PSYCHO-EDUCATIONAL ASSESSMENT

Developing and implementing successful intervention plans on children struggling with academic or behavioral challenges have everything to do with a worthwhile assessment process. Assessment can therefore be dubbed the "spinal cord" of psychological Interventions.

Although, in the practice of Educational Psychology - just like in other fields of psychology - every intervention starts with an assessment on which the intervention plan and process are built, practice has shown that, usually, some children are still found struggling to meet up with certain academic and behavioural expectations in spite of all the help they get. This struggle could manifest as difficulty understanding directions; difficulty learning to read, spell or comprehend passages; problems with numeracy or; difficulty developing and sustaining social relationships.

There are a myriad of assessment techniques at the disposal of an Educational Psychologist. However, because every child is unique and there are no two identical cases in psycho-educational interventions, it is important for educational psychologists to be aware of - and have access to - assessment techniques which will provide them with the richest information about thier clients and the most holistic view of their condition. This will allow them the ability to provide treatment options well tailored to their clients' specific set of issues and circumstances. One assessment technique that offers this opportunity is the psycho-educational assessment.

Psycho-educational assessment is a process by which a trained professional works with those involved in a child’s learning or development to identify the child’s strengths and weaknesses including areas in which a child needs intervention removing all learning barriers. It typically involves an in-depth interview with the parents, teacher and the child.

The goal of psycho-educational assessment is to equip everyone involved with children to help them achieve as much as they can. It shows how best a child can learn, improve a child’s behavior and over-all academic performance. This educational assessment helps identify academic intervention and accommodations that would help improve a child’s learning ability.

“Psycho-educational assessment open doors to greater understanding of the child by everyone involved”.

Psycho-educational assessments often look at a child’s developmental history, cognitive functioning (including; reasoning ability, phonological processing, motor skills etc.), academic skills and socio-emotional skills including executive functioning.

Some of the questions Psycho-educational assessment entails include:-

Does the child struggle to pay attention?

Is the child able to process information appropriate to the age?

What recommendations are available to help a child learn in the classroom or understand instructions at home?

What is the child’s quality of sleep like?

A psycho-educational assessment evaluates the basic academic performance and ability of a child. Hence, it focuses majorly on the following areas:-

The Reading ability

Comprehension

Math Skills

Writing Skills

Spelling skills

Over-all school performance

A psycho-educational report is such that includes specific interventions which could be implemented at home and in the school. It also helps the teacher target the specific areas needed to be improved.

Possible signs that could bring about a psycho-educational assessment:-

Unexpected behavioral reactions to small problems

Low grades in school

Inability to focus or concentrate on given tasks

Sudden change in attitude towards school, friends and family

Increased stress, behavioral outbursts or withdrawing from others.

Importance of psycho-educational assessment

It helps to determine the most effective study strategies that suit a child in order to learn best.

It provides adequate ways in solving a child’s behavioral and learning problems.

It helps to identify if a child has any learning difficulty and how it could be addressed.

It helps to receive detailed suggestions about how your child can perform to the best

of their abilities.

It gives a perfect diagnosis of what the child is struggling with and possible recommendations to improve the child’s lifestyle.