HOW LONG DOES A PSYCHOEDUCATIONAL EVALUATION TAKE - AN URBAN CONNECTICUT STUDY

School psychologists are often asked how much time is required to cond uct a psychoeducational evaluation. Implicit in the question are assum ptions that evaluation time is fixed and predictable and that an evalu ation is composed of little other than standardized testing. To estima te the time requirements for psychoeducational evaluation, school psyc hologists from 5 urban school districts in Connecticut compiled data o n 271 evaluation cases. Total evaluation time proved to be highly vari able, ranging from 3.75 to 24.25 hr, with a median of 11.70 hr. Direct contact with the student (i.e., testing and interviewing) accounted f or only 27% of total evaluation time. School psychologists need to edu cate school personnel and parents about the various components involve d in psychoeducational evaluation and the variability from one case to the next.