What Procedures Are Used?

Psycho-educational evaluation uses a combination of various procedures that are dependent upon the reason for the evaluation. Procedures commonly fall into the following categories:

Interviews

Evaluation generally begins with collateral interviews (with teachers, parents, other professionals and supports) and directly with the student themselves. The purpose of this to gather anecdotal information not easily translatable on rating scales or other types of forms, and gives collaterals the opportunity to provide additional information perhaps not addressed in paperwork.

Standardized tests

Standardized tests are used in order to compare an individual’s performance to an appropriate peer group. These types of tests are developed and “normed” under standard conditions, which means using prescribed instructions, materials, and scoring to ensure reliable and valid comparisons. This allows us to compare how the student is functioning in reference to others their age and whether or not they are at level, behind, or exceeding expectations. Some common examples include (among others):

  • Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children

  • Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale

  • Wechsler Individual Achievement Test

  • Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing

  • Delis Kaplan Executive Function System (DKEFS)

  • Nepsy

  • California Verbal Learning Test-Children’s (CVLT-C)

  • Conners’ Continuous Performance Test 3 (CPT 3)

Rating scales

Many conditions require that the symptoms/behaviours are present in multiple environments (for example, home, school, test setting) in order to meet diagnostic criteria. Rating scales help gather this information, as well as to determine whether or not the level of behaviour/symptoms seen are common for the student’s age or unusual (clinically significant). They help us to understand both the frequency and severity of behaviours or skills in the home and school environments. For them to be useful, they must be understood in the context of observations of the student by the evaluator, test data, and collateral interview. A significant limitation of rating scales is that they are not an actual test of the student’s skills/behaviours, and are dependent on the perceptions of the rater. Still, they can be useful for understanding strengths and weakness of the student, especially when raters are very familiar with the student and when multiple raters complete forms (this helps reduce biased perceptions).

Examples of commonly used rating scales include:

  • Conners Comprehensive Behaviour Rating Scale (CBRS);

  • Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC);

  • Comprehensive Executive Function Inventory (CEFI);

  • Behaviour Rating Inventory of Executive Functioning (BRIEF);

  • Adaptive Behavior Assessment System (ABAS).

Self-report scales

Students are often asked to provide ratings of their own opinions of their behaviour and skills. These scales are similar (or even identical) to collateral rating scales, and again, are most useful when understood in the context of the entirety of the information collected from other raters, interviews, and direct test data. The BASC and the CBRS from above are good examples of rating scales that offer a self-report scale.

Observations

In the school setting School Psychologists regularly conduct observations of the student in the classroom. In this way they are able to observe not only what the student is doing, but also interactions between both adults and peers in the setting as well. In the private setting, observations of the student in the classroom might be conducted, but observations of their behaviour, performance, and interactions in the clinical setting stand at the centre of evaluation.