To use a psychoeducational assessment at school, read the recommendations, choose the school concerns you want to address first and request a meeting with your child's teacher and school learning team. Bring specific questions about what support could look like during an ordinary lesson. Ask who will put each agreed step into practice and when you will review it together.
In Alberta, a report can inform an Individualized Program Plan, or IPP, and requests for classroom accommodations. It does not automatically create an IPP, secure a placement or guarantee a particular support. Schools and school boards decide how they use the findings. You choose what report information to share, and you can ask how the school will protect it before sending anything.
Where should you start with the assessment report?
I would start with the recommendations, then return to the findings that explain them. You do not need to master every score before speaking with the teacher. You do need to understand what a recommendation is meant to help your child do. Our guide to what a psychoeducational assessment includes explains the report's broader purpose.
Beside each school recommendation, write down the difficulty it addresses. If the report suggests written instructions, is your child losing track of spoken directions? If it suggests assistive technology, which reading or writing task is the barrier? Ask the assessing psychologist to explain anything that is unclear rather than trying to interpret a low score yourself.
Turn a broad recommendation into a request the teacher can discuss. For example: "The report recommends breaking assignments into steps. Could we try a written checklist for longer writing tasks, with a check-in after the outline?" That is a proposed trial, not a claim that this exact arrangement must be approved. Bring a recent assignment that shows why you are asking.
Should you share the whole report with school?
You can choose whether to share the report and what to provide. A full report may help school staff understand the findings in context, but it may also contain sensitive family or health information. Start by asking what the school needs for the request you are making.
- Who will read the report, and who can access it later?
- Where will the school store it, and will it become part of the student record?
- What happens to that information when my child changes schools?
- Is there a secure way to send it?
- Would a psychologist's summary or selected sections be enough for this discussion?
A summary may be enough to begin a conversation but insufficient for a particular documentation requirement. Ask the school to explain any request for more information. If you want a shorter document, ask the psychologist whether they can prepare a school-focused summary and what that would involve. Avoid editing report conclusions yourself, which can remove context.
Talk with your child about what teachers need to know. A teenager may want help explaining a learning difficulty while keeping personal history private. Agree on how to describe the useful information. If you authorize direct contact between the psychologist and school, clarify the purpose and scope of that permission.
How do you arrange a meeting with the school learning team?
Email the teacher and ask which school learning team members should attend. Describe the concern you want to discuss, such as unfinished written work, so the school can identify the appropriate staff. Ask who coordinates support so you have a clear contact after the meeting.
We have received our child's assessment report and would like to discuss the school recommendations. Written assignments are our main concern. Could we meet with you and the appropriate learning team members to review current support, discuss an IPP and agree on next steps? Please let us know how to share the relevant information securely.
Bring your questions, the information you have chosen to share and examples of recent work. Include something your child does well. Ask the teacher what they see, what has already been tried and whether the report fits the classroom pattern. A child may manage very differently in a quiet assessment room and a busy class.
Before leaving, confirm which recommendations the team will try, who is responsible and what needs further discussion. If a recommendation cannot be used as written, ask why and what alternative would address the same difficulty. Ask when any remaining decision will be made. You can request clarification without having every answer yourself.
How can a psychoeducational assessment inform an Alberta IPP?
The Calgary Board of Education's diverse learning needs guidance says school staff create an Individualized Program Plan in consultation with parents for students who meet Alberta's special education coding criteria. The plan addresses the student's educational needs and conditions for academic success. An assessment report does not, by itself, establish that a child meets those criteria. Ask your own school how its IPP process applies to your child.
The report explains assessment findings and recommends support. Take those recommendations to the school alongside recent work and your child's account of what is difficult. Ask how that information will inform teaching, whether an IPP is appropriate and how support will be documented if there is no IPP.
Look for a clear connection between a finding and the proposed goal. "Improve organization" leaves much open to interpretation. As a discussion example, a goal might be to use an agreed checklist to record and submit assignments, with progress tracked through the teacher's assignment record. The team needs to set a realistic starting point, target and review date for your child.
Ask these questions when you read a draft plan:
- Which learning need is this goal addressing, and what can my child do now?
- What teaching or practice will help them develop the skill?
- Which accommodations will they use, in which classes and tasks?
- Who will check progress, and what evidence will we review?
- How will my child's views and our home observations be included?
Request a copy and ask for unfamiliar wording to be explained before you sign. If you disagree, ask how the school records parent concerns and what its review process is. A private diagnosis does not guarantee a particular IPP goal, staffing arrangement or placement. Keep the discussion tied to the learning need and the proposed response.
Which classroom accommodations could you request?
Accommodations change how a student accesses learning or shows understanding while preserving the learning expectations. Changing what a student is expected to learn is a different programming decision. Ask the team to explain that distinction if it proposes different work, especially when high school course choices are involved.
Use the recommendations to select options for discussion. These are examples to consider with the teacher, not a package every assessed child needs:
- For difficulty retaining instructions, written steps, a visual checklist or a check that the student understands the first step.
- For distracting classroom conditions, a seating change or access to a quieter work area for agreed tasks.
- For reading barriers, text-to-speech or audio access when the task is about subject knowledge rather than measuring independent reading.
- For written output, a keyboard, speech-to-text or another response format when appropriate to the learning being assessed.
- For pace or fatigue, extra time where appropriate, planned breaks or assignments divided into shorter stages.
Ask how your child will learn to use a tool and how it will be available in the relevant classes. A device recommendation alone does not explain who teaches the software or what happens during a test. Discuss a specific task first and review the result.
Keep skill instruction in the plan too. Audio access to a science text can support participation while reading instruction addresses reading skills. Our learning disability assessment information explains how findings can guide both teaching and access. An accommodation does not replace instruction in the skill your child needs to develop.
What changes in high school and for Alberta diploma exams?
In high school, ask who will communicate agreed support across subject teachers. Include your teenager in that conversation. They might practise saying, "My plan includes written instructions. Where can I find the steps for this assignment?" Ask who they can approach when the arrangement is unclear.
Diploma exams have provincial rules. Alberta Education and Childcare's administering diploma exams page links the current bulletin and application forms. The 2026-2027 General Information Bulletin, pages 49 to 52 distinguishes regular accommodations managed at school without a provincial application from unique accommodations requiring provincial review. Regular accommodations must be on the bulletin's list and regularly used for classroom assignments or assessments. Separate school-managed provisions also exist; ask which category applies.
For unique accommodations, school staff submit the application and supporting documentation. The request must correspond to the specialized assessment. The provincial team reviews it, and school staff communicate the official response in writing. Ask which report findings support the requested accommodation and what additional documentation is needed. A report or an IPP does not guarantee approval.
Ask the school to check the current application form's deadline for your teenager's actual writing period and tell you when it needs your documents. Start early enough to gather them. Ask how your teenager can practise with the permitted tools and confirm the exam-day arrangement. Classroom use alone does not establish permission for every exam support.
How can you check whether school accommodations are helping?
Send a short note after the meeting: "My understanding is that the checklist trial starts next week, the teacher will check the first stage of longer assignments, and we will review work samples on the agreed date." Invite corrections. Keep that note with the plan so everyone can refer to the same agreement.
At review, ask whether the support was available and used before deciding whether it helped. Look at work samples, missed assignments, task completion and your child's account of the effort involved. A mark alone may miss how exhausting the work remains. If a tool was not used, ask whether it was confusing, unavailable or uncomfortable to use around classmates.
If the difficulty continues, ask the teacher and learning team to adjust the approach. For unresolved concerns, ask the principal about the school's next review step and the board's process. Keep a dated record of requests and responses. Before a new school year or school transfer, ask how the agreed support will be handed over.
When might the assessment report need updating?
Before booking repeat testing, ask the school whether the existing report answers the current question. Does it need newer assessment results, or would recent work samples and teacher observations address the gap? Request any report-date requirement in writing, including which school process or program it applies to.
If new concerns have appeared, explain them to the psychologist and bring the school's request. Ask whether clarification of the existing findings, selected updated measures or a broader reassessment would address the question. Have the psychologist explain what further testing would add before you agree to it.
If you are considering further assessment, our psychoeducational assessment service explains the scope. Assessments are completed by Lacy Hunter, Provisional Psychologist, under the supervision of a Registered Psychologist. Bring the existing report and the school's questions so we can discuss whether assessment fits. Book a Discovery Call.
Common questions
Can I ask for school support if the assessment found no diagnosis?
Yes. Bring the findings and recommendations to the teacher even if the assessment did not establish a diagnosis. Ask which classroom difficulties the team sees and what support it can consider now. Ask how the school will document the agreed steps and review progress. If you are asking about an IPP, request an explanation of the criteria that apply to your child.
What if the school disagrees with an assessment recommendation?
Ask which part the team disagrees with and why. There may be a question about the evidence, the task being assessed or how to put the recommendation into practice. Request an alternative that addresses the same learning need and a date to review it. If the concern remains unresolved, ask the principal about the school and board review procedures. Keep the response in writing.
Does the psychologist have to attend the school meeting?
You can request a school meeting yourself and ask the psychologist to clarify report wording beforehand. If the school has questions that need the psychologist's input, discuss whether written clarification or direct contact would help. Ask about consent, availability and any additional cost before making arrangements. Do not assume attendance at a school meeting is included in the original assessment service.