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Assessment and Diagnosis: Two Case Studies Michelle E. Thumann Grand Canyon University: SPE-536 July 30, 2014

TWO CASE STUDIES

2 Assessment and Diagnosis

Case Study 1: Student in Early Childhood Special Education Assessment is necessary to determine if a child has a learning disability and the accommodations necessary to assist the child so he/she has appropriate access to the general curriculum. The evaluation must use a variety of assessment tools and strategies to gather relevant functional, developmental, and academic information about the child, including information provided by the parent (NICHCY, 2010). This can include but is not limited to standardized tests, interviews, medical history and observations within the child’s natural setting. No one test should ever be used to determine a child’s future. Joseph is a nine year old boy entering the 4th grade. He has always had difficulty learning difficulty when it came to letters, words, reading and writing. His parent’s first indication was when he entered preschool and the teacher informed them that he was having difficulty with letter recognition and the sounds that were associated with them. A close eye was kept on his progress as he continued to progress at a much slower rate than the other students in his class. He ultimately repeated kindergarten in hopes of helping him catch up. He was placed in a reading recovery class at school and started working with an individual tutor twice a week in second grade. Finally in the beginning of third grade he was officially referred to be evaluated. He was diagnosed with dyslexia. He now has an aid that works with him in his classroom and then is pulled out for more individual instruction for reading. He also has access to a resource room to help him complete assignments in a more timely fashion. The Children’s Dyslexia Center of Cincinnati offers free one-on-one tutoring for children with dyslexia. Trained tutors use the Orton-Gillingham approach which is a multisensory

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approach for teaching reading, spelling and writing. The admission process of this center requires a comprehensive psycho-educational evaluation which includes an individualized, standardized assessment of cognitive ability, oral word reading, oral paragraph reading, reading fluency, reading comprehension and spelling, phonological processing, and decoding non-words. This program can only service 50 students at any one time so many students stay on a waiting list for years. On July 15, 2014, I had the opportunity to observe an entrance evaluation on Joseph. After being on the wait list for about a year and a half he now had the opportunity to get free tutoring but needed to be fully tested. Cathie, the director of the program, was the person who administered the entire test which took about 2 hours. He was assessed using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC)–IV assessment and the Woodcock Johnson III assessment.

The WISC- IV is a norm-referenced test and measures a student’s IQ. The reliability of the test was determined by using the test re-test method. Test-retest reliability was computed based on 243 children across the 11 age groups, tested twice in 32 days on average (13 to 63). Results were at minimum .76, but most were in the .80s (Niolon, 2005). The validity of the content was determined by reviewers and experts in the field and test question answers were examined for common errors and then modified. The WISC-IV was also compared to other form of the Wechsler test and the convergent validity ranged from .72 to .89.

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The Woodcock Johnson III consists of two co norm-referenced tests: the WJ III Tests of Cognitive Abilities and the WJ III Tests of Achievement. One of the most important features of this test is that both norms were created from the same sample of test takers. This creates a extremely high validity because of the direct comparisons that can be made between a subjects scores. The WJ III batteries were designed to provide the most valid methods for determining patterns of strengths and weaknesses based on actual discrepancy norms (Schrank, 2001).

The administration procedures changed from test to test. Clearly the administrator had a lot of experience administering the test as she moved from one test to the next very seamlessly. She read all directions verbatim from the test book. Some sections she could prompt, some were timed, some questions she could repeat and starting and ending points varied. It was evident that a lot of attention is given to keeping each test as similar as the next so the administrator does not affect the results. Joseph’s results of his WISC-IV IQ test indicate he is above average or average on the four individual scores. His percentile rank on the Verbal comprehension section was 79 which indicated he is above average. This means he scored on an average higher than 79 out of one hundred test takers his age. His perceptual reasoning percentile rank was 55, working memory was 40, and his processing speed was 30 which were all considered average. Joseph’s scale scores on all but one of the sub tests from the WJ-III indicated he was either low or very low. Interestingly he received a scale score of a 95 which put him at average for the passage comprehension subtest. Joseph’s results are consistent with a child who is suffering from dyslexia. He has an above average intelligence but has low academic performance. His scores indicate that

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instruction should be given verbally as his verbal comprehension is highest. Joseph would also benefit from hands on learning with his perceptual reasoning at the average. Suggestions for accommodations in the classroom are oral assessments, books on tape, help with note taking, typing class, and access to a computer to type essays. The more of the instruction Joseph can hear the better access he will have to the curriculum. He has also been accepted into the Children’s Dyslexia Center for the 2014/2015 school year. This mean he will get free tutoring for an hour twice a week.

Case Study 2: Student in the Process of Transitioning The Cincinnati Public virtual High School offers a web based curriculum for tenth to twelfth grade students. Students report to a classroom every day. They work at their own pace on the courses they need for graduation. Often many students come to the VHS because they have fallen behind in their credits and want an opportunity to catch up. Many of the students who attend VHS have had academic difficulty due to learning disabilities and behavior issues. Over thirty percent of the students at VHS have individual learning plans (IEPs) or 504 plans. Students who have IEPs are mandated by IDEA to have a transition plan when entering high school or around the age of sixteen. The primary reason for a transition plan is to help students prepare for life after school. The IEP team is primarily responsible for devising and implementing the plan as part of the IEPs goals and objectives. A transition plan can include postsecondary education or vocational training, employment, independent living, and community participation. The students and parents should be involved in creating these plans as the

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preferences, interests and strengths of the student are essential to the student’s happiness and fulfillment after school. The purpose of a high school is to educate and prepare students for successful lives after high school. For many this is a very scary time because there are so many unknowns. VHS helps students make the transition as seamless as possible by having many of the students, not just the special education students, take an online comprehensive college and career readiness assessment called Naviance. Naviance software connects academic achievement and an individual’s personality type to learning styles, post-secondary options and career goals. The platform offers a variety of solutions that enable students and families to collaborate more effectively with counselors and teachers and allow school administrators to optimize student potential and learning outcomes (Smith, 2012). It is based on Holland's Theory of Career Choice; identifying careers and college majors that match the student’s interests, traits, skills and abilities. The problem with career assessments is that they primarily take into account what the test taker believes or doesn’t believe about himself/herself. Many teenagers lack the appropriate insight necessary to make this type of test valid. The test takers point of view may be inaccurate causing the results to be jaded. For example, a student may not recognize that he/she is a leader and the other students respect him/her. Often high school students have poor self-esteems and cannot acknowledge their personal strengths and weaknesses. The test can only be valid if the student is self-aware. Zachary, an eleventh grade student at the Virtual High School and has a 504 plan. He took the test begrudgingly. He didn’t want to test and said he already knew what he wanted to

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do after high school but was still made to complete the test. He sat a computer station and took the multiple choice test in a classroom by himself. The results of the test were that Zachary’s personality type is ENFP which stands for extraverted, intuition, feeling and perception. Often this type of person is outgoing, enthusiastic, spontaneous, sensitive and empathetic. This information is beneficial as the results then point out potential careers and majors he may want to consider. The fields that he may find job satisfaction in are the arts, human services, science and scientific research, and sports and entertainment. Some specific jobs in these fields may include radio and television broadcasting, criminal justice, anthropology, and graphic organizer. The special education teacher, the school psychologist, one general education teacher, his mother and Zachary were all present at the end of the year annual meeting. The meeting was tense as Zach has been falling farther and farther behind due to poor attendance and a lack of motivation in the class. The focus of the meeting was on objectives and goals that hadn’t been met in the past six months. The mother seemed like she was placing much of the blame of the staff. The special education teacher reviewed the accommodations that had been put in place to try and help Zachary succeed in his classes. Zachary seemed distracted and lacked any desire to contribute to the discussion. Zachary was asked what plans he had for his future. He stated that he wanted to be a graphic designer. Interestingly this was one of the career paths that the Naviance indicated as a possible option according to his personality inventory. This was when the discussion opened up to Zachary possibly attending a local junior college that offered this program. Talking about positive future goals truly lifted the tension in the room. It was made clear, for him to reach his goal, he needed to complete the course requirements so he could graduate high school.

TWO CASE STUDIES Unfortunately Zachary is going into the twelfth grade and is still in need of ten credits to meet the credit requirement for graduation. High school students need to be prepared for life after school. For many general education students, the natural transition is to go to a traditional four year college or university but for those with special needs that is not always a realistic goal. Not everyone is meant to go to college but that doesn’t mean that you can’t live a fulfilled life with goals and dreams. Helping students with special needs plan for the future can be one of the most important obligations we have as special education teachers. Having Zachary think about why school is important and how it affects his ultimate goal to become a graphic designer is invaluable. Hopefully he realizes that time is running out and he needs to focus on completing his course requirements or his future plans will be limited.

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9 References

National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (2010). Children(3-22). Retrieved from http://nichcy.org/schoolage on July 30, 2014. Niolon, Richard. (2005). Resources for Students and Professionals. History of WISC IV. Retrieved from http://www.psychpage.com/learning/library/intell/wisciv_hx.html. Schrank, F. A., McGrew, K. S., & Woodcock, R. W. (2001). Technical Abstract (WoodcockJohnson III Assessment Service Bulletin No. 2). Itasca, IL: Riverside Publishing. Smith, Stephen. (2012). College and Career Readiness Meets Adaptive Test Preparation. L Retrieved from http://www.naviance.com/blog/college-and-career-readiness-meets-k adaptive-test-preparation.