A psycho-educational assessment involves an evaluation of an individual’s cognitive functioning (intelligence) and academic abilities, in order to better understand their learning strengths and needs. In this article, I outline the purpose of psycho-educational assessments, when an assessment might be recommended, and information for navigating the assessment process.

If you are a resident in Alberta and would prefer to speak with someone directly, please reach out to schedule a brief 15-min phone consultation. As a licensed psychologist trained in school psychology, I am happy to answer your questions and walk you through the assessment process.

What is a Psycho-Educational Assessment?

A Psycho-educational assessment provides information regarding an individual’s learning strengths and needs and evaluates for a potential learning disability.

Psycho-educational assessments evaluate functioning in a number of important areas related to learning, including:

  • Intelligence (IQ)
  • Academic Skills (reading, written expression and mathematics)
  • Attention/Executive Functions (i.e., planning, organizing, time management)
  • Behavioural strengths and challenges
  • Mental Health (i.e., worry/mood)
  • Memory

A psycho-educational assessment might also be completed to evaluate for other neurodevelopmental disabilities (i.e., intellectual disabilities) or to identify Gifted and Talented Learners (Gifted Assessment).

When to Consider Getting a Psychoeducational Assessment

Psycho-educational assessments are most often completed when an individual is struggling is with their learning or school performance. The goal of the assessment is to understand the nature of their learning challenges, and more importantly, how to help.

In children and adolescents. A teacher might suggest that learning objectives are not being met and that there are challenges acquiring or applying specific academic skills.

In adulthood. This may look like a post-secondary student who is struggling in some aspect of their learning and would like to understand why and how to manage it.

Here are some questions to help consider if a psycho-educational assessment is right:

  • Are you (or your child) struggling to meet learning objectives in the classroom?
  • Is your child falling behind in their academic work or lacking confidence as a learner?
  • Has a teacher identified specific learning challenges, or recommended an assessment?
  • Do you (or your child) struggle to retain information during instruction, lectures or work meetings?
  • Are you a mature student requiring an updated assessment for post- secondary accommodation?
  • Are learning challenges affecting your performance in the workplace?

If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions and would like more information, I would be happy to speak with you regarding assessment options.

Can Psycho-educational Assessments be Completed with Adults?

It is not uncommon for adults to pursue psychoeducational testing. There are a number of reasons that an adult may pursue a psycho-educational assessment:

  • To understand their learning strengths and needs, after a longstanding history of challenges in their education or employment.
  • To explore eligibility for funding and/or programing (i.e., Disability Tax Credit, AISH, PDD).
  • An updated assessment may be required to inform post-secondary or workplace accommodations

What If I Had an Assessment Before?

The results from a psycho-educational assessment are intended for current use. For this reason, an updated assessment may be required as students’ progress in their learning or employment, to provide updated information:

  • A student who was assessed during elementary school may require an updated assessment to provide information to support the transition to junior or senior high school.
  • A student applying to post-secondary institutions may require an updated assessment to obtain academic accommodation.

Different school boards and post-secondary institutions may have different requirements. Be sure to clarify the requirements related to your school or program, before pursuing a reassessment.

Choosing the Right Person to Conduct Your Psycho-educational Assessment

An important aspect of the assessment process is finding psychologist that is a good fit for you. Reviewing the practice website and asking questions regarding a clinician’s areas of specialization are important.

Components of a Psycho-Educational Assessment

Psycho-educational assessments are intended to answer questions around learning and school performance. There are two main components for this type of assessment:

  1. Cognitive Functioning (IQ)
  2. Academic Skills
    a. Reading
    b. Writing
    c. Mathematics

Intelligence is considered a strong predictor of academic achievement, so when an individual is struggling in their learning, we first want to understand their cognitive profile. Understanding how an individual thinks, reasons, problem-solves and processes information is an important first step to understanding learning.

The next step is to understand the individual’s learning profile, including their academic abilities in the areas of reading, written expression and mathematics. We use standardized tests to compare an individual’s performance to normative data for other individuals of the same age and grade.

There are additional areas that may be explored as part of the psycho-educational assessment:

  • Attention/Executive Functions (i.e., planning, organizing, time management)
  • Behavioural Strengths & Challenges
  • Mental Health (i.e., worry/mood)
  • Memory
  • Adaptive Functioning

Assessments are individually tailored and include evaluation in the areas that are relevant to your referral questions and goals. An individualized assessment plan will be developed at the initial intake appointment.

The Psycho-educational Assessment Process

  1. Initial Intake & Assessment Planning
  2. File Review (review of academic records and any previous assessment reports)
  3. Completion of Forms & Rating Scales
  4. ​Administration of Standardized Tests
  5. ​Scoring & Interpretation​ of Tests
  6. Feedback Meeting (to communicate assessment results and discuss next steps for
    intervention)

Initial Intake Appointment & Assessment Planning

The Initial Intake

During the initial intake appointment, we discuss your reasons for pursuing a psycho-educational assessment, and the question(s) you hope to have answered.
Next steps in the intake appointment include:

  • Developing an assessment plan
  • Establishing a timeline for the assessment

The assessment process from initial interview to delivering the results generally requires five to six weeks. We will establish an assessment timeline that works for you at our initial appointment.

Feedback Meeting & Understanding Your Psycho-Educational Assessment Results

A feedback meeting is the final step of the assessment process, but it’s just the beginning of next steps. The goal of the Feedback Meeting is to review the assessment results together, answer any immediate questions you may have, and discuss strategies and recommendations. Further follow-up is available should questions arise as you implement strategies and navigate next steps. Feedback meetings are also available for schools or employers, at client request.

What to Do Next

We’ve gone through a lot of information in this article. IF you have additional questions or are unsure where to start, I offer 15 minute phone consultations to answer questions, and schedule an appointment to get the assessment process started, if it feels like the right option for you.

Amy Winters

I am a Registered Psychologist based in Calgary, Alberta with a Master of Education degree (M. Ed.) in Applied Psychology, from the University of Calgary (2011).​

My work is centered around the goals of overcoming individual challenges and promoting continued growth, through learning.

Inspire Psychological

Growth – Change – Learning

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