Assessment Tools
- Wilson Method for Decoding and Encoding
- COVE Phonics Assessment
- Gallistel Ellis Test of Coding Skills
- Qualitative Reading Inventory (QRI) 5
- Practice tests for the: HSPT, ISEE, and ACT
- Bandura’s Scale of Self-Efficacy
For more extensive testing, I refer to a neuropsychologist for a full psychoeducational evaluation.
In addition to formal assessment, I work with students, parents and educators to help identify a student’s individual strengths and weaknesses. Knowing about my students is key, because each student’s personal interests, learning style, and concerns inform the way I tailor lessons specific to that child. For example, if a student loves building paper airplanes, we can use that as a launching point for improving skills in: executive functioning and planning, vocabulary, math, reading, writing, and spelling. I build lessons around student’s interests and natural curiosity. We discuss the whys of learning along with the hows. If reading and math comprehension open up a whole new world of access to a student’s personal interests (aerodynamics, for example), I find that to be a powerful motivator. Students want to improve and we work on it together. This helps make learning fun and meaningful. I help them understand how learning happens in the brain and to identify the types of activities that lead to long-term knowledge retention. They feel like little scientists who are excited about this process.