"Evaluation" under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is among the major responsibilities of school psychologists. This concluding article in the series on evaluation under the IDEA provides legal analysis and professional recommendations related to procedural appropriateness. Specifically, it addresses notices,…

The National Association of School Psychologists champions the use of evidence-based approaches to support all children and families, especially those belonging to historically marginalized groups. To ensure the protection and success of the most vulnerable students, practitioners must dedicate themselves to continually developing their ability to…

The acronym R.I.O.T., record review, interview, observation, and test, is a well-known tool for conceptualizing a comprehensive assessment. With COVID-19 and the need to provide school psychological services virtually, it is important to reconsider R.I.O.T. in light of the limitations of virtual assessment. We describe the limitations of virtual…

While the field advocates for a diversified and comprehensive professional role (National Association of School Psychologists, 2020), school psychologists have long spent most of their time in assessment-related activities (Farmer et al., 2021), averaging about eight cognitive evaluations monthly (Benson et al., 2020). Assessment practices have…

In Part 1 of this series, the authors briefly reviewed some challenges inherent in using standardized tools with students who are not well represented in norming data. To help readers clearly conceptualize the framework steps, the authors present two case studies that showcase how a nonstandardized approach to assessment can be individualized to…

School psychologists familiar with the autism evaluation process have an awareness of the complexity of this school-based process. This paper provides school clinicians with an introduction to a visual framework and descriptive language to think and talk about the complex students they evaluate in positive, nuanced, and accessible terms. This…

The purpose of this dissertation is to describe a doctoral research study that comprehensively investigated school psychologists' record review practices. Record reviews are part of the psychoeducational evaluation process, and there is relatively little previous research literature on this topic. The current study aimed to investigate the…

Anxiety and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) commonly co-occur, but school-based assessment practices surrounding identification of co-occurring presentations are not well understood. This study examined school psychologists' assessment practices for anxiety in students with ASD, perceptions of their role in the assessment process, and perceived…

This article demonstrates the importance of school psychologists' understanding of which type of cognitive or developmental measure is most appropriate when working with young children with cerebral palsy (CP). Cognitive profiles vary greatly within this population and motor impairments also need to be taken into consideration. School…

The overrepresentation of English Language Learners (ELL) in special education in the United States has been an ongoing concern for researchers and educators for many years (Dunn, 1968). Despite these concerns, there continues to be limited research in the areas of the assessment and classification practices of school psychologists when working…

The overidentification and misidentification of English Language Learners in special education has been a systemic issue since the 1960s. When students are mis-identified for special education, they are denied access to Free Appropriate Public Education and the Least Restrictive Environment. Although there has been countless research depicting…

Pediatric chronic illnesses are characterized as conditions that last one year or more, require continuous medical intervention, and have implications for the overall functioning, including neuropsychoeducational functioning, of a child. Students with chronic illnesses are at risk for compromised cognitive and physical functioning, resulting in a…

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) aims to ensure that all students are college- and career-ready by requiring all schools to implement high-quality accountability systems and services for students. The ESSA impacts assessment practices in schools by requiring staff to account for a broader range of variables related to student well-being,…

This study summarizes state-level policies surrounding school readiness assessment. A search was conducted to collect and code school readiness policies to document key components of assessment practices in each state, such as if the assessments were mandated or recommended, timing of assessment, measures used, domains of functioning assessed, and…

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify and describe the assessment models school psychologists use to identify African American students with SLDs in three of the K-12 school districts in Riverside County. A second purpose of this study was to determine how school psychologists within three districts of Riverside County…