The Testing Process

The purpose of testing is to determine your child’s strengths, weaknesses and how your child learns best.  Testing can assess a wide range of skills and aptitudes:  ability to learn, different types of memory, attention, academic skills, ability to work with multiple steps, organization, language processing, emotional well-being, and social skills.

Most children and teens enjoy the testing process.  They like the one-on-one experience and the variety of activities. In addition to finding out information about your child from the testing, we view the testing as a therapeutic process.  We are determined that each child will leave the testing situations feeling good about himself/herself and knowing more about what he/she does well. 

The testing usually occurs during two sessions.  One session consists of testing which covers school topics (e.g., reading, math, writing, and spelling).  The testing is interactive.  The examiner asks the student questions, directs them what to do, and/or reads math questions to them.  It is not a test where they are handed and pencil and paper and work solely on their own.  We have an educational specialist who typically does the achievement testing.  Mrs. Michele Marks is extraordinary.  She holds a Master’s degree, has taught for many years, understands how children learn, and relates well to children of all ages. In addition to Mrs. Marks, Ms.  Jennifer Wiley is a psychology associate who also has an extensive background in education.  Not only does she  understand how a child's academic skills can be strengthened by knowing how they learn best, she is trained in a variety of educational intervention strategies (e.g., Visualizing/Verbalizing) which allows her to better assess what a child needs to better succeed.

The other testing session has tasks that are not like school.  The Wechsler scales (Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-III, Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-IV, Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III) have a variety of different activities.  There are blocks they use to make designs, they look at pictures and find ones that are similar, and they are asked questions.  There are a variety of other tests that can be given and the tests that are selected are based upon what the examiner wants to further investigate to understand how the child learns.  The options include tests that measure memory, language, attention, executive functioning, personality, and emotional well-being.  In addition to Dr. Sandler, there are psychology associates who can conduct this portion of the testing.  Our psychological associates are Jennifer Wiley and Lynn Voyton.  Both have their Master’s degrees and are approved by the Maryland State Board of Examiners to work as psychology associates under Dr. Sandler.  Each associate has training in all areas, but each one brings a special focus and expertise to the testing situation.

A critical part of the testing process, and the part of the testing which requires the most skill, is taking all of the information and analyzing what it means and what the child needs to maximize his/her gifts and personality.  To analyze the results and determine if there is a learning, attention, or emotional issue requires time and a high level of expertise.  This process is done as a team in conjunction with those who did the testing and Dr. Sandler.

We pride ourselves on our reports.  We write reports with the intention that anyone reading it will have an understanding of how and why your child learns and reacts in certain ways.  The recommendation section of the report is just as important as explaining information about the child.  Knowing what is affecting a child allows us to design specific recommendations for the school, family, tutors, and the child to help maximize his/her well-being and learning.

For more information on the testing process, visit these sections: