Educational Assessment
What are educational assessments?
Educational assessments measure a child’s academic ability in a range of areas including:
- Reading – comprehension and decoding
- Written expression
- Spelling
- Mathematics – operations and reasoning
- Listening comprehension
- Oral expressive skills
- Academic fluency – speed of reading, writing and calculating
Educational assessments are often considered necessary following cognitive assessments to determine whether a child is gifted in a learning area or may have a learning difficulty or disability. An educational assessment, combined with the results of other tests, can provide information to assist parents and teachers to better understand academic strengths and weaknesses and inform effective individualised learning plans.
What are the benefits of assessment?
- Identify the level of academic skill in particular areas
- Diagnosing specific learning disorders such as a reading or writing disability
- Assisting teachers and school counsellors to provide Individualised Education Plans
What are the tests used for assessments?
Our experienced psychologists provide intellectual disability assessments for children 10 years and above, adolescents, and adults, utilising the following assessment tools;
- Wechsler Individual Achievement Test – Second Edition (WIAT-III, Australian Standard) for children aged 4 to 19 years.
- Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children – Fifth edition (WISC-V Australian Standard) for children aged 6 to 16 years
What does the assessment process look like?
The process of an educational assessment involves four stages:
- Initial appointment to perform a through interview in order to obtain all relevant background
- Administration of WIAT-III and WISC-V
- Your psychologist will complete a comprehensive report, including any relevant diagnoses, suggestions for intervention and recommendations for home and school
- Feedback session to discuss the results of the cognitive assessment and the report