Diagnostic tests: Why they help your child do well at school

Sending your child to “big” school should be an exciting moment for parents‚ but spending up to two hours in a waiting room while your child is being assessed on their school readiness can be a daunting experience for a parent.

Thembi Maholwana‚ a parent‚ says the experience of having to send her child to a psychologist early last year after being told by a prospective school to do so because she was not ready for school‚ left her “stressed”.

Her daughter was six years old at the time and doing grade R.

“I took my daughter to the school and she went through the assessments. They then told me that she was not ready for school as her concentration level was low.

“The school said I should take her to a psychologist‚ who also confirmed what the school had said.”

Maholwana said her daughter was overwhelmed by the “stressful” experience.

“My daughter spent two hours being assessed. The experience was stressful for both of us because I was not convinced there was something wrong with her.”

Maholwana said she took her daughter to another psychologist later in the year.

“The psychologist did not see anything wrong with my daughter. She said she should not have been assessed early in the year because she was still developing.”

Clinical psychologist Fred Walter says when assessing a child‚ the psychologist conducting the assessment needs to take emotional factors into account‚ especially those that may impact on the child’s test performance on the day.

“We always say that test results are valid representations of a child’s performance on a given day‚ given the specific factors that may have impacted on them on that day. These factors may include: amount of sleep‚ hydration‚ whether they are hungry‚ how anxious they are etc.”

He says various types of assessments are done to check‚ among others‚ school readiness‚ assessing various types of intelligence including where strengths and weaknesses lie‚ aptitude testing‚ hand-eye co-ordination‚ other types of development‚ learning disorders‚ and emotional functioning.

“The tests and reports are designed to help you and relevant parties such as educators to understand how to best support your child and help them achieve their full potential in areas that they may be struggling in‚” Walter said.

Professor Ruksana Osman‚ Professor and Dean in the faculty of humanities at Wits University‚ commented: “Diagnostic tests serve a useful purpose because they able to tell us what are the strengths and weakness in teaching and learning.”

"If used properly and implemented carefully‚ they can be useful to improve teaching and learning."

Department of Education spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga explained that the tests are used at some schools as part of the admission process to establish the child's competencies‚ strengths‚ weaknesses and areas that the school will need to pay more attention to.

“It is important for a school to have a good understanding of the child's needs in order to provide the necessary support that will ensure the child progresses‚” he said.

Mhlanga said the assessments are not meant to intimidate or frustrate children.

“They are designed to help the children and not to intimidate them. The parent has a responsibility to explain to the child that the exercise is done to ensure that they are well-taken care of in school.”