If they don’t, you should modify your report on that basis alone, whether the parent asked you to or not.