Private Assessments vs. Public School Assessments

Public School Assessment

Federal law requires school entities to engage in the activity known as “child find,” which means that public school personnel must actively seek out students who display learning challenges. How schools address these challenges can range from schoolwide intervention to special education placement. 

Public school assessments are designed to identify significant learning disabilities and determine eligibility for special education services. Schools will then conduct an assessment that should examine areas of cognitive functioning, social emotional development and academic achievement. Parents often find themselves confused at these meetings and do not receive the assessment they were hoping to get. Parents want to know what are the specific challenges faced by their children and what can be done to help overcome them.

School assessments typically look for a disability and the impact on academic achievement by administering a standardized achievement test. Essentially, if a child has a disability, and a correlated area of academic weakness, they may qualify for special education services. Services are then provided, based on what a student needs in order to make “appropriate” academic progress, yet not as much progress as their personal abilities may allow.

Recommendations on these reports are typically designed for school personnel to implement a particular service. A school district would not be inclined to recommend outside services as it would place a financial obligation upon the district as part of a Free and Accessible Public Education (FAPE)

Those evaluations typically do not include recommendations for private interventions because then the school district will be obligated to pay for those interventions.
Needless to say, parents may come away with extreme dissatisfaction from the public assessment experience because it may not 1) answer their questions 2) address their concerns.

Private Assessment

A private assessment will provide a comprehensive picture of both strengths and weaknesses in all areas of learning. Challenges in learning, regardless of degree are identified, a diagnosis can be determined ( if applicable) and recommendations are provided.