Welcome to the School Psychologist's Website
My name is Cathy Kuffler and I am the School Psychologist at here at Desert Trails Elementary School. The School Psychologist's role involves:
Consultation to teachers and parents regarding child behavior
Participation in the Student Success Team (SST) to develop alternative education plans for students in academic and/or behavioral distress.
Providing referral sources for community mental health services
Short term counseling for Desert Trails students
Psychoeducational evaluation to determine eligibility for special education services.
Commonly asked questions regarding psychoeducational testing
Who does psycho-educational testing?
* Certified school psychologists and licensed clinical psychologists with training and skills in psychological and educational assessment of children conduct clinical and psycho-educational evaluations. This includes measures of cognitive functioning/intellectual ability such as the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children IV/Integrated or the The Differential Ability Scales, among others.
* A member of the Special Education team most frequently administers academic achievement tests such as the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test II or Woodcock Johnson Tests of Achievement-III.
* The Speech and Language therapist evaluates speech production and language development, often using instruments as, Celf-IV, Casl, PPVT, Receptive One-Word Vocabulary Test, Naming Test, or other auditory processing language testing, such as the TACL and pragmatic or social conversation skills, such as TOPS.
* An Occupational Therapist (OT) evaluates visual perception, fine motor and visual motor integration as well as sensory processing. Tests often used are: The Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual Motor Integration X, Bender Gestalt Test, Sensory Profile, such as Winnie Dunn. Hand-writing and graphic skills are also assessed.
* The Physical Therapist (PT) assesses large motor development, ambulation, posture and wheel-chair fit and other accessories. Tests often used are: Peabody Developmental Motor Scale (PDMS2); Bruiniiks Osterosky Test of Motor Proficiency; Test of Visual perception Sills; Sensory Profile; Developmental Tests of Perception; Functional Independence Skills Handbook; Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory.
What is a psychological evaluation or psycho-educational evaluation?
Psycho-educational evaluation is defined as a set of assessment procedures administered and interpreted to obtain information about the child’s development, learning, memory, academics, behavior and mental health. Different assessment procedures, or combination of procedures, are used, depending upon the referral questions, presenting problems and the past tests administered with careful consideration of cultural differences and possible impairments in speech/language, hearing, vision and motor development. Current status of basic health care, hearing and vision need to be established.
Psychological evaluation is conducted using different sources and assessment methods (norm-referenced, criterion-referenced tests, screeners/checklists, self-report ratings, observation, and review of history and development).
After the assessment (information gathering), the psychologist scores, interprets the results and discusses the findings with the parents. The parents, psychologist, classroom teacher, special educator, and other members of the Multidisciplinary Evaluation Team (MET) develop interventions accommodations and service delivery planning.
Where can I find written standards for psychological testing?
The National Association of School Psychologists
What is the difference between a medical diagnosis and an educational classification?
Ex. Developmental Reading Disorder, Dyslexia and Learning Disabilities.
A medical health provider uses the term Developmental Reading Disorder for severe reading problems using the Diagnostic Statistical Manual - IV (DSM IV) and the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9). The school would use the term Specific Learning Disabilities which is covered under Special Education, as specified under IDEA. (There are 11 special education classifications). Dyslexia is an older term from the medical literature which connotes difficulty with reading
What does a parent need to do to prior to the testing appointment?
When testing is conducted by the school psychologist, the parent follows the school district’s consent process and must provide written consent to test.
The school psychologist/examiner will interview the parent/guardian/caretaker regarding the child’s background: birth, development, medical history, family, and school. Parents will be asked to sign releases to obtain copies of past testing; medical reports and school records. A copy of the current report card, standardized testing results (AIMS/Terra Nova) and child’s work samples are also helpful to the examiner.
How can a parent prepare the child for the testing session(s)?
For the young child a parent can talk about going to see the school psychologist who will ask the child about favorite toys, activities, and family and friends. The child may be asked to draw, do puzzles and talk to see how learning is progressing. For the young and or anxious child bringing a favorite toy (transitional object) or a photograph of the family, friend or family pet can ease the transition and facilitate conversation. For the older child, he or she can be told that drawing, talking and school-type tasks will be done.
Most children enjoy the testing experience and often look forward to returning to the examiner's office.
How are the testing results used?
The psycho-educational evaluation will yield information about the child in terms of general intelligence, levels of academic achievement, behavioral functioning, fine motor and visual motor integration, language, memory and adaptive skills. The scores generated compare the child's performance to other children's scores around the nation. In the schools test results are used for special education and related services in eligibility determination, measuring progress and effectiveness of instructional strategies.
What does psycho-educational testing not provide?
Psycho-educational testing does not answer all questions about problems a child maybe experiencing. Certainly, direct observation of the child's behavior within the classroom, on the playground and at home provides a wealth of data for intervention planning.
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