School Testing Vs. Private Testing - What's the Difference?
If you are concerned about your child's academic progress, you have a number of options to consider. We talked about the process for getting help from the school here: How Do I Get Help From the School?
So the next thing you may be wondering is:
What's the difference between special education eligibility testing done through the school and testing done through a private evaluation?
…other than the sometimes scary cost of a private evaluation.
The key thing to understand is that the goals of special education eligibility testing and private testing are very different.
Purpose & Goals
Special Education Eligibility Testing (School District)
To evaluate a student in select areas to determine whether the scores in specified areas are low enough to qualify for small group or individualized support through the school
Usually scores need to fall at the 12th percentile or below, meaning that if 100 students took the test, your child would need to score worse than 88 or more students to get intervention support through an Individualized Education Program). This isn't a hard and fast number, but it is a common number we see schools sticking to to determine eligibility services.
The school is using the tests to determine if, at that exact moment in time, the child's scores qualify them for additional support.
It is important to remember that students’ abilities change over time, so just because a student may not qualify at one point, does not mean you cannot request another evaluation at a later time.
Private Testing (Outside of the District)
To look at the history of the child and the current academic performance, and make predictions about what these scores mean long term for a child or student.
To get a clear picture of academic strengths and weaknesses
To create a plan on how best to support a child given the pattern of academic strengths and weaknesses, both at home and in the classroom
To give parents an understanding of what to expect as their child progresses academically, how to support learning at home, and a diagnosis if appropriate
To inform whether additional school testing may be appropriate
To provide a diagnosis (if appropriate) to help qualify for a 504 Plan
Should I pursue school or private testing?
This depends on what you’re looking for. Neither the school's testing nor private testing is necessarily better or worse than the other. They both serve entirely different purposes, so there may be times when it makes sense only to have the school complete testing or only to have private testing completed. It's the difference between a snapshot focus (for the school's purpose) and a long-term focus (for a private focus).
Should I consider both school and private testing?
You absolutely can consider having your child tested through the school and privately. But make sure if you do this, you let both the school and the private evaluator know so they don’t provide the same assessments twice.
It is important to note that many of the assessments given through special education eligibility testing and private testing may be the same. But again, the purposes are vastly different.
Another benefit to having both school and private testing is to see whether scores are consistent across settings and to have multiple opinions/lenses through which to look at the data.
You must come back to the question - what is my ultimate goal or purpose in pursuing testing?
The answer will help you understand the best options for you.
If you want school-based support, complete school-based testing.
Private testing cannot qualify a student for school-based support alone.
The school MUST do their own testing as well.
If you want to understand your child's learning profile to understand how best to support him or her at school and at home now and into the future, you will want to consider private testing.
If you want to further discuss these options, we’d be happy to chat further to help you understand your options!