What is an Educational Assessment?
Examination Concession Assessments
The education department and the IEB have acknowledged that there are learners who through no fault of their own are unable to reach their true potential in an examination setting.
Through an examination concession assessment, the following can be applied for:
- Extra time
- A scribe
- A Reader
- Spelling concessions
- Allocation of Separate Venue to write and complete examinations
Career Assessments and Subject Choices
Career assessments are tools that are designed to help individuals understand how a variety of personal attributes (i.e., interests, values, preferences, motivations, aptitudes and skills), impact their potential success and satisfaction with different career options and work environments.
Career assessments are designed to discover your skills, aptitude and talents. It is a useful tool in assessing the areas in which you have strengths and limitations. The results can be useful in helping you choose a career that is in tune with your goals and talents.
Career assessments have been proven to:
- introduce more career options,
- increase your satisfaction in your career plan and
- increase the understanding of yourself and personal satisfaction.
What is a psycho-educational assessment?
A psycho-educational assessment is one-on-one and uses a variety of tools to develop a complete perspective of your child’s academic skills and cognitive abilities (thinking).
It is important to determine not just how much your child has learned, but how they learn and solve problems.
Who does psycho-educational assessments?
Psycho-educational assessments are conducted by one of our registered and experienced educational psychologists.
In addition to showing how a child learns, an assessment can provide a diagnosis of:
- a learning disability,
- attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD),
- developmental disability, and
- identify any other social/emotional/behavioural or psychological problems.
- dyslexia
- dyscalculia
- sensory integration
A psycho-educational assessment is beneficial in helping parents better understand where they should focus their efforts for development. These decisions are extremely important in the long run for your child’s happiness and quality of life.
What is the process of a psycho-educational assessment?
An assessment comprises of:
- Initial Consultation: We discuss any ongoing issues, the family history and background information. This helps the educational psychologist understand your child better.
- Psycho-educational assessment process: The child will then be given various activities and assessment tools. Our child friendly environment will ensure that the process is not stressful for your child. This will usually take half a day to complete.
- Report and Recommendations: Test results and insights produce a comprehensive report for parents. The report includes recommendations for any necessary accommodations and at-home support strategies.
- Feedback Session with Educational Psychologist: The parents will meet with the educational psychologist to go over the report and answer any questions.
What makes up a psycho-educational assessment?
Cognitive/IQ assessment
- Intelligence
- language skill
- memory
- verbal and visual learning
- attention / concentration
- eye – hand coordination
- planning ability
- reflective / impulsive response style
- perceptual reasoning
- logical reasoning
- spatial reasoning
- dyslexia
- dyscalculia
- sensory integration
Academic ability assessment
- reading
- spelling
- writing
- mathematics
- academic fluency
- listening comprehension
- oral expressive skills
Emotional Assessment
- emotional intelligence
- self-concept
- self-esteem
- self-confidence
- family dynamics
- Social perception
- social skills
- the child’s emotional inner world
Does my child need a psycho-educational assessment?
Every child is different, but here are some signs that your child may need a psycho-educational assessment:
- If your child consistently studies hard but the marks don’t reflect his/her effort
- If your child is clearly intelligent but, because of procrastination and poor planning skills, cannot deliver their homework or assignments on time
- If your child’s teacher notes in their report that they need to pay more attention or stay more focused in class
- If your child presents with any behavioural or emotional problems related to school or home
- If your child consistently doesn’t want or doesn’t like to go to school
- If your child’s marks are good in all areas except one or two, such as Maths or English
- If you think your child would benefit from school accommodations or exam concessions
Teacher’s concerns:
- If there are frequently raised concerns from teachers regarding your child’s behaviour in class. That he/she is acting out, “always” getting into trouble. Or that your child is withdrawn, anxious, or demotivated child
- If the teacher raises concerns that your child is behind on academic performance, slow work pace, or there is a lack of comprehension and understanding
Concerns at home:
- If as a parent, you have concerns at home that your child seems:
- frequently sad,
- there is excessive sibling rivalry,
- is isolating themselves,
- displaying aggressive or inappropriate behaviour or
- unexplained changes in behaviour.
The benefits of a psycho-educational assessment
Many parents worry that getting a psycho-educational assessment means there is something wrong with their child. This is a myth, plain and simple. A psycho-educational assessment is a way to determine your child’s strengths and weaknesses in many different areas.
It is important to know which natural strengths you should help your child to develop. This is key to is improving their happiness and quality of life.
Additional key benefits of psycho-educational assessments are:
- Setting realistic academic expectations according to your child’s potential
- Identifying what strategies, tools, and resources will maximize their learning
- Determining the most effective academic strategies for their learning style.
What people say about us
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I must admit, I first came to the centre reluctantly, and was not very enthusiastic about starting therapy. Now…. I look forward to my regular sessions. I absolutely LOVE my “pre – therapy” coffee and catch-ups with the Practice manager, who is the life and soul of the centre.
As a parent it has been such a good experience dealing with a team who are so warm and caring, and yet very professional!! My child’s attitude to coming to the centre speaks for itself.
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