How are learning needs identified?
Learning needs can be identified in a variety of ways, such as:
- Feedback from the student
- Feedback from caregivers
- Report cards and teacher observations
- Doctor reports
- Psychoeducational assessments
School board funded testing often does not take place until after Grade 3, as students will often have resolved any early learning concerns by that time.
Psychoeducational assessments evaluate a student’s cognitive or academic profile, identify abilities, educational achievement levels and underlying causes of any academic difficulty.
The psychoeducational assessment is completed by a psychologist. A psychological assessment cannot be done prior to the school or school board attaining written permission from the parent.
A good psychological (psychoeducational) assessment should provide information about overall intellectual ability, but more importantly, about strengths and weaknesses. There should be recommendations about remedial strategies and ways of using areas of strength to compensate for areas of deficit. In older children, there should be recommendations for accommodations and use of technology to bypass weak areas, in addition to remedial strategies to work on deficits.
Psychoeducational assessments
A psychoeducational assessment can cost as much as $5,000 from a private practice. An “educational” assessment can be done more quickly, and does not require a parental consent. An educational assessment looks at academic skill levels and can be done by an educator.
School Board
Talk with your school about seeing a psychologist who works with the school board. This is paid for by the school, if the Principal approves the request.
Private Practice
Work with a Psychologist through their private practice. This can be costly. Some insurance
plans may cover some of this cost.
University Psychology Programs
Obtain an assessment through a psychology teaching program at a university. These assessments are done by psychology students who are being supervised by a professor. They may have sliding scale payment options, however there is often an application process and lengthy wait times.
School boards are not required to provide psychoeducational assessments.
If your school board does provide these services, there may still be wait lists (from a few months to a few years!), and assessments are allocated based on need.