When Should A Student Be Re-Evaluated for Learning Issues?
It’s pretty simple to understand when your child needs a haircut, or is due for a dental visit or a routine medical check-up. But how do you know when it may be time to seek professional guidance for difficulties they are experiencing with their schoolwork? Parents who are noticing concerns for the first time can review a checklist of basic symptoms, and should discuss their observations with a clinician who is well-versed in the fields of learning and development. Ultimately, a comprehensive evaluation is usually the best way to begin to understand what is affecting a student’s performance and to help plan appropriate support.
But what about students who have undergone an educational evaluation in the past? When – if ever – might they a need an updated educational evaluation? Generally, the accepted “shelf-life” of an educational evaluation is considered to be three to five years, depending on each student’s specific situation. However, some students may benefit from more frequent evaluations. A number of factors should be taken into account when determining if and when a re-evaluation may be necessary for a student.
Students Receiving or Seeking Special Education Services from a Public School District
For K-12 students the IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), the federal law that governs special education services in the public schools, requires that students who are receiving special education services be fully re-evaluated “at least once every 3 years.” Whether a family elects to have this re-evaluation done by their public school district or to have it conducted by an independent practice like The Yellin Center, this triennial review of a student’s learning and performance will align with significant changes in the academic demands they face as they move through school, and should be considered an essential component of a family’s game plan for educational support.
Even if a student has been evaluated in the past and did not qualify for special education services, it may be worthwhile to have a re-evaluation if you have reason to believe that the student would benefit from support services, either because you disagree with the school district’s evaluation or if circumstances have changed since the student was initially evaluated. Parents have the right to seek an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) if they disagree with their district’s findings.
Documenting Necessary Accommodations for Testing
Another instance when re-evaluation may be called for is when students who were last evaluated in elementary or middle school are beginning to plan for college, and anticipate requiring academic accommodations, such as extended time, on their PSAT, SAT, or ACT exams, or for college courses. The College Board, which administers the SAT exams, requires that documentation for learning and attention difficulties be not more than five years old. Most colleges require documentation of learning and attention issues that is not more than three years old. In addition, colleges generally require that psychoeducational testing to document learning and attention difficulties (a standard component of a comprehensive evaluation at The Yellin Center) include the adult version of IQ testing (WAIS), rather than the version commonly given to younger students in schools (WISC). Families who are having evaluations conducted by their school districts would do well to keep this particular issue in mind when an evaluation is being conducted at the high school level.
Changing Circumstances and Expectations
How a student is actually performing in school can be a major decision point for re-evaluation. As a student progresses through the course of an academic career, we know that the academic demands placed upon them will change dramatically. What is expected of a 2nd grader will be very different than what is expected of a 4th grader, or an 11th grader. Students who manage well in earlier grades can find that they are faltering when the curriculum becomes more complex, or the reading and writing demands of upper grades exceed their ability to cope. The memory and organizational demands of middle school and high school vastly exceed those of elementary school, and some children who can manage well at a lower grade level “hit a wall” when they reach the upper grades, with increased academic expectations. In these situations, conducting a comprehensive review may be indicated.
Plan Ahead
Whether your plans include a re-evaluation by a district or by an independent evaluator, parents and students would be well advised to allow for extra time when planning a re-evaluation to ensure that the proper documentation will be available on time for any relevant deadlines. For example, tests like SAT and ACT have a review process for accommodation requests and specific, advance deadlines for most testing dates. If a student has been evaluated in the past but you are not certain that the documentation available is current or complete enough to meet an institution’s accommodations standards, you should seek to review this information with a guidance counselor, educational consultant, or a clinician specializing in learning and evaluations to ensure all documentation is in proper order. If a re-evaluation is required, you will need to allow time for scheduling an evaluation and for receiving and reviewing resulting reports – all of which can be time consuming.
Benefits of Ongoing Management
Working with a clinician or specialist over time to manage a student’s ongoing academic performance may be the most effective way to ensure that appropriate evaluation and progress monitoring is occurring at the proper intervals.
“Many learning issues present new challenges at different points in a student’s academic career and it is important to periodically look at how a student is doing and what can be done to help,” notes Dr. Paul B. Yellin. “When we work with students over the course of several years, we can see the positive impact of the strategies we have suggested to them over time, which can help them to turn around the weaker areas of their educational profile. But we also often see that other areas, where a student had been managing well in an earlier grade, can become a source of difficulty for them as they move on to a new grade and new academic demands. For these students, especially those whom we haven’t seen in follow-up for several years, conducting a comprehensive re-evaluation can help to pinpoint their current, specific challenges and inform recommendations for new strategies to help them with these new areas of difficulty.”
But what about students who have undergone an educational evaluation in the past? When – if ever – might they a need an updated educational evaluation? Generally, the accepted “shelf-life” of an educational evaluation is considered to be three to five years, depending on each student’s specific situation. However, some students may benefit from more frequent evaluations. A number of factors should be taken into account when determining if and when a re-evaluation may be necessary for a student.
Students Receiving or Seeking Special Education Services from a Public School District
For K-12 students the IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), the federal law that governs special education services in the public schools, requires that students who are receiving special education services be fully re-evaluated “at least once every 3 years.” Whether a family elects to have this re-evaluation done by their public school district or to have it conducted by an independent practice like The Yellin Center, this triennial review of a student’s learning and performance will align with significant changes in the academic demands they face as they move through school, and should be considered an essential component of a family’s game plan for educational support.
Even if a student has been evaluated in the past and did not qualify for special education services, it may be worthwhile to have a re-evaluation if you have reason to believe that the student would benefit from support services, either because you disagree with the school district’s evaluation or if circumstances have changed since the student was initially evaluated. Parents have the right to seek an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) if they disagree with their district’s findings.
Documenting Necessary Accommodations for Testing
Another instance when re-evaluation may be called for is when students who were last evaluated in elementary or middle school are beginning to plan for college, and anticipate requiring academic accommodations, such as extended time, on their PSAT, SAT, or ACT exams, or for college courses. The College Board, which administers the SAT exams, requires that documentation for learning and attention difficulties be not more than five years old. Most colleges require documentation of learning and attention issues that is not more than three years old. In addition, colleges generally require that psychoeducational testing to document learning and attention difficulties (a standard component of a comprehensive evaluation at The Yellin Center) include the adult version of IQ testing (WAIS), rather than the version commonly given to younger students in schools (WISC). Families who are having evaluations conducted by their school districts would do well to keep this particular issue in mind when an evaluation is being conducted at the high school level.
Changing Circumstances and Expectations
How a student is actually performing in school can be a major decision point for re-evaluation. As a student progresses through the course of an academic career, we know that the academic demands placed upon them will change dramatically. What is expected of a 2nd grader will be very different than what is expected of a 4th grader, or an 11th grader. Students who manage well in earlier grades can find that they are faltering when the curriculum becomes more complex, or the reading and writing demands of upper grades exceed their ability to cope. The memory and organizational demands of middle school and high school vastly exceed those of elementary school, and some children who can manage well at a lower grade level “hit a wall” when they reach the upper grades, with increased academic expectations. In these situations, conducting a comprehensive review may be indicated.
Plan Ahead
Whether your plans include a re-evaluation by a district or by an independent evaluator, parents and students would be well advised to allow for extra time when planning a re-evaluation to ensure that the proper documentation will be available on time for any relevant deadlines. For example, tests like SAT and ACT have a review process for accommodation requests and specific, advance deadlines for most testing dates. If a student has been evaluated in the past but you are not certain that the documentation available is current or complete enough to meet an institution’s accommodations standards, you should seek to review this information with a guidance counselor, educational consultant, or a clinician specializing in learning and evaluations to ensure all documentation is in proper order. If a re-evaluation is required, you will need to allow time for scheduling an evaluation and for receiving and reviewing resulting reports – all of which can be time consuming.
Benefits of Ongoing Management
Working with a clinician or specialist over time to manage a student’s ongoing academic performance may be the most effective way to ensure that appropriate evaluation and progress monitoring is occurring at the proper intervals.
“Many learning issues present new challenges at different points in a student’s academic career and it is important to periodically look at how a student is doing and what can be done to help,” notes Dr. Paul B. Yellin. “When we work with students over the course of several years, we can see the positive impact of the strategies we have suggested to them over time, which can help them to turn around the weaker areas of their educational profile. But we also often see that other areas, where a student had been managing well in an earlier grade, can become a source of difficulty for them as they move on to a new grade and new academic demands. For these students, especially those whom we haven’t seen in follow-up for several years, conducting a comprehensive re-evaluation can help to pinpoint their current, specific challenges and inform recommendations for new strategies to help them with these new areas of difficulty.”