Third Grade Case Studies



Third Grade Case Studies

SL Smiley

May 2007

Educating Students with Reading Disabilities:

Issues in Policy and Practice

RE 5537

Dr. Devery Mock

Appalachian State University

My case studies will compare two third grade boys who are currently assigned to my special two week “Blitz” test preparation class. One boy is certified Learning Disabled and the other is performing well below grade level, but is not receiving Special Education services. I will refer to these boys as “Christian” and “Melik”. I will discuss each of their family and home environments, known school history from pre-school to third grade, and their report cards and standardized test scores. Finally, I will compare their current stage of reading development and their current classroom performance.

Christian was born on June 14, 1998. He resides with both parents and an older sister. His mother and father are both from Mexico, but moved to the United States before he was born. His older sister is in the fifth grade and is performing on grade level. The family has lived in the same house for at least four years according to records. Both mother and father work outside of the home, but are very supportive of Christian’s academic needs. Christian’s mother attends parent conferences by herself, because his father speaks very little English. His mother’s highest level of education completed is the eleventh grade, while his father stopped at the sixth grade. Christian has grown up hearing Spanish spoken in his home, although he cannot speak it. In fact, his mother reports that when he was four years old, he could say very few words. Christian attended Bright Beginnings Pre-K program and then transferred to his present school where he began kindergarten. Christian qualifies for “free” breakfast and lunch.

Melik was born on October 17, 1997, about eight months prior to Christian. Melik lives with his mother, his older brother who is twelve, and his younger sister who is five. His older brother has been in and out of juvenile detention centers for several years. I am not aware of his academic status. His younger sister goes to daycare and will be a kindergartner at H.N.E.S. next year. All three children have different fathers. Melik’s biological father died when he was just two years old. Melik’s mother was born in Jamaica and immigrated to the United States when she was sixteen. Her highest level of education is the twelfth grade. She attends conferences and states that she is concerned about his academic progress. However; at this time she works evenings, so she relies on Melik’s aunt (her sister) to help him with his homework. Melik was born in Brooklyn, NY where he attended kindergarten and first grade. He was retained in first grade. The family then moved to Charlotte, NC in time for Melik to start second grade. Once they were able to obtain their own residence, (they were staying with an aunt), Melik transferred to H.N.E.S., his current and third school. Melik is in the “free” breakfast and lunch program.

Christian began his school career in the Bright Beginnings Pre-K program in the fall of 2002 at A.J.E.S. At the end of that year, he only knew the letter O and the number 1. He could not write his name independently. It was noted that he had some difficulty focusing on lessons. His family did meet the reading requirement goal for the year, and attended school functions. He had 5 absences for that school year.

He transferred to his present school, H.N.E.S., to begin his kindergarten year in August of 2003. Medical records indicate that his vision and hearing screenings were normal. He was not eligible for Speech/Language services. Many academic records are missing from his file, but those that are included indicate a discrepancy between literacy skills and mathematical ability. Throughout the year Christian continued to struggle with phonological development, only recognizing a few letters of the alphabet. He achieved mastery level for math skills (“3”) and below grade level for literacy skills (“1”). He was absent 5 days.

Christian entered first grade in 2004. His teacher immediately recognized that he was extremely far behind. Since there were no behavioral issues other than focusing, she suspected a learning disability and began the referral process. Due to his family history, administration placed him in the ESL program, and the Special Ed referral process was halted. His classroom teacher and the ESL teacher both stated that Christian could not remember skills taught from day to day and still did not know all of the letters in his name, even though they were both working with him individually and in a small group setting. Christian earned “1’s” in Literacy Skills and “3’s” in Math for the year. He was not retained because he was in the ESL program. He accrued 6 absences that year.

Melik began his school career by attending a Pre-Kindergarten Daycare where he completed the program without any noted difficulty. He then started kindergarten in September 2002. His vision and hearing screenings were normal and no Speech/Language services were needed. There is one set of grades for the entire kindergarten year and no other work samples or assessment indicators. His overall Intellectual Development was marked as “Needs Improvement”. He was marked poorly on maintaining self control and obeying class rules. Attendance records were not recorded in the file.

Melik entered first grade in the fall of 2003 and it was noted that he needed glasses. Again, the only report states that he received “1’s” for all academic subjects. Physical Education was the only exception, where he earned a “3”. He missed 24 days of school and was retained for the following school year. In January of 2004, Melik’s mother requested that he be referred for academic evaluation. His teacher believed that he could benefit from support services, and so the screening process began. In February, he was placed in a Special Ed setting all day and instructed in all subjects. The ratio in this setting was 12:1. The information given does not define the learning disability area(s). No IEP could be located.

In 2004 when he repeated first grade, he began in the Special Ed setting. However, his mother chose to completely pull him out of the program in October. During this second year of first grade, Melik performed on grade level in math and received all “3’s”. (Again, this is according to the single report.) In Literacy, he was still working below grade level and received “2’s”. His attendance had improved, as he was absent only 5 times. There are no work samples or assessment results included in the file for either first grade year.

After completing first grade, both boys had consistently shown learning difficulties in all areas of literacy. Unfortunately, there were obstacles from home and within the school setting that stood in the way of the boys getting services that they needed. Their mathematical ability seemed to be on track for their grade. Moving forward, the boys are now in the same grade and soon to be in the same school.

When Christian entered second grade, he began seeing the school’s Reading Specialist for two 30 minute sessions each week. He was pulled out of the regular classroom for these individual reading lessons. He was still in the ESL program. Working together, the Reading Specialist, the ESL teacher, and his regular classroom teacher began the Special Ed referral process again, insisting that this child be screened because the interventions were simply not helping Christian make necessary progress. Testing validated that he was eligible to receive Special Ed services commencing in January 2005 for his Specific Learning Disabilities in Basic Reading, Reading Comprehension, and Written Expression. It was reported that his working memory was a significant area of weakness for him which hindered his acquisition of new knowledge. (See Tables 1, 2, & 3 for Testing Information) He missed 8 days of school.

Melik started second grade at a new school in North Carolina. The teachers at his school recognized that Melik was struggling, and since he had been retained in first grade, started the paperwork for additional testing. Before all of the testing could take place, (which his mother was now open to), the family moved, so he had to attend yet another school in his new neighborhood. Testing results showed that Melik was not eligible for Special Ed services based on his test scores. He was still performing well below grade level in reading. Math was becoming harder for him because he had poor reading fluency skills, and couldn’t process word problems. He missed 5 days of second grade. (See Table 4 for Testing Information)

In second grade, both boys were assessed using the DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) program. These results show that Melik is making progress at a higher rate than Christian, even though his scores are still falling below grade level range. (See Table 5 for DIBELS) At this point, Christian is receiving Special Ed services while Melik remains in the regular classroom setting, but receiving Reading Mastery as an intervention.

At present, Christian is in the third grade and continues to be pulled out for Special Ed services daily for 1 hour. He takes the NC EXTEND 2 Reading Test, so he does not have Quarterly Reading or Math Test results. The EXTEND 2 Tests are not scored or reported. He did take the Math Pretest. (See Table 6) The upcoming End-of-Grade tests (NC EXTEND 2 in Reading), will be given to him with the following accommodations: multiple test sessions, marks in book, separate setting, extended time, and read aloud. His current report card grades consist of “D’s” and “1’s” in all subjects. There was a notation about not completing daily homework assignments. Two absences are reported so far this year. (See Tables 8 & 9)

At the beginning of third grade, Melik began seeing the Reading Specialist for three 45 minute sessions in a small group setting. He is pulled out of the regular classroom for this intervention. He receives no accommodations for any of the Quarterly Tests (See Tables 6 & 7) or the upcoming End-of-Grade Test. His most recent progress report shows he has earned a “C” in both Reading and Writing. He has dropped to a “D” in Math. He has had 4 absences this year. (See Tables 8 & 9)

Presently, Christian is a happy and eager learner who rarely gets in trouble. He still has difficulty focusing, and can only perform two-step directions with accuracy. His working memory deficit is quite apparent when he encounters a new word. When corrected, he doesn’t have the ability to remember the same word when he sees it again within the same text. He has learned all of the letters of the alphabet now, but only has a limited amount of words on the pre-primer to primer level stored in memory (his sight words). He can correctly make the initial sound of an unknown word, but cannot correctly decode the rest of the word and quickly gives up. He is still working on writing complete simple sentences. His writing is limited to the same few words used over and over. He rarely takes a risk to write a new word. His handwriting is very deliberate and slow and looks much like that of a first grader. (See Writing Samples) When asked about reading, he will tell you that his favorite book is The Cat in the Hat, but he is unable to read it correctly. He says that he likes how the words “sound” to him (the rhyming and alliteration) and has been working on segmenting the onset and rime for one syllable words (-at) this year. He is a Compensatory Reader and is performing at a beginning – mid first grade level. His Listening Comprehension is much better than his Reading Comprehension. Christian truly enjoys being read to and listens intently, but will not choose to read on his own because it’s simply too laborious for him to get any pleasure out of the experience. He aims to please his teachers and I worry that he will become more discouraged as he goes through the upper grades. He knows he is behind his peers, but doesn’t understand to what extent. He is a very sweet and affectionate boy who still needs much nurturing. I fear that parent support is dwindling as evidence of his low grade on his report card for completed homework.

At this time, Melik is a Non-Automatic Reader. He has acquired accurate word recognition skills but this requires much effort as it is not yet automatic for him. He reads word by word and often uses context to help speed him along, but he lacks in the area of comprehension. This year he has worked diligently to learn more difficult spelling patterns and units within words (word families) and sight words, but still confuses some of them and has not yet committed all of them to memory. He enjoys being read to, but will not choose to read on his own. When asked to write, he will do so, but misspells many words and his sentences have little to no correct punctuation. The physical act of writing appears to be effortless for him, as he has neat handwriting skills. (See Writing Samples) In his pull out sessions with the Reading Specialist, he has been instructed on his reading level. She has focused on repeated readings with him to boost word recognition, fluency, comprehension, and overall reading confidence. He has made progress, albeit slow. Melik tells me that he receives little to no supported literature experiences at home, because his mom works until very late at night. Instead, he spends his free time watching television and playing video games, which certainly doesn’t help to boost the orthographic knowledge needed to be a better reader! He is a very sensitive and affectionate boy who is acutely aware that he is behind his classmates in reading. When he struggles, he often becomes discouraged and shuts down academically. It is at these times that his behavior sometimes plummets as well.

Both Christian and Melik have challenging academic roads ahead of them. They both require very knowledgeable and compassionate teachers to not only boost their self confidence but to understand their learning difficulties/disabilities as well. Parental involvement (or lack there of) will become an even greater factor in school performance as they move through the upper grades. Both boys sincerely want to learn and succeed in school. I hope they are given the chance and support needed to do so. (See Table 10 for Overall Comparisons)

TABLE 1 - Christian

|12.02.05 Test of Early Reading Achievement 3 (TERA-3) |

|Alphabetic Raw Score 19 Age Equivalent 6y 4m Grade Equivalent 1.2 SS 7 16%tile |

|Conventions Raw Score 11 Age Equivalent 5y 10m Grade Equivalent K.7 SS 6 9%tile |

|Meaning Raw Score 9 Age Equivalent 5y 4m Grade Equivalent K.2 SS 3 1%tile |

|Reading Quotient 70, Total SS 16, 2%tile |

|12.09.05 Test of Early Written Language 2 (TEWL-2) |

|Basic Raw Score 21 Age Equivalent 6y 1m 10%tile Quotient 81 |

|Global Raw Score 21 Age Equivalent 5y 2m ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download