WHO CAN DIAGNOSE IN NEW ZEALAND?
In New Zealand, an Educational Psychologist, Clinical or other Psychologists, and anyone who has completed their training through SPELD NZ or Learning Disabilities Association of New Zealand (LDANZ) to use the Woodcock Johnson IV, can diagnose dyslexia and other learning disabilities.
We contacted the New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER), who are New Zealand’s independent research and development organisation. NZCER have a mandate to carry out and disseminate education research, and provide independent information, advice, and assistance. We wanted to discuss what qualifications were needed to use the Woodcock Johnson in New Zealand. The NZCER is the supplier to purchase any cognitive assessments once training has been completed in New Zealand.
They would like us to clarify that the term Level C should only be used as a reference for buying an assessment; it is not a qualification. Their registration is only used to keep a record of who has purchased assessments. Once a person has completed the training, which in this case is the Woodcock-Johnson IV training, then they can purchase assessments at a Level C level.
They also acknowledged there has been some confusion around the term Level C assessors and criteria for those who can purchase the Woodcock-Johnson a few years ago. They would like us to clarify this has been updated in recent years to align with a high quality of training and their recommendations for parents is to check if an assessor has completed their training through SPELD or LDANZ. They have complete confidence in knowing the training provided by SPELD or LDANZ meets the criteria to purchase a Level C assessment in New Zealand. For further information visit NZCER Registration Levels
To date there are only two options available in New Zealand:
- The Woodcock-Johnson IV (WJ IV) which can be administered by a someone that has completed the training through SPELD NZ or LDANZ, or by an Educational Psychologist, Clinical or other Psychologists.
- Wechsler Individual Scales (WISC-V) and the Wechsler Individual Achievement Scales (WIAT-III). These assessments can ONLY be administered by an Educational Psychologist, Clinical or other Psychologists.
Prices range from $700- $1,500 depending on where you are located, who administers the assessments, and what assessments are recommended.
Some schools in New Zealand use screening tools and we have included these below. Please note, they do NOT diagnose dyslexia, however they may highlight indications of dyslexia.
The Woodcock-Johnson IV (WJ IV)
Cognitive and Educational Assessment Overview
The WJ IV is a broad-scope assessment system that is based on decades of scientific tests and research to evaluate an individual academic achievement, cognitive abilities, and oral language. The system is organised into three independent, complementary, and co-normed batteries:
- the Woodcock-Johnson IV Tests of Achievement (WJ IV ACH)
- the Woodcock-Johnson IV Tests of Cognitive Abilities (WJ IV COG),
- the new WoodcockJohnson IV Tests of Oral Language (WJ IV OL).
The three batteries can be used independently or together in any combination. The WJ IV provides professionals with the most contemporary and comprehensive system for identification of patterns of strengths and weaknesses among important cognitive, oral language, and academic abilities.
This assessment is normally done in one sitting that can last 4-6 hours depending on what tests are administered.
The assessor should ask you some questions about your child and for any previous assessments and reports before the assessment. It is important that you answer all questions honestly and as as accurately as you can. After the assessment the assessor will collect all the data and from the assessment and any previous assessments or reports, and using all the results and their knowledge and expertise in the field they will make a diagnosis.
This assessment CAN diagnose dyslexia and we recommend it for anyone who is looking for a diagnosis of Dyslexia, Dysgraphia and or Dyscalculia, but does not show delays in all areas of learning.
Cognitive Processing
- Short-Term Working Memory
- Perceptual Speed
- Cognitive Processing Speed
- Auditory Processing
- Long-Term Retrieval
- Visual Processing
- Auditory Memory Span*
- Number Facility
- Cognitive Efficiency
- Intellectual Ability ** An indication of a student’s potential may be also be gained through the Gf-Gc cluster of tests. These tesets do not involve reading or writing ability.**
Oral Language
- Speed of Lexical Access
- Phonetic Coding
Achievement
- Reading
- Broad Reading
- Basic Reading Skills
- Reading Comprehension
- Reading Fluency
- Reading Rate
- Mathematics
- Broad Mathematics
- Math Calculation Skills
- Math Problem Solving
- Written Language
- Broad Written Language
- Written Expression
- Basic Writing Skills
- Academic Skills
- Academic Applications
- Academic Fluency
- Phoneme/Grapheme Knowledge
A full description can be found here.
WHO CAN USE THESE ASSESSMENTS?
SPELD Assessor or LADNZ Assessor
The assessor must have completed the training by SPELD NZ or LDANZ. Both organisations have strict guidelines on what experience and qualifications you need before you can apply to complete the training.
Educational Psychologist
Educational psychologists have a minimum of six years’ university education specialising in Educational Psychology. All educational psychologists have at least a Master’s degree, and most have additional qualifications and experience. They are registered with the New Zealand Psychologists Board and are required to maintain a high standard of ethical practice with regular supervision and yearly audit of our practice.
Clinical or Other (Child and Family) Psychologists
Psychologists have a minimum of six years’ university education. All psychologists have at least a Master’s degree, and most have additional qualifications and experience. They are registered with the New Zealand Psychologists Board and are required to maintain a high standard of ethical practice with regular supervision and yearly audit of our practice. They specialise in another field of psychology.
Wechsler Individual Scales (WISC-V) and Wechsler Individual Achievement Scales (WIAT-III)
Cognitive and Educational Assessments Overview
Wechsler Individual Scales (WISC-V) is a cognitive/intelligence assessment which provides information on the young person’s problem solving, language skills, working memory and processing speed.
A list of the subset test:
- Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI)
- Visual Spatial Index (VSI)
- Working Memory Index (WMI)
- Fluid Reasoning Index (FRI)
- Processing Speed Index (PSI)
At a minimum, the above scales will be administered.
Ancillary Index Scales – additional subtests may be administered if further information is required for specific areas:
- Quantitative Reasoning Index (QRI)
- Auditory Working Memory Index (AWMI)
- Nonverbal Index (NVI)
- General Ability Index (GAI)
- Cognitive Proficiency Index (CPI)
- Expanded Index Scores – Verbal (Expanded Crystallized) Index (VECI) and Expanded Fluid-3 Index (EFI-3) Complementary Index Scales:
- Naming Speed Index (NSI) (NB only available via the Q-Interactive versions on iPads, the current paper version doesn’t include this yet)
- Symbol Translation Index (STI)
- Storage and Retrieval Index (SRI)
A full description can be found here
Wechsler Individual Achievement Scales 3rd Edition (WIAT-III) – this is an academic assessment which provides information on the young person’s skills in listening, decoding (word reading), reading comprehension and fluency, writing and language.
Subtests include:
- Enhanced Listening Comprehension
- Oral Expression
- Written Expression
- Enhanced Reading Comprehension
- Oral Reading, Math Fluency
- Early Reading Skills.
Both the WISC (IV) and WIAT(III) assessments need to be completed to get an accurate diagnosis of dyslexia.
A full description can be found here
WHO CAN USE THESE ASSESMENTS?
Educational Psychologist
Educational psychologists have a minimum of six years’ university education. All educational psychologists have at least a Master’s degree, and most have additional qualifications and experience. They are registered with the New Zealand Psychologists Board and are required to maintain a high standard of ethical practice with regular supervision and yearly audit of our practice.
The Role of an Educational Psychologist
Psychologist Clinical or Other (Child and Family) Psychologists
Psychologists have a minimum of six years’ university education. All psychologists have at least a Master’s degree, and most have additional qualifications and experience. They are registered with the New Zealand Psychologists Board and are required to maintain a high standard of ethical practice with regular supervision and yearly audit of our practice. They specialise in another field of psychology.
This assessment is normally done over a few days as an educational psychologist will dive a little deeper in what is happening for the child outside of the assessment. Usually they visit school to observe the child in class and may ask for a meeting with those involved with the child in school. The actual assessment will last 4-6 hours depending on what tests are administered.
The educational psychologist should ask you some questions and may provide you with a Q&A sheet to fill out. They will also need any previous reports and assessments before the assessment. After the assessment the educational psychologist will collect all the data from the assessment, any previous assessments or reports, and the information from observing at school. They will use this data and any other information that has been provided, and combined with their knowledge and expertise in the field, they will make a diagnosis.
These assessments CAN diagnose dyslexia. We recommend seeing an educational psychologist for an assessment if you are looking for dyslexia and/or dyscalculia diagnosis but especially for those who have concerns that there may be more going on other than dyslexia, and/or dyscalculia.
If your child is presenting with delays in all areas of learning, i.e. reading, writing, spelling, language comprehension and math then an educational psychologist has the ability to recommend and administer other assessments to get a clearer picture of what might be going on. It is also highly recommended to see an educational psychologist for an assessment if you have had concerns outside of academic learning, for example if there were any delays in learning skills in the preschool years, or if your child seems to forget information they had previously learned. These may be indications that your child has a more generalised learning difference, for example an Intellectual Disability.
All educational psychologists could potentially diagnose ADHD and Autism but many choose not to if they feel this is outside of their professional scope of training or experience. We would advise all parents to check how long the assessments will take and if visits to school or home are included in the price.
SCREENING TOOLS ONLY
Screening Tools can NOT diagnose dyslexia, but we wanted to provide you with some information on assessments and screening tools that may have be administered at school.
Lucid Rapid test. (screening tool)
One of the main screening tests used in New Zealand schools is called the Lucid Rapid test. It is a computer programme that is designed to quickly identify pupils with a high, medium or low probability of dyslexia for ages 4-15 years.
The tests in Lucid Rapid
- Phonological Processing (4 – 15 years)
- Working Memory (4 – 15 years)
- Phonic Decoding Skills (8 – 15 years)
- Visual-verbal integration memory (4 – 7 years)
Test Duration: 15-20 minutes, 3 short subtests take a total of 15 minutes to complete.
Their website states: ‘There are very low rates of false positives (‘false alarms’) and false negatives (‘misses’)’. This has been questioned by many in the Dyslexia Evidence Based support group saying there are more (‘false alarms’) and false negatives (‘misses’) than the programme suggests.
Again, this is only a screening tool and CANNOT be used for diagnosing dyslexia. The school Special Education Needs Coordinator (SENCO), the Resource Teachers Learning and Behaviour (RTLB) or the Resource Teacher Literacy (RTLit) would be the educators who would normally administer this screening tool.
Phonological Awareness Assessment (screening tool)
One of the biggest red flags, for the majority of children who have dyslexia, is poor phonemic awareness (which is a subset of phonological awareness).
Phonemic awareness presents as difficulties in:
- Identifying sounds
- Counting phonemes in a word (segmenting)
- Deleting, adding, or moving sounds around in a word (manipulating)
- Hearing sounds in isolation and blending them together to form a word (blending).
The lack of phonemic awareness has been found to be a high predictor of a reading disability and not being able to produce rhyme and recognise words that rhyme.
NOTE: Rhyming is only a red flag, it is not a skill that is needed to be a skilled reader.
The school SENCO, RTLB, RTLit, the classroom teacher or a parent can administer this screening tool.
The deb has a list of ‘Free Phonological Awareness Assessments’ under Resource Hub.
Note: The deb would like to thank Sharyn Gousmett, Educational Psychologist and Cathryn Bjarnesen, Learning Support Specialist and Assessor, for their support and advice in creating this document.
This document was created by Sharon Scurr, founder of the deb, August 2021