Can anyone tell me what an assesment by an educational psychologist will entail?

[drivinmecrazy]

After much procrastination by DD2 school, they have finally relented and agreed to have DD assessed in the coming academic year. She will be starting yr4 in September.

DD is contantly at the lower end of 'acceptable' levels of attainment. She seems to have issues with her focus and retaining information. These issues have been flagged up at nursery and all the way through school but because DD manages to stay within 'acceptable margins' she's been largely ignored.

Cue a huge row with her Head teacher on Tuesday (after taking three school days to get in touch with her). Head admitted that her school file is 'red flagged' and should have been monitored more closely during year3 (despite many 'chats' with her class teacher throughout the year this has not been done) and has not progressed sufficiently through the last academic year.

Head did alot to try and 'fob' me off, as she does each year. Finally she agreed to an educational assessment, which she will apply for as soon as term starts in September. I did, however, get the impression she was doing it more for our benefit ('to shut us up' is the impression DH was left with)

So, what form will the assessment take, and will a school appointed psychologist be truly impartial? i ask this because the school has, in the past, citing budget cuts for DD losing some of the one to one support she has previously had, and having absolutely no confidence in DDs end of year NC assessments (i.e. seen pieces of her assessed work where targets have been ticked where there is clearly no evidence of DD displaying work of that level, such as no connectives used and no punctuation beyond a full stop yet still being awarded a 2A). Very similar story with her maths too, has only just grasped her 2, 5 & 10 times tables yet awarded a confident 3C.

Funnily enough, a remedy the Head offered us was to have her work re-assessed by another teacher which we said we werent happy with because there would be no impartiality. Maybe being paranoid but we feel it suits the school to inflate her levels.

My Mum has suggested that we also get our own private assessment, but would like to trust the schools appointed E.P (and not have to pay out hundreds of pounds to get possibly the same result)

The education at your local county hall will have an ed psych appointed to cover your area. As far as I am aware the school has no control as to who this is.
EP will observe your dd in school setting (you can ask to be there) look at dds work, and speak to teachers. They then write up a report and advice (a plan of action) for the school. The school has to follow this advice.

I believe you can also phone county hall and request the EP involvement yourself

ds1 had an ed psych assessment as his school refused to accept there was any problem other than him being 'lazy' or 'not private school material'.

he was 7. he spent about 2-3 hours with the ed psych doing lots of different kinds of tests, looking at spelling/reading/sorting/maths/working memory etc which he thoroughly enjoyed and engaged in.

it was incredibly helpful and well worth the couple of hundred pounds it cost, as finding out exactly what the problem was meant the school had to act on it.

i'd be inclined to see what the school EP says and if you're not happy with that, then go see somebody privately to put your mind at rest.

Thankyou. Do you know if we will be able to speak to them? Only ask because when we spoke to the Head about some of the 'oddities' we see at home, she made it very plain that it was our duty to share these with the school so they could have a fuller picture. We were quite put out by her attitude because on numerous occasions we have talked to her class teacher about our concerns but have been totally ignored or told 'she is making progress'

So bloody hard when you know your child, and every bone in your body is telling you there is a problem. Also so sad for DD2, she's completely oblivious to it all and actually quite enjoys 'being not too clever because i get the easy work'

Poosibly an entirely different system as I am in Scotland, but when we had concerns about our son (he was getting bullied and was displaying some anxious behavious at school (understandably)), initially the school did an assessment themselves and then he was referred to the Ed Psych service. We had a meeting with her and the teachers at the school etc when she wanted info on his birth, his behavious throughout babyhood and toddlerhood as well as the differences seen at home and at school. She then observed him in the class and later spoke to him individually.

We had the county Ed Psych in to assess DD. As well as a couple of hours of tests (not just spelling, but doing a drawing and talking about it), she also observed DD in a lesson and at playtime, then had a 1.5 hour chat with us.

So it was quite thorough, but also really only a snapshot.

Do you have any gut feeling as to what your DD's issues might be? Because if you do and can afford it, I would think about getting her assessed by a specialist in that area, partly because school Ed Psychs are by their nature generalists, and also because the appointment can take months and months to come through.

There isn't a standard answer to what will happen because it varies from child to child.
In general the school will have already provided a report and current levels of attainment in Reading, writing, maths and science plus reports from any external agencies involved- speech and language - Occupational therapy etc

The Ed Psych will usually observe the child/talk to class teacher & parents and may carry out assessments if appropriate. Once all thos is completed a report will be sent to school and parents. Schools do not have to accept the advice.

partly because school Ed Psychs are by their nature generalists

Not so much, many school EPs have specialisms (ASD, Early Years, behaviour etc).Often the school EP assessment won't be as detailed as a report from a private psychologist. This may be because the school request observation + feedback only (not necessarily individual assessment), or time limitations.

You will probably be asked to fill in a consent form.If I was you I would contact the school EP directly at that point and ask what assessment may be undertaken.

and as mrz quite rightly points out, schools do not have to listen to one iota of EP advice.

Thank you all for the insight. I've heard contradicting views about wether the school must act on findings, although the Head has previously 'assured' us if we went ahead with a private assessment they would abide by the recommendations, though am finding it increasingly difficult to have any faith in anything she says now.

Head has made us doubt ourselves so many times over the years. Her attitude to the assessment seems to be to keep us away from her door, but equally I can't believe the school would fund this just to keep a parent happy.

She Joined our school 3 years ago, having come from a failing primary in a very deprived area which she turned around completely. Our school is in a very 'middle class' area, and has always had an amazing local reputation for its sense of community to the degree that each year the school has 250 applicants for 60 places. Its a case of 'if it aint broke dont fix it' but she has other ideas. Ironically DD1 is quite academic and when she attended we felt it didn't offer enough for the very bright children, now the shoes on the other foot the Head actively takes the brighter cohort and teaches them separately throughout the week. In my mind the mark of a truly great Head would be to take those children struggling and spend her teaching hours with them.

But Hey Ho, it is what it is. Sometimes we just can't win

depends on your local authority and how local services are funded. In my LA, each school gets a fixed amount of time per term depending on need so they don't 'purchase' their EP per se. Schools prioritise depending on the needs of the cohort. Children with statements, requiring statutory assessment will usually take priority.

In my neighbouring LA the schools purchase EP time directly from the EP team so school can decide from term to term if they want the EP to come and work with a particular child. Sometimes it is simply to get the parent of their backs even if they don't agree with the parent point of view.

In my experience, 'school appointed psychologists' are impartial, as they don't work for the school. Often they will pick up on things school are / are not doing and make suggestions. I work in a SEN role for my LA and the school EP are often great.

We get a fixed number of hours allocated by the LEA but have resorted to buying in extra EP time as the allocation doesn't scratch the surface. Having just read a report I think perhaps we wasted our budget.

I wouldn't count on you actually getting an EP assessment just because the HT promised one.

You could be 'top of the list' for the whole year and it not actually get done......

Do you have any idea what issue you want the EP to assess for?

Are you thinking of dyslexia? or ADHD? Or the most general term ever - SpLD?

I 'commission' lots of EP work (I have 2 days a week of EP time available to me) and can confirm what mrz says about it being different for each child.

I would also add that the school has a great deal of say in what the EPs 'look for' or 'look at'. I work very closely with my EPs (as I have the luxury of time) and I tend to describe a case anonymously first- kick it around with them, then they give me some general advice about what the underlying difficulties could be and the what they could do in terms of assessment.

I then have to fill in a 'request for involvement' in quite specific terms. This request for involvement is what guides what they do. If I said 'please assess the child's emotional wellbeing' they would interview the parents and child, observe the child at playtime, maybe run some of the self-esteem checklists. They would NOT assess for dyslexia. If I asked them to assess a child's processing speed or phonological awareness they would NOT assess their wellbeing... it is not like running a bloods panel where anything out of place will crop up.

So, you need to work with the school to ensure they make the right 'request'!!

Hi Op. Any updates? How is your daughter now? I’m very new into this journey. Any advice?
Thanks

@User1123456 the thread is 10 years old and the OP’s child may be finished school. You’d be better off starting your own new thread if you have concerns about your child’s learning.