80 DECEMBER 2023 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT How Can a Psychoeducational Evaluation Be Helpful? Consistent with 10 years ago, psychoeducational evaluation can help to answer many questions regarding your child, their learning, and their overall functioning. These questions include: • W hat kind of learner is my child? • W hy is my child struggling in one subject but not others? • Why does my child cry at the thought of school or doing homework? • W hy have my child’s grades declined? • W hy do I have to repeat myself over and over to get my child to do something? • W hy is my child struggling to make friends? • W hy is my child misbehaving in class? • W hy is my child so nervous? • W hy does my child seem to be more emotional than their peers? • W hy does my child appear lazy and disinterested when I know they are not? • W hat does my child need to help them become a happier and more successful student? • W hy is my college student struggling with the demands that are placed on them? While evaluators may differ in what they include in an evaluation, psychoeducational evaluations often continue to involve six areas of questioning/ evaluation. 1. Background information and developmental history. To gain a comprehensive picture of your child, it will be important for the evaluator to have a full understanding of your child’s development prior to the evaluation. Areas of inquiry may include your child’s birth history, developmental history, medical history, academic history, social/emotional history, and family history. While some parents believe that a “clean slate” approach to testing will lead to an unbiased assessment of their child, this is often not beneficial to the evaluator or to your child. Rather, your child’s developmental history is valuable to the evaluator in determining a
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