Comparative Case Study

Comparative Case Study

I have chosen two students from my own classroom, Ruby and Nathan, to conduct this case study on. Both are in 7th grade and are special needs students. In gathering student background I looked through each child’s cumulative folder to find the number of absences, how often they transferred schools, and to view standardized test scores. Also, I searched through EC folders to view their past and current IEP’s, as well as viewed the scores they received on the WISC-R (IQ) and Woodcock Johnson Achievement test. Lastly, I conducted an interview. The reason I have chosen to compare/contrast these two students is because the “system” is trying to move one of these students out of the EC program, although they both benefit greatly from it.

Ruby is 13 years old and is in 7th grade at East Alexander Middle School. I have taught Ruby for a year and a half. She has been placed in the Exceptional Children’s (EC) class due being below grade level in both math and English Language Arts. Ruby takes the NC Extend2 test for both math and English Language Arts. She was placed on the NC Extend 2 test in 5th grade. Ruby is a joy to have and has no record of any behavior problems.

To gain information of Ruby’s home life I conducted an interview. Ruby comes from a low income family. Ruby does qualify for free and reduced breakfast and lunch. She lives with both parents and has an older brother, who also receives EC services. Her mother works in a nursing home and her father works random jobs. They struggle with money at times. She does qualify for free breakfast and lunch. Lastly, she never went to preschool prior to beginning elementary school.

Health problems that she has include being HI (Hearing Impaired) and epileptic. Ruby qualified to receive EC services when she was in Kindergarten. This was targeted specifically for her hearing impairment. Ruby is deaf in her right ear, and has limited hearing in her left ear. She has become very good at reading lips, but knows very little sign language. Ruby does not wear her hearing aids daily and has shown no sign of having missed any instruction due to this. Furthermore, this has not caused any language development delays. If she is not able to hear something she will ask me to repeat what was said. The Hearing Therapist visits the school twice a week to check on Ruby while meeting with her 15 minutes each visit. In 2nd grade Ruby began having seizures which later lead to her diagnoses of epilepsy. Due to this disorder she has had many small scale seizures (about 2-3 a year), and one very serious seizure called a Grandma Seizure, which placed her in the hospital for weeks during her 6th grade year. Also, she has had drug overdoses which also lead to hospitalization. This overdose was due to the negligence of her doctor. After viewing her folders I began to question if any complications occurred during her mother’s pregnancy or if she was sickly as a baby/toddler? Her mother confirmed that no complications had ever occurred, but Ruby did have the occasional ear infection.

Ruby has missed many days of schools. Also, she has transferred schools four times, but never had to repeat a grade. She first lived in Hurry County, South Carolina, and then moved to Catawba County, North Carolina, and last to Alexander County, North Carolina. Due to Ruby not being in North Carolina there was no record of her K-2 assessments.

Absences in Alexander County

Grade / Days Present / Days Absent / Times Tardy
2 / 91 / 20 / 1
3 / 168 / 20 / 6
4 / 158 / 21 / 4
5 / 158 / 25 / 4
6 / 158 / 22 / 7
7 / 40 / 10 / 0

Standardized Test Record

Grade / Math
Scale Score, Ach. Level / Retest / Reading
Scale Score, Ach. Level / Retest / Writing
0-20,level / Science
Scale Score, Ach. Level
3 Regular / 326, 1 / 223, 1 / 235, 2
4 Regular / 335, 1 / 327, 1 / 233, 1 / 231, 1 / 08, 2
5
Ext. 2 / 159, 3 / 240, 1 / 160, 3
6
Ext. 2 / 152, 2 / 159, 3 / 244, 2 / 243, 2

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition (WISC-IV)-March of 2007

Verbal Comprehension / 83
Perceptual Reasoning / 98
Working Memory / 83
Processing Speed / 80
Full Scale / 83

Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement 3/2/07 (4th grade)

Reading Comprehension / 66 / 7-1 Age Equivalent
Basic Reading Skills / 79 / 7-8 Age Equivalent
Broad Math / 88 / 9-0 Age Equivalent
Math Calculation Skills / 89 / 9-3Age Equivalent
Math Reasoning / 86 / 8-8 Age Equivalent
Broad Written Language / 62 / 7-2 Age Equivalent
Basic Writing Skills / 69 / 7-3 Age Equivalent
Written Expression / 69 / 7-4 Age Equivalent

Currently, Ruby’s academic skills and her ability to apply those skills are both within the low range. Ruby’s performance is low average in math calculation skills and math reasoning; low in basic reading skills, and very low in reading comprehension, basic writing skills, and written expression. Ruby experiences difficulty acquiring new knowledge pertaining to functional and abstract concepts. She experiences difficulty organizing and storing knowledge for short-term and long-term memory. Verbal expression skills have been negatively impacted by limited vocabulary, as well as written expression. Ruby’s strongest subject is in math. Ruby can spell words accurately up to 2nd grade, 42%. In word recognition Ruby is instructional at pre-primer 2. Her instructional reading level is at a Primer level, although her oral rate is significantly below, 29 wpm, but comprehension is perfect. Ruby struggles to express what it is she wants to write about due to not being a good speller. Also, she struggles to write in complete sentences while using the correct forms of words and punctuation.

Nathan is 13 years old and is in 7th grade at East Alexander Middle School. I have taught Nathan for about a year and a half. He has been placed in the Exceptional Children’s (EC) class due being below grade level in the English Language Arts. Nathan strong suit is in math which I believe he could succeed at grade level. The biggest component holding him back is not being able to read. Nathan takes the NC Extend2 test for both math and English Language Arts. Nathan does experience some behavior problems in terms of following directions and showing respect towards the teacher and his peers.

During our interview session I found out some very disturbing things which helped me to understand his behaviors and reactions towards others. He tries to control the situation by yelling at others or instantly say he is going to beat them up. Typically students react by laughing and commenting back which only fuels the fire. Often times he experiences both pieces of bullying. He is the bully as well as the one being bullied. When looking through his folders I found that he had never been a behavior problem. It was not until his 5th grade year when his dad, during an intoxicated state, had been fighting with Nathan’s mother. Nathan reacted by retrieving a gun. Nathan’s mom calmed him down and got him to put down the gun. Instantly, Nathan’s dad ran and got the gun and placed it to Nathan’s head but then began shooting up the house. Nathan and both his mother and brother fled the house. In the end dad ended up in jail. Needless to say, anyone can understand the behaviors Nathan has expressed, as well as not knowing how to handle his anger issues.

Nathan does live with both parents, but at one point lived with grandparents. Neither parent works. Dad is on disability due to breaking his back on the job site which instigated his drinking problem. Social services have tried to intervene numerous times and take the children away. His older brother moved out to get away from dad and now lives with grandparents. Unlike Nathan his brother does not struggle academically and has scored high on all standardized test. Also, Nathan does qualify for free breakfast/lunch and has since 5th grade. Lastly, Nathan did attend preschool, but was held back in Kindergarten.

Nathan has moved schools many times. For K-2 he attended NB Mills Elementary in Iredell County (no record of K-2 assessments). At the beginning of 2nd grade he was entered into the speech program (11-08-05). He had trouble pronouncing the sounds of each letter and forming words. This was not due to any hearing problem or difficulties at birth or during pregnancy. Then in January of 2006 he transferred to Stony Point in Alexander County where he was diagnosed with having a specific learning disability (2nd grade). Nathan stayed at Stony Point all of his 3rd and 4th grade years. During both of these two years teachers commented on his academic growth in all areas and mentioned he was on grade level with math but continued to be below in reading. While at Stony Point he was labeled under the EC category as resource, spending 40%-79% of the day with non-disabled peers. In 4th grade he was exited out of speech, but continued to need EC services due to his learning disability (SLD). Also in 4th grade he began taking the NC Extend2 test. In 5th grade Nathan began at Stony Point but then moved to Troutman Elementary (2-13-2009) to live with grandparents. On April 14, 2009 he moved back to Stony Point to finish out the school year. Throughout school he has maintained good attendance at all schools.

Attendance Record in both Alexander County

Grade / Days Present / Days Absent / Times Tardy
1 / 167 / 13 / 10
2 / 111 / 8
3 / 166 / 14 / 1
4 / 171 / 9 / 2
5 / 165 / 15
6 / 159 / 21 / 7
7 / 45 / 5

Standardized Test

Grade / Math
Scale Score, Ach. Level / Reading
Scale Score, Ach. Level / Writing
0-20, level
(Dictation) / Science
3Regular / 335, 2 / 228, 1 /
4 Ext. 2 / 169, 3 / 245, 1 / 16, 3
5 Ext. 2 / 165, 3 / 265, 2 / Didn’t take
6 Ext. 2 / 168, 3 / 242, 1

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition (WISC-IV)-3/16/06 (2nd)

Verbal Comprehension / 91
Perceptual Reasoning / 92
Working Memory / 88
Processing Speed / 75
Full Scale / 84

Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement (4/26/06)

Reading Comprehension / 61 / 6-5 Age Equivalent
Basic Reading Skills / 65 / 6-8 Age Equivalent
Broad Math / 87 / 7-11 Age Equivalent
Math Calculation Skills / 84 / 7-10Age Equivalent
Math Reasoning / 88 / 8-0 Age Equivalent
Broad Written Language / 66 / 7-0 Age Equivalent
Basic Writing Skills / 64 / 6-7 Age Equivalent
Written Expression / 74 / 7-2 Age Equivalent

Currently in math Nathan is performing on grade level. In reading and written language he is below, which I discovered based on the IRI assessment as well as the Woodcock-Johnson. I began by giving the spelling assessment. Based on this he is still in the letter-name stage. He was unable to spell any of the 12 words on the list. However, he could correctly place beginning and ending consonants and some vowels. For word recognition in isolation he is instructional range of pre-primer 2 to primer. For oral reading he is instructional at a 1-2 level scoring a 94% on WRC (still low), reading a rate of 50 wpm, and answering comprehension question with 100% accuracy. The reason for placing him at this level is because when reading a level 2 the test was stopped due to frustration. He does experience difficulties acquiring new knowledge pertaining to functional or abstract relationships. He experiences difficulty organizing and storing knowledge for short-term memory. This is seen when having to express what he is trying to write. When writing I allow him to speak into a tape recorder or tell the teacher what he is trying to write so he can express himself accurately. Thus, dictations are taken daily.

In conclusion, Ruby and Nathan are more alike than unlike. One major difference is that some are trying to get Nathan off of extend2 and into a regular classroom, while Ruby will continue to benefit from EC services. Anyone can see that is a huge mistake in itself considering Nathan is not even reading on a 2nd grade level. Also, as I compare Nathan and Ruby you see they both have been receiving EC services early on while in elementary school, both for a learning disability, and hearing (Ruby) or speech (Nathan). Next they are both on NC Extend2 and have been since 4th or 5th grade. Both are strong in the subject of math and weaker in the subject of reading. However, Ruby is able to express herself when writing more so than Nathan. In terms of home life they live with both parents and come from low income families which allow them to receive free breakfast/lunch. Lastly, one huge difference that Nathan faces that Ruby does not is the mental and physical abuse of a parent.