For legal counsel

Forensic Expert Consultation & Testimony

Crescent Psychological Services provides independent educational evaluation, record and evaluation review, forensic consultation, and expert witness testimony to counsel in California special education matters. Marcia Miller has spent her career evaluating students, leading special education programs, and teaching graduate students how to conduct rigourous and legally defensible psycho-educational evaluations

Request availability

Initial call to confirm conflicts, scope, and calendar.

Call or text (559) 287‑8351

Engagements

What Crescent provides to counsel.

Five engagement types. Each can be retained on its own.

Independent Educational Evaluations

A full independent educational evaluation (IEE) conducted outside the district, with written findings and recommendations tied to the referral questions in the retention.

Record and evaluation review

Review of an existing assessment, IEP file, or district record without new testing. Instrument selection, administration, scoring, interpretation, and whether the conclusions follow from the data.

Second-opinion assessment

New testing where the record is contested, incomplete, or built on instruments that do not answer the question in dispute.

Forensic consultation

Consultation to counsel on assessment method and defensibility: what an evaluation can and cannot support, where a report is vulnerable, and which questions are worth putting to an evaluator.

Expert witness testimony

Declaration, deposition, and hearing or trial testimony in California special education and related matters, within the scope of Licensed Educational Psychologist practice.

What this engagement is not

Crescent provides forensic consultation and testimony that is independent and grounded in the evidence.

Experience

Both sides of the table.

I have worked in school psychology for more than 20 years and have been a Licensed Educational Psychologist for 18. I have also spent more than a decade leading special education programs as a district administrator and teaching graduate assessment courses. My experience shapes my forensic consultation and testimony. When reviewing an assessment, I consider the questions it was meant to answer, the measures chosen, how they were administered, and whether the conclusions follow from the evidence. I also bring firsthand knowledge of how special education and Section 504 programs should operate under legal requirements and sound practice, as well as the practical challenges districts face in carrying out that work.

Independence

Independent opinions.

Whether I’m retained by counsel for a family or a school district, I approach the record the same way: I follow the evidence where it leads and provide a clear, well-supported opinion.

I clarify the questions at the outset, examine the available evidence, and explain what it supports, including findings that may be unhelpful to the retaining party. I also distinguish between a conclusion the record supports and one that would require more information. If I see a significant limitation, I raise it with counsel early so there is time to address it thoughtfully.

Credentials

Credentials and experience.

Marcia Miller, Licensed Educational Psychologist (LEP #3015), Nationally Certified School Psychologist, MA in Counseling Psychology

License number published for verification. Licensure is verifiable through the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, and the license is listed in the California Association of School Psychologists directory.

20+ years as a Licensed Educational Psychologist
18 years licensed
21 years in school psychology practice
10+ years teaching graduate school psychology, including assessment
10+ years leading district special education programs as a special education administrator, including program development and litigation

A current curriculum vitae is provided on request.

Scope

Scope and geography.

Assessment scope

Opinions are offered within the learning and behavior domains of Licensed Educational Psychologist practice: learning disabilities, dyslexia, autism, ADHD, and related educational and behavioral questions. This includes psycho-educational evaluation, Educationally Related Mental Health Services (ERMHS) assessment, behavior assessment and behavior plans, and special education eligibility questions, including eligibility under the emotional disturbance category. Questions of psychiatric diagnosis and treatment fall outside Licensed Educational Psychologist scope and are referred out.

Geography

In-person assessment: Fresno, Madera, Merced, Santa Cruz, Monterey, and San Benito Counties.
Virtual assessment and consultation: anywhere in California.
Crescent serves California matters only.

Retention

How a retention starts.

Request-and-coordinate. Nothing on this page is bookable in two clicks.

1
Conflicts and scope call
A short call with counsel to identify the parties, run a conflicts check, and define the questions the engagement is meant to answer. No records are exchanged at this stage.
2
Written proposal
Crescent returns a written proposal stating the referral questions, the scope of work, the deliverable, and the fee structure for each phase of the engagement.
3
Retention and records
On execution of the retention agreement, records are transmitted through the secure channel named in the agreement. Review begins once the file is complete enough to answer the question posed.
4
Deliverable and testimony
Written findings, then declaration, deposition, or testimony as the matter requires. Testimony is scheduled separately and confirmed against the hearing calendar.

What to send

The retention or engagement inquiry, with the parties named for the conflicts check.
The procedural posture and the operative dates.
The specific questions the evaluation or review is meant to answer.

What not to send

Do not send records, evaluations, IEP files, or health information before a conflicts check is complete and a retention agreement is executed.
Do not send student records or protected health information through any public web form on this or any Crescent page. Public forms are not a secure channel, and material that arrives that way is handled as unsolicited.
Do not send material subject to a protective order without confirming, in writing, the terms it travels under.

Crescent is a private-pay practice. Fee structure is stated in the written proposal for each engagement.

Common questions

What is your fee structure for a forensic engagement?

Fees are stated in a written proposal specific to the engagement, with the scope of work each phase covers. Crescent is a private-pay practice.

How do I verify your license before retaining you?

Marcia Miller, Licensed Educational Psychologist (LEP #3015), Nationally Certified School Psychologist. The license number is published here for that purpose and is verifiable through the California Board of Behavioral Sciences. A current curriculum vitae is provided on request.

Do you accept retention from districts as well as families?

Yes. Crescent accepts retention from counsel on either side of a matter, subject to a conflicts check, and applies the same method regardless of who retains. Independence is what makes the resulting opinion usable.

What happens if your findings don’t support our position?

You hear it from me early, before a written report exists, and you decide how to proceed. An evaluation shaped toward a retaining party’s theory does not survive cross-examination, and it takes the case with it. Independent means independent. Findings are not soft-pedaled for a district or inflated for a family.

Can you review another evaluator’s report without new testing?

Yes. Record and evaluation review is a standalone engagement: instrument selection, administration, scoring, interpretation, and whether the stated conclusions follow from the data. If the record cannot answer the question, that is itself a finding, and the second-opinion assessment is a separate engagement.

What is your availability and turnaround on a report?

Availability is confirmed on the initial call against the hearing calendar and the operative dates in the matter.

Where can you assess and testify in person?

In-person assessment is conducted in Fresno, Madera, Merced, Santa Cruz, Monterey, and San Benito Counties, and virtual assessment and consultation are available anywhere in California. Crescent serves California matters only.

Start with a conversation

Retaining Crescent.

Start with a short call to run the conflicts check, define the referral questions, and confirm the calendar. A written proposal follows. Send no records until the conflicts check is complete and the retention agreement is executed.