The Achievement Centers offer a variety of testing/diagnostic services as well as year round instructional programs designed to meet each student’s learning objectives in terms of his/her learning capacities.

Students of all ages attend The Achievement Centers whether it is for an independent evaluation of their cognitive, processing, and academic skills and/or individualized instruction to further develop their skills.

• Students of all ages (preschool through adult)
• Students with learning disabilities (LD)
• Students with Dyslexia
• Those who need to improve reading, writing, mathematics, study skills, test taking and/or thinking and processing skills
• Regular education and/or accelerated students
• Gifted Learners
• Underachievers
• Students with a nonverbal learning disability (NVLD)
• Aspergers and high functioning autism
• Students that have an Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD/ADHD)

Students may receive testing in just academic areas or the full evaluation which would include:

• Academics skills of:
  • Reading: word recognition, phonetics, vocabulary, comprehension, fluency
  • Mathematics: calculations and problem solving
  • Written expression: sentence, paragraph, composition/essay and research writing
• Language development: receptive and expressive language skills
• Memory: Long and short-term memory; Visual and auditory memory
• Processing skills (how the brain receives the information): Auditory, visual, and/or kinesthetic processing
• Cognitive thinking and reasoning skills, intelligence

Evaluations determine how a student learns, what their strengths and weaknesses are, what the best approach is to further develop their skills, and which educational materials/programs would best fit their needs.

There are a variety of testing, diagnostic evaluations, and/or independent evaluations offered:

• Determines individual skills, achievement, standard scores, grade levels, and age scores in each academic subject area of reading (phonetics, word recognition, vocabulary, comprehension) mathematics (calculations, word problems), oral language (receptive and expressive language) written language (spelling, sentence structure, English mechanics, punctuation/capitalization, paragraph, essay and composition skills), and background of factual information in science, social studies, and humanities.

• The psychoeducational evaluation includes testing three specific areas: academic skills, processing skills, and intellectual/cognitive abilities. (This evaluation determines learning styles of the student as well as what their academic, processing, and cognitive strengths and weaknesses.) The psychoeducational evaluation will determine if a student is gifted, accelerated, within age appropriated norms, has a learning disability, is dyslexic, has aspergers, or autism. The evaluation will also identify a Nonverbal Learning Disability as well as the presence of an Attention Deficit Disorder.
• The psychoeducational evaluation determines how a student learns, what is the best way to teach the student, and what academic, social and/or emotional programs should be used to further develop the student’s skills and individual needs.

• Determines affect and emotional needs as well as self-concept, feeling of personal worth, and motivation.

• Evaluates speech, receptive and expressive language, articulation and fluency.

• Students may be tested to determine how they will score when taking the ACT and/or SAT. Evaluations also determine the level of the student’s skills that will be tested on the ACT and/or SAT. Testing results will determine what instruction is needed to further develop the student’s skills and receive higher scores on the ACT and/or SAT.
• The individualized instruction the student receives at The Achievement Centers will improve performance in the academic areas. Instruction will also teach the student what to expect when taking the ACT and/or SAT as well as how to take the ACT and/or SAT.
• Instruction gives the student the edge over the rest, the edge that will make the difference with preparation for high school and college entrance exams – ACT, SAT, GRE, GMAT, etc.

Standardized tests as well as informal evaluations are presented. Most of the tests are presented orally. A student would begin where a basal would be reached (where it is the easiest) and continue until they reach a ceiling (where it becomes too difficult). Usually a basal is reached after five or six questions are answered or written correctly and conversely, a ceiling is reached when five or six questions/problems are answered or written incorrectly. Most of the test items are not timed, however a few of them are timed. Below is a list of some of the tests that are used. The tests that are selected to be administered depends upon the reason for the student to be tested as well as the age of the students. Some of the tests that may be included are listed below but are not limited to this list:

• Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children
• Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale
• Stanford Binet-Fifth Edition
• Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children
• Wechsler Individual Achievement Tests
• L-C Dominance and Awareness Test
• Horner-Throop Test of Auditory Discrimination
• Slingerland Tests for Identifying Children with Specific Language Disability
• Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration Test
• Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual Perception
• Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual Perception-Motor Coordination
• Slosson Oral Reading Test
• Gray Oral Reading Test
• Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Ability
• Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement
• KeyMath Diagnostic Arithmetic Test
• Peabody Individual Achievement Test
• Test of Written Spelling
• Test of Written Language
• Clinical Evaluation of Language Functioning
• Test of Language Competence
• Test of Problem Solving
• Test of Word Finding
• Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary
• Receptive One-Word Picture Vocabulary
• Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test

Upon completion of any evaluation whether it be academic skills or a full battery, a conference is scheduled and the diagnostician goes over the results with the parents and/or student. A written report is presented and recommendations offered. The parents and/or student may choose where they want to specifically receive instruction.

Our classes consist of one instructor for every one to three students. A variety of class times are available after school hours, evenings, and Saturdays. During the summer months, classes are also available during the morning as well as the afternoons and evenings.

• A personalized program of instruction is written for each student and individualized instruction is provided based upon the student’s learning strengths as well as his/her weaknesses and personal needs.
• The student is taught the way they learn best.
• The program of instruction as well as the individual materials that are used are selected to match the students personal needs and the way they most efficiently process information.

The materials and instructional programs that are used to reinforce individualized skill instruction are scientifically research based materials that have been proven to be highly effective and efficient for skill development.

Multisensory methodologies are used as well as hands-on experiential learning to instruct students.

• Students that find it difficult to analyze the unknown word may often be presented with a multisensory, step-by-step structured phonetic approach. Programs such as those presented via an Orton-Gillingham methodology are utilized. These programs may include but certainly are not limited to The Wilson Reading Program, The Slant Reading Program, and/or Project Read.
• Lindamood-Bell educational programs are also used to further develop word recognition, word attack, decoding/phonetic analysis, phonological processing. These programs also improve auditory memory, auditory analysis, synthesis and discrimination.

• In addition to the study of word meanings, synonyms, antonyms, word analogies, context clues, and etymology, students learn to visualize the term and discuss the meaning.
• Lindamood-Bell materials and computer programs such as Visualizing/Verbalizing are used to further vocabulary development and concept imagery.

• Reading comprehension is taught using a variety of materials that help the student not only understand what s/he is learning but also remember what is read. To improve reading comprehension, students may be taught:
  • Metacognition or metacomprehension skills to develop the ability to concentrate on what is read. The student should be taught to:
    • Read the title, boldface headings, and hypothesize what might happen.
    • Read the first page or paragraph and hypothesize what might happen next.
    • Continually question what will happen. Learn to generate questions as the material is read and guess what might happen.
    • Summarize content as it is read.
    • Reevaluate personal predictions at the end of each section or chapter.
  • Obtaining literal meanings: Understand details, ways to secure main ideas, recall sequence, and follow written directions.
  • Understand implied meanings: Understand characterization and setting, sense relationships, predict outcomes, draw conclusions, and make generalizations.
  • Creative reading (going beyond author’s message) such as the ability to use the author’s and reader’s ideas to solve a problem and the ability to use author’s ideas as a springboard to new ideas.
• Organization and study skills. Instruction in the area of organization and study skills may include:
  • Use of an assignment notebook
    • Dating each page
    • Writing down the daily assignments
    • Use of a teacher to check the completeness and accuracy of the data.
  • Time scheduling for the daily routines and written assignments.
  • How to approach materials according to the purpose of the assignment.
  • The use of visuals such as Think-Charts, Mind Mapping, Visual Mapping, and Story Mapping to organize thoughts for recall and comprehension.
  • The practice of fixing a piece of information in mind by visualizing pictures.
  • Facts should be organized into categories.
  • Note-taking techniques
  • How to study
• Written expression instruction includes:
  • The mechanics of English as well as sentence, paragraph, composition, and essay writing
  • How to write a research paper
  • Written vocabulary
  • Written responses needed for the ISAT tests
  • Writing section of the ACT
  • Use of graphic organizers to develop a written response
  • Use of computer programs to further develop writing
• Mathematics:
  • Instruction in mathematics includes calculations as well as math problem solving.
  • Students learn addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division as well as fractions, decimals, percent, time, and measurement.
  • Advanced mathematics is also taught such as Algebra I and II, Geometry, Trigonometry, Calculus, Chemistry, Statistics, and Business Math.
  • Students learn to apply mathematic knowledge to more complex concepts and problems.

Students gain:

• Motivation and a love for learning
• Accelerated reading, writing, mathematics, and written expression skills
• Increased memory, recall skills and reading comprehension
• The ability to analyze the unknown word and therefore independence in word recognition, decoding/phonetics and encoding/spelling skills
• Vocabulary development
• Auditory and visual processing skills, understanding and memory
• How to study and how to organize
• Concentration abilities
• Thinking skills and problem solving abilities
• Independence, excellent study habits, organizational skills and test taking abilities
• A strong self-concept because of real accomplishment
• A positive self-image because of pride in their work
• High school students may accrue credits towards graduation
• Preparation for secondary education such as college, trade schools, and adult life
• Improved social skills and emotional status

From September through July, students attend the Achievement Centers after school hours, evenings, and/or Saturdays.

We invite you to email us, call for more information, and/or visit.