Student assessments are based on The Family, Academic, Affective, Cognitive, and Teacher (FAACT) Model. The model is not completely novel and has been influenced by many people and areas of research. Influences of note include: The Cattell-Horn-Carroll theory of intelligence, Kevin McGrew’s Beyond IQ project, Russell Barkley’s and Martha B. Denckla’s writing on the Executive Functions, the literature on competence and motivation, and the scientific literature on reading, language and maths disorders.

How the assessments work

Good assessments are guided by the case history. When this information has been gathered from parents and teachers, the assessing clinician will develop hypotheses about what they think is happening on the basis of the FAACT model. Tests, observation, and further discussion with teachers and parents are used to test these hypotheses. This approach avoids the ‘blind’ administration of specific tests (such as IQ tests) which plagues psychology.

Once all the information has been collected, we use the FAACT model to explain why the student has been having difficulty with certain tasks and why they may be able to function quite well in other areas. Because FAACT is grounded in educational, psychological, and cognitive theory what follows are clear implications and recommendations for the classroom and other intervention.

We place much emphasises on using the FAACT model to explain the learning process to parents. We aim to have them leave the clinic following assessment with an understanding of why their child is struggling and what they and others can do about it.

Once parents understand how their child’s mind works, we help them to:

1. identify a support team,
2. develop a realistic management plan that includes specific goals,
3. design an intervention plan that will help the child, family, and school progress towards their goals,
4. identify who in the support team is going to be involved in the intervention, exactly what they will do, and when they will do it,
5. decide on methods of measuring progress,
6. monitor progress with ongoing reviews and modifications to the management plan.

A key component of this process is the web-based Learning Blueprint folder. The Learning Blueprint contains a summary of the student based on FAACT principles, documentation relevant to the management plan, and teaching resources relevant to the student’s FAACT profile. It is a series of documents that ensure fluid, rather than static case management, and collaboration between Understanding Minds, family, educators, and other professionals.