7th-9th grade\kitah zayin - tet

 

As the child enters into adolescence, the social, emotional, and academic demands all grow.

 

Children at this age are expected to reason abstractly, whether in algebra class or in literature class. They are also expected to take a greater personal responsibility in managing their school work and social lives. Discovering and demystifying the learning or attention difficulties can often lead to positive changes and improved self-esteem.

 

Testing at this age includes a structured interview, and  age-appropriate tests include reasoning tasks, graphomotoric tasks, and number sense. Comprehensive didactic testing in reading examines phonemic and morphological awareness (the sounds and segments that are the building blocks of words), visual and verbal memory, decoding abilities, and reading comprehension.  The child's scores are compared to national norms for similarly aged children in order to determine if the child's abilities are within the range of what is considered to be typical.

 

Academic areas including English and Math are tested in depth, to examine how possible neuro-cognitive weaknesses many impact the child's ability to learn these subjects. Tests of written and oral expression are given to see if there are significant differences between the two modalities.

 

Interviews with the teacher and a structured observation in the child's class are highly recommended in order to consider a complete picture of the child in his or her natural environment.