Potential Benefits of Evaluation
Program planning: Psycho-educational evaluations can provide useful information specific to the student’s strengths and needs. This information can assist with appropriate education planning, determining any remedial instruction or specialized services the student might need, help collaterals have appropriate expectations on the student, etc.
Access to treatment: formal diagnosis is often necessary in order access treatment for a condition (for example, medications for ADHD, etc), to guide treatment planning, and to monitor the effectiveness of intervention.
Post-secondary supports: Psycho-educational evaluations provide information that could assist students and families with gaining access to accommodations and supports in many post-secondary institutions, both in terms of available learning accommodations, test accommodations, and various bursary and scholarship opportunities for students with diagnosed learning challenges.
Social service program eligibility: many social service programs are available to students with diagnosed learning conditions. These services are often diagnosis dependent and so results of an evaluation will help determine eligibility for these programs.
Limitations of Psychological Evaluations
It is important to recognize what psycho-educational evaluations are and are not able to provide. They provide information about the student’s current level of functioning, document the presence or absence of various limiting factors on learning, and highlight strengths that can be capitalized on to foster growth and learning.
However, evaluations seldom give guidance on selecting specific curriculum (although this can be commented on more generally or discussed in consultation between a School Psychologist and the school team), determine appropriate class assignment or grade placement, or evaluate the quality of the instruction the student is receiving.