Relationship of psychoeducational diagnosis to educational placement

This study was designed to investigate the relationship between diagnostic classifications and educational placement recommendations utilized by educational psychologists in the evaluation of psychoeducational reports completed on a select group of boys referred to a Child Psychiatric Outpatient Department. In the present study, 45 reports were evaluated for clinical consensus in five input areas: Developmental History, School History, Cognitive Functioning, Sensorimotor-Perceptual Functioning, and Academic Achievement. In addition, one of four educational recommendations was identified for each subject: No Educational Placement Intervention Necessary, Special Tutoring or Remediation, Special Class Placement, and Special School Placement. There was interrater agreement at a greater than chance level (p≤.01) for three of the input areas, and agreement at a greater than chance level (p≤.05) for one of the input areas. Using the maximum rating given by the evaluators on each variable, subjects were classified into six discrete clusters based on their clinical characteristics. A chi square test determined that there was no significant association (p >.05) between cluster membership and specific educational placement recommendations. However, more global relationships between degree of clinical impairment and the need for some educational placement were found.