How I Approach Assessment
Understanding a child’s learning and development, and working together on useful next steps.
I begin with the questions a child, family, or school team brings to the evaluation. As a school psychologist, applied researcher, and someone who struggled in school, I value an approach that takes those experiences seriously and makes room for questions throughout.
Begin with the questions that matter
I want to understand the child’s strengths, the concerns at home or school, and what support has already been tried. Families, teachers, and other professionals each bring information that helps build that picture. Together, we clarify what the evaluation needs to answer. I choose measures for those questions and consider records, observations, direct assessment, and progress over time.
Follow what happens after the evaluation
Recommendations should connect to the child’s needs and the people who will put them into practice. I work toward clear next steps: what support to try, who will be involved, and how progress can be reviewed. Families and school teams should be able to follow the reasoning, ask questions, and revisit the plan as they learn what helps.
Interpret results in context
Test scores are one part of the picture. I explain what they describe, how they fit with other information, and where the evidence is uncertain. A pattern of cognitive scores needs its own evidence before it can guide diagnosis or instruction. In a meta-analysis of 22 studies, Stuebing and colleagues found that IQ explained about 0.6% to 1.3% of unique variation in response to reading instruction after prior performance and other predictors were considered. This finding concerns reading response; the value of intellectual assessment depends on the question being asked.
Use assessment for a clear purpose
Evaluating intellectual disability, for example, considers significant limitations in intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior, with onset during development. Everyday conceptual, social, and practical functioning helps us understand a person’s support needs. This serves a different purpose from choosing a reading intervention. I match the assessment and its interpretation to the decision we need to make.
Research and professional discussion
These views inform my consultation, training, and writing on assessment, intervention, and school psychology. I continue to examine the evidence and the limits of the measures we use.