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Pearson has appointed Clay Richey to Managing Director of Pearson Clinical Assessments. With over 20 years of experience in product management and development, Clay has been an integral part of Pearson's Clinical organization, holding various product leadership roles throughout his eighteen-year tenure with the company.

Pearson's Clinical Assessment group provides over 300,000 clinical professionals with essential assessment tools used in education, healthcare and other clinical settings worldwide. Internationally recognized for validity and reliability, Pearson's clinical assessment portfolio includes gold-standard instruments such as the Wechsler Intelligence Scales, MMPI, and BASC that help clinicians make informed decisions that can improve lives.

"I'm honored to lead Pearson's Clinical Assessments team at such a pivotal time in our field," said Clay Richey. "The opportunities in front of us—where clinical expertise and technological innovation meet—are incredibly exciting and are poised to enable significant advancements in how professionals assess, diagnose, and support their patients. My focus will be on accelerating our use of emerging technologies while maintaining the scientific rigor and validity that practitioners depend on. By listening closely to our customers and collaborating across disciplines, we'll continue developing solutions that meaningfully improve clinical outcomes and accessibility."

Most recently, Clay led Pearson's Portfolio and Delivery team, overseeing product investment, development, and go-to-market strategies across the globe. His strategic vision and commitment to excellence have been instrumental in strengthening Pearson's market position and expanding its digital capabilities.  

He has been a key contributor in the conceptualization and development of Pearson’s industry-changing Q-interactive Digital Assessment offering as well as driving Pearson's recent acquisition of wearable technology, Revibe, designed to help individuals struggling with focus and attention.

Clay holds a BA from Baylor University and an MBA from the University of Texas at San Antonio and lives in San Antonio, Texas.

On June 17, global autism experts, researchers, educators and families in the autism community will gather at Pearson’s Virtual Autism Summit. For Clay Richey, who leads product development for Pearson Clinical Assessment, the event holds special meaning.

Dyslexia affects 20% of the general population. However, that rate soars to nearly 50% among supervised individuals in correctional institutions, according to long-standing research.

As a language-based learning difference, dyslexia impairs reading, writing and processing information challenging for those affected. This difficulty can significantly impede an individual’s rehabilitation progress, whether under supervision or after release. In fact, research shows a strong connection between dyslexia, illiteracy and recidivism. 

With correctional facilities increasingly focused on preventing recidivism, leaders are recognizing that early identification of dyslexia among supervised individuals is critical.

Safety and regulatory compliance practices are critical to keeping employees out of harm’s way and employers on the right side of the law. They’re also foundational to organizational productivity. That’s especially true in high-risk industries, where safety incidents can slow or stop normal operations.

Employees are more engaged when their workplaces are safe, and engaged employees are more productive. Safety, compliance, and productivity form a virtuous cycle: Safe employees are engaged and productive, and engaged employees do their part to ensure continued safety and compliance.

The question for many organizations is: How do you kick-start this cycle?

One answer is to use personality and mental health assessments to identify the best candidates for the job, as well as to provide continuous support for their mental health and well-being.

Employees’ personality traits and psychological states directly impact their safety. For example, research shows that neuroticism can negatively influence safety behavior, while conscientiousness positively influences it.

Employers can use personality and mental health assessments to uncover valuable information that they can use to tailor their team structure, training, and support resources based on their workers’ unique strengths and needs, enhancing both individual well-being and organizational effectiveness.

The key is understanding what assessments to use and how to use them.

Everyone has heard the old expression “time is money”, well, when you're working with a big caseload and you've got a lot of ground to cover, your time is probably your most precious commodity, so you need to spend it wisely. The Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency™, Third Edition (BOT™-3) provides many avenues for practitioners to do just that, by customizing their evaluations to meet the specific needs of clients and their individual circumstances. 

Talent pools are drying up across high-risk industries like public safety and critical infrastructure sectors (e.g., energy and nuclear). According to the National Institute of Building Sciences, the construction industry will need 439,000 new workers to meet demand in 2025. Staffing at many police and fire departments has reached historic lows. 

Available evidence suggests these trends will continue. Younger workers prioritize considerations like work/life balance, low stress, and high flexibility in their jobs — things that high-risk industries aren’t historically known to offer.  

While high-risk employers cannot change the nature of their work, they can get creative with recruiting and retention tactics. Organizations that act now can gain a long-term advantage over their competitors.  

As society continues the shift toward embracing diversity and inclusive practices, the need to understand and accommodate individual sensory preferences is becoming increasingly recognized in mental health settings. Dr. Elana Moore, an expert in sensory processing and mental health, took some time to highlight the critical role that sensory environments play in the therapeutic process.

Educators know that each student is unique in how they learn—and it’s part of what makes the job so fascinating and rewarding. Classrooms have diverse learners who process information and demonstrate their understanding in remarkably different ways. This natural variation in learning styles and cognitive strengths makes teaching both an art and a science, especially when interpreting and acting on assessment results that don't always tell the complete story.

It’s why cognitive assessments like the Differential Ability Scales™ (2nd ed., DAS™–II) play a crucial role, allowing educators to obtain a differential diagnosis. By pinpointing a specific cause for a given learning deficit, educators can feel like they’re not wasting time or resources but instead developing the right targeted interventions and accommodations to support the student's learning needs.