Do you wonder if your child is living up to his or her potential in school? Does your child report that he or she is not able to complete standardized tests within the time allocated? Are teachers reporting that your child is not able to keep up with class expectations in reading, writing, or mathematics? Has the school system decided to wait and see before testing your child? Or has it been a couple of years and you need more current and updated testing?

Educational testing services are now available locally. Suzie Muir, of Tochterman Muir Educational Consulting, provides educational diagnostic services for students. Evaluations determine whether ability and achievement are commensurate. Often parents wonder if their child is living up to his or her potential. Testing can help determine.

Recommendations and accommodations are also provided. Typically clients include students, preschool through graduate school, who are struggling in school. Students may have been experiencing difficulty with following directions, reading (decoding, fluency, comprehension), staying on task, writing, math (calculations or applications), oral expression, listening comprehension, short & long term retrieval, or hypersensitivity to touch or sound.

Many students are seeking accommodations such as extended time from the College Board (including SAT, ACT, PSAT). In addition, parents often seek independent testing when the public school system fails to determine eligibility for student services. Parents do not wish for their children to fall further and further behind so they seek outside testing so that their child can be more immediately served.

Students that have been referred include those with gaps in learning, gifted and talented, learning disabilities, and attention deficit disorder. Others are tested for private school admissions requirements including WISC-IV, WAIS-III, and WPPSI-III.

Parents, schools and pediatricians have been responsive to flexible scheduling, informative interpretation of results and speedy turn around. One parent from Fairfax County Public Schools shared "My daughter was found eligible for Gifted and Talented Program upon appeal with Suzie's findings." A Prince William County parent said, "My son was found ineligible for special education services in middle school. Suzie's report prompted the school system to reconsider." A parent of child enrolled in a local independent school emailed as a result of the extended time afforded on the College Board SAT, "He is truly a success story and a child who many would have thought had no learning issues whatsoever. This will make a tremendous difference in his college choices and his ability to make dreams come true both academically and on the [athletic] field.

A parent of a local home-schooled student emailed, "Now that Suzie has identified specific gaps in my daughter's reading skills, we know not only what to target but have been suggested effective interventions." Another emailed, "My daughter was found eligible for a language waiver in high school. This is a great relief for her and means that she won't have to try to pass French-I for the third time. Surely this will allow her to focus energy on other subjects." A mother emailed, "For years I have been worried that my daughter had dyslexia. She was initially slow to grasp reading, plus his father was diagnosed at any early age. We are pleased and comforted that the evaluation results revealed our daughter is reading on age and grade level."

Another parent stated, "Thank you for the list of tutors, therapists, and reading list. We didn't know where to begin and appreciate the direction."

Within the past year Suzie has tested students from across the Washington DC metropolitan area. These include the following independent schools: Highland, Hill, Notre Dame, Wakefield, Madeira, Flint Hill, Gonzaga, Potomac, McLean, Woodberry, Christ Church, Episcopal, Saint Andrews Episcopal Day, Beuvoir National Cathedral, Edmund Burke, Gonzaga, Georgetown Day and others. Public school students including Loudoun, Fairfax, Fauquier, District of Columbia, Prince William, Montgomery and Prince George's have been served. Clients have traveled from Virginia, Maryland, District of Columbia, West Virginia, New Jersey, Florida, Maryland and Pennsylvania.

Suzie has experience including University teaching (including Colorado State University, George Mason University, and The George Washington University) as well as teaching in K-12 settings (both special and regular education in private and public sectors). Her perspective is that of an educator — not a psychologist—which strengthens the report. She works in collaboration with a psychologist during the interpretation and analysis of the data and both sign off on the reports.

Suzie grew up and went to school in the Middleburg area and lives with her husband and four small children in town. Both weekday and week-end appointments are available.

Please contact for further information about services, fees, and scheduling. Dr. Suzie Muir, Tochterman Muir Educational Consulting, 5 North Hamilton, Middleburg, Virginia 540-687-5616, smuir@va.gwu.edu.