Unlocking the Potential: The Importance of Educational Assessments in Perth

Welcome to the world of educational assessments, where unlocking the potential of every student is the ultimate goal. In Perth, the importance of these assessments cannot be underestimated. With a growing emphasis on personalised education and tailored learning experiences, educational assessments have become an essential tool for educators, parents, and students alike. Gone are the days of one-size-fits-all approaches to education; instead, assessments provide valuable insights into a student’s strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement. By identifying individual learning styles and preferences, these assessments enable educators to design targeted interventions, empowering students to reach their full potential. Moreover, educational assessments are not limited to academic performance but also encompass social-emotional development, attentional capacity, behavioral patterns, and overall well-being. Educational assessments are transforming education in Perth, one student at a time.

Educational Assessment, Intelligence Testing and Specific Learning Disorder Assessments

Does your child require special education or support with certain aspects of learning? Is your child highly gifted and is remedial teaching needed?

Our educational assessment team provide comprehensive assessment of cognitive ability and learning difficulties to help you identify the underlying causes for the challenges your child or teen may be having with learning. We are also skilled in the assessment of academic and cognitive giftedness so we can support the needs of talented students.

Our assessment team is experienced in diagnosis a Specific Learning Disorder which can be helpful for following common concerns:

• Dyslexia – difficulty recognizing and spelling words or understanding text (often comorbid with ADHD or Dysgraphia)
• Dyscalculia – dificulty understanding mathematical concepts such as which is bigger 7 or 8 or identifying that seven and 7 are the same thing.
• Dysgraphia – a condition of impaired letter writing by hand (often comorbid with Dyslexia or Dysgraphia)
• Gifted assessment – identification of advanced areas of performance in reading, writing or mathematics

The educational assessment process can also identify attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD information about our ADHD assessments .

The process for Dyslexia diagnosis involves prescreening, WISC & WIAT assessment and supplementary assessment tools such as the Woodcock Reading Mastery, a targeted intervention and support from school, then finally a dyslexia diagnosis. Our capacity to determine whether the assessment will meet your needs will be assessed at the initial consultation. The assessment process does not always result in a diagnosis and external referalls may be required for additional testing by speech pathologists e.g., DSF Clinical Services for Assessments.

What is an educational assessment and how does it relate to IQ testing?

I.Q. (intelligence quotient) in general, is an assessment of your ability to think and reason can capacity to learn. IQ score is a standardized way of comparing this ability with the majority of people the same age as you are.

Generally, regular school exams and progress tests will usually suffice in providing an assessment of your child’s ability to think and reason however, an IQ test for children is useful in special circumstances, when the interests of the persons involved tend to be larger.

Psychological assessment is a way of gaining some understanding of a child in order to make informed and appropriate decisions.

How can child IQ and intelligence testing help?

• To provide intervention programs for children with specialised needs.
• To assess gifted children in order to provide appropriate and stimulating learning environments.
• To screen for any cognitive deficits.
• To assess for eligibility for funding.
• To understand a child’s learning profile or preferred learning style.
• To assess for learning disorders (such as reading, mathematics or writing disorders, including dyslexia).
• To test for school readiness.
• To identify developmental delays and provide appropriate interventions for psycho educational disorders or problems as early in a child’s life as possible.
• To understand uncharacteristic behaviours and/ or emotional issues that are presenting at either home or school.

What are the best IQ or Intelligence Tests for Children?

The Wechsler tests are the most common individually administered IQ or intelligence tests, especially for children. These tests are expensive to purchase and requires a fully qualified psychologist to conduct the assessment. (In Australia – the current requirement is 6 years of university training to become a psychologist).　 The best two tests to assess children are:

• The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fourth or fifth Edition (WISC-IV or WISC-V　Australian). Ages: 6 to 16 years, 11 months.
• Wechsler Preschool & Primary Scale of Intelligence – Third Edition (WPPSI-III　Australian). Ages 2 years, 6 months to 7 years, three months.

How scores are reported?

Psychologists write a report after an assessment of a child. The scores show how well a child performed compared to a group of children the same age from across Australia.

Full Educational Assessments or Psychometric Intelligence Assessments Process

The full educational and cognitive assessment process (commonly referred to as a psychometric assessment) includes an interview with parent(s)/guardians as well as a brief follow-up via a phone consultation to discuss the results.

A follow-up appointment in the rooms can also be arranged at the hourly rate to discuss the results and implications arising from the report. Factors such as your child’s attention, learning style, motivation, focus, impulsivity, social skills etc are observed during the assessment and add a lot of valuable information.

A full Educational Assessment or Psychometric Assessment usually includes:

IQ/Cognitive Test

(investigating your child’s cognitive potential and strengths and weaknesses).

Some examples of the assessment tools used include:

• Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-V 　- brand new updated IQ assessment　and WISC-IV)
• Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI-III)
• Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scales (WAIS-III & IV);
• Stanford Binet Intelligence Scale (SB-IV & V)

Achievement Testing

(tests of reading, phonological awareness, spelling and arithmetic).

Some examples of tests used include:

• Woodcock Reading Mastery Test – 3rd Edition
• Neale Analysis of Reading Ability
• WIAT-II
• South Australian Spelling Test
• Wide Range Achievement test　(WRAT3 & 4)

Behavioural Assessments

• Conners 3 – ADHD Behavioural Assessment

Our ADHD assessment process is explained here

Interview with parent(s) / caregivers

This includes discussing your child’s and family’s background and history, previous assessments, etc.

Follow-up consultation will occur at the closure of the assessment process. This appointment can occur face-to-face in the office, or via telehealth.

How much do your educational assessments cost?

Full WAIS administration, reporting and feedback fee is $240 per hour and usually involves an initial consultation, two 2 hour assessment meetings and report preparation.

WAIS plus achievement testing can be quoted.

For the first appointment bring:

• Your child’s current medications
• Reading glasses and hearing aids
• Copies of documentation such as school reports, medical examinations, psychological reports, prior assessments etc.
• Information about your child’s participation in special programs at school

Booking fee/deposit: All initial assessment bookings require a $240 non-transferrable and non-refundable booking fee deposit to be made at the time of booking.

Report preparation: The full fee for the assessment is due on the day of your assessment and your report may take up to 4 weeks to be completed from the receipt of all documentation and completion of assessment sitting.