Are Children Who Underachieve Lazy? - Part Two

Part One of this post raised the question of whether underachievement was an indicator of laziness in children.  As previously discussed, this is not necessarily a causal relationship and many different factors, like potential physical health problems, should be examined.  Assuming those possibilities have been ruled out, what are the next steps in determining the source of what appears to be laziness?

One course of action obviously is to discuss your concerns with your child’s teacher(s).  While often a useful addition to your investigation, teachers’ perspectives may be limited in two ways: 1) they have precious amounts of time to spread among an entire group of students and cannot specifically monitor your child throughout the day; and 2) your child’s behavior may differ dramatically between school and home. Let’s dive in to why that may occur.

Most children understand their role as a student and apply their energy to learning while at school.  However, for children who are struggling to keep up in class, their fears of exposure and possible ridicule are significant emotional stressors that may shift their attention from learning.  When they finally arrive home it is often difficult to contain those emotions so parents often witness behaviors that are not displayed at school.  If there is a significant disparity in your child’s behavior between what teachers observe at school and what you observe at home, you may want to consider additional diagnostic evaluation.

Assume you’ve decided to have your child evaluated, how do you begin?  At this point, there are several questions to ask yourself: (1) Will you involve the school? (2) Who is qualified to assess my child? and (3) What do I look for in selecting an assessor?

School-Based Assessment or Private Assessment:

There are potentially two paths from which to choose when you are ready to have an assessment: 1) School-based assessment, or 2) Private assessment. If time is an important consideration for you, a private assessment would be more streamlined compared to the school-based assessment process.  Generally, school-based assessments are subjected to district guidelines for the filing and approval processes.  The only constraint in a private assessment is assessor and client availability.  If your child meets the requirements for a school-based assessment, an assessor will be assigned to your child.  In a private assessment, you have the autonomy to select an assessor who meets you own standards for education, professional standing and personal compatibility. Regardless of which path you choose, know that assessment results are valid for three years. So, the effort and costs incurred in this process will not become an annual event!

School-Based Assessment:

One possibility for an assessment could be through the school system.  If the school agrees with your concerns, there are specific district procedures that you will be required to follow.  Understand that a comprehensive psychological assessment differs from an assessment that a school conducts as part of an educational evaluation.  The focus of an educational assessment is your child’s potential for learning.  Generally, the parents must seek out a psychological assessment independent of the school environment. Exceptions may arise if the school has a licensed clinical psychologist on staff. Based upon the testing results your child may be entitled to special accommodations within the school’s academic environment. The results of educational assessments are shared during a parent-assessor-teacher conference or an Individual Education Plan (IEP) meeting set by the school district.

Refer to your State’s Education Code for more details about school-based assessments.

Private Assessment:

If this is your preference, the process is fairly simple: you contact the professional and he or she will advise you of their approach and fee structure.

How do you find a professional assessor?  A common route is to ask for recommendations from your child’s pediatrician, your family practice physician or nurse practitioner, and possibly administrators at your child’s school.  Other parents are also a great source of information.

Choosing A Professional:

Even if a professional is highly recommended, be certain to ask about their qualifications. Begin by looking at the initials after the assessor’s name.  Does the assessor hold either a Master’s Degree (M.A.) or a Doctorate Degree (PhD, PsyD)? Master level assessors are certified to administer certain tests depending on where they conduct them (school or college) and for what purpose (career guidance and some learning difficulties).   Psychologists who hold either a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree or a Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) are qualified to administer all types of testing.  An independent licensed assessor in California would be a clinical psychologist.  Individuals who have a Doctorate in Education although they are not licensed by the State specifically for testing may also offer testing.

The following excerpt from the chapter “Get Smart About Tests” by Rocklin Publications offers a nice summary of which professionals can administer what tests:

“The professionals who administer standardized educational and psychological tests often are psychologists, but other professionals, such as counselors or vocational and educational specialists, as well as classroom teachers, are permitted to administer some tests. The classroom teacher, for example, typically will be the one who administers the proficiency tests your child will take in school. (Most tests administered by teachers, such as quizzes and classroom tests, are developed by the teachers themselves and are a different breed than the standardized educational and psychological tests that take years to develop.) A career or vocational counselor may give career interest inventories and certain aptitude tests in order to help a student choose the right career path. And an educational specialist may administer certain educational tests to determine whether a learning problem exists or to determine which remedial approach works best for a particular student.
   Because standardized educational and psychological tests are such sophisticated instruments, anyone who administers them must be properly trained and have experience administering and interpreting tests. This is important because the person using tests needs to be familiar with the technical and statistical properties of the tests to make sure they are right for the child being evaluated. Just as it would be unwise to have an untrained and inexperienced person perform and interpret medical tests, it would be equally unwise, and unethical, to have an untrained and inexperienced person administer and interpret educational or psychological tests.
    The psychologists, educational specialists, and counseling professionals who administer tests are highly trained. Many will have a doctoral degree—a Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy), a Psy.D. (Doctor of Psychology), or an Ed.D. (Doctor of Education)—but a good many also will have a specialist degree, such as an Ed.S. (Educational Specialist), or a master’s degree, such as an M.A. (Master of Arts), an M.S. (Master of Science), or an M.Ed. (Master of Education). You may be wondering whether medical doctors, such as M.D.s (Doctor of Medicine) and D.O.s (Doctor of Osteopathy) administer tests psychological or educational tests. Typically they do not.
    Having one of these degrees does not necessarily mean a person is qualified to administer and interpret psychological and educational tests. They also must be licensed or certified through state licensing boards. And in order to become licensed or certified, most professionals must have appropriate training and experience as well as pass a rigorous written exam and oftentimes an oral exam.”  http://www.rocklinpub.com/whocanadministereducational&psychologicaltests.

A key point to remember is just as all children are not alike,

neither are all mental health professionals. This excerpt suggests that professional licensing may also be important to consider before choosing an assessor.  If a professional is licensed by the State, they are issued a license number and that information is accessible to the public.

Once you have determined that your choice will be to contract a licensed clinical psychologist in private practice, what happens next? We’ll explore that step in Part Three of this post.