Who writes these evaluations

The title on a listing is not decoration. Each state licenses school-facing testing under a different name. This page is who parents actually hire in the states we list, and what that title usually means at a 504, IEP, or ARD.

Once you know the title, filter the directory by state. The listings use these same credentials.

Browse the directory

Educational diagnostician

This is the core independent-testing title in Texas, Louisiana, and New Mexico. Many of them used to write FIEs for a district. In private practice they still write school-facing reports: dyslexia, psychoeducational batteries, 504 and IEP documentation, and often SAT or ACT files.

Ask whether the report is written for a public-school meeting, not only a clinic chart. Ask if they will join the meeting by phone.

LSSP (Texas)

A Licensed Specialist in School Psychology, working privately. Texas families often hire an LSSP for an IEE or an FBA, or when attention and behavior have to sit in the same report as academics. Same meeting (the ARD). Different training than an educational diagnostician. Neither title is “better.” Match the question to the person.

Licensed Educational Psychologist (LEP)

California’s school-facing private tester is usually an LEP. Massachusetts uses LEP as well, and some families there book an independent school psychologist instead. If you are walking into a California IEP or a Massachusetts Team meeting, ask whether they have written for that table before. A hospital neuropsych is a different wait and a different bill. It is not required for a school-facing reading or IEE file.

LDT-C (New Jersey)

A Learning Disabilities Teacher-Consultant. That is the private-practice title New Jersey families usually hire for a school-facing independent evaluation. Some psychologists also write those reports. Ask whether the report is written for a New Jersey IEP, not only a clinic chart, and whether they will attend.

Educational Evaluator and Licensed Educational Specialist

In Northern Virginia, DC, and Maryland, those are the titles you will see. Browse the directory as Virginia; DC and Maryland practices sit in that same filter. Ask whether they have delivered reports to Fairfax, Arlington, Loudoun, Montgomery County, or DC teams. The recommendations should read like IEP language, not a medical summary.

Certified school psychologist in private practice

In Pennsylvania the person families usually hire for a school-facing report is a certified school psychologist working privately. That is the credential Pennsylvania IEP teams already know. Ask whether they have delivered IEEs or reading evaluations to an IU or a district IEP team.

What this is not

A Wilson or OG tutor’s intake is not this report. A campus screen is not this report. A doctor’s note is not a 504. A hospital neuropsych can be useful. For the school meeting, start with the title your state actually uses, listed above.

We do not rank credentials. Confirm the license with the practice and, if you want, with the state board. Listings are not endorsements.

State-by-state explainers live in the guides. Questions about a listing: FAQ or contact us.