1. What services are included in your evaluation?
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- Initial parent interview
- School visit and teacher interviews
- Data gathering from other professionals (counselors, related service providers, physicians, tutors)
- Comprehensive testing
- Scoring of the tests
- Writing of the report
- Two hour parent follow up meeting
- Follow up contact with the referring professional
2. What will my report include?
The report gives the reason you brought your child in to be evaluated, the procedures included in the evaluation (including observations, interviews with your child, with you, and/or with teachers and other professionals), a summary of the results, descriptions of the tests used, summary tables with all the test results, and, most importantly, recommendations. I list my recommendations mostly in the order of importance, though the first recommendation usually has to do with school placement and programming.
3. Who gets my child's report?
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In cases where I have been hired by parents, I do not send out any reports to anyone without specific written permission. I never send a report until parents have read it and know what will be sent. In the case of an Independent Educational Evaluation, where the district, charter school, or other public educational agency has contracted with me to do the evaluation, I am required to send reports to the family and to the school. It is my policy to provide these to parents and schools at the same time.
4. What records do you need?
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It is important for me to have a clear sense of your child’s history, including how she or he has performed on previous testing, what kinds of interventions she or he has had, and what kind of educational progress she or he has made. I also need to know about any academic supports or related services your child is being provided with at school. Many psychological or academic tests cannot be re-administered within certain time periods. Finally, I use previous information to inform my plan for testing your child.
For these reasons, please make sure you provide me with:
- All past psychological or neuropsychological evaluations
- The most recent evaluations from school or private speech or occupational therapists
- Your child’s IEP or section 504 accommodations plan
- Results of school administered standardized tests, like NJ ASK, PSSA, Keystone Tests, DCAS, MAPS
5. What do I need to do after scheduling an evaluation?
A checklist is available here.
6. Why do you personally do the school observation?
Children can behave and interact differently in the office than they do in their classrooms. Sometimes, they are more comfortable at school because it is familiar, sometimes they are more comfortable in my office because school isn’t working for them. Either way, it can be very helpful to see how a child reacts to the different situations. Observations at school also help me see what the expectations are in your child’s classroom, how your child and his/her teacher interact, and whether the setting appears to be working, overall, for him or her. For some students, I can observe in more than one setting and see how your child responds to different expectations, class sizes, and teachers. I often talk with teachers while I’m at the schools, and I can get a lot of good information that way, as well.
7. Why do you personally do all of the testing and report writing?
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I am committed to a personal service model. Families don’t come to me merely for a set of test results. Most families have the goal of learning more about who their child is, how she or he thinks, what needs she or he has, and how to help her/him learn and develop. I learn as much about the child during the testing sessions, from just talking to him or her and watching him/her work, as I do from the test scores. I want you to leave my office, after our final parent meeting, with a good understanding of where your child is now, what to be aware of for the future, and what your next steps should be.
8. Will you attend a followup IEP or school meeting?
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A follow up meeting with school is not included in the evaluation fee, but I would be willing to attend a meeting with you, payable at my hourly rate of $200/hr.
9. Would you testify in a due process hearing if it is necessary?
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I am willing to testify if necessary, and have experience doing so. However, such appearances are not included in the evaluation fee. For legal cases, I would bill $200 per hour for record review and/or preparation with your attorney, and $400 per hour for the actual testimony.
10. What is involved with a school admissions test?
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Many of the local independent schools require testing for admissions. Typically, this will consist of one of the Wechsler IQ tests: the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-III for children up to age 6, and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-V for children ages 6-16. Testing with the Wechsler Scales takes about 60-90 minutes. After your child is finished, I will give you immediate verbal feedback, and follow up with a written report within a week. Cost is $350.