Evaluation Services and Educational Consulting
Dr. Elman provides gifted testing and comprehensive evaluations to identify learning disabilities, assess ADHD, and document the need for testing accommodations. Depending on the purpose of the evaluation, assessment may address intellectual abilities, academic achievement, attention, executive functioning, memory, language-related processing, visual-spatial skills, and social-emotional functioning.
She takes time to learn about each child, understand the family’s concerns, and develop rapport. Assessment measures are selected based on the child’s age, background, abilities, and the concerns being evaluated.
Parents receive a written report explaining the findings and recommendations tailored to their child’s strengths and needs. Following a comprehensive evaluation, Dr. Elman meets with parents to explain the results, answer questions, and discuss how to put her recommendations into practice, including decisions about educational programs and school options.
Gifted Testing
Gifted evaluations assess your child’s intellectual abilities to help determine eligibility for gifted educational programs and provide a better understanding of your child’s cognitive profile.
The Evaluation
Gifted testing is completed in one session, with the length depending on the child’s age and pace. Dr. Elman takes time to develop rapport and help the child feel comfortable before beginning testing. She offers encouragement, monitors attention and fatigue, and provides breaks as needed.
With parental permission, Dr. Elman will contact the child’s teacher to learn about academic performance, participation, motivation, and the need for greater academic challenge. Teacher feedback provides information about how the child’s abilities are reflected in the classroom.
For prekindergarten students, Dr. Elman includes assessments of early reading and mathematics skills as part of the gifted evaluation. Though not required for gifted program eligibility, Dr. Elman administers these assessments to help parents understand their child’s academic skills and plan for the transition to kindergarten.
Results and Recommendations
For gifted evaluations, Dr. Elman calls parents on the day of testing to discuss the results. Parents generally receive a written report within two business days. The report explains the child’s cognitive profile and includes educational recommendations tailored to the child’s abilities and learning needs. When the results support consideration for gifted services, Dr. Elman also guides parents on submitting the report to their child’s school.
Gifted Eligibility
Under Florida’s standard eligibility criteria, commonly called Plan A, students generally must obtain an IQ score of at least 130, demonstrate gifted characteristics on a standard scale or checklist, and show a need for gifted educational services.
In Palm Beach County, the gifted characteristics checklist must be completed by a Florida-certified elementary school teacher who has worked with the child for at least six weeks.
Students identified as English Language Learners (ELL) or who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch are eligible for consideration under Plan B, which uses different criteria to determine eligibility for gifted services.
The school team makes the final eligibility determination after reviewing the evaluation and other required information.
Learning Disabilities
A comprehensive psychoeducational evaluation helps determine whether a learning disability is affecting a child’s progress in reading, writing, or mathematics. Difficulties may be apparent in classroom performance, or they may be less obvious when a child maintains acceptable grades through extensive help, unusually high effort, or excessive time spent on schoolwork. The evaluation examines the child’s strengths and difficulties to identify appropriate instruction, interventions, and accommodations.
Understanding Learning Disabilities
Learning disabilities affect the development and use of specific academic skills. These may include reading difficulties such as dyslexia, problems expressing ideas in writing, or difficulty understanding mathematical concepts and performing calculations. A learning disability does not indicate a lack of motivation or limited intellectual ability.
A child can be intellectually gifted and also have a learning disability, a combination often called twice-exceptionality. An evaluation can help identify both the child’s advanced abilities and the difficulties that require support.
The Evaluation
Dr. Elman begins by meeting with parents to discuss their concerns and gather a detailed developmental, educational, and medical history. She also reviews relevant school records and any previous evaluations to learn about the child’s academic progress, earlier findings, and support received.
To understand how the child functions in different settings, she gathers information from teachers and, as appropriate, physicians, mental health counselors, and tutors who work with the child. She also conducts an in-school observation when authorized by the parent and permitted by the school. Observing the child during classroom instruction provides information about participation, attention, work habits, and interactions that may not be apparent during individual testing.
Testing takes place over multiple days, with sessions scheduled in the morning so children can participate when they are rested and alert. Testing before a full day of school helps reduce the effects of fatigue on concentration and stamina, allowing children to perform at their best.
Dr. Elman takes time to develop rapport, offers encouragement, and monitors attention and fatigue, providing breaks as needed.
The assessment examines intellectual abilities and academic skills, including reading, writing, mathematics, and oral language. It also addresses memory, language-related processing, attention, executive functioning, visual-spatial skills, and social-emotional functioning. These findings help explain the child’s academic difficulties and identify whether learning, attention, or emotional concerns are occurring together.
Results and Recommendations
Parents receive a comprehensive written report explaining the findings and recommendations tailored to their child’s strengths and needs. After parents have reviewed the report, Dr. Elman meets with them to explain the results, answer questions, and discuss how to put the recommendations into practice.
Dr. Elman meets with school personnel to explain comprehensive evaluation findings and assist with educational planning, including IEP or Section 504 meetings when the school permits her participation. The school team makes formal decisions about eligibility for school-based services and accommodations.
ADHD Evaluations
A comprehensive ADHD evaluation helps determine whether difficulties with attention, impulsivity, activity level, or organization are consistent with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). It also examines whether learning difficulties, anxiety, sleep problems, or other identified concerns are affecting the child’s attention and behavior.
ADHD does not always involve noticeable hyperactivity. Some children with ADHD do not appear unusually active or disruptive and may seem to be listening, even when their attention has drifted. They may miss instructions, leave work unfinished, forget responsibilities, or lose track of assignments.
Understanding ADHD
There is no single test that independently diagnoses ADHD. An evaluation considers the child’s developmental history, symptoms across settings, and the extent to which those symptoms interfere with everyday functioning.
A child may have ADHD alongside a learning disability or emotional difficulty. Identifying these concerns is important because recommendations need to address the reasons the child is struggling.
The Evaluation
Dr. Elman begins by meeting with parents to discuss their concerns and gather a detailed developmental, educational, and medical history. She also reviews relevant school records and any previous evaluations to learn about the child’s academic progress, earlier findings, and support received.
She gathers information from parents and teachers through interviews and rating scales and, as appropriate, obtains input from physicians, mental health counselors, and tutors. She also conducts an in-school observation when authorized by the parent and permitted by the school. Information from different settings is particularly important because a child may remain focused during individual testing but struggle with distractions, group instruction, or independent work in the classroom.
Testing takes place over multiple days, with sessions scheduled in the morning so children can participate when they are rested and alert. Testing before a full day of school helps reduce the effects of fatigue on concentration and stamina, allowing children to perform at their best.
Dr. Elman takes time to develop rapport, offers encouragement, and monitors attention and fatigue, providing breaks as needed.
The assessment examines intellectual abilities and academic skills, including reading, writing, mathematics, and oral language. It also addresses memory, language-related processing, attention, executive functioning, visual-spatial skills, and social-emotional functioning. Executive functioning includes skills such as planning, organizing, holding information in mind, and monitoring work.
Dr. Elman will also administer a computerized measure of sustained attention and impulsive responding. Its results are interpreted alongside the child’s history, behavioral observations, rating scales, and information from parents and teachers.
Results and Recommendations
Parents receive a comprehensive written report explaining the findings and recommendations tailored to their child’s strengths and needs. After parents have reviewed the report, Dr. Elman meets with them to explain the results, answer questions, and discuss how to put the recommendations into practice.
Recommendations may address treatment, classroom instruction, organizational strategies, and accommodations. Dr. Elman meets with school personnel to explain comprehensive evaluation findings and assist with educational planning, including IEP or Section 504 meetings when the school permits her participation. The school team makes formal decisions about eligibility for school-based services and accommodations.
Testing Accommodations
Evaluations assess and document learning, attention, or other difficulties that may support a request for extended time or other accommodations on standardized examinations, including the SAT, ACT, AP, IB, AICE, and graduate or professional exams.
Accommodations are intended to address the effects of a documented disability on testing performance. Depending on the individual’s needs and the examination, these may include extended time, additional breaks, a reduced-distraction setting, or other approved supports.
The Evaluation
Dr. Elman reviews the individual’s developmental, educational, and medical history, relevant school records, and any previous evaluations. She also considers the history of difficulties during classroom work and examinations, interventions received, and accommodations provided at school or on previous tests.
The assessment examines intellectual abilities and academic skills, including reading, writing, mathematics, and oral language. It also addresses memory, language-related processing, attention, executive functioning, visual-spatial skills, and social-emotional functioning.
The written report explains the findings, describes how a documented disability affects relevant testing tasks, and provides a rationale for recommended accommodations. Recommendations are tailored to the individual’s needs.
School and College Admissions Examinations
Dr. Elman provides evaluations supporting accommodation requests for the SAT, ACT, Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), and Cambridge Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE) examinations.
An Individualized Education Program (IEP), Section 504 Plan, or history of school accommodations can provide supporting information. However, receiving accommodations at school does not automatically guarantee approval by a testing organization.
Graduate and Professional Examinations
Dr. Elman also provides evaluations supporting accommodation requests for graduate and professional examinations, including the LSAT, MCAT, GRE, GMAT, and Bar Examination.
Planning Ahead
Contact Dr. Elman to discuss an evaluation, including the examination you plan to take, the application deadline, and any existing evaluations or accommodations.
Documentation requirements vary by testing organization, disability, and the accommodations requested. Not every request requires a new comprehensive evaluation.
Each testing organization establishes its own requirements and makes the final decision about approving accommodations.