Psychoeducational Evaluation

Components of a Psychoeducational Evaluation

• Parent Interview

• School Observation

• Teacher Input

• Input from other specialists working with the child, as appropriate

• Test Sessions with the child

• Feedback with parents

• Written Report

• Attendance at school meetings, as appropriate

The Test Battery 

• Cognitive (thinking, reasoning, IQ) Assessment

• Process (perception, integration, and comprehending) Evaluation

• Academic Achievement

• Visual-Motor Integration

• Learning and Memory Assessment

• Auditory and Visual Processing

• Social/Emotional Development

• Personality Assessment

Children enjoy the evaluations, with tests that are like puzzles and games.

 

  Description of the Psychoeducational Evaluation Process

1. Parent Interview

• An interview with parents is scheduled in order to obtain an in-depth understanding of the child, both in terms of strengths and areas of concerns.

• Information obtained includes a Developmental History, Medical History, Educational History, History of social/emotional development.
• Issues pertaining to family dynamics and interpersonal relationships are discussed.
• At the conclusion of this interview, the scope of the evaluation will be discussed with parents and testing sessions with the child will be scheduled.

2. Child Assessment

• The evaluation will be scheduled over multiple days in order to ensure that test results are reliable and accurate. 
• Children usually fatigue after two hours of one-to-one testing and therefore, test results may be affected negatively if individual sessions are too long. 

Two to four sessions are typically needed.  Occasionally, shorter, more frequent sessions will be more appropriate.  This will be determined jointly between parents and the examiner.

 3. School Observation/Teacher Input

• When appropriate, the child will be observed in school in order to gain an understanding of the way in which he/she functions within the context of the group setting.
• Information is gathered from the classroom teacher in the way of curriculum based assessments, behavior ratings, etc.

4. Consultation and Referral to other Specialists is recommended when appropriate, including:

• Speech and Language Therapists
• Occupational Therapists
• Physical Therapists
• Pediatricians
• Neurologists
• Psychiatrists

5.  Feedback 

• Test results are discussed with parents and a written report summarizing results of the assessment is provided. 
• Frequently, a separate session is scheduled with the child so that feedback can be provided in an effort to help him/her gain knowledge about individual learning profile.
• Recommendations for intervention are suggested and individually designed based on the unique profile of the child.

6. Follow Up

• May include attendance at school meetings, additional sessions with parents to further their understanding of their child’s learning profile, debriefing sessions with the child, etc.

The entire evaluation process usually takes between 4 to 6 weeks, depending upon scheduling and other needs.    

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