After 2 1/2 years in school, my second grade daughter is finally being offered an “educational assessment.” Although not willing, the school finally complied with my request for a list of all the the tests that would be administered to her. The school board responded by telling me that they would be administering the Wechsler Intell. Scale for Children, third edition…and the Woodcock Johnson Psychoeducational Battery - third ed. Unfortunately, I do not really understand what these tests will determine, what the difference in these tests are, and how these tests will be used. I also requested, and have not recieved, a list of who would be administering the tests, the qualifications of the tester, as well as information on who (as well and the qualifications of) would be interpreting the tests. Apparently this is a major secret, as the information has not been supplied. In order to move the process along, I have signed all of the necessary forms for the testing, but am still not comfortable in my ability to be an advocate for my daughter when I am so uninformed. Can anyone suggest a place where I can get specific information on assessments so that I can ensure that my daughter is going to get the best care. After 2 years of begging for help, I just can’t walk away from the process because the school says that “they will take care of everything now!!”
Re: assessments
The Weschler is a measure if cognitive capacity and is generally only administered by a psychologist or someone who has had specific training. It is the most common IQ test used. The Woodcock Johnson III are achievement tests- also very common and also with relatively stringent requirements about who is allowed to administer it. Generally the person who administers the tests does the interpretation- I always do anyway. the IQ test will be used to assess your daughter’s overall capacity for learning and to identify any processing deficits that may interfere with that capacity. This information will be combined with the data from the achievement testing to see if there is a discrepency between what one would expect her to be doing and what she is in fact doing. A good evaluator will make recommendations about supports for her processing if there is a need, and specific instructional recommendations if there is a need for that. I second Mary’s recommendation that you check out LDinDepth. There is a lot of excellent information there- i would look under assessments as well as IEPS.
Good luck.
Robin
Re: assessments
HI Elizabeth…great name! I echo the other posters…but also, go to www.wrightslaw.com and read the article “Understanding Tests and Measurements”. This is a must-read if you are going through this. Good luck!
Best Wishes, Elizabeth (from Canada with an 8 YO son — dyslexic but doing better all the time)
especially the articles under “assessment” and “IEP”. One of the articles describes different tests. Another excellent article explains how to interpret test results. A couple of articles explain what you can do if you disagree with the results of the school’s testing (request an IIE).
When we had a complete speech and language assessment done privately, it included the Gray-3, CELF-3, LAC, SCAN, and CTOPP. Gray provided a test of reading level plus rate, accuracy, and comprehension. The CELF-3 assessed concepts & directions, word classes, and semantic relationships (receptive language skills). The SCAN screened for auditory processing disorders. The LAC gave a measurement of phonological awareness. The CTOPP was a more detailed test of phonological awareness and decoding ability. (I found the nonsense subtests of the CTOPP to be the most useful as a measure of decoding ability.)
You might want to call a local speech and language clinic and ask about getting a private evaluation. When I did this, the clinic told me exactly what to do in order to get my health insurance to cover it (referral from our GP, but it had to be worded in a certain way). The resulting evaluation was very thorough and fully covered by insurance, except for a small co-pay. Results of a private evaluation have to be taken into consideration by the school.
Mary