Educational & Diagnostic Testing Center
What We Do
At the Educational & Diagnostic Testing Center, we strongly believe in the ACS Athens holistic philosophy, whereby students are encouraged to realize their unique potential. Using a multidisciplinary approach, our team of diagnosticians evaluates individual strengths and weaknesses by conducting a variety of psycho-educational assessments in order to obtain a comprehensive understanding of every child. Individualized recommendations for interventions and strategies are provided, depending on the child’s unique learning profile, in order to help them enhance overall functioning.
What Makes Us Unique?
- Multidisciplinary Team - every child is assessed by a team of professionals, including Special Educators and Psychologists, in order to obtain a comprehensive understanding of their needs
- In-house Assessments for ACS Athens Students - assessments are conducted right on campus for ACS Athens students, allowing them to be evaluated within a comfortable setting. Diagnosticians are able to gather information and collaborate with teachers and other staff in order to have a holistic understanding of each child, ensuring the best possible outcome.
Professional Services
What are Diagnostic Evaluations?
Diagnostic evaluations are a set of assessments that are conducted on a one-to-one (Diagnostician to child) basis in order to determine strengths and weaknesses and develop an individualized plan to enable students to perform optimally in their school and home environments.
Based on the need and age of each child, the Diagnostic team offers a wide range of evaluations. The ACS Athens Educational & Diagnostic Testing Center offers assessments in the following areas:
- Cognitive strengths and weaknesses (e.g. perceptual reasoning, fluid reasoning, working memory, verbal comprehension, problem-solving and conceptualization, attention, processing speed)
- Academic achievement (e.g. reading, writing, mathematics)
- Perceptual processing and motor skills
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)-Specific Evaluation
- Tests for specific learning difficulties
- Behavioral
- Social-emotional well-being
In order to develop a holistic understanding of the child’s learning style, the following methods of evaluation may also be employed:
- Educational and clinical history through the intake form
- Guardian interview
- Teacher interviews
- Behavioral observations (both within the classroom setting and during the process of assessment)
- Review of previous psycho-educational tests
When the evaluation process is completed, guardians will receive the following:
- A report detailing the results of the psycho-educational assessments. Recommendations for strategies and interventions and, if applicable, referral for further evaluation and services will also be included in the report.
- A consultation with members of the Diagnostic team in order to discuss the results of the evaluation.
- For ACS Athens students, we continue to work with both school and family until school success is achieved.
Evaluation Procedures
- Referral: A referral is made by the child’s guardian, the ACS Athens child study team, or another educational professional.
- Initial Contact: The guardian contacts the Educational & Diagnostic Testing Center at ACS Athens and arranges an appointment for the upcoming week. The Guardian completes the Intake Forms and provides informed consent before the initial meeting; all forms are provided by our office.
- Intake Interview: Diagnostic team member(s) meet with the Guardian to discuss the information on the Intake Form and gather necessary details. The Guardian is requested to bring any previous assessments of the child. During the intake meeting, the assessment process is thoroughly explained to the Guardian(s) and any questions they may have been addressed.
- Testing Initiates: Testing with the child may occur over several days depending on the necessary evaluations to be administered.
- Final Meeting: Diagnostic team member(s) meet with Guardian to discuss results and recommendations.
Additional Services
Consultations by appointment: If you would like to confidentially discuss any of the following in relation to your child, individual consultations are available by appointment:
- Understanding testing results conducted at another testing center.
- Translating diagnostic data to school programming or for decisions concerning school placement options.
- Guidance about the next steps after testing.
- Exploring whether psycho-educational testing is recommended.
- Other concerns.
Confidentiality
Children’s records and reports are all strictly confidential. A copy of the report will be kept in the student’s confidential file, in a secure location. The report will not be made readily available to anyone unless guardians have provided written consent. Confidentiality may be revoked only in the following circumstances:
- A student is a danger to himself or others, and the law mandates that action must be taken to prevent such harm.
- If the child is in need of protection, and a psycho-educational report is required.
- If there is a court order for these records to be disclosed.
FAQ
Psycho-educational Testing is an in-depth individualized assessment of a student's cognitive, social-emotional and academic strengths and weaknesses. It is helpful in developing an understanding of how a student learns, diagnosing learning difficulties, and identifying gifted and talented students. Psycho-educational Testing may be required to document disabilities requiring accommodations in schools, universities, or the workplace, as well as requesting accommodation services in Standardized Testing (SAT, ACT, TOEFL, IELTS, etc.) and Standardized Course Examinations (IB, AP, etc.).
- Intellectual Ability (i.e., Cognitive Ability; the ability to process information and reason)
- School Achievement (i.e., Reading, Writing, Math)
- Perceptual Abilities (i.e., Visual Perception, Motor Coordination, and Visual-Motor Integration)
- Behavior (i.e., Attention)
- Socio-emotional well-being
Your child may need psycho-educational testing if:
- They are underachieving in school
- They are chronically struggling in a certain academic area
- They are showing very inconsistent performance across academic subjects
- They are showing signs of giftedness
- You or their teachers suspect that the child has a unique style of learning which presents challenges
- Make poor grades despite significant effort
- Need constant, step-by-step guidance for tasks
- Cannot remember problem-solving steps because they do not comprehend tasks or the logic behind them
- Have poor memory of spoken or written material
- Have difficulty mastering tasks or transferring academic skills to other tasks
- Cannot remember skills and facts over time
- Have strong general knowledge but cannot read as in dyslexia, write as in dysgraphia, or do math as in dyscalculia at that level
- May have difficulty with communication and language processing, expressive, and receptive language
- May be very frustrated with school and homework
- May have low self-esteem
In early childhood, symptoms of learning disabilities may first appear as developmental delays in some children. However, it is important to remember that many children with developmental delays may catch up with early intervention in special education programs and will not develop disabilities later in their school years. Students with symptoms that do not improve over time with appropriate interventions may have learning disabilities.
Through psycho-educational testing, the student, guardians and school specialists will have an in-depth analysis of how the student learns. Learning patterns, emerging behaviors and emotional factors that affect the learning process and school performance will be identified. This information will help the team of specialists specify the student's needs and design the best intervention to address the student’s weaknesses.
A psycho-educational evaluation is conducted in order to assess a child's strengths and weaknesses in cognitive and academic areas. The evaluation of additional domains such as adaptive functioning, social-emotional functioning, ADHD, and/or other areas of functioning may also be evaluated, depending on the needs of the child. Guardians and teachers will be asked to complete rating scales and will be interviewed by the diagnosticians in order to get a more holistic view of the child's development and areas of concern.
The total testing time varies depending on the age and needs of each child. The length of the standard testing procedure is usually 2 - 4 weeks.
Preparing your child for the testing may reduce anxiety significantly. Give your child adequate time and prepare him/her at least a week in advance. Explain that he/she is going to have to meet a team of people and work with them, answer a series of questions, do puzzles, draw, read, write and play games. Be as positive and relaxed as possible and make sure you tell your child that the testing will only take place so the adults involved will find out what the best way to help him/her out is.
After psycho-educational testing is completed, the parents are called in for an in-depth consultation and discussion of the results. Parents receive the report, which, along with the testing outcomes, includes recommendations for the student, the parents, as well as the school. Following this meeting, the Diagnostic Team will meet with the student to discuss strengths and weaknesses, as well.
After testing is complete, the Diagnostic Team writes a report with results and then explains these results to guardians, the child, and other relevant professionals.
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Once results are in, it is highly recommended that the parent schedules a meeting with the school counselor, the principal and special educators in order to announce the presenting data. Through the assessment information, a plan can be devised to help the student advance in his/her academics despite any learning differences, and accommodations can be put into practice.
If your child has been referred for an evaluation, or you believe that your child should be evaluated, please call the ACS Athens Educational & Diagnostic Testing Center - 210.639.3200 ext. 283 to schedule an appointment.
You will be sent a link to an online Intake Form, which you may fill out before our initial meeting. Please read the Consent Form before attending the initial meeting and be sure to bring all relevant testing.