08/05/2026
Choosing the Right Evaluation for a Child with Learning Difficulties: A Guide for Families
By Karen P. Kelly, Ph.D.
As a parent, you know your child better than anyone else. If your child is bright, curious, and capable, yet continues to struggle with reading, writing, attention, or learning despite quality instruction and extra help, you may be wondering where to turn.
Perhaps your child has participated in reading intervention but is still not making expected progress. Maybe tutoring has helped somewhat, but reading remains slow and effortful. Or perhaps teachers have suggested that your child "just needs more time," yet you continue to see frustration, declining confidence, or increasing anxiety surrounding school.
A comprehensive psychoeducational or neuropsychological evaluation can provide answers. More importantly, it helps explain why a child is struggling and provides a roadmap for intervention, educational planning, and long-term success.
The usefulness of an evaluation depends not only on the tests that are administered, but also on the evaluator's training, experience, and understanding of child development, learning, and evidence-based intervention.
When Should You Consider a Comprehensive Evaluation?
A comprehensive evaluation may be appropriate if your child:
• Continues to struggle with reading, spelling, writing, or mathematics despite quality instruction or intervention.
• Has difficulty learning letter-sound relationships, decoding unfamiliar words, or reading fluently.
• Reads accurately but slowly and with considerable effort.
• Understands material when it is read aloud but has difficulty comprehending independently.
• Appears bright but consistently performs below expectations.
• Demonstrates attention, executive functioning, or organizational weaknesses that interfere with learning.
• Requires documentation for a Section 504 Plan, an Individualized Education Program (IEP), or standardized testing accommodations.
The purpose of an evaluation is not simply to determine whether a child meets criteria for a diagnosis. Rather, it is to understand how the child learns, identify the factors contributing to academic difficulties, and develop recommendations that guide meaningful intervention.
Not All Evaluations Are the Same
Many parents assume that all psychological evaluations are similar regardless of who performs them. In reality, evaluations vary considerably in depth, comprehensiveness, and clinical usefulness.
A high-quality evaluation should answer important questions such as:
• Why is my child struggling?
• Does my child have dyslexia, ADHD, or another learning disorder?
• What are my child's strengths?
• Which interventions are most likely to be effective?
• What accommodations would be helpful?
• How can the school best support my child?
Simply reporting test scores is not enough. A comprehensive evaluation should integrate information from multiple sources to explain how a child learns and why learning has become difficult.
Choosing the Right Evaluator
1. Choose Someone Who Specializes in Children/Teens
Children and teens are not simply smaller versions of adults. Their language, attention, executive functioning, memory, and academic skills are continually developing. Understanding these developmental changes requires specialized training and extensive experience.
A psychologist who works primarily with children is more likely to recognize the subtle ways dyslexia, ADHD, language disorders, executive functioning weaknesses, anxiety, and other developmental conditions present at different ages.
Pediatric specialists also understand classroom expectations, curriculum demands, developmental milestones, and the educational supports available within schools. This perspective helps ensure that recommendations are both developmentally appropriate and practical.
2. Choose a Practice That Specializes in Comprehensive Evaluation
Once you have identified a pediatric specialist, ask whether comprehensive evaluation is the primary focus of the practice.
Many psychologists divide their professional time among psychotherapy, counseling, consultation, and assessment. While these professionals may provide excellent clinical care, comprehensive psychoeducational and neuropsychological assessment is a highly specialized area that requires continual experience and ongoing expertise.
Practices devoted primarily—or exclusively—to evaluation often have greater experience recognizing subtle learning profiles, selecting the most appropriate assessment measures, integrating complex findings, and developing recommendations that directly guide educational planning.
The goal of an evaluation should be far more than assigning a diagnosis. It should explain why a child is struggling and provide a clear roadmap for intervention.
3. Look for the Right Professional Training
Families should seek a licensed psychologist (Ph.D. or Psy.D.) with specialized training in pediatric assessment. Licensure ensures that the evaluator has met rigorous educational, clinical, and ethical standards and is qualified to independently diagnose learning, developmental, and psychological conditions.
In addition, also being a certified school psychologist can provide an important advantage. School psychologists receive specialized training in educational assessment, child development, curriculum, special education law, and school-based intervention. This background helps bridge the gap between diagnosis and educational planning.
An additional strength is experience as a special educator. Evaluators who have taught students with learning disabilities understand what effective instruction looks like in real classrooms. They know how evidence-based interventions are delivered, how accommodations function in everyday practice, and how recommendations can be successfully implemented by teachers.
This combination of clinical, educational, and classroom experience often results in recommendations that are not only scientifically sound but also realistic, practical, and immediately useful for families and schools.
4. Look for Expertise in Dyslexia and the Science of Reading
For children struggling with reading, specialized expertise in dyslexia is essential.
Reading is one of the most complex skills children develop. Identifying dyslexia requires much more than demonstrating below-average reading achievement. A comprehensive evaluation should examine the cognitive and language processes that support skilled reading, including:
• Phonological awareness
• Rapid automatic naming
• Decoding and word recognition
• Orthographic processing
• Reading fluency
• Reading comprehension
• Spelling
• Written expression
• Oral language
• Attention and executive functioning
Perhaps most importantly, the evaluator should have a thorough understanding of the Science of Reading and evidence-based literacy instruction. An accurate diagnosis is valuable only when it leads to effective intervention. The best evaluators not only identify why a child is struggling but also recommend instructional approaches that have been shown through research to improve reading outcomes.
Private Evaluations Versus School Evaluations
School evaluations are designed to determine whether a student qualifies for special education services under federal and Pennsylvania regulations. While these evaluations can provide valuable information, they are often narrower in scope and focused primarily on educational eligibility.
A comprehensive private evaluation is designed to answer a broader question: Why is this child struggling, and what will help?
Private evaluations typically provide a more in-depth understanding of cognitive functioning, academic achievement, language, attention, executive functioning, memory, and learning processes. They also offer individualized recommendations for intervention at home and school.
Parents in Pennsylvania who disagree with a school district's evaluation have the right to request an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE). Depending on the circumstances, the district must either fund the independent evaluation or initiate a due process hearing to demonstrate that its own evaluation was appropriate.
Characteristics of a High-Quality Evaluation
When selecting an evaluator, consider whether the psychologist:
• Directly evaluates the child instead of using assistants or other non-psychologists.
• Specializes in evaluating children and adolescents.
• Devotes the majority of the practice to comprehensive psychoeducational and neuropsychological assessment.
• Is a licensed psychologist with expertise in pediatric evaluation.
• Has training and experience as a certified school psychologist.
• Understands evidence-based instruction and educational systems.
• Has specialized expertise in dyslexia, reading disorders, AD/HD, executive functioning, and learning disabilities.
• Produces reports that explain findings in understandable language and provide practical, individualized recommendations.
• Collaborates with families, educators, tutors, speech-language pathologists, and other professionals when appropriate.
The Goal Is Understanding
The best evaluations do much more than determine whether a child meets criteria for a diagnosis. They explain how a child learns, identify the reasons learning has become difficult, and provide a clear plan for intervention. When families understand their child's unique learning profile, they are better equipped to advocate for appropriate educational services, select effective interventions, and help their child develop the confidence and skills needed for long-term success.
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About the Author
Karen P. Kelly, Ph.D. is the director of NECCA, a specialized pediatric neuropsychology private practice. She is a licensed psychologist and certified school psychologist specializing exclusively in comprehensive psychoeducational and neuropsychological evaluations for children and adolescents with dyslexia, ADHD, executive functioning weaknesses, and other learning disorders.
Before becoming a psychologist, Dr. Kelly spent 15 years as a special educator, providing direct instruction to students with learning disabilities and developing individualized educational programs. She also worked at duPont Hospital for Children (Nemours), working with children and teens with various levels of brain injury or conditions. These experiences, combined with her training in psychology and school psychology, provide a unique perspective on both the diagnosis of various brain and learning disorders and the educational interventions that help children and teens succeed.
NECCA is devoted exclusively to comprehensive evaluations. Dr. Kelly specializes in identifying the underlying factors contributing to reading and learning difficulties. Her goal is to help families understand not only whether a child has a learning disability, but why the child is struggling and which interventions are most likely to promote meaningful, long-term academic success.
