Psychoeducational Assessment
A teacher, resource specialist, or school administrator may suggest a psychoeducational assessment when a child is struggling with reading, writing, or math during the early grades of school, when a student struggles with concentrating in class or experiences social difficulties, or when a teen is falling behind their peers because of learning gaps, challenges are to be getting in the way. In a post secondary situation, an Academic Advisor or Accessibilities Services Officer or instructor may raise the option.
Psychoeducational assessment with a child, teen, or adult involves collecting, integrating, and interpreting information from many sources. The aim is to identify strengths and understand what's causing learning problems, and to help our clients toward more success in school and in life.
Interviews
Through interviews, we work to develop a detailed understanding of our client’s current situation and needs. We want to understand the learner’s personal strengths and challenges from different points of view—their own, that of a parent or guardian, etc.
Interviewing involves a review of a client’s history—early development and family history, social, medical, and educational history—and developing as clear an understanding as possible of when the problems began, how they’ve developed, and the effects they’re having. We want to know what’s helped and what hasn’t.
It may help to collect input from others who know the learner well, such as a current or past teacher, a family physician or paediatrician, an occupational therapist, counsellor, or tutor.
Psychological Testing
Where used, psychological testing is likely to include a combination of cognitive testing, academic achievement tests (reading, spelling and writing, math, oral language), executive functioning and visual-motor integration testing, as well as selected emotional tests and review of adaptive functioning.
Feedback and Reporting
After collecting and integrating all information, we provide verbal feedback of our findings to the learner, their family, or both. A feedback meeting is an interactive discussion of what we’ve found and havenʼt found. We review key findings about strengths and weaknesses in the client’s learning profile and we discuss any barriers to learning that the assessment has identified, such as a specific learning disability or ADHD, or anxiety or depression. Most importantly, a feedback meeting is a time to discuss steps likely to be helpful for learning going forward.
A written report is usually a central product of evaluation. A psychoeducational assessment report summarizes the referral questions, sources of information, background, observations, and findings, as well as personalized recommendations for actions and interventions aimed at helping a client to reach their potential in school and in life.