Depending on the method in which your children is being assessed, you could receive one of two types of reports. If your child is going to a school in which they are using the Response to Intervention (RTI) method you will receive a RTI style report. If your child was assessed using a norm-referenced assessment, you will receive a traditional style report. While these reports might vary in format from practitioner to practitioner, the basics, the meat and potatoes, should always remain the same. Here are some tips of what to look for when you get either type report and also some RED FLAGS.
What to expect when you receive an RTI Report:
RTI reports are the more simple report of the two. On the first page of the report you should expect to see general information such as your child’s name, school, grade, age and examiner. You should also look for information that explains why your child has been referred for a RTI Intervention. The next thing you should look for is some background information. In this section you should look for an explanation of past interventions that have been tried with your child. A red flag of a poorly written report might be lack of this type of section or very vague information about interventions tried such as “I tried everything and nothing seemed to work”. You should also see a section that included information on the observations and interviews that were conducted. This information helps paint a complete picture. If this information was not included it could be a red flag that the examiner did not rule out other variables, such as a chaotic instructional environment.
The next thing that should be included in an RTI report is information on the assessments conducted. What type of assessment was used and a brief explanation of this assessment. After that you should look for the assessment results and a brief explanation of what these scores mean.
After reporting the scores, the next section should be a summary and some target areas for interventions. Following those target areas, there should be more in depth information on what specific interventions were used and an explanation of those interventions.
Finally, you should see recommendations. This sections might include what you can try with your child and what the teachers can try with your child to help make progress.
RTI reports have many positives about them. They provide more in dept information on specific areas. They also provide a better picture of areas of strengths and weaknesses so that interventions can be suggested. These reports focus more on the services that a child needs as opposed to if they meet criteria for special education. The section in the report about interventions tried is also very important because it shows what has been tried, what worked a little bit and what missed the mark completely. While RTI reports paint a nice picture, there are some drawbacks to them. They do not provide as much information on the observations done. Information on observations is important because it is used to ensure that the child has access to all the learning materials.
What to expect when you get a traditional report:
Traditional reports are more in dept type of report. These reports usually start off just like an RTI report, with the basic information on your child and who examined them. Following that, there should be a reason for referral. The next information is the background information. Here you might see information like what you told the school psychologist your concerns where, what the teachers concerns are, your child’s previous education experience (this might be information on if they were retained or previously placed in special education), developmental information (this might be information on if your child was chronically sick, when they said there first word, or if they were born premature). This section is intended to paint a basic picture of your child as a whole. A red flag of a poorly written report might be lack of this section because it might mean that the examiner did not look into every aspect of the child’s history for an explanation. For example, if you informed the examiner that your child experienced a trauma at a young age, that might be an explanation for certain behavior. If this piece of information was over-looked, you child could be falsely identified and receive services that they do not need.
The next section of information you should see is information from the interviews done with yourself, your child’s teacher, and possibly your child. These interviews should provide information on the main concerns of those interviewed and also what they feel the child does well. There should also be information on observations done of the child. A red flag might be if one of the observations were not conducted in the area of the referral. Meaning, if your child is being referred due to concerns in reading, the examiner should be observing the child during reading. This does not mean that they should solely observe them in that activity, but it should be one of the activities they observe them in.
Following this information there should be a list of assessments done with your child and the results of the assessments. There should be information on the test it’s self and also what your child did on these tests. A red flag might be in information is missing on how your child behaved during the assessment and if the examiner feels that the results are an accurate picture of the child’s true abilities. In this section, there should be information on what your student’s results mean. Do their scores indicate a strength or weakness in a particular area?
Finally, you should see a section on recommendations. Recommendations might include stating if the child meets criteria for special education services. A red flag might be if the examiner states that the student will receive special education services. That is not the decision to be made by one person, but instead is made by the whole case conference committee and you as the parents have a say in that. Recommendations might also include specific ways in which learning can be made easier and more meaningful for your student.
The last page of the report is a break down of the scores. Scores should be listed by individual test and the subtests given from that test. It should include your child’s score, percentile rank, and what the scores classification is. This is basically just a summary of the scores that have already been explained in the body of the report.
Like RTI reports, traditional reports have many advantages to them. They present A LOT of data. While this might be difficult for you as a parent to interpret, this information is useful for a school psychologist to look at quickly and get a brief picture of the situation. These reports also cover A LOT of information. Information ranging from the child’s birth to observations on them in school are provide. While all of this information is extremely helpful for those who can understand it, most people can’t understand it, it’s basically a school psychologist secret language. While most school psychologist strive to explain this language to you, it is not always the easiest information to understand. Once you have mastered the language barrier, there is the issue with information overload. This type of report gives you so much information that it can often be overwhelming.
What should I do if I feel I’ve been given a “BAD” report?
After reading this information you might begin to wonder why certain information is not included in your child’s report or you might have seen some RED FLAGS. Instead of marching into the examiners office and demanding answers, a simple conversation might clear up any confusion.
Try asking the examiner your question calmly. For instance you might say, “I noticed that you didn’t include a section on observations you conducted. I was just curious why?” Demanding an answer and accusing the examiner of not doing their job will not get you ANY answers. In fact, it might negatively influence future relationships. Allow the examiner to explain themselves.
Some information might have been left out because it was not provided or available. Other information might not be provided because it was meaningless. For example, extensive information on your child’s social ability is required when assessing a child for autism, while that in dept information is not need when assessing a child for a specific learning disability.
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