





































Ethical and Legal Issues in Assessments with Children in School Settings


Graduate Student Journal of Psychology                                                                             Copyright 2004 by the Department of Counseling & Clinical Psychology  
2004, Vol. 6                                                                                                                          Teachers College, Columbia University                          ISSN 1088-4661 
 
 
 

Ethical Issues in Assessments with Infants and Children 
 

Margarita M. Posada 
Fordham University 

 
When conducting assessments with infants and children it important for psychologists to be mind-
ful of the ethical issues that may arise.  Ethical issues may arise when proper procedures for per-
forming assessments are not carried out.  The present review will focus on the following ethical is-
sues as they pertain to assessments with infants and children: obtaining parental consent, respecting 
children's autonomy, maintaining confidentiality, separating children and parents during assess-
ments, and using multiple sources of information and appropriate measures. Guidelines for ensur-
ing the competent evaluation of children are then offered, with attention to the dynamic nature of 
the assessment process and the critical role of parents. 

 
 

home. Once an assessment is deemed necessary, the process 
begins with the parents’ consultation with the assessment 
professional.  The child's strengths and challenges, as well as 
the concerns and questions of the parents, are discussed. It is 
then decided which type of assessment (developmental, fam-
ily, multidisciplinary, or play-based) is most appropriate for 
the child. Depending on the type of assessment imple-
mented, the child's parents, physician, schoolteacher, or 
counselor may assist in the process either directly or indi-
rectly (The ZERO TO THREE: New Visions for Parents, 
1997). 

A number of ethical issues may arise when psycholo-
gists provide assessments to infants and young children.  
These issues can occur due to the differing needs of children, 
their parents, and professionals.  The present review will 
examine some of these issues with regard to parental con-
sent, children's rights, confidentiality, separation of parent 
and child during assessment, and the use of multiple sources 
of information and appropriate measures. First, a brief dis-
cussion of the assessment process will be presented as a 
framework for conceptualizing these issues. 
 

The Assessment Process Assessing a child's functioning during the first three 
years of life is especially important, since it is a period of 
constant growth and development (Meisels & Fenichel, 
1996).  The ZERO TO THREE: National Center for Infants, 
Toddlers, and Families (1996) focuses on providing support, 
education, training, and policies for parents, caregivers, and 
professionals to help advance the healthy development of 
infants and young children.  In 1996, ZERO TO THREE 
assembled a multidisciplinary Work Group on Developmen-
tal Assessment to "identify both problems and approaches in 
current assessment paradigms, policies, and practices" 
(Meisels & Fenichel, 1996, p. 5). This group also formulated 
a list of appropriate principles pertaining to assessments as 
well as practices to avoid in assessments; these will be util-
ized as a general framework for the present review. 

 
An assessment is an "ongoing process by which quali-

fied professionals, together with families, through standard-
ized tests and observation, look at all areas of a child's de-
velopment: motor, language, intellectual, social/emotional 
and self-help skills" (ZERO TO THREE: New Visions for 
Parents, 1997). An assessment may be performed to deter-
mine if infants and children are meeting developmental 
norms, to identify children with disabilities and those who 
may be at risk, to diagnose or confirm the presence and ex-
tent of a disability, to plan a program or appropriate inter-
vention, or to demonstrate a child's knowledge of certain 
skills and accomplishments (Meisels & Fenichel, 1996).  

Most often the assessment process is initiated by either 
a parent or a professional.  It is quite common for a child's 
teacher or physician to notice a child behaving or developing 
out of the ordinary and to then consult with the child's par-
ents about performing an assessment to learn more about the 
problem area.  Likewise, parents often contact teachers, phy-
sicians, or other professionals out of concern for their child’s 
development or atypical behaviors observed in the 

 
Obtaining Parental Consent 
 

The American Psychological Association (2002) defines 
informed consent as a decision made by an individual that is 
informed, voluntary, and rational.  In the case of parents 
providing consent for their child to be assessed, they are 
considered “informed” when they have been given substan-
tial information about the assessment and its procedures, 
including the potential consequences, risks, and benefits.  
Parents should be provided with information concerning 
their child's assessment in a language that is understandable 

 
 
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to 
Margarita M. Posada, Department of Psychology, Fordham Univer-
sity, 441 East Fordham Road, Bronx, NY 10458. E-mail: 
posada@fordham.edu 

42 



ETHICAL ISSUES IN ASSESSMENT 
 

to them, and their decision must be voluntary and free from 
coercion from professionals or family members.  Finally, 
parents must have the ability to make a rational decision 
concerning their child's participation in the assessment pro-
cedure, which means they must be able to weigh the possible 
risks and benefits and to make an informed decision whether 
to allow their child to be assessed (Ambuel & Rappaport, 
1992; Kaser-Boyd, Adelman, & Taylor, 1985). 

Parents serve as the decision-making guides for children 
who have not yet reached the age of majority, which is 18 
years (Department of Health and Human Services, 1991).  
Parents or guardians are entitled to provide permission be-
cause they have legal responsibility and, in the absence of 
abuse or neglect, are assumed to act in the best interests of 
the child  (Krener & Mancina, 1994). It is important that 
parents provide their child with the best possible care while 
ensuring that they are learning and developing appropriately, 
and as such it is often necessary for them to have their child 
evaluated in different domains so that they can learn more 
about their performance and developmental progress.  Vari-
ous states and child centers recommend that children of cer-
tain ages be assessed as an effort to ensure that the child's 
development is being nurtured to the fullest extent possible 
(Meisels & Fenichel, 1996). 

Obtaining parental consent is one of the most frequent 
challenges faced by psychologists and other professionals in 
the school system. Ethical issues can arise when proper pro-
cedures for performing the assessment are not carried out, 
when parents do not agree with the requirement for assess-
ments, or when parental priorities are ignored or underesti-
mated by professionals (Greenspan & Meisels, 1996). The 
following case example provided by Knauss (2001) illus-
trates how easily problems in this area can arise: 

Shortly after being hired by a school district, a new 
school psychologist was given a long list of chil-
dren who needed psychological testing.  The new 
psychologist's supervisor explained the purpose of 
the testing, which was to obtain needed services 
for the children. She then mentioned that she had 
already scheduled the children for testing.  The su-
pervisor then implied that since the testing was 
part of their educational program, parental consent 
was not necessary. (p.2). 

In thinking about this example, was the newly hired psy-
chologist's supervisor correct in not obtaining parental con-
sent?  If professionals from the school say it is appropriate to 
proceed without parental consent, should these guidelines be 
followed?  Finally, what ethical principle was violated or 
ignored? 

Ethical codes require that informed consent be obtained 
from the appropriate individual before services are provided.  
Since infants and young children do not yet have the ability 
to make their own decisions, parents are required to provide 
informed consent as the first step in beginning the assess-
ment process.  Therefore, it is incorrect to assume that 
school professionals can substitute the decisions of the chil-
dren's parents.  However, an exception to this case would be 

if the parents voluntarily agreed to allow routine assessments 
for their child at the time of enrollment in the school (APA, 
2002).  The APA (2002) does not require psychologists to 
obtain informed consent when "informed consent is implied 
because testing is conducted as a routine educational, institu-
tional, or organizational activity" (p.13). Nevertheless, com-
municating with parents is often essential in establishing a 
basis for an effective home-school relationship (Knauss, 
2001). 

 
Respect for Children's Rights 
  

Although infants and young children do not yet have the 
decision-making abilities to provide informed consent, they 
do have several rights.  By the ethical principles of auton-
omy, beneficence, and justice, children have the right to be 
treated with respect and be given proper care (Knauss, 
2001).  The principle of autonomy refers to the duty of pro-
fessionals to protect and encourage an individual's choices.  
Studies have found that parental support of autonomy leads 
to positive outcomes for children across different develop-
mental periods (Allen et al., 1994; Mattanah, 2001) and that 
by actively encouraging children to make independent deci-
sions and to express themselves, parents can begin to foster a 
sense of autonomy (Shaffer, 2002). But regardless of 
whether autonomy has been optimally fostered by parents, 
professionals should be mindful of the child’s needs as well 
as those expressed by the parents. Beneficence refers to the 
responsibility to respect and make choices that are in the 
best interest of the individual.  The well being of the child 
takes precedence over any needs of society to conduct the 
assessment (e.g., providing public statistics or conforming to 
state requirements). In the case of assessments, professionals 
should protect the health and safety of children by choosing 
assessments that are deemed necessary and sensitive to their 
specific needs.  Finally, the principle of justice expects that 
those working with others behave in ways that are fair and 
honest (Blustein, Dubler, & Levine, 1999; Fisher et al., 
1996), and that any applicable benefits are distributed 
equally among individuals (National Commission, 1979).  
When conducting assessments, examiners must be mindful 
of treating children as equals.  For example, if assessment 
results indicate that a child might benefit from a special edu-
cation program, the decision of whether to place him or her 
in such a program should be based on need, regardless of 
background or other criteria (National Commission, 1979).  
Overall, these ethical principles serve to remind profession-
als of the appropriate ways in which individuals, including 
children, should be treated. 

The most common of these issues to arise in the assess-
ment of infants and young children is neglect of autonomy.  
Because young children are not developmentally capable of 
voicing their own opinions and desires, their capacities can 
often be overlooked.  This is especially relevant when a 
child has a developmental delay or other issue that has led to 
difficulty interacting socially and communicating needs.  
Some assessment procedures may not adequately break 

43 



POSADA 
 

through these developmental barriers to uncover the child's 
specific strengths and weaknesses (Greenspan & Meisels, 
1996).  For this reason it is important that professionals en-
gage in discussions with the child's parents about the child’s 
developmental history and capacities in order to gain a better 
understanding of the child's behavior. 

 
Children's Right to Confidentiality 
 

At present, clear guidelines do not exist as to when chil-
dren of certain developmental capacities have the right to 
confidentiality.  In most areas, the law does not provide 
children with this right (Mitchell, Disque, & Robertson, 
2002).  This position stems mainly from the notion that par-
ents serve as the custodians and decision-making voices for 
children.  Since minors cannot legally provide informed con-
sent, researchers are encouraged to respect their preferences 
by seeking their assent to participate in the assessment proc-
ess when developmentally appropriate (American Psycho-
logical Association, 2002; DHHS, 1991). Assent is the 
means of involving minors, typically seven years of age or 
older, in decisions affecting them, “an interactive process 
between a minor and researcher that involves developmen-
tally appropriate disclosure about the procedures, and solici-
tation of the minor’s willingness and preferences regarding 
participation" (Committee on Bioethics, 1995, p. 316).  

It is important to obtain assent from children when it is 
developmentally- and age-appropriate because it includes 
children in the decision-making process.  For this reason, 
assent is viewed as a benefit to the child. Parents should nur-
ture the moral growth and developing autonomy of their 
child by giving them the opportunity to provide assent.  As-
sent sets a lower standard of competence than informed con-
sent in that it does not require the depth of understanding or 
reasoning ability required for the latter (Weithorn, 1983).  
However, giving children the opportunity to provide assent, 
to the extent that they are able, allows them the chance to 
choose whether or not to participate in the assessment proc-
ess. 

 
The Separation of Children and Parents during 
Assessments 

 
The ZERO TO THREE: National Center for Infants, 

Toddlers, and Families (1996) has outlined several practices 
that should be avoided in the assessment procedure. One of 
these is "Young children should never be challenged during 
assessment by separation from their parents or familiar care-
givers" (p. 23).  In other words, children should not be sepa-
rated from their parents when the separation might pose a 
problem in conducting the assessment or affect the reliability 
of the evaluation.  When professionals evaluate children 
without respect for this principle, conclusions may be unduly 
biased.  For example, if a child has difficulty interacting 
with others and is separated from his or her parents for an 
assessment, he or she may be difficult to engage or may be-

have in a detached and unpredictable manner.  Clearly, such 
testing conditions are not optimal.  

The potential difficulties of separating a child from his 
or her parents are further illustrated by the following exam-
ple, derived from a case offered by Greenspan and Meisels 
(1996): 

When a 3-year-old named Sarah needed an as-
sessment to evaluate her level of receptive and ex-
pressive language, the examiner requested that her 
mother wait outside the testing room.  The mother 
explained that her daughter would be more coop-
erative if she were allowed to remain in the room.  
The examiner repeated the policy about having 
only the patient in the examination room.  Sarah's 
mother made it clear that she was hoping to test 
her daughter's language ability, not her readiness 
to leave her mother.  The examiner told Sarah's 
mother, with a patronizing show of patience, that 
the results of the test might not be the same if she 
were to stay in the room.  She agreed with the ex-
aminer, but also wondered how the doctor ex-
pected to get any test results at all from a child 
who was nervous and withdrawn as a result of be-
ing separated from her mother.  After completing 
the test, the examiner observed that Sarah was not 
very cooperative for a 3-year-old child. 

The professional conducting this assessment may conclude 
that the child is uncooperative and has attachment issues.  
This may not have been the conclusion if the parent had 
been allowed to be present for the assessment (Greenspan & 
Meisels, 1996).  If professionals acknowledge that children 
behave differently depending on whether their parents are 
present, they may choose to allow the parent to be present 
during the assessment until the child becomes comfortable 
enough to work with the examiner alone (Morse, 2001). 
 
Need for Multiple Sources of Information During 
Assessments  

 
Another guideline for assessments provided by The 

ZERO TO THREE: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, 
and Families (1996) is "Assessment should involve multiple 
sources of information and multiple components" (p. 17). 
“Multiple sources” can include direct observations of the 
child, interactions between the child and a caregiver, and the 
family system.  In addition, it is important to obtain back-
ground information on the child's capacities in different ar-
eas of development, as well as assessments of specific areas 
of the child's functioning (Greenspan & Meisels, 1996). By 
using various types of information, psychologists can obtain 
a more complete picture and reach more comprehensive 
conclusions about the child's development  (Greenspan & 
Meisels, 1996; National Association of School Psycholo-
gists, 2000). 

 
 

44 



ETHICAL ISSUES IN ASSESSMENT 
 

Use of Appropriate Measures During Assessments Some of the assessments that have been widely tested 
and proven to be valid and reliable measures of infants’ and 
young children's abilities include the Pediatric Evaluation of 
Disability Inventory (PEDI) (Haley et al., 1992), the Neona-
tal Behavioral Assessment Scale (Brazelton, 1973), and the 
Bayley Scales of Infant Development II (Bayley, 1993). The 
PEDI, designed for use with children from the ages of six 
months to seven years, examines a child's ability to function 
independently while also observing what the child can do 
with assistance. Since this measure has been developed with 
standardized scores that can be used to evaluate child's 
growth over time or a child's anticipated development, it is 
appropriate to use with children who have impairments   
(Miller & Robinson, 1996). The Neonatal Behavioral As-
sessment Scale is widely used by professionals who work 
with infants and families in hospitals, clinics, and educa-
tional settings and is designed to examine newborns and 
infants up to two months of age (Brazelton, 1981). It pro-
vides the examiner with a behavioral description of the in-
fant, which includes the infant's strengths, adaptive re-
sponses and possible vulnerabilities; this description is 
shared with parents by the examiner to develop appropriate 
care giving strategies aimed at enhancing the earliest rela-
tionship between infants and parents (Brazelton, 1981). The 
Bayley Scales of Infant Development, Second Edition 
(BSID-II) is an individually administered test that assesses 
the cognitive and motor development of infants and children 
from the ages of one month to 42 months. The main purpose 
of the test is to diagnose developmental delay and plan in-
tervention strategies (Bayley, 1993). Using these and other 
age-appropriate assessments can help professionals design 
useful interventions and find appropriate special education 
placement and services when necessary. 

 
The National Association of School Psychologists 

(2000) mandates that "school psychologists be knowledge-
able about the validity and reliability of their instruments 
and techniques, choosing those that have up-to-date stan-
dardization data and are applicable and appropriate for the 
benefit of the child" (p. 27).  Unfortunately, it is often the 
case that infants and young children are assessed using in-
struments and procedures developed for older children 
(Greenspan & Meisels, 1996).  There exist very few assess-
ment instruments that measure the specific developmental 
challenges and characteristics faced by young children and 
their families (DeMers, Fiorello, & Langer, 1992). This lack 
of appropriate measures for infants and young children can 
pose problems for professionals who are administering the 
assessments.  Although professionals may be aware of the 
limitations of the existing approaches for assessing young 
children, they may still often use procedures that are de-
signed for school-aged children.  Not only is it unethical to 
use inappropriately normed and validated procedure, it is 
also unwise to draw conclusions from the obtained results, 
which may be misleading to parents (Greenspan & Meisels, 
1996).  Professionals should make every effort possible to 
ensure that tests and procedures are used in ways that protect 
the rights and promote the well being of the children being 
assessed. 

The issue of using appropriate measures applies perhaps 
especially to professionals who assess children with signifi-
cant disabilities. When choosing an assessment for a child 
with significant motor, sensory, or cognitive impairments, 
examiners should be mindful of the kinds of tests they use 
and the conclusions they draw from the results. Examiners 
should ask themselves the following questions: Can this test 
answer specific questions about the child's development?  
How do other children with this type of disability perform 
on the test?  (Miller & Robinson, 1996).  Most tests that are 
norm-referenced assume that the child being assessed is 
similar to those included in the original sample.  Examiners 
who are testing children with motor and sensory impair-
ments need to be aware of the fact that children these im-
pairments are often excluded or not eligible to be included in 
the standardization of developmental instruments (Miller & 
Robinson, 1996). As noted by the National Fair Access Coa-
lition on Testing (2002), “In choosing a particular test, the 
assessment professional…is responsible for reviewing test 
manuals or materials to ascertain the test’s applicability in 
measuring a certain trait or construct.” If examiners do not 
take these facts into account when assessing children with 
disabilities, they run the risk of violating one of the basic 
guidelines of administering assessments: that the examiner 
has knowledge of the validity, reliability, and standardiza-
tion procedures of the test (National Association of School 
Psychologists, 2000).  Not only is violating this guideline 
unethical, but a child who is assessed using an inappropriate 
measure may be judged to lack certain abilities (Miller & 
Robinson, 1996). 

 
Guidelines and Recommendations for Assessment 

Procedures 
 

When conducting assessments, psychologists and other 
professionals should be aware of the issues raised in this 
review to ensure that they are evaluating infants and children 
with competence and care. By being responsive to the differ-
ing needs of children, their parents, and other professionals, 
examiners can ensure that proper procedures are being fol-
lowed, that parents are being adequately informed about the 
procedures and results, and that parents’ concerns are being 
addressed and respected (Greenspan & Meisels, 1996). 

In order to ensure that the assessment process is being 
carried out appropriately, there are certain guidelines that 
can be followed and applied to the ethical issues discussed.  
The examiner should keep in mind the following questions 
highlighted by Barrera (1996):  "Am I communicating with 
the child and family in a way that will elicit desired re-
sponses?"  "Do the child's and family's responses indicate 
their true abilities and potentials?"  "Is the child exhibiting 
age-expected behaviors and skills for his or her community 
and peer group?"  "Is the assessment doing an adequate job 

45 



POSADA 
 

of highlighting the child's strengths and weaknesses?" (p. 
79). By viewing the assessment procedure as an active proc-
ess and keeping in mind these questions, examiners can en-
sure that they are evaluating the child and his or her family 
with competence and care. 

Brazelton, T. B.  (1973).  Neonatal Behavioral Assessment 
Scale.  Clinics in Development Medicine, No. 50.  Lon-
don: Henneman.  Philadelphia: Lippincott. 

Committee on Bioethics. (1995). Informed consent, paren-
tal permission, and assent in pediatric practice. Pediat-
rics, 95(2), 314-317. Since parents serve as the voice and decision-making 

authority for their children in the assessment process, psy-
chologists should work to prepare parents for their roles as 
participants in the assessment of their infant or young child 
(Popper, 1996).  Examiners need to be aware that whether 
parents are having their child assessed for the first or second 
time, they will usually be protective yet cooperative with the 
examiner.  Professionals should be aware of parent's feelings 
and share information with them concerning the assessment 
(Popper, 1996).   

DeMers, S. T., Fiorello, C., & Langer, K. L.  (1992).  Le-
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Psychologists and other examiners should remind par-
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Parents are there to "be the parent." (Popper, 1996).  Their 
knowledge about their child makes them the expert; there-
fore, their input is important and should be acknowledged.  
In addition, parents should be reminded that they do not 
have to agree with all the information that results from the 
assessment.  If parents feel that their child is being described 
in a manner that they do not agree with, they should be made 
to feel that they can voice their disagreement (Popper, 1996).  
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