Psychoeducational testing at MHCA
What is a psychoeducational evaluation?
A psychoeducational evaluation is a structured clinical evaluation used to identify learning disorders (such as dyslexia or dyscalculia), intellectual giftedness, or a mismatch between a person’s cognitive ability and academic achievement. At Mental Health Center of America in Phoenix, Mesa, and Glendale, Arizona, it combines a 60-minute clinical interview with a licensed psychologist, standardized cognitive testing, and academic achievement testing. Total testing time is 3–6 hours, usually in one visit. You receive a written report and a results review session about two weeks later.
How much does psychoeducational testing cost at MHCA?
Psychoeducational testing at MHCA ranges from $750 to $3,500 and up, depending on the length of the battery and whether your insurance covers psychological testing. MHCA is in network with UnitedHealthcare/Optum, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna, Cigna/Evernorth, Medicare, TriWest, and Ambetter. We verify your benefits and give you an exact out-of-pocket figure before you schedule — see full details on our Pricing & Insurance page.
How long does psychoeducational testing take?
Testing itself takes 3–6 hours and is usually completed in a single visit, occasionally split across two shorter sessions for younger children. From your first call to your results, expect about one week: a same-business-day callback, a scheduled testing appointment, then a results review session with the psychologist about two weeks after testing.
Inside the evaluation
Every battery is built around the referral question — a reading-specific concern looks different from a full giftedness or twice-exceptional workup. Here is what a typical evaluation looks like.
Why a real evaluation
A diagnosis needs three independent lines of evidence.
A defensible evaluation compares cognitive ability against academic achievement, gathers input from teachers and parents, and rules out the conditions that can look like a learning disorder.
Cognitive ability
Standardized IQ testing establishes a baseline of reasoning and processing ability.
Academic achievement
Reading, writing, and math testing measures actual performance against that ability.
Collateral report
Teacher and parent input places classroom struggles or strengths in context.
→ Written diagnosis
Converging evidence, differential ruled out, and specific recommendations in a report you keep.
The battery
Every measure in your evaluation, named up front.
Naming the instruments tells your child’s school or a disability-services office exactly what they’re reading when the report reaches them.
Clinical interview
Developmental, academic, and medical history, plus a collateral interview with a parent or teacher.
Cognitive testing
Reasoning, working memory, and processing speed — adults on the WAIS-5, children on the WISC-V.
Academic achievement
Reading, writing, and math skills measured directly and compared against cognitive ability.
Rating scales
Executive function and attention scales, added when they help explain the referral question.
Attention performance
Continuous performance testing, added when attention could be contributing to academic struggles.
Differential screening
Anxiety, depression, and language disorders can mimic or mask a learning disorder. We rule them in or out rather than assume.
Who we test
A learning profile looks different at 7, 15, and 25.
The battery and the referral question both change with age — a reading-fluency concern in second grade is a different workup from a college accommodations request.
Ages 6–12
School-age children
Reading, writing, and math testing compared against cognitive ability. The report is written to support a 504 plan or IEP request.
Ages 13–17
Teens
Executive-function and academic testing, often prompted by a drop in grades as coursework outpaces earlier compensations.
College & grad school
Students seeking accommodations
Documentation written to the standard disability-services offices and testing boards actually require for extended time or a reduced-distraction setting.
Gifted & twice-exceptional
High-ability learners
Full cognitive testing for gifted-program eligibility, including twice-exceptional profiles where a learning difference coexists with high ability.
Get started
A same-business-day callback, results within about two weeks.
Tell us what you’re seeing. We verify your coverage, get you scheduled, and testing itself takes 3–6 hours — usually in one visit.
Schedule a brief, no-commitment consult with one of our psychologists. They’ll talk through what you’re seeing and recommend the right next step — testing or otherwise.
Your psychologists
Who performs your evaluation.
Every evaluation is administered and interpreted by a doctoral-level psychologist — the same person who sits down and reviews the report with you.
Where you’ll be tested
Testing in Phoenix, Mesa & Glendale — plus virtual, statewide.
Patient reviews
What MHCA patients say.
★★★★★
“Amazing facility with a well-informed and professional staff. I’ve been going here 9+ months now and it’s helped me tremendously.”
J. · Google · Mesa
★★★★★
“The staff at MHCA are kind, considerate, and supportive. Virtual visits make it possible to meet with providers when I need them.”
Kelly B. · Google · Glendale
★★★★★
“The initial assessment was thorough and Dr. Shasteen was very nice.”
Google review · Phoenix
Common questions
Psychoeducational testing at MHCA.
How long does psychoeducational testing take?+
Testing takes 3–6 hours, usually in one visit, though young children sometimes split it across two shorter sessions. You meet the psychologist for a results review session about two weeks later, so the whole process typically takes about a week from your first call.
Does insurance cover psychoeducational testing in Arizona?+
Often, yes, when there’s a medical or clinical reason for testing rather than a purely educational one. MHCA is in network with UnitedHealthcare/Optum, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna, Cigna/Evernorth, Medicare, TriWest, and Ambetter. We verify your specific benefit and quote your exact out-of-pocket cost before scheduling. Private-pay rates run $750–$3,500 depending on battery length.
Will the report get my child a 504 plan or IEP?+
The school makes eligibility decisions, but our reports are written to the standard schools require: named instruments, standardized scores, functional impact, and specific recommended accommodations.
Can testing identify giftedness as well as a learning disorder?+
Yes. The same cognitive testing used to identify a learning disorder also documents intellectual giftedness, and can reveal a twice-exceptional profile where both are present at once.
Can college students get tested for accommodations?+
Yes. We write documentation to the standard disability-services offices and professional testing boards require for extended time or other accommodations, including for students newly diagnosed in college.
Can I get psychoeducational testing online?+
Your initial consultation can be by video from anywhere in Arizona. The standardized cognitive and achievement testing is administered in person at our Phoenix, Mesa, or Glendale clinic, because remote administration is not valid for several of the instruments involved.