Pros & Cons: The School Based vs. Independent Psychological Evaluation

Here is an article I wrote for Parenting Special Needs Magazine published this month!
Read on to find out about the differences between the Psychological Evaluation that is completed by your school district’s Child Study Team and the private or independent Psychological Evaluation.

Link to article on Parenting Special Needs Magazine: http://magazine.parentingspecialneeds.org/publication/?i=126657&l=&m=&p=24&id=5779

                                                                   Pros & Cons:
                                  The School Based vs. Independent Psychological Evaluation

You’re a parent who has noticed that your child is struggling academically in one or more area, whether that is in math, reading, or with social interactions, social language or behaviors. You are at the point where you ready for an evaluation.  In essence, you want to know if your child is eligible for special education and related services.  Where do you begin?

Step one: speak to your child’s teacher and gain feedback regarding your child’s performance within the area that you believe is a weakness for your child.

Step two: decide if you would like for your school’s Child Study Team to perform the psychological, evaluation vs. seeking an independent evaluation.

Before you make that decision, you need to answer the question:  what’s the difference between the evaluation and report you would gain from your School Psychologist vs. one gained from an outside professional? Well, there are several and here is a summary to help you when you make this decision.

The Psychological Evaluation through your Child Study Team
The psychological evaluation completed by a certified School Psychologist who is a member of your Child Study Team.  Once completed, your child is eligible for a re-evaluation every three years; however, you, as the parent, have the right to request this evaluation sooner than 3 years, but no more than one time per year.  It is strongly recommended that you have your child evaluated at least every 3 years as your child’s strengths and weaknesses will likely change during that time. If they have not, you now know that!

The Psychological evaluation completed by your school should consist of a standardized test, such as the Wechsler Intelligence Scales (Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence™ – Fourth Edition, WPPSI – IV; Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, 4th edition, WISC-IV; or Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, 4th edition, WAIS-IV), an observation, and a student interview.

In the end, you will gain a report that provides an IQ of your child’s cognitive/intellectual performance, a summary of a classroom observation, and information about your child’s interests, preferences, and reported academic strengths and weaknesses. Note, the School Psychologist is not permitted to provide any diagnoses, if relevant, within this report.

This information will be used to compare to the results of the Educational Evaluation that is completed by the Child Study Team Learning Specialist in order to determine if there is a learning disability that is negatively impacting your child’s ability to perform academically.

The School Based via the Private/Independent Psychological Evaluation

If you are seeking an independent psychological evaluation that means that you are hiring a Clinical Psychologist privately to provide you with an evaluation and report.  The Clinical Psychologist has the ability to administer additional tests in order to answer questions you may have as a parent, or to gain more specific information about your child’s intellectual and academic skills.

Being a School and Clinical Psychologist, when I perform a private psychological evaluation, I also like to administer an achievement test and examine visual motor skills in order to gain a big picture view of the student. This helps me to determine if there is a learning disability that has is suspected or has gone undetected, as well as other areas that may be impeding or negatively impacting a child’s ability to perform academically.

This report is comprehensive and offers information about learning style that the School Psychologist’s report does not contain. That is, is your child a visual spatial learner? An auditory learner? A hands on learner? With this information in mind, the recommendations in the report can then be geared towards the best way to teach new information to the student that is in line with the way he naturally takes it in.

Pros & Cons
So what are some of the major pros and cons of a Child Study Team generated psychological evaluation vs. a private/independent one?

Pro –
·         The psychological evaluation completed by your School Psychologist will not incur any cost to you.
Cons –
·         The report is not as thorough and informative
·         Testing is not as extensive
·         Information gained does not offer a big picture view of your child as a student.

So, there you have it. Now you have the inside scoop on the school based psychological evaluation vs. the independent/private one.  Good luck!

Dr. Liz Matheis is a clinical psychologist and school psychologist in Parsippany, NJ who provides assessment, psychotherapy, consulting, and advocacy for children and families managing autism spectrum disorders, ADHD and learning disabilities (www.psychconsult.weebly.com). She is also a contributor to several popular press magazines.
"The various psycho-educational testing Dr. Liz conducted on our son gave us critical clues about where his learning strengths and weaknesses lie so that his needs could be better addressed at home and school. Moreover, because of their warm, kindhearted personalities, both Dr. Liz and her associate, Stephanie, formed an immediate bond with my son. He eagerly looks forward to his weekly therapy sessions. We are so lucky Dr. Liz came into our family's lives when she did! For stressed-out families trying to help their children as best they can, she is a calming voice of reason!"
- Julie C.
"Dr. Matheis has a remarkable ability to understand the unique needs of her patients and address them constructively. She builds strong, meaningful relationships with patients and their families, encouraging trust and collaboration. When working with my son who struggles with autism-related anxiety, she created an environment in which he was able to calm down and open up to her in ways I had not seen before. She was able to reach him and helped him work through his crisis/problem. Most importantly, she empowered him to move forward."
- N.L.
"Dr. Matheis is amazing. She has tremendous resources and loads of energy. She is not willing to accept anything less than the most effective results for her clients. She made me feel as if my son was her top priority throughout the entire process. I would, without reservation, give her my highest recommendations.  Thank you, Dr. Matheis!"
- Anonymous
"Dr. Matheis has an amazing ability to read kids and connect with them. She has been an invaluable resource for our family over the past several years and has helped us with everything from educational consulting, to uncovering diagnoses as well as family therapy. Working with Dr. Matheis never feels clinical and most importantly, our children love and trust her. We can not thank you enough Dr. Liz!"
- Anonymous
"My teenage son had been seeing Dr. Matheis through his senior year of high school, as he was only diagnosed with ADHD at 16 years old.  Dr. Matheis came highly recommended from our pediatrician and she has done wonders for our son as well as our family, navigating new ways for him to deal with his diagnosis without the use of medication.  She taught him ways to organize himself and even when something did not work for him, she patiently continued teaching him new ways to keep himself on track.  She has also helped us as parents to understand how his mind works so that we did not continue to blame his lack of focus on him, rather on his unique way of thinking.  Thank you Dr. Matheis!!!!"
- LG
"Dr. Liz is the best! Our family was directed to her by our Pediatrician to assist with figuring out severe mood changes, severe anxiety, strange new fears and food aversion that had come onto one of our children literally overnight. After just a couple of visits, she suggested that the issues may actually be rooted in a physical issue and suggested we immediately take our child to be swabbed for strep, because Dr. Liz suspected PANDAS (a pediatric autoimmune disorder brought on by strep). The same Pediatrician that suggested Dr. Liz would not do the swab (they do not believe in PANDAS and we no longer go there) but I took my child to my doctor who did the swab and it was positive for strep. When our child went on antibiotics, within 24 hours all symptoms went away and our child was back :-) Dr. Liz then recommended a PANDAS specialist who helped us and our child is in complete remission and is happy and healthy. We are incredibly grateful to Dr. Liz for her knowledge of all things, even the most remote and unusual and for helping us so much! Thank you!"
- Anonymous
"The various psycho-educational testing Dr. Liz conducted on our son gave us critical clues about where his learning strengths and weaknesses lie so that his needs could be better addressed at home and school. Moreover, because of their warm, kindhearted personalities, both Dr. Liz and her associate, Stephanie, formed an immediate bond with my son. He eagerly looks forward to his weekly therapy sessions. We are so lucky Dr. Liz came into our family's lives when she did! For stressed-out families trying to help their children as best they can, she is a calming voice of reason!"
- Anonymous
"Thank you, Dr. Liz. Although we have told you countless times, it will never feel enough. You have listened when J could barely speak and continued to listen when he was sad, angry and confused. You've challenged him and directed us in our roles as parents. You've helped J face his fears while the list evolved and changed, and yet you've stayed committed to 'the course.' We pray that your children realize that time away from them is spent helping children learn and that vulnerability is a sign of strength and bravery."
- June I
"My son was admitted to an Ivy League school when only 2 years ago, you assessed him and saw his struggles, his Dyslexia. We are grateful that he no longer has to carry that deep feeling of inadequacy or shame that must have kept him so self conscious and from reaching his potential. He has the PERFECT program for him. He has A's in high math and economics. He became a Merit Scholar, a Boys State legislature, the HEAD captain of the football team and help a job ALL while studying and managing his classes and disability. I am PROUD of you, a young doctor, who knows and sees the vulnerability of children and helps them recognize "it's NO big deal" God bless."
- Anonymous

Learn More About Dr. Liz!

Subscribe to our Mailing List
Psychological and Educational Consulting Logo

513 W Mt Pleasant Ave, Ste 212,
​Livingston, NJ 07039