Running head: CASE STUDY 1

Case Study

Ashley Rosenbaum

Harding University

CASE STUDY

Abstract

This paper discusses a psycho-educational evaluation conducted on a 14 years and eight

-month old girl in the eighth grade. This paper identifies the student’s background, which

includes her medical, family, and school history. The assessment instruments administered to

this student, the summaries of the assessments, and how the results of the assessment can be used

to teach the child are included in this paper. This paper states the student’s current disability and

placement. The functional characteristics including cognitive and perceptual motor

characteristics, language characteristics, social emotional characteristics, and adaptive behavior

are included. The present levels of performance section of the paper include the present levels of

functioning of the student. The concerns and recommendations that I have based on the

individuality of the student are also included in this paper. This case study shows the many

characteristics of this student and reports what her assessment results are. It also mentions what

needs to be done to help this student be successful in the classroom as well as that the student

may be assigned a primary disability after the post-evaluation committee looks at the results of

this evaluation and the speech and language testing results. The purpose of this case study is to

help us identify and describe a learner’s characteristics and apply them to the classroom in ways

that are instructionally relevant. Overall, this information will allow the teacher to fit the

curriculum to the needs of the students.

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Introduction and Background

History (Medical, Family, and School)

This female student is 14 years and eight months old. She is in the eighth grade. Her

mother, who referred her for this psycho-educational evaluation, provided this information.

Her medical history indicated that she was born six weeks early. She had a high fever

when she was three days old and was hospitalized for this reason. She was also hospitalized two

different times for pneumonia. This student’s early development occurred at an average rate. She

has a history of colds and sore throats. This student passed her vision and hearing screening.

This student’s family history included that she lives with her mother, stepfather, two

younger sisters, and her younger brother. The mother reported that no upsetting events have

occurred in the home recently.

This student’s school history indicated that she attended an elementary school outside of

the school district from 1991 to 1997. She also repeated the 2nd grade and is reported to dislike

school. She also has a set homework time. The student’s relationships with her teachers and

peers are said to be average. Her mother also indicated that she has trouble in school with paying

attention, keeping up with what is going on, peer pressure, feeling that she does not fit in, and

that the work is too hard. The student is also described as having a poor-self image and a short

attention span. The student’s history also reported that she gets along well with others and enjoys

athletics and music. She is also described as being very quiet.

The student’s school records were reviewed and revealed the following grades at

semester of this school year: she received an F in Math, D in Earth Science, D in Regular

English, and a D in American History. She also received an F in Math for the second semester of

the last school year. All the student’s other grades were passing. The results of her Explore test

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revealed average reading and below average math scores. The student’s Stanford Achievement

Test scores from seventh grade revealed overall area scores that were average.

Knowing the student’s medical history will impact how I effectively teach this student

because it informs me that this child’s early development occurred at an average rate. As a result

of the medical history, I also know that this student passed her vision and hearing screening. The

student’s medical history also told me that she has a history of colds and sore throats.

First of all, knowing that the student’s early development occurred at an average rate impacts

how I effectively teach this student because I am able to take this information and then make my

lesson plans and teaching reflect that. This information impacts how I effectively teach this

student because I can plan lessons that fit this student’s rate of development. Since the student

developed at an average rate, I need to make sure that my lesson plans and teaching reflect that

so the lessons will fit with what their mind has the capacity to absorb and do. If my lessons don’t

reflect what the student’s brain has the ability to do because of their development that occurred at

an average rate, then they will not learn and be successful. If the lessons are for students who

developed at a slow rate or at a fast rate, then the student would not have the ability to do well

with my lesson or with what I am teaching because it is not on their developmental level. I know

that I can effectively teach this student without any required augmentative technology because

this evaluation informed me that the student passed her vision and hearing screening. I also know

that this student does not need glasses and that I do not need to assist her in using those or

make sure she has assistive technology to help her such as big print books. With this information,

I know that I can effectively teach this student without any extra assistance to help her with

vision and hearing and that this is not a concern for this student. Since I know this student has a

history of colds and sore throats, I am aware that she may be absent for that reason.

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So, I need to be prepared to have her work ready to go and have a make-up work plan in case

she is out with these health problems. I may also need to make sure that her mother

has medicine or cough drops in the nurse’s office if she needs it to feel better and do well at

school. If the student doesn’t feel well, then she will not be able to do well at school. This is

supported by Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, which says that a student’s basic needs, like not

being sick, must be met for the student to learn.

The student’s family history will impact how I might effectively teach this student in

several ways. This information, provided by her mother, tells me that she lives with her mother,

stepfather, two younger sisters, and her younger brother. I also know that there have been no

upsetting events in the home recently. First of all, since I know that there are no major upsetting

events taking place in the student’s life then I know that this will not be something that could

affect the student’s ability to learn. It seems that the mother cares about her child’s success

because she referred her for this evaluation and mentioned that her daughter has a set homework

time. Since I know that this student has a mother that cares about her child being successful, I

know that this child is encouraged to put out her best effort and that will impact how I might

effectively teach this student by taking into account her motivation to work hard even when she

is struggling. It is very important to try your best and the fact that it seems she is encouraged to

do so by her mother because she cares about her child’s academic tells me that this student does

and that when I teach this student, I should realize she is trying her best. Even when she is

struggling and it can get frustrating, I should remember that she is trying her hardest and that I

should integrate different strategies into my lessons and teaching to help her be successful. For

example, if she is trying her best in math, where she ranks below average, but is unable to figure

out long division problems with two-digit divisors, I may need to try different strategies in my

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lessons and teaching for this student to see what helps her be the most successful instead of get

frustrated when she is doing the best she can and still not doing well but that will only discourage

her.

The student’s school history will impact how I effectively teach this student in many

ways. First of all, I know that this student attended an elementary school outside of the district

from 1991 to 1997. I also know that this student repeated the 2nd grade. Knowing the

student repeated second grade is important because this information tells me that this

student has struggled with school in the past and may need extra assistance while I am

teaching. I may need to adjust my lesson plans and teaching to fit their specific needs. For

example, if we are reading a story and she is struggling with comprehension, I may need to

use technology operations like a book on tape because some students comprehend better

when they listen to a story. So, I could have her listen to a story like “The Diary of Anne

Frank” through headphones to help with her comprehension and I could incorporate that

into my curriculum. I could also incorporate a read aloud into my curriculum to support the

child’s comprehension. Knowing that this student attended a different school outside of the

district during elementary school may cause them to feel disconnected from their peers or

teachers. This can effect how I effectively teach this student because I may need to make

sure they have plenty of social interactions during or after instruction so they can be more

connected. When students feel like they do not fit in, like this student does, then they will

not do as well in school. So, making sure to incorporate small groups or social experiences

in my instruction will help this student be more successful. This could help with the student’s

feelings of peer pressure, not fitting in, being very quiet, and poor self- image. This could help

improve the teacher and peer relationships that are described as average. Her mother also

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indicated that the student has trouble with paying attention, keeping up with what is going on,

feeling that the work is too hard, and a short attention span. The student having trouble paying

attention could impact how I might effectively teach this student because I may need to

incorporate attention grabbers into my lessons and teaching to help her stay focused and

attentive. For example, I could give this student an interest survey and get to know her interests

and then incorporate them into her individualized lesson plan. This could grab her attention and

would make her want to pay attention. This would also help her keep up with what is going on is

some ways and might improve her short attention span. Another way knowing this student has

trouble keeping up with what is going on will impact how I effectively teach this student is that I

may need to set time aside In the day to sit down with her and go over what we have done that

day and the main points of a lesson or lessons. An example of this would be if I taught a math

lesson about long division with two-digit divisors and then afterwards, sat down with her for five

minutes and talked about the main points of the lesson and the important things we learned. She

would write them down and she could ask any questions she didn’t want to because she is so

quiet. It might also work well to sit down together at the end of the day and write down what we

did in her planner together. This would be a good use of assistive technology. This way, she

could review and not feel like she is having trouble keeping up with what is going on. This

student also feels that the work is too hard. The fact that she feels school is too hard is reflected

in her grades from the last semester, which were: F in math, D in science, D in regular English,

and a D in American History. She earned an F I math in the second semester last school year. I

could take this information and use it to effectively teach this student by looking at the

assessments on this evaluation and learning about her specific struggles. Since there is some sort

of disconnect in these areas and the student doesn’t understand the subjects, the teacher needs to

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adjust the lesson plan to help the student be successful. Then, I could personalize her lessons to

focus on these struggles and use different strategies to try and help her improve in these areas

that are hard for her. For example, I could have the student use a highlighter during spelling time

when the students are writing down their words for the first time. This would help her chunk the

words and sound the out to spell them correctly.

These are the different ways I could take the information regarding the student’s

medical, family, and school history and use it to effectively teach the student.

Assessment Instruments

The assessment instruments that were administered to this student were the Behavior

Evaluation Scale-2 (BES-2), Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children- Third Edition (WISC-III),

Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT), Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement

(WJIII), Comprehensive Receptive and Expressive Vocabulary Test (CREVT), Bender-Gestalt

assessment, and the Visual Aural Digit Span assessment (VADS).

The evaluation form described the Behavior Evaluation Scale-2 (BES-2) as an

assessment completed by a teacher. The rating scale is entirely based off of observations of the

person completing the form. The items that are addressed on this scale fit into five different

categories: learning problems, interpersonal difficulties, inappropriate behavior,

unhappiness/depression, and physical symptoms/fears. The standard scores ranging from seven

to 13 are considered to be statistically average. Any ratings below seven show areas of concern.

Scores not falling into those two ranges indicate no overall area of concern.

A school counselor completed the Behavior Evaluation Scale-2 assessment for this

student. The results of this assessment were not included in the file. Since nothing was said

regarding the results of the BES-2 assessment and no results were included, this information

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does not have much significance. This most likely means that the child did not receive a rating

below seven that indicated areas of concern. So, this does not seem to be a problem for the child.

Knowing about the information associated with the Behavior Evaluation Scale-2 (BES)

will impact how I might effectively teach this student by allowing me to see the behavior

problems that this child has. If the child had any, I could plan lessons for them that would not

trigger any behavioral problems. However, this child seems to not have any behavioral issues

because he results of the BES-2 assessment were not included. This most likely means that the

child did not receive a rating below seven and has no areas of concern. So, this information tells

me that I can effectively teach this student without having to adjust my lessons or teaching to any

severe behavioral problems because this information was not significant due to it not being

included with this evaluation.

The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children Third Edition (WISC-III) is an assessment

that is individually administered and assesses intellectual ability, according to the evaluation

form. This assessment is made up of verbal subtests and perceptual-motor or performance

subtests. The IQ is given at this time. The WISC-III has 13 subtests that are organized into two

groups, which are verbal subtests and performance subtests. Verbal subtests must have language

to administer the items and the child must provide a verbal response. According to Piotrowski

(2010), the subtests and behaviors that are assessed are information (knowledge of general

information), similarities (abstract and conceptual thinking), arithmetic (arithmetic knowledge

and short-term memory), vocabulary (general vocabulary knowledge and long-term memory),

comprehension (social judgment), and digit span (short-term auditory memory). The

performance subtests include perceptual-motor items that are also administered verbally. The

difference is that it requires minimal or no verbal response. The performance subtests and

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behaviors that are measured are picture completion (perceptual discrimination), coding (visual-

motor coordination), picture arrangement (visual perception), block design (abstract visual-

spatial reasoning), object assembly (visual-motor coordination and integration), mazes (visual

planning ability, and symbol search (perceptual discrimination). The subtests are reported as

scaled or standard scores. They have a mean of 10 and a standard deviation of three. The WISC-

III provides the verbal IQ score, performance IQ score, and the full-scale IQ score. The mean of

each IQ is 100 and the standard deviation is 15. The verbal comprehension index, perceptual

organization index, freedom from distractibility index, and processing speed index are four index

scores provided in the WISC-III. They have a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15. The

WISC-III can be used for psycho-educational assessment, neurological assessment, and clinical

assessment of children who are school-aged. It can be used to diagnose mental retardation and

giftedness. It can also be used to provide information that is useful for the diagnosis and

remediation of learning disabilities, brain injuries and other cognitive problems (Piotrowski,

2010).

The student’s score on the WISC-III assessment were that she had a full-scale IQ score of

77. This falls within the borderline range. Her verbal IQ score was 70 and that also falls within

the borderline range. This student’s performance IQ score was 89 and that falls in the low

average range. It was noted that there is an unusual difference between the verbal IQ score and

the performance IQ score. According to the case study, a difference of this size occurred in 14.5

percent of the normative population. In the verbal area, a relative strength was indicated in the

arithmetic subtest. This subtest measured overall numerical reasoning abilities. A weakness was

mentioned in the comprehension subtest, which measures problem solving and judgment in

social situations. One of the student’s relative strengths mentioned in the performance area was

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picture completion. The picture completion area measures the student’s visual alertness and

attention to detail. In the verbal tests section, the students scaled score for information was six,

similarities was three, arithmetic was eight, vocabulary was four, comprehension was two. In the

performance tests section, the student’s scaled score for picture completion was 12, coding was

nine, picture arrangement was eight, block design was seven, and object assembly was five.

Knowing this information about the WISC-III will impact how I might effectively teach

this student in several ways. First of all, since I know that the student’s full-scale IQ and verbal

IQ fall within the borderline range and the performance IQ score was in the low average range, I

know that this student’s level of mental abilities is in the low average range of intelligence. So, I

know that I will need to make adjustments to my curriculum and teaching based on this

information. For example, since this student may not understand what is being taught very well

due to her low-average mental abilities, I may need to repeat the information several times

during the lesson, write it down, and take the time to sit down with her individually and review

the information to help her understand what we learned. This is one way to adjust my teaching.

One way I could adjust my curriculum to more effectively teach this student is to incorporate

many different ways or strategies for a student to learn information so there is more than one

way to learn it and she will be more likely to grasp one of these strategies. There is more than

one way to learn things and if I have several different strategies for learning, this student’s low to

average mental abilities will be more likely to work with one of these strategies. This works

much better than a one size fits all approach. This information also told me that a weakness for

her is problem solving and judgment in social situations. So, I would need to make sure this

student’s individualized curriculum covers the struggles she has with problem solving and

judgment in social situations since this is a skill she will need to use in the future. I can also use

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this information to teach the student effectively by incorporating her strengths into the

curriculum. So, since the student’s strengths include numerical reasoning abilities and visual

alertness and attention to detail, these would be skills to include in the curriculum so the student

doesn’t feel like she is always a failure and has more confidence in herself. Being successful in

school will increase confidence and that would result in more success in the classroom.

The Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT) is an assessment that can be used

with students who are in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. It can be used in educational,

clinical, and research setting. The purpose of WIAT is to “identify student’s academic strengths

and weaknesses, inform special education eligibility and/or placement decisions, inform the

diagnosis of specific learning disabilities, and to aid in the design of instructional objectives and

interventions” (McCrimmon & Climie, 2011, p.2). This assessment is considered to be a level B

measure and can be given and interpreted by psychologists and non-psychologist who have been

trained in standardized psychological or educational testing (McCrimmon & Climie, 2011, p.2).

There are 16 subtests in the WIAT. Ellingsen, Burch-Lewis, and Pham (2012) listed the subtests

as being listening comprehension, oral expression, early reading skills, word reading, pseudo

word decoding, reading comprehension, oral reading fluency, alphabet writing fluency, spelling,

sentence composition, essay composition, math problem solving, numerical operations, math

fluency-addition, math fluency-subtraction, and math fluency- multiplication. The subtests are

combined into nine score sections which are basic reading, reading comprehension, reading

composite, math reasoning, numerical operations, math composite, spelling, written expression,

and writing composite. The standard score and percentile rank is shown for each one of these

sections. According to McCrimmon, and Climie (2011), this assessment ultimately looks at oral

language, total reading, basic reading, reading comprehension and fluency, written expression,

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mathematics, math fluency, and the student’s total achievement in these sections. This

assessment looks at the student’s achievement levels in the core subjects.

The student’s scores on the WIAT assessment showed that her overall reading and math

skills were below average. However, the student’s written expression skills appear to be average

and her spelling skills were below average. One of her strengths was also organizing her writing.

The student’s standard score for basic reading was seventy-nine and a percentile rank of eight,

reading comprehension standard score was 84 with a percentile rank of 14, and reading

composite standard score was 77 with a percentile rank of six. The student’s standard score for

math reasoning was 81 with a percentile rank of 10, numerical operations standard score was 75

with a percentile rank of five, and the math composite standard score was 75 with a percentile

rank of five. The student’s standard score for spelling was 84 with a percentile rank of 14,

written expression standard score was 97 with a percentile rank of 42, and writing composite had

a standard score of 87 with a percentile rank of 19. Overall, the student is below average in the

core subjects of reading and math with an average score for written expression.

Knowing this information about the WIAT will impact how I might effectively teach this

student by focusing on the student’s overall reading and math skills. The WIAT assessment told

us that this student’s reading and math skills are below average and her written expression skills

are average. We also know that she had an average score for written expression and below

average for spelling. This information I received from the WIAT assessment will impact how I

might effectively teach this student by having me really focus on the student’s reading and math

skills. These are two important core subjects and they are a struggle for her because they are

below average. So, this tells me that this student’s individual curriculum needs to involve extra

time spent on reading and math as well as using different learning strategies to increase

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comprehension, decoding, and fluency. The following math skills need to be worked on in this

student’s individualized curriculum: word-type problems, computation problems, basic

multiplication facts, division, and long division problems with two-digit divisors. So, I can take

the information regarding the student’s struggles with reading and math and use it to differentiate

her curriculum based on those struggles. The curriculum would focus on her specific struggles

and use a variety of different strategies to see what helps her learn this information the best.

Since her spelling skills are also below average, the student’s curriculum would focus on her

struggle with spelling words that sound alike but are spelled differently. We would use a variety

of techniques such as highlighting and word searches to help the student become familiar with

these words she struggles with. Since this student’s writing is in the low average to average

range, this is a spot that she excels a little more in than other areas. She may feel more confident

in this area. So, to effectively teach this student, I might have her incorporate writing into the

subjects she is struggling with to help her grasp those other skills or concepts that are challenging

for her. However, the biggest way I could use this information to effectively teach this student is

to make sure that the student’s individualized curriculum reflects the student’s struggles with the

core struggles of reading and math.

The Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement (WJ-III) is a test that assesses many

aspects of academic achievement with a variety of short tests. Quite a few of these achievement

tests can be used with the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities. The person giving the

exam will select the tests that will assess the abilities that they are the most interested in learning

about for a particular student. The WJ-III test provides the examiner with interpretive

information from 22 tests and it measures cognitive performance. The 22 tests fit within five

major sections. The five major sections students are tested over are reading written language,

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mathematics, oral language, and supplemental. The information in reading students are assessed

over is letter-word identification, reading fluency, passage comprehension, word attack, and

reading vocabulary. The information in written language students are assessed over is spelling,

writing fluency, writing samples, editing, spelling of sounds, and punctuation and capitalization.

In mathematics, the students are assessed over calculation, math fluency, applied problems, and

quantitative concepts. The information in oral language that students are assessed over is story

recall, understand directions, picture vocabulary, and oral comprehension. For supplemental,

students will be assessed over recalling stories that they heard earlier (delayed), sound

awareness, and academic knowledge (Reynolds & Janzen, 2007). When the test is scored, the

scores are separated into eight categories: letter-word identification, reading fluency, passage

comprehension, broad reading, calculation, math fluency, applied problems, and broad math. The

scores for each of those sections has a standard score and a percentile rank. According to

Reynolds and Janzen (2007), the scores can also be converted to ranks, age and grade

equivalents, and instructional ranges. Reynolds and Janzen (2007) also reported that this

assessment can accurately determine a student’s academic achievement in these areas and can

illustrate expected developmental progressions.

This student’s scores on the WJ-III assessment fall below average for reading and math

except for reading fluency, where she ranks as average. Her standard score for letter-word

identification was 79 with a percentile rank of eight, standard score for reading fluency was 93

with a percentile rank of 33, standard score passage comprehension was 87 with a percentile rank

of 19, and standard score for broad reading is 86 with a percentile rank of 18. For calculation, her

standard score was 87 with a 19 percentile rank, standard score for math fluency was 84 with a

percentile rank of 14, standard score for applied problems was 79 with a percentile rank of eight,

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and standard score for broad math was 80 with a nine percentile rank. Overall, this student’s

reading and math skills are below average except for reading fluency where she is ranked as

average.

Knowing this information about the WJ-III will impact how I might effectively teach this

student by because it tells me, just like the WIAT test, that this student’s reading and math skills

are below average. I do know that her reading fluency score is average as a result of this

assessment. Just like with the WIAT assessment, this information would impact how I might

effectively teach this student by allowing me to take this information and incorporate it into my

curriculum. I could take what this student struggles with, which is letter-word identification,

passage comprehension, calculation, math fluency, and applied problems and put it in this

student’s individualized curriculum so we could work on these skills. A variety of strategies

could be used to help this student improve their math and reading skills. Her individualized

curriculum could focus on these skills and would allow the student to practice these skills and to

work with them in a variety of different ways so she could master them. For example, if we are

working on reading fluency, I may have them get into partners and read to each other. This

would allow them to practice reading aloud, decoding words, and would help with fluency. I

would also put aside time during lessons to have this student read to me so I can monitor and

adjust her instruction based on her progress.

The Comprehensive Receptive and Expressive Vocabulary Test (CREVT) is a test that

measures receptive and expressive oral vocabulary. This assessment identifies students who fall

significantly below their age group in oral vocabulary proficiency. This assessment also notes

discrepancies between levels of receptive and expressive vocabulary skills. According to

Reynolds and Janzen (2007), the CREVT assessment takes between 20 and 30 minutes. The

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receptive vocabulary subtest requires the student being tested to point to a picture of a word that

the examiner says. The pictures are full-color and thematic. They are related to themes that most

people are familiar with like animals, transportation, and household appliances. The expressive

vocabulary subtest requires the student to define words the examiner says. The student must

discuss the word in detail. The words the examiner says relate to the same ten themes use in the

receptive vocabulary subtest. This test is given quickly and can be used with a variety of ages.

The scores are sorted into two categories: receptive vocabulary and expressive vocabulary. The

raw scores are converted to standard scores and percentile ranks (Reynolds & Janzen, 2007).

The student’s scores on the CREVT assessment revealed that her overall vocabulary

skills fall below average. Her standard score for receptive vocabulary was 87 with a percentile

rank of 19. Her standard score for expressive vocabulary was 79 with a percentile rank of eight.

Her receptive vocabulary score corresponds with her measured ability but her expressive

vocabulary score is below expected levels based on her measured ability.

Knowing this information about the CREVT assessment will impact how I might

effectively teach this student by telling me that this student has vocabulary skills that fall below

average. Even though her receptive vocabulary is commensurate with her measured ability, her

expressive vocabulary score is below expected levels based on her measured ability. This

information will affect how I might effectively teach this student by telling me that I need to

involve vocabulary work into her individualized curriculum. For example, I need to have her

identify vocabulary words at the beginning of a story, look up the meaning, and use them in a

sentence. I also need to make sure that she is constantly learning and using new vocabulary

words in her writing. I would also use picture cards to have her practice vocabulary by saying a

word and have the student point to the corresponding picture card. So, I could make a

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requirement of her writing that she must include four new vocabulary words when she does a

writing assignment. This would help improve her vocabulary skills and since I included the

vocabulary practice in my curriculum, the student could improve to above average and would fit

more with her measured ability.

The Bender-Gestalt Assessment is a test that is administered to assess visual perceptual

skills. This assessment looks at the student’s ability to copy designs. During the test, the student

is presented with nine designs, one at a time. Then, they are asked to copy the design. According

to Neukrug and Fawcett (2010), this assessment takes between five and 10 minutes. Visual

memory can also be tested with the Bender-Gestalt assessment by showing the student a figure

and then asking them to reproduce it after a small amount of time has passed. If there are any

errors, that suggests there is possible brain dysfunction. If no errors are present, then a brain

dysfunction is likely absent (Philbrick, Rundell, Nezel, & Levenson, 2012, p.43). Reevy, Ozer,

and Ito (2010) said that this test is used to aid in the diagnosis of brain damage, perception

disorders, psychiatric disorders like depression and schizophrenia, and learning disabilities. This

test can also measure a student’s developmental level and psychological functioning. Sometimes,

this assessment is used to assess neurological deficits after a traumatic brain injury. A score of

zero on this assessment means that there was no resemblance to the original image or there was

scribbling. If a score of four was received, that means that the drawing was almost perfect.

According to Reevy, Ozer, and Ito (2010), errors that could indicate brain damage include

rotating designs, shape distortions, fragmented drawings, and disproportionally. To see if the

student’s psychomotor skills are developing normally, their drawings will be compared to a child

belonging in the same age group as them. This test has been shown to be predictive of academic

achievement, social adjustment, and emotional adjustment for kindergarteners when tested at the

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beginning of kindergarten and again a year later (Neukrug & Fawcett, 2010, pp.271-272). The

Bender-Gestalt assessment is one of the top ten most frequently used psychological tests by

clinical psychologists and is among the top 25 most frequently used by neuropsychologists

(Reevy, Ozer, & Ito, 2010, pp.125-126).

The student’s scores on the Bender-Gestalt assessment indicate that her performance fell

at age level expectations. The student’s scores on the Bender-Gestalt to assess her visual

perception skills were listed as average. This means that there are no suggested developmental

difficulties with visual integration skills.

Knowing this information about the Bender-Gestalt assessment will impact how I might

effectively teach this student by telling me that the student’s visual perceptual skills are at age

level expectations. So, three are no developmental problems with visual motor integration skills.

If there were problems, I would have to take into account that the student may struggle with

knowing left versus right or reversing letters or numbers when writing, for example, when

planning lessons and teaching this student. Since this student had no problems with visual

perceptual skills, this information about the Bender-Gestalt assessment impacts how I might

effectively teach this student by telling me that I don’t need to be concerned when planning a

lesson or teaching about this student’ visual motor integration skills. There is no problem with

that for this student. So, I would not need to make accommodations for this student when it

comes to visual perception skills because they are age level.

The Visual Aural Digital Span (VADS) Assessment is a test that assesses student’s

abilities concerning recall, sequencing, and intersensory integration skills. Muzzaffer, Gokben,

Tosun, Serdaroglu, and Tekgul (2011) said that VADS is used to evaluate verbal short-term

memory function. According to Hinkley and Smith (2011), VADS is a number memory

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assessment. It contains four subtests that look at visual memory, auditory memory, oral

expression of memory, and written expression of memory. Muzzaffer, Gokben, Tosun,

Serdaroglu, and Tekgul (2011) said that the subtests included oral repetition of digits that were

present orally, oral repetition of digits that were presented visually, students wrote down digits

that were presented orally, and the students had to write down digits that were presented visually.

This assessment would test the students’ recall, sequencing, and intersensory integration skills.

The student’s scores on the VADS assessment indicated that she scored at age level

expectations on this test. For aural oral, her percentile range was below 10, aural written was 50,

visual oral was between 50 and 90, and visual written was between 25 and 90. This student

struggled with oral recall of digits that she had heard. She did not seem to have any trouble

recalling information in written form when it was presented both orally and visually. Overall, the

student scored at grade level on this assessment.

Knowing this information about the VADS assessment will impact how I might

effectively teach this student by telling me that she scored at age level expectations on this test

which means she has the skills to be successful with the skills following: recall, sequencing, and

intersensory integration skills. She did struggle with oral recall of digits that she heard. So, I may

need to make sure I do not ask her to recall information orally. I would use this information to

effectively teach this student by making sure that I also write down digits or other things I say on

the board to make sure she writes them down as well so she can recall and understand them. I

would also teach this student effectively by making sure that I worked with her one-on-one

during individual work time on the oral recall of digits she heard. However, she had no problems

recalling information in written form when it was presented orally and visually. So, I would not

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need to make any accommodations for this student in my curriculum or when teaching if I had

information that was presented orally and visually that she had to write down.

Current Disability Category and Placement

The student’s current disability category is not identified in this evaluation because the

post-evaluation committee will use the results of this evaluation along with speech and language

testing results to assign a primary disability and to assist in educational programming. However,

the results of the evaluation tell us there is a severe discrepancy between measured ability and

achievement in math. Even though the evaluation results revealed a severe discrepancy between

the measured ability and achievement in math, the severe discrepancy did not fall at the state

mandated level for eligibility under this category.

The due process procedures, as referenced in this case study, are that first, the student is

referred either by a parent or an educator. In this case, the student was referred for evaluation by

a parent. Next, the student is observed to look at their different behaviors and to identify any

possible problems in that area. Assessments such as the BES-2 are also administered to check for

behavioral problems. Now, tests are administered to look at the students different characteristics

that may signal a disability or other problems. Then, the results of the assessments are reported in

an evaluation report. After that, the existence of a severe discrepancy must be determined to

establish a learning disability. Arkansas Guidelines for Assessment in Special Education require

the use of regression analysis to determine the existence of a severe discrepancy at the standard

deviation level of 1.75 with a 50 percent probability that a true discrepancy exists (Jones, 2009,

p.6). The evaluation form indicated this as well. This is one criterion that is absolutely necessary

for a learning disability to be established. After this, the post-evaluation committee will use the

speech and language testing results to assist in assigning a primary disability to this student. The

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post-evaluation committee will also assist in educational programming will review the results of

the evaluation.

This student’s current school placement is in regular classes. The psycho-educational

evaluation did not mention her being placed in a special education classroom or resource room

because the post-evaluation committee has not yet assigned a primary disability and placed her

based on that as of yet. She is in an inclusive setting. This student should be in an inclusive

setting because she does not cause any distractions and works hard during class. She has no

medical problems or behavioral problems that could cause harm or distract the other students.

She also needs this time to interact socially because of her quiet nature and she does get along

well with others, so the socialization is very important for her. The inclusive setting is very good

for her and it necessary. She may need to be pulled for thirty minutes or an hour a few times a

week to work with another teacher who can give her the individual attention she needs to work

on specific and unique problems she has. For example, she may need to work with a speech

teacher if the assessments administered by the speech teacher indicate that there is a problem

there. However, removing this student from a general education classroom completely and

isolating her from her peers would not be a beneficial thing for her. The best decision is to keep

her in regular classes and if needed, pull her out to get the extra help with areas she struggles in.

Knowing this information about the student’s current disability will impact how I might

effectively teach this student by telling me what I need to do to meet their specific needs when

planning my lessons for this individual student and when teaching. However, a disability is not

identified in this evaluation because the post-evaluation committee will use the results of this

evaluation and the speech and language test results to assign a primary disability and to assist in

educational programming. This information did tell me that there is a severe discrepancy

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between measured ability and achievement in math but the severe discrepancy did not fall at the

state mandated level of eligibility under this category. I can take this information about the

severe discrepancy between measured ability and achievement in math to produce individualized

lesson plans for this student that work with them on the areas they struggle with in math. The

lesson plans could include a variety of different strategies that would help the student with math

reasoning, numerical operations, calculation, math fluency, and applied problems. Those are

areas they struggle with. For example, if we are working on long division, then I could work

individually with this student and the lesson could specifically address what the student struggles

with such as long division with two-digit divisors. Different strategies that teach long division

with two-different divisors could be used in this lesson so the student could see different ways to

work these problems and that could help them understand how to do it. Since a disability is not

identified because the post-evaluation committee assigns a primary disability, this information

impacts how I could effectively teach this student by allowing me to focus on the severe

discrepancy between measured ability in achievement and math and adjust my curriculum to

help my student improve in this area.

The due process procedures, as reference in the case study, might impact how I

effectively teach this student by ultimately determining a disability for this student. Once the due

process procedures such as the evaluation including assessments are completed and the

evaluation committee has met and assigned a primary disability, I will be able to take that

diagnosis of a primary disability and use it to teach this student in the most effective way

depending on what the diagnosis is. This primary disability would allow me to learn a lot more

about the student’s thought process and the way they learn. Then, I could tailor their individual

lessons to fit their specific needs so that they could be successful in spite of a disability.

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However, until I receive the end results of the due process procedures, which is the primary

disability diagnosis made by the post-evaluation committee, I cannot use this information to

effectively teach this student yet.

This student’s school placement will impact how I might effectively teach this student by

telling me, first of all, how to plan out their day if a placement had been mentioned in the

evaluation. However, since the post-evaluation committee has not assigned a primary disability,

they have not been placed in a special education classroom or resource room as of yet. So, I

know the best way to effectively teach this student based on this information is to keep them in

an inclusive classroom because she does not have any behavioral or medical problems that could

cause harm or distract the other students. This is a great time for her to interact with others

socially because she is a quieter person who doesn’t interact much with others and she feels left

out. After or if she is assigned a primary disability, she may be pulled out to work with other

teachers like a speech teacher, but the best way to effectively teach this student based on the

information currently provided is to keep her in an inclusive classroom. It may be beneficial to

allow her to work privately with another teacher to work on what she struggles with to help her

continue to improve those skills.

Functional Characteristics

Cognitive Characteristics

When students start school, their cognitive characteristics begin to develop rapidly.

Typically, the cognitive characteristics of a child in preschool and kindergarten are that they are

aware of their mental processes and they are skillful with language. In the primary grades, the

cognitive characteristics children develop are that they start to become aware of the cognitive

processes that occur. They understand that learning and recall are caused by certain cognitive

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processes that they can’t control. The cognitive characteristic of elementary grade students are

that they can think logically even if it is inconsistent and they can work on tasks that call for

simple memory skills. Cognitive characteristics of middle school students are that they need a

stimulating classroom environment and self-efficacy becomes an important influence on their

social and intellectual behavior. Cognitive characteristics of high school students are that they

become more capable of engaging in formal thought and political thinking becomes more

abstract and knowledgeable (Snowman & McCown, 2012, pp. 75-110).

Another example of cognitive development is Piaget’s stages of cognitive development.

According to Tuckman and Monetti (2011), Piaget’s stages of cognitive development are

sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. The sensorimotor

stage starts with a newborn not being able to distinguish themselves from surrounding objects

and ends with them recognizes themselves as part of a larger world. Behavior is their primary

motor, they reach and grasp, learn repetition, and are preverbal and pre-thinking. In the

preoperational stage, children can mentally represent objects or events and engage in play that is

symbolic. Their thoughts and communications are typically egocentric. They are not able to

reverse operations. In the concrete operational stage, the child develops the capacity for logical

operations. Their thinking becomes characterized by mental actions or internalized thoughts that

become reversible. This allows the child to come to logical conclusions. They also develop the

ability to conserve. In the formal operations stage, the thinking structures reach their highest

level of development. They are now able to use logical reasoning. They can think about

explanations for events by thinking about different combinations of variables (Tuckman &

Monetti, 2011, p. 65).

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Cognitive is what is known as mental abilities and processes that are related to

knowledge. According to Piaget’s theory, this student is currently in the concrete-operational

stage of cognitive development (Tuckman & Monetti, 2011, p. 65). The cognitive characteristics

that this student possesses are that her full scale IQ is 77. This is considered to be in the

borderline range. Her verbal IQ is 70, which is in the borderline range. Her performance IQ is 89

and that is in the low average range. Attention is part of cognitive development. This is a

cognitive skill that a student must have to be successful in school. According to her mother, this

child struggles with paying attention. So, it seems that one cognitive characteristic this child has

a hard time with is paying attention. This child has a tough time keeping up with what is going

on and has a short attention span. These both deal with memory and thinking, which are two

cognitive skills that students need to be successful. So, another cognitive characteristic of this

student is that she struggles with a short attention span and keeping up with what is going on.

However, during the BES-2 assessment, she was identified as being very attentive which is not

how her mother identified her. So, judging by the results of this assessment, one cognitive

characteristic she has is being attentive. Due to these conflicting reports, more testing and

observations may have to be done to see which is accurate. When observed, this student worked

the whole time and completed her work but did not ask for help. She did not look up the correct

answers in the book while she was working on her assignment either. This shows that one of her

cognitive characteristics is that she does not use logical reasoning to do her best work. An

important cognitive characteristic is being able to decode words. This student struggles with that

cognitive characteristic because her reading skills fall below average according to achievement

testing and she had trouble reading through a list of words with accuracy. She was not persistent

in using decoding skills. This student’s reading comprehension skills fall below average and

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being able to understand what is read is an important cognitive characteristic. A cognitive

characteristic this student does possess is good listening skills. While being tested, she was very

attentive and listened well to the directions.

Knowing this information will impact how I might effectively teach this student by

telling me the cognitive skills this student possesses. Based off of this information, I know that

this student is in the concrete-operational stage of cognitive development. This information

impacts how I effectively teach this student because it would tell me what cognitive abilities this

student is capable of performing and what level of cognitive abilities I need to use in my

teaching to accommodate the student’s mental abilities and processes that are related to

knowledge. I also know that the cognitive characteristics this student possesses are an IQ in the

borderline range, a short attention span, and having a tough time keeping up with what is going

on. The information concerning the student’s IQ tells me I need to effectively teach this student I

must make sure my lessons and teaching fit with the student’s abilities as indicated by her IQ.

The information regarding a short attention span and having a tough time keeping up with what

is going on indicates that to effectively teach this student I need to make sure I help get rid of

these negative cognitive skills by using the student’s interests in the curriculum, making sure

lessons aren’t too long so she doesn’t quit paying attention, and by reviewing what we have

covered so she can keep up with what is going on. For example, after the lesson or at the end of

the day, I could meet with the student and cover the major things we learned so she would be

keeping up with what is going on. One interesting thing is that the assessor for the BES-2

assessment found that the student was attentive, which was not how the mother identified with

her. So, I would have to observe the student and monitor and adjust my lessons based on what I

noticed. One cognitive characteristic that will impact how I might effectively teach this student is

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the student’s reading skills. This is because the student’s reading skills fall below average and

according to achievement tests. This means I would need to make sure in the individualized

lessons for this student that I covered the following areas the student struggled with: reading with

accuracy, decoding words, and comprehension skills. So, this information on cognitive

characteristics told me areas I needed to work on with this student and I could effectively teach

her by addressing those trouble spots she has with cognitive characteristics.

Perceptual Motor Characteristics

Johnstone and Ramon (2011) said that perceptual motor characteristics require children

to use their brain and body together to accomplish a task. An example of a perceptual motor

characteristic or activity would be walking on a balance beam while reciting the alphabet at the

same time. Perceptual motor characteristics are important skills to have because in school and

life in general, children have to do many things that require their mind and muscles to work

together. For example, reading, writing, speaking, and gesturing are all motor-based skills. So, if

you do any of these at the same time, then you are using perceptual-motor skills. Perceptual

motor development is extremely important because it aids in the development of the brain. It is

critical to the development of brain pathways that cross the left and right hemisphere. Students

with poor perceptual-motor development that often have difficulty learning to read and write

when they are in the primary grades. To help them develop their perceptual motor skills so they

get to their full potential, we need to look at the whole child and address their academic,

emotional, and physical needs (Johnstone & Ramon, 2011, p.5). If teachers help students

strengthen their perceptual motor characteristics, then they will be much more successful in their

educational careers.

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The perceptual/perceptual motor characteristics of this student are not mentioned in this

psycho-educational evaluation. Since nothing was mentioned concerning the student’s perceptual

motor characteristics, then there is no significance and this is not an issue for the child.

Knowing this information will impact how I might effectively teach this student by

telling me that no perceptual motor characteristics of this student are mentioned in the

evaluation, so this means there are no problems concerning this area for the student. I would be

able to design my lessons and teach this student without accommodating any perceptual motor

problems. I would not have to accommodate any problems the students has with using their brain

and body to accomplish a task at the same time. For example, the student would be able to write

and read at the same time and I would not have to make sure that my lessons accommodate any

problems with those perceptual-motor skills. So, this information will impact how I might

effectively teach this student by telling me that my lessons need to fit with perceptual motor

characteristics that seem to have no problems and not seem to be of any concern. If I had more

information on the perceptual motor characteristics of this student, I would be able to use the

information in a better way to effectively teacher this student because I would know more

specifics about the student’s perceptual motor characteristics.

Language Characteristics-A

The effect of cultural and linguistic differences on the growth and development of this

child are not mentioned in this psycho-educational evaluation. According to the student’s

medical, family, and school history, no cultural and linguistic differences were mentioned. So,

there was no effect of cultural and linguistic differences on the growth and development of this

child because it was not mentioned in the evaluation at all. There was no mention of this

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student’s culture or language in this educational evaluation. So, there is no significance here and

this is not an issue or area of concern for the student.

Knowing this information will impact how I might effectively teach this student in very

few ways because the effect of cultural and linguistic differences on the growth and development

of this child are not mentioned in this evaluation. There were no cultural or linguistic differences

mentioned in this evaluation. So, the cultural and linguistic differences of this student had no

effect on the growth and development of this child because it was not mentioned. The student’s

culture and language was also not mentioned. This is not a concern or issue for this student. So,

the only way this information impacts how I effectively teach this student is that I teach them as I

teach a typical American student who speaks English because no cultural and linguistic

differences were mentioned. This is not an issue or area of concern for the student so this

information is not mentioned in this evaluation.

Language Characteristics- B

There are many augmentative and assistive communication strategies as well as other

technology operations within the school environment that could help this student and would

allow technology to be integrated across the curriculum. One thing that this student really

struggles with is reading comprehension. The Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT)

said that the student’s reading comprehension skills were below average. There are many forms

of technology operations within the school environment that would help this student with reading

comprehension and would allow technology to be integrated across the classroom. One way to

help this student using technology operations are to have the student listen to books on tape.

Since some students are better at comprehending what they read when listening to it, this would

accommodate that need. For this student, it may work better for them to listen to it and to take

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notes as they read since they recall information better when they write down what they hear. I

would make sure I incorporated books on tape into my curriculum so that this student could use

it to increase their comprehension. For example, if we are reading “The Diary of Anne Frank” by

Anne Frank as a class, this student could put headphones on and listen to it on their own. This

could increase their comprehension.

The achievement tests also reported that student struggled with decoding. She was not

persistent in using decoding skills when she read unfamiliar words. Augmentative, and assistive

communication strategies as well as several forms of technology operations would be very

helpful for this student when decoding unfamiliar words. One of these forms of augmentative

and assistive communication strategies as well as technology operations that would be beneficial

is a talking electronic device that could pronounce challenging words. The student could keep

this with them as they read and use it to assist them with decoding challenging words as they

read. They would be able to hear the word and see the word and therefore be able to learn to

decode the challenging word using both forms of communication strategies and this technology.

This student also struggles with spelling. According to the Wechsler Individual

Assessment Test (WIAT), her spelling skills fell below average. There are many forms of

assistive communication strategies or technology that could help this student improve their

spelling skills. One form of assistive communication strategies or technology could be a

highlighter. They could highlight the different parts of words in different colors to help them

chunk it and therefore, be able to learn to spell it. Another form of assistive communication

strategies or technology that could benefit this student is a spell checker. This could help this

student because it would allow them to check if the word was spelled correctly by using a talking

spell checker. They would hear the word said aloud correctly and identify spelling errors. They

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would also be able to see how the word should be spelled and the errors would be identified.

This would help the students be able to better participate in spelling and communicate better

when writing because they could spell words correctly. This would also qualify as an

augmentative communication strategy in some ways because it would speak words to the student

and this would help the child participate and communicate better at school, which is the purpose

of augmentative communication strategies.

Augmentative communication strategies may not be necessary all the time with this

student’s needs because the study did no show any signs of speech problems. A speech-language

pathologist will test the student. However, so far, there is no need for augmentative or assistive

communication strategies to help this student communicate constantly because they can do so

effectively on their own, according to the case study. We would need more information from the

results of the tests conducted by the speech-language pathologist to make a final decision about

whether or not the student needs augmentative or assistive communication strategies on a daily

basis.

The evidence that this technology can be integrated across the curriculum is that the

books on tape the student could use for comprehension purposes could be used for history,

science, math, or any other subject that could require words to be read aloud to aid

comprehension. A talking electronic device that pronounces challenging words could be used in

many subjects as well like history, science, or math to aid in decoding. A highlighter could be

used in every subject as a form of assistive communication or technology operation. When

reading any article, textbook, or any other piece, the student could highlight words to help them

chunk it and learn how to spell and pronounce it. A spell check would also work across the

curriculum for the same reasons; it could be use on any challenging word in any subject.

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There are so many different kinds of augmentative and assistive communication

strategies as well as technology operations that could assist this student within the school

environment and would allow technology to be integrated across the curriculum.

Knowing this information will impact how I might effectively teach this student by

informing me of what augmentative and assistive communication strategies as well as other

technology operations in the school environment would help this student and would integrate the

technology across the curriculum. This information tells me that to effectively teach this student

I need to use different methods that can fit their abilities. For example, I might need to use a

form of assistive technology or technology operations to read a book on tape out loud to the

student so they can comprehend the information better by hearing it if that is what works better

for them. For this student, it may work better for them to listen to it and to take notes as they read

since they recall information better when they write down what they hear.

This information also impacts how I might effectively teach this student by helping me

learn about how to help this student with decoding unfamiliar words, she could highlight parts of

the word in different color to help them chunk it and learn how to spell it. An electronic spell-

checker would also be beneficial for this student because they can check the spelling of a word

and see the correct spelling on a screen, which could help them learn the word better in the long

run.

Since the student struggles with decoding words, a form of augmentative and assistive

communication strategies as well as technology operations would be great for this student

because it would say the challenging words out loud and would able to read the word as it is said

aloud, which would help them learn the word in a more effective manner.

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The best way this information will impact how I might effectively teach this student is by

knowing that augmentative communication strategies, assistive communication strategies, and

technology operations, are very useful tools that can help students with different areas they

struggle in and I can use these tools in my daily teaching and lesson planning.

Academic Learning Characteristics

Academic learning characteristics describe the student’s present levels of functioning and

their skills in areas like math, reading, and writing. First of all, the academic learning

characteristics of this student is that one strength she has is her numerical reasoning abilities,

visual alertness, and attention to detail. Another learning characteristic is a weakness for problem

solving and judgment is social situations. This information was provided by the Wechsler

Intelligence Scale for Children- Third Edition. Another learning characteristic is that her

vocabulary skills are below average, according to the Comprehensive Receptive and Expressive

Vocabulary Test. The student’s visual perceptual skills are at age level expectations. So,

according to the Bender-Gestalt, this student has no developmental problems with motor

integration skills. Another academic learning characteristic of this student is, according to the

Visual Aural Digit Span test, that she is at age level expectations in recall, sequencing, and

intersensory integration skills. However, she did struggle with the oral recall of digits she heard

but had no problems recalling information in written from that was presented orally or visually.

The Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement and Wechsler Individual Assessment Test

both revealed that one academic learning characteristic of this student is that her reading and

math skills are below average. She struggles with reading words with accuracy and using

decoding skills with unfamiliar words. Another academic learning characteristic is that her

reading fluency skills are average, her reading comprehension skills are below average, her math

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skills are below average, her spelling skills are below average, her written expression skills are

below average, her writing s organized, and she struggles with punctuation, specifically commas.

All in all, the biggest academic learning characteristic of this student is that her level of mental

abilities are in the low average range of intelligence. This is based off of the unusual differences

between the verbal and performance IQ scores. Another learning characteristic is that she can

express her abilities better nonverbally than verbally. Her performance IQ is in the low average

range and that may be the best estimate of her true abilities. Another academic learning

characteristic is that her verbal skills appear weak, she has below average reading and math

skills, and she has low to average written expression skills. The biggest learning characteristic is

that there is a severe discrepancy between measured ability and achievement in math.

Knowing this information will impact how I might effectively teach this student by

telling me the student’s skills in areas like math, reading, and writing and the characteristics they

have when they learn. Since this information tells me that this student has strengths in the areas

of numerical reasoning abilities, visual alertness, and attention to detail, then I will be able to

encourage the student to display these strengths and to involve them in my lessons to increase the

students confidence. This could help her feel more confidence in herself and in her abilities. This

could also help her be more successful if she believes in herself. This student also has a

weakness for problem solving and judgment in social situations and I can effectively teach this

student using this information by involving these skills in lessons to help the student improve

them. I can effectively teach this student using the information that her vocabulary skills are

below average by making sure the student practices vocabulary words when she reads and by

having a vocabulary lesson on a regular basis. This student has no problems with visual

perceptual skills, so my lessons would not to accommodate any problems associated with those

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skills. This student is also at age level for recall, sequence, and intersensory skills. So, my

lessons do not need to accommodate any problems with this. She did struggle with the oral recall

of digits she heard. So, I may need to spend extra time with this student practicing oral recall of

digits she heard or make sure that I write everything I say orally down so the student can write it

down as well. This information also told me that the student has below average reading and math

skills. This tells me that I need to practice these skills with this student and incorporate her

specific struggle sin my lessons to help her and that is how this information could help me

effectively teach my student. Her spelling skills also need to be worked on, so I would need to

include spelling practice in my lessons for her and provide her with extra help. She is average in

written expression but I can be a more effective teacher using this information by working with

this student on punctuation, especially commas.

The biggest piece of information I can use that might effectively teach this student is that

the student’s mental abilities are in the low average range of intelligence. This tells me that I

need to tailor my lessons to her abilities and work to improve these skills by challenging her in

the lessons.

Specifically, these academic learning characteristics tell me what the student is capable of

academically. This communicates with me what my lessons need to include to help the student

improve and what the student’s strengths are and that will help me teach this student more

effectively as a result of this information.

Social Emotional Characteristics

The social and emotional characteristics of this student are that she gets along well with

others, enjoys athletics and music, and is also a very quiet person. She has average relationships

with both peers and teachers. It was also mentioned that she struggles with peer pressure,

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feelings that she does not fit in, and a poor self-image. The student’s mother provided this

information. When observed by a counselor in her American History class, she was very quiet

and didn’t ask anyone for help. This indicates how quiet she is. When she entered the testing

situation, her body language indicated she was slightly nervous at first but become comfortable

quickly. A teacher who conducted the assessments provided this information. There was not

much information about the student’s social emotional characteristics but the above information

indicates that she is a rather shy and quiet person who gets long well with others but doesn’t have

extremely close relationships due to her quietness.

Knowing this information will impact how I might effectively teach this student by

telling me that she is a very quiet person and although she gets along with others, she feels that

she does not fit in and has average relationships with peers and teachers. This tells me to

effectively teach this student I should involve small groups and social activities in my lessons to

help this student develop social skills and not feel like she doesn’t fit in. She also has issues with

peer pressure and poor self-image tells me that I can effectively teach this student by using social

activities and small groups in my lessons for this purpose as well. The fact that this student was

nervous when she first entered the testing situation but then quickly got comfortable tells me that

I need to try and not make her feel too much pressure in assessment situations when teaching but

that she also can get past that and become comfortable rather quickly. The best way to use this

information in a way that would help me effectively teach this student is to make sure I use

social situations and small groups in my lessons to help her feel like she fits in and to help her

come out of her shell and not be so quiet. This would help her be more engaged and would help

her like school more, which would help her be more successful.

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Adaptive Behavior

This student’s adaptive behavior includes very few details regarding how they adjust to

another type of behavior or situation or how they handle change. The only situation the student

was involved in that showed adaptive behavior, according to the case study, was when the

student was tested for the purpose of this evaluation. When she entered the testing room, she

seemed to be doing well but she was a little bit nervous. However, she quickly got over that and

became comfortable and the rest of the testing period went smoothly. This information came

from an educator who was the examiner in this situation. The environment for this situation was

a room that was designated for testing. We don’t know any other information. We don’t know if

she was by herself or if it was a completely quiet room. There is no other information provided

about the environment. There was no information concerning adaptive behavior from the parent.

The fact that there is so little information regarding the student’s adaptive behavior indicates that

it is not a significant problem or issue for the child.

The only behavior assessment given was the Behavior Evaluation Scale-2 (BES-2). This

assessment is based off of observations and is not given as a result of a problem taking place.

The results of the BES-2 were not included in the file with the psycho-educational evaluation

form. This indicates that the results of the BES-2 are not significant and that this is not an issue

for the child. There was no mention of manifestation determination, functional behavior

assessments, or any other formal behavior assessments other than the one above in the

evaluation. This student seems to have no severe behavior problems that could result in

manifestation determination or functional behavior assessments.

Knowing this information will impact how I might effectively teach this student by

telling me that when observed, this student does not have any major problems with adjusting to

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another type of behavior or situation. She did get slightly nervous when she entered a testing

situation but she quickly got past that and it was not a problem. There is so little information

about this student’s adaptive behavior that it doesn’t impact how I might effectively teach this

student in a drastic way. All I know as a result of this information is that I don’t need to adjust

any lessons or my environment to effectively teach this student because she doesn’t have any

adaptive behavior problems. There was no mention of manifestation determination, functional

behavior assessments, or any other formal behavior assessments other than the BES-2, which had

no results reported. So, this information impacts how I might effectively teach this student in

very few ways.

Present Levels of Performance

Present Levels of Functioning

The student’s present levels of functioning include her results on her most recent

evaluations. Her scores for the core subjects of reading and math are below average. This

student’s spelling skills fall below average as well. However, her current levels of functioning

for written expression were low average to average. Her present levels of functioning for mental

abilities are that she falls in the low average range of intelligence. Her present level of

functioning for performance IQ is in the low average range and her verbal skills are weak. The

Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement and Wechsler Individual Achievement Test

provided this information. Another assessment that indicates the student’s present level of

functioning is the Explore test and the Stanford Achievement test from 7th grade. The

documentation with the specific scores was not included in the evaluation but it was stated that

the Explore test revealed average reading skills with below average math skills. The Stanford

Achievement test scores from 7th grade revealed the student’s overall area scores to be average.

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The documentation that proves this student’s present level of functioning for reading is

below average comes from the Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement and the Wechsler

Individual Achievement Test (WIAT). The WIAT assessment reported that the student’s

standard score for basic reading was 79 with a percentile rank of eight. The student’s standard

score for reading comprehension was 84 with a percentile rank of 14 and the basic reading

standard score was 79 with a percentile rank of eight. According to the Woodcock-Johnson III

Tests of Achievement (WJIII), this student’s standard score for letter-word identification is 79

with a percentile rank of eight, which indicates there is a problem with decoding and that results

in below average levels of functioning for reading. The WJII also said the standard score for

reading fluency was 93 with a percentile rank of 33 and passage comprehension had a standard

score of 87 with a percentile rank of 19. The standard score for reading composite in the WIAT

assessment was 77 with a percentile rank of six. The WJIII assessment reported the broad

reading standard score to be 86 with a percentile rank of 18. Both achievement assessments

provided documentation to prove that the present levels of functioning for this student’s reading

abilities are below average.

The documentation that proves this student’s present level of functioning for math is

below average is the Wechsler Individual Achievement Exam (WIAT) and the Woodcock-

Johnson Tests of Achievement (WJIII). These achievement assessments said that this student’s

present level of functioning for math is below average. This student struggles with and follows

below average when working word-type problems computation problems, multiplication basic

facts, and long division problems with two digit divisors. It was also concerning that she would

have trouble with a simple division problem and then correctly solve a long division problem

with a one-digit divisor. The standard score for math composite on the WIAT assessment is 75,

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which has a percentile rank of five. The WIAT reported that math reasoning had a standard

score of 81 with a percentile rank of 10, numerical operations had a standard score of 75 with a

percentile rank of five, and math composite had a standard score of 75 with a percentile rank of

five. The WJIII assessment documented that the student’s broad math standard score was 80 with

a percentile rank of nine. The WJII reported that the student’s standard score in calculation was

87 with a percentile rank of 19, math fluency was 84 with a percentile rank of 14, and applied

problems had a standard score of 79 with a percentile rank of eight. This documentation of the

student’s scores on both achievement assessments indicates that their present levels of

functioning in math are below average.

Another important subject in school is spelling. The WIAT assessment provided

documentation that her spelling standard score was 84 with a percentile rank of 14. This

documentation of her spelling scores shows that this student’s spelling skills is below average.

Writing is a very important core subject. The WIAT assessment provided documentation

that her written expression score was 97 with a percentile rank of 42. Her writing composite

score had a standard score of 87 with a percentile rank of 19. This documentation shows that her

present level of function in writing ranges from low average to average.

The student’s present levels of functioning as indicated by a classroom observation

conducted by the school counselor during an American History lesson were that she worked

independently, did not ask for assistance, she used her book to research question, and worked the

entire time she was observed. However, the teacher told the counselor that she often completes

her work but does not always look up correct answers. This indicates that this student’s present

levels of functioning are that she is a quiet worker and she works diligently and completes her

work. However, another present level of functioning is that she does not always look up the

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correct answers. When tested for this evaluation, some present levels of functioning observed by

the examiner were that she put forth good effort on all tasks, had no trouble with directions, and

was attentive throughout the testing. This information from a variety of sources provides how the

student functions in different academic environments and allows them to see how the student

functions in addition to the student’s scores that show present levels of functioning.

One of the student’s strengths is documented in the arithmetic subtest of the Wechsler

Intelligence Scale for Children- Third Edition. The strength that is indicated in this arithmetic

subtest is overall numerical reasoning abilities. The student had a documented scaled score of

eight on the arithmetic subtest. Another strength documented for this student is in the

performance area of the WISC-III assessment and in the picture completion subtest. The strength

that is indicated in this picture completion subtest is visual alertness and attention to detail. The

student had a documented scaled score of 12 on the picture completion subtest. These are

considered to be the student’s strengths.

One of the student’s weaknesses is documented in the comprehension subtest of the

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition. The weakness indicated in this

comprehension subtest is problem solving and judgment in social situations. The student has a

document scale score of two on the comprehension subtest. Another weakness this student has is

in overall vocabulary skills, according to the Comprehensive Receptive and Expressive

Vocabulary Test. The documentation from the CREVT assessment said that the student’s

receptive vocabulary score is 87 with a percentile rank of 19 and her expressive score is 79 with

a percentile rank of eight. These documented scores indicate that this student’s vocabulary skills

are below average and that this is a weakness for this student. This student’s weakness with the

oral recall of digits that she heard was documented by The Visual Aural Digit Span test (VADS).

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Her documented score for this section of the VADS test was in the percentile range of below 10.

Two major weaknesses for this student are in reading and math. According to the Woodcock

Johnson III Tests of Achievement (WJII) and the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test

(WIAT), the student’s skills in reading and math are below average. The WIAT assessment

reported that the student’s standard score for basic reading was 79 with a percentile rank of eight.

The standard score for reading composite in the WIAT assessment was 77 with a percentile rank

of six. The WJIII assessment reported the broad reading standard score to be 86 with a percentile

rank of 18. Both achievement assessments provided documentation to prove that the present

levels of functioning for this student’s reading abilities are below average. This student’s math

skills, according to both achievement assessments, fall below average. This is documented

through the math composite score on the WIAT assessment. The standard score for math

composite on the WIAT assessment is 75, which has a percentile rank of five. The WJIII

assessment documented that the student’s broad math standard score was 80 with a percentile

rank of nine. This documentation of the student’s scores on both achievement assessments

indicates that their present levels of functioning in math are below average. Another weakness

for this student is spelling. The WIAT assessment provided documentation that her spelling

standard score was 84 with a percentile rank of 14. This documentation of her spelling scores

shows that this student’s spelling skills is below average. Another weakness for this student is

her mental abilities. She fell in the low average range of intelligence according to the Wechsler

Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition. The documentation based on this assessment for

full scale IQ was 77, verbal IQ was 70, and performance IQ was 89. These IQ scores are in the

low-average and borderline range of intelligence. These are considered to be the student’s

weaknesses.

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Although the student was average is writing, this wouldn’t necessarily be considered a

strength for this student because she falls in the average range and not in the above average

range. This student scored at age-level expectations when recalling information in written form

when presented orally or visually on the VADS assessment. So, these would not be considered a

strength for this student.

Knowing the student’s present levels of functioning for core subjects and strengths and

weaknesses will impact how I might effectively teach this student in several ways. First of all,

my student’s scores for the core subjects of reading and math are below average. This

information will impact how I might effectively teach this student because since I know these

scores, I will be able to differentiate instruction for this student and make sure that they are

receiving help for the skills they need to help them improve in reading and math. This also helps

me teach this student more effectively because it tells me this student’s current levels of

functioning for written expression are low average to average. Her current levels of functioning

for mental abilities fall in the low average range of intelligence as is her performance IQ. Her

verbal skills are weak. This information will impact how I might effectively teach this student by

telling me what her current levels of functioning are for written expression, intelligence, and

verbal skills and then I can use that information to make sure the curriculum fits the student’s

specific needs and assists them in improving those skills.

The information including the student’s strengths and weaknesses will impact how I

might effectively teach this student by telling me what this student is successful at. If I play up a

student’s strengths, then they will have more confidence in themselves and be more successful.

This is especially true for this student because this student doesn’t like school and feels that the

schoolwork is too had. If I play up her strengths when working with her weaknesses, she will not

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feel so stupid and will be more successful in the long run. For example, when the student is

working with math, which is a below average skill for her, I could have her turn the math

problem into a story and that could help increase comprehension of the math skill she is working

on. The information on the student’s weaknesses will impact how I might effectively teach this

student by telling me what this student struggles with. I can take that information and make sure

I cover the topics this student struggles with thoroughly so she can improve. For example, since

the student struggles with reading comprehension, I can be sure to include daily reading

comprehension lessons for this student to help her improve. I can also include a variety of

reading comprehension strategies to help this student figure out which one works best for her and

makes her the most successful. These are the ways I can use the student’s current levels of

functioning, weaknesses, and strengths to impact how I effectively teach this student.

Concerns and Recommendations

My concerns for this student with regard to their future are as a result of information

provided by her mother in the evaluation. One concern is that this student dislikes school and

problems like that can result in the student not doing well or even dropping out of school

eventually. The mother also said that the student struggles with paying attention, keeping up with

what is going on, peer pressure, feelings that she does not fit in, the work is too hard, having a

short attention span, and having a poor self-image. These are all cause for concern because they

can result in social, emotional, academic, and behavioral problems. Another big concern is the

student’s grades. At semester of this school year, the student had the following grades: An F in

math, D in Earth Science, D in Regular English, and a D in American History. She had an F in

math during the second semester last year as well. All of her other subjects had passing grades.

Another concern is as a result of the classroom observation conducted during an American

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History lesson by a counselor. It was concerning that the student did not ask for assistance at all

and that the teacher indicated that she does not always look up the correct answers. This

indicates that the student may struggle with finding the correct answers but is reluctant to ask for

help. This is a concern because asking questions is an important part of learning.

The results of the tests that administered caused concern in many areas. The scores on the

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition indicated that her full scale IQ and verbal

IQ is considered in the borderline range. Her performance IQ score is in the low average range. It

is concerning that her mental abilities seem to fall in the low-average range and it indicates that

something needs to be done to assist this child in her academic struggles. Another big concern is

that in the comprehension subtest of the WISC-III, the student had a listed weakness with

problem solving and judgment in social situations. Problem solving and judgment in social

situations are vital skills in life, so this is a concern because this child needs these skills to be a

functioning member of society. It is also concerning that this student’s overall vocabulary skills

fall below average according to the Comprehensive Receptive and Expressive Vocabulary Test

(CREVT). The fact that her expressive vocabulary score is below expect levels based on the

student’s measured ability is concerning. It is also concerning that she struggled with the oral

recall of digits she heard on the Visual Aural Digit Span test. This indicates that we need to work

on this with this student because she will be hearing digits orally throughout her educational

career and will need to be able to recall them orally as well.

A big concern is that the student’s overall reading and math skills fall below average,

according to the Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement and the Wechsler Individual

Assessment test. These are core subjects that are vital to a student’s success. So, it is concerning

that this student struggles with this and indicates that work needs to be done to help this student.

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It is greatly concerning that her reading comprehension skills fall below average according to

both achievement assessments. Reading comprehension is a skill required to be successful so this

is concerning and indicates a curriculum plan is needed to assist this child. Another concern is

that this student’s math skills when it comes to word-type problems computation problems,

multiplication basic facts, and long division problems with two digit divisors. It was also

concerning that she would have trouble with a simple division problem and then correctly solve a

long division problem with a one-digit divisor.

It is also concerning that the student’s spelling skills are below average because of how

frequently she will be expected to spell words correctly in school and life. Another concern with

spelling is that spelling words that sound alike but are spelled differently but sound alike are a

struggle for her. This indicates an area to work on wit her. This student’s writing skills are

average but the only concern while writing that is that there were errors in punctuation,

especially with commas.

The biggest concern is that the student’s mental abilities are in the low average range of

intelligence and that there is an unusual difference between verbal and performance IQ scores.

This shows that she expresses her abilities best nonverbally rather than verbally which is a

concern because verbal expression is an important skill. The fact that these verbal skills are week

does indicate that the student needs to have the curriculum tailored to this specific need. It is also

a very large concern that the core subjects of reading and math are below average for this student

and that written expression is low average to average. These are vital skills and this indicates this

student needs extra assistance. The fact that there is a severe discrepancy between measured

ability and achievement in math is also a concern even though the sever discrepancy does not fall

at the state mandated level for eligibility under this category.

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The recommendations I have based off the individuality of the student and my concerns

for them and with regard to their future are that first of all, she stay in an inclusive classroom and

not be separated from her classes permanently, regardless of the disability the post-evaluation

committee might consider she has. This is because she is already a quiet, not very social, and

feels that she does not fit in and if she were to be isolated from the rest of her peers, it is very

likely that her social and behavior problems would only get worse. I also recommend that this

student get involved in extra-curricular activities with the school such as a sports team or music

like orchestra, band, or choir. This could help her be more social and feel more like she fits in at

this school. This would improve the student’s self-image, attention span, relationships with peers

and teachers, peer pressure, and poor self-image. I also recommend that this student see the

counselor at school to talk about her problems with school, average relationships, paying

attention, peer pressure, feeling that she does not fit in, having poor self-image, and about her

short attention span.

I also recommend that this student receive tutoring from me, the classroom teacher, or

another educator. This way, she could receive help with homework and other skills that she

struggles with such as skills in math, reading, vocabulary, reading comprehension, and spelling.

She received poor grades and low to low- average scores on the assessments given in these

subjects. Tutoring would also help the student improve her intellectual abilities, which would

increase her IQ and help her be more successful in the long run. I recommend that she is given

the opportunity to listen to books on tape and write down notes as they read or read out loud with

a partner to increase comprehension. This would also help the student with fluency.

In the classroom, I recommend that this student receive extra help for reading. One way

to help this student is to try and get the student excited about writing. I recommend finding out

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what kind of books the student is interested in and get them excited about it so they don’t have a

negative attitude about it. We need to work with this student on decoding, comprehension,

fluency, and letter-word identification by providing instruction and practicing reading at the

student’s instructional level and by using accommodations such as books on tape, advanced

organizer, and making sure that the student is reading books that interests them. When students

are interested, that makes all the difference in the world. I recommend that the teacher assess the

student informally on a weekly basis through observation, teacher and student conference,

fluency tests, comprehension checks, or a short quiz.

I also recommend frequent tutoring in math because this evaluation indicated a sever

discrepancy between measured ability and achievement in math. However, the severe

discrepancy did not fall at the state mandated level of eligibility for this category but she still

needs help improving her math schools and a tutor would be very helpful in this area.

In the classroom, I recommend this student have extra time on math tests so that she is

not rushed and can take her time and put out her best effort on the exam. I recommend that the

teacher frequently check the student’s class work in math and discusses any problems they might

be having with them. I recommend sitting down with the student and list the steps and

procedures for any problems that have many steps. I recommend keeping examples of math

problems on the board for the student to refer to. I recommend providing the student with a dry

erase board so the student can work out the math problem as needed. I also recommend assigning

less math problems to this student so they will not feel so overwhelmed with the amount of work

they have to do and will be able to do their best on the problems they do have. I recommend that

the teacher assess the student informally on a weekly basis through observation, teacher and

student conference, or short quiz.

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In each subject, I recommend that the teacher and student set short-term goals and that

the teacher and student monitor their progress toward that goal. I recommend that the teacher

monitor the progress of the student to see if any changes are needed to their instruction in each

subject. I also recommend that the teacher makes sure all instructional content, activities,

material, and the delivery of all instruction fits the students specific needs. I also recommend that

the teacher conduct frequent assessments to look at the student’s progress.

I also recommend that the student works with the teacher on improving her skills with

completing assignments such as looking up correct answers in a textbook instead of just

answering them and asking for assistance when needed.

Conclusion

This student, who was recommend for evaluation by her mother, is described as having a

severe discrepancy between measured ability and achievement in math. She also struggles with

reading and spelling. She is a quiet person and isn’t social as a result of that. This evaluation is

important because it helps identify what needs to be done to help this student be successful and if

the post-evaluation committee identifies a disability, the student will be able to receive the help

they need to be successful academically and socially.

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