Question: Keith is a consultant residing in Centervale, U.S.A., a friendly, predominantly middle-class community with a diverse ethnic make-up. He works closely with other professionals such as speech therapists, occupational therapists, physicians, and school administrators. As a licensed psychologist, one of Keith's job duties is to conduct psychological and psychoeducational assessments. Results from assessments can help make decisions related to placement in special education or gifted and talented programs and development of academic and behavioral interventions. Keith sometimes works with counselors to administer interest inventories to help students with career planning as well.

Keith has been asked to conduct an assessment of an 8-year old boy for possible learning disabilities. Dat started attending Centervale Elementary last year and is currently in 3rd grade. He is enrolled in classes for students with English as a Second Language. His family speaks Vietnamese at home, but Dat speaks English fairly well at school. Although Keith is bilingual in English and Spanish, he does not speak Vietnamese.

Keith has been asked to conduct a psychological evaluation on an adolescent female. Her teachers and parents are concerned that her grades have been dropping and she has been acting out.

Keith is short on time and needs to complete his assessment quickly. He likes using the MMPI-A and decides to send a protocol home for the girl to complete. Once she returns it, he'll score it and determine if the girl's personality is somehow influencing her grades and behavior changes.

Refer to the Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct Standard 9 on Assessment (APA, 2010).

What ethical concerns does Keith need to consider?

As Keith's colleague, what advice can you give him based on what you have learned about psychological assessment?

500 word minimum