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About Us
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an educational consultant?
Do schools pay you to refer students to them?
How do you know about all these schools and special programs?
What is an educational consultant?
An educational consultant’s job is to advise and assist a family in making one of its most important decisions: choosing the right school or program for a child. Consultants may have different backgrounds – many are former educators, therapists, or educational psychologists – but they all provide families with these essential areas of expertise:
- Identifying a child’s educational needs.
- Finding the schools or programs that best serve those needs.
- Guiding the student and family through the process of searching for and selecting the right placement.
Who uses your services?
Families often seek our help at a time of transition in a child’s educational life, such as:
- Beginning school (Kindergarten or earlier).
- Moving to a new area.
- Changing from public to private school.
- Selecting a boarding school.
- Finding programs to support special learning needs such as ADHD, dyslexia, or autism spectrum disorders.
- Responding to a crisis involving behavioral or emotional disorders, addictions, or mental health issues.
- Needing to change schools for academic or personal reasons.
At Dobson Educational Services, we work with families considering private elementary, middle and high schools, and post-secondary programs, with children who have learning disabilities and other special needs, and with children in crisis.
Why do I need a consultant? Can't I read directories, get brochures and arrange visits on my own?
Of course, and many families do. Our Helpful Links contain a wealth of resources you may find useful. However, the process is more complex than ever before – making it harder to discern program qualities that could have a major impact for your son or daughter. You may find you need the advice and perspective of someone who knows about children and how they learn, and someone who has visited the schools and knows the realities of their programs and their culture, as we do.
Are your services expensive?
We charge an hourly rate that is comparable to the fees of educational psychologists and other child development specialists in the mid-Atlantic metropolitan areas. We also work with various comprehensive fee arrangements. At our first meeting, we decide together whether you will pay us on a fee basis or an hourly basis. We can arrange a payment schedule, if needed.
Do schools pay you to refer students to them?
Absolutely not. We are independent consultants and receive no compensation from any school or program we recommend to a family. Jody Dobson is a member of the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA), the oldest and most recognized national association of consultants for schools, colleges and special educational programs. Ruby Laufer is an Associate Member of IECA. We are committed to abide by the IECA’s strict ethical guidelines and our own Principles of Good Practice. Our clients are children and their families – and our commitment is to help them find the school or program that is the best fit.
Do you do your own testing?
Dobson Educational Services is a testing center for the Secondary School Admission Test (SSAT). Group testing sessions are run during the fall and winter. Individual tests are administered by request throughout the year. For further psychological or educational testing, we refer families to qualified educational psychologists whose work we know and trust.
How do you know about all these schools and special programs?
A good deal of our time is spent traveling and visiting schools, locally, nationally and occasionally abroad. On average, we travel to visit schools and programs at least one week each month, either on our own or with groups of consultants. It’s important for us to have a “feel” for a school or program and a personal relationship with the admissions people. We follow the progress of each child we place for a full year, receiving copies of all school reports, visiting on campus if possible and consulting with the family if necessary.
If you have further questions please email them to JPD@dobconsult.com or RJL@dobconsult.com.
