Dr Joe Santoro is a registered psychologist with a Masters Degree and PhD in Educational Psychology. Joe completed his Masters degree and PhD in Educational Psychology at the University of Melbourne. 

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Joe supports students along with their families and teachers to maximise learning potential. Joe is experienced in administering comprehensive psycho-educational assessments and in diagnosing specific learning disorders such as reading and maths learning disorders. Joe uses a comprehensive cross-battery approach to assessment in order to gain a complete picture and understanding of the client’s strengths and weaknesses. 

 

Joe also has a particular interest in working with gifted and talented students. His PhD focused on the identification of the cognitive characteristics of giftedness within the classroom context. His findings have informed school assessment procedures for identifying giftedness and has informed differentiation procedures for these students. Joe has presented at conferences both locally and internationally on the issue of identifying giftedness within the classroom context and supporting these students to engage meaningfully with classroom learning. More broadly, Joe's research interests are in the areas of cognitive and educational psychology. 

 

Joe previously worked in a number of learning support roles with students across all levels of education. He has also contributed to large scale research projects examining the social, health and developmental factors that impact on student achievement and has consulted with state and federal governments both in Australia and overseas on the impact on these factors on student achievement. His research utilising national and international student assessment data has contributed to policy recommendations in Australia, the UAE and Qatar.