What are Psychological and Educational evaluations?
Psychological and educational evaluations are the systematic analysis of a person's intellectual, emotional, behavioral, educational, and social functioning, using scientifically validated techniques. Psychologists conduct an evaluation by gathering information from a wide variety of sources and integrating it into a comprehensive view of a person's functioning. These sources can include interviews with children, parents, teachers, and other professionals, standardized questionnaires, systematic observations, problem solving tasks, academic work, and creative tasks such as drawing and storytelling. An individual's score from a standard assessment is then compared to those scores from hundreds or thousands of other people who have taken the same assessment. From psychological and educational evaluations, we learn what is unique about individuals and what they share with others. We also learn what areas they excel in and where they are having difficulties.
More than just a diagnosis
While parents are often referred for an evaluation to accurately name their child's problem, this is only a small piece of the information testing can provide. Each evaluation addresses specific questions that parents may have about their child. We integrate data from a wide variety of measures and present it in the form of a detailed narrative, presenting the story of each child's advancing mind. The narrative includes how each child thinks, feels, and approaches the world, as well as the problems they are facing and why these are particularly difficult for them to overcome. Other information includes what areas they are doing well in and what resources they have to cope with problems, such as how they approach and solve many of their own difficulties.
Who needs evaluation?
Educational or psychological evaluations can be useful whenever parents and other professionals need more information to make appropriate choices for a child or adolescent who is having difficulties in school or at home.
The following are examples of situations in which evaluations can be beneficial:
- When children are struggling in school. Maybe they are at risk of being retained because they have difficulties in all areas or they may be significantly behind in a specific subject. They may appear inattentive, impulsive, and disruptive or may have difficulty understanding academic work. Educational evaluations can help pinpoint the problems that are holding children back in school.
- When a teacher, doctor or other professional observes difficulties with attention, concentration, or impulse control and has suggested that the child may have Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). ADHD evaluations can help determine the cause of the inattention and rule out conditions that mimic ADHD in order to determine appropriate treatment plans.
- When parents feel they do not have enough information to make school placement decisions, such as deciding if their child is ready to start school or advance to the next grade or chosing a school that best matches their child's needs. Educational and psychological evaluations can show parents how their child compares to other children in terms of learning style, capacity, and even emotional maturity. This imformation can help parents predict how well their child will do in a given school setting.
- When children or teens have been suffering emotionally or exhibiting difficult or unusual behaviors for some time. They may appear angry, aggressive, oppositional and defiant or they may engage in self-destructive behaviors. In these situations, it may be especially difficult to communicate with the child about the problem. Emotional and behavioral evaluations can help determine if a child's behavior problem is due to distressing emotions, disordered thoughts, a need for different parenting strategies, a reaction to something in the environment, or if it is related to destructive choices such as alcohol or drugs.
- When parents worry that their child or teen is not managing the social and emotional tasks of growing up, such as having difficulty making and keeping friends. Their child may appear withdrawn and isolated and complain of sadness, loneliness, and rejection. Emotional and behavioral evaluations can help parents better understand their child's approach to relationships so they may help them learn new interpersonal skills or seek professional social skills training.
- When a child seems bright but is not performing up to his or her potential in school. Educational evaluations can provide a detailed picture of a child's strengths, weaknesses, and learning style. This allows teachers and parents to adjust their teaching style, and help the child build their skills in areas that are more challenging.
- When a child appears to be talented or gifted in more than one area. Educational evaluations can help parents with special placement for exceptional children, qualifying them for programs in school discticts' Gifted and Talented Youth programs or for special schools. It can also highlight areas that are difficult for these children, which are frequently overlooked in a child advanced in many areas.
- When parents are concerned about their child's emotional or social functioning, but cannot tell if he or she needs professional help. Emotional and behavioral evaluations can tell if the child's difficulties are within the normal range. This information may help parents make informed decisions about seeking additional services, such as tutoring, therapy, or psychiatric medication.
If you are unsure if your child would benefit from educational or psychological evaluation, please contact us at (408) 294-9903. We will be happy to discuss options with you either by phone or in-person consultation.
What ages does Advancing Minds work with?
Advancing Minds conducts educational and emotional/behavioral evaluations with children and teens ages 5 and up, as well as with college students. For ADHD evaluations, your child must be at least 6 years of age and in 1st grade or higher in school. Psychotherapy services are available for school-aged children through adults. Parenting consultations are available for parents of children and teens in pre-school through high school.
What does the evaluation process look like?
Every assessment begins and ends with a consultation with the parents of a child. In the initial session, a clinician will dicuss concerns you have about your child, including what is unclear to you and what information you need to go further. We help you better understand what information an evaluation can provide and what options may be available to help your child advance. You and your clinician will then write up a clear list of questions to be answered by the evaluation. Tests are then carefully chosen to gather the information needed to answer your questions and an estimate for the time and cost of the evaluation will be given.
The next steps generally include meetings with your child to conduct the evaluation. These meetings generally take from 2-3 hours and typically take place in the morning when your child's mind is fresh. The psychologist will explain the process to your child and the activities that they will do together. These activities may include paper and pencil tasks similar to school work, puzzles to solve, questionnaires, and creative tasks like drawing and storytelling. The psychologist will also spend some time talking with your child and getting to know him or her, and may ask your permission to observe the child in another setting, such as school. In most cases, you will also receive a packet of questionnaires for parents and teachers to complete on their own time. Most children actually enjoy assessments, even though they may resist coming to the office.
Once all questionnaires are returned and all sessions with your child are completed, the psychologist will score all the measures and write a comprehensive report describing the results. This will be prepared in time for the final consultation. In this consultation, you will have a chance to read over the testing report, ask questions about anything that is unclear to you, and discuss any concerns that you may have. This session provides a clear understanding of how the results apply to your questions, as well as a list of recommendations for your next steps. Next steps may include practical suggestions for actions you can take in your home or in the community, as well as referrals for additional treatment if indicated. Following testing, consultation is available on an as-needed basis to discuss applying recommendations in your home and to meet on-site with school professionals as part of an IEP or student study team.
What should I tell my child about the evaluation?
Parents should generally be honest and brief when talking with their children about the evaluation. Younger children will want to know that psychologists are "talking doctors" and that they won't get any shots or medicines. Older children and teens will generally want to know more, especially how the evaluation can help them (i.e., they could get extra help at school, it could help you and your child get along better). You will want to tell your child what the evaluation is for (i.e., to better understand how they learn, to understand how they think and feel) and how long it will take. You generally won't need to spend more than a few minutes explaining the process to your child, as you don't want them to be overwhelmed. Some pitfalls to avoid are describing the evaluation as a punishment for some behavior or asking your child's permission for the evaluation. It is usually best to be matter of fact, positive, and focus on how this will help you understand their needs.
How soon will I get results?
Evaluations take several hours to score and integrate into a report. Often, a psychologist will take more hours to score and analyze results than they spend administering tests to a child. Your evaluation report will be prepared and presented to you at the final consultation. This is usually scheduled for 1 week following the completion of testing, and may be as much as 2 weeks following completion in some cases.
Who will see the results?
Evaluation results are always released to the parents or legal guardians of children or directly to an adult client. They will not be sent to or discussed with any other individual or professional (i.e., teacher, doctor, therapist) without the express written permission of the parents/guardians or adult client. If parents do not want the full report released to another professinal, we may write a letter summarizing the results and recommendations tha parents wish to be released. Raw data, particularly the forms listing test items, can only be released to another professional qualified to administer interpret psychological tests.
Will my insurance cover the evaluation?
Some insurance companies may pay for evaluations under certain conditions, but this is not always the case. Whether or not your insurance company will pay for the evaluation depends on your plan, their policies, and even the diagnoses your child is being evaluated for. We recommend that you consult with them regarding your coverage before starting an evaluation. Advancing Minds does not negotiate with or bill directly to insurance companies for either therapy or for evaluations. However, we will provide you with an invoice that includes the date and type of services offered, the cost of services, and the diagnosis codes for your child, which you may send to your insurance company for reimbursement.
What are your billing policies?
Fees for therapy are due at the beginning of each session. Evaluations are billed as a package, based on the estimated hours you were told in the initial consultation. If the evaluation takes longer than anticipated, you will NOT be billed extra. The only exception to this would be if you chose to add additional services to your child's evaluation (i.e., adding a full emotional/behavioral evaluation to an ADHD evaluation already in progress). One-half of the fee for an evaluation is due at the initial testing session with your child and the remainder is due prior to the final consultation.
What are your policies regarding missed or canceled appointments?
Advancing Minds has a 24 hr cancellation policy. If you or your child is ill or you cannot make your appointment for any other reason, please contact us 24 hours before your session to cancel. Late cancellations will be charged full fee for therapy services, and half the hourly fee for evaluations, which will be in addition to the total evaluation cost. Missed appointments without cancellation will be billed the full hourly fee for any session.
I am a Physician, Therapist, Teacher, or other professional wishing to refer a client for psychological or educational evaluation. How can I do this?
There are several ways to refer a patient, client or student to Advancing Minds. First you may fill out our referral form
(requires Adobe Reader) with the parent of the child you wish to refer, and fax it to us at (408) 692-9988. If you or your clients are not comfortable with faxing us information in advance, you can give them our contact information and/or a copy of our brochure or refer them to this website. Parents can then contact us to set up an appointment.
If you would like to read in more detail about the referral process, please visit our Professionals page.
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Advancing Minds, 1769 Park Avenue, Suite 110, San Jose, CA 95126 - Phone: (408) 294-9903 - Fax: (408) 692-9988