Angie Keaton
Wendy Locklear
Kristin Wahl
Comparative Case Study Paper
School History
Absences
Student A and B had about the same number of absences. Student A has had 16 absences in kindergarten through second grade. Student B has had 27 absences up to this point in third grade. Student C absences are quite excessive. This student has had 98 absences from kindergarten through third grade. Student C’s tardiness far outnumber the other two students as well, having 132 tardiness, compared to Student A’s 24, and Student B’s 1 tardy. Missing instruction can impact a student’s academic performance. All the students have a fairly high number of absences and tardies, with Student C’s rate being almost unbelievable.
Grade repetition/failures
Student A and C were promoted each year. However, Student B was retained in kindergarten because of the lack of progress that this student made during that year.
Behavior problems
According to the students’ files, there were not any specific behavior problems noted. One student however did have a specific disorder that could possibly result in behavioral issues if the case became more severe. Student B has a slight case of Tourette’s Syndrome. This syndrome is a very mild case that causes him to twitch once and awhile, but it is not significant enough to affect his learning and class work. There are cases of Tourette’s Syndrome in this student’s family history. His maternal grandfather and maternal great-aunt have cases of Tourette’s Syndrome. Fortunately for student B, this disorder has not caused poor behavior in the classroom and has not impeded his learning to this point.
Major instructional changes or disruptions
There were not any major instructional changes or disruptions for any of the students.
Supplemental Services
The only supplemental services that Student A receives is Title I reading. Student B has received several supplemental services including speech and language classes, current EC classes, EOG math remediation classes, and EOG reading remediation classes. Similarly, Student C attends speech and language classes and reading remediation classes.
Student Referrals
Student A was referred for speech in kindergarten for failing the speech/language screening but she did not qualify. She does not receive any special education services. She does have a PEP that states she would benefit from small group and individual instruction and paired reading.
Student B was referred for testing in second grade based upon the teacher’s observations and the lack of progress that the student had made during that school year. He now attends resource classes five days per week for 30 minutes each session. The Wilson Reading program is the primary reading program used in that EC classroom. Student B receives EC services for reading, math, and written expression. He also needs a separate setting for testing, extended time on testing, modified work assignments, and the ability to mark in the book for testing.
Student C was referred for EC testing in third grade. The student was in reading remediation and showed little to no progress. Student C did not qualify to receive special education services but does require extended time on tests and assignments, separate setting for major tests, and speech and reading remediation.
Home and Family Environment
Primary Care Givers and Number of Moves
In regards to the students’ home and family environments, Student B and Student C had the most common. Both of these students live at home with their biological parents and have attended the same elementary school since Kindergarten. On the other hand, student A lives in a single mother home and has moved at least four times since kindergarten. She has attended four different elementary schools in the past three years.
Free and Reduced Lunch/Breakfast
We were unable to determine if these specific students received free and reduced lunch due to confidentiality purposes. However, we can assume that Student A receives free and reduced lunch/breakfast because 98% of the students attending the same school are eligible and receive these services.
Academic Achievement of Siblings
Both student A and student C have older sisters who attended the same elementary school. Student A’s older sister performed on grade level in her classes. Student B has two younger sisters. One is currently in second grade and attended speech and language classes for approximately one year because of problems with articulation. She has exited the program since then. The other sister is in Kindergarten for the second year in a row. The reason why she repeated kindergarten is because she rarely spoke during her first year. Therefore, the teacher was unable to determine her progress. Based upon this information, it can be determined that there is a history of below average language skills between the children in Student B’s family.
Language Development
Ear Infections
In all three student cases there was not a history of ear infections.
Speech and Language Services
There was a similarity between all three students in regards to their development in speech and language skills. Student A was initially referred for testing in speech, but this student did not qualify for the initial placement. This student’s current teacher does not notice any problems with this child’s speech or language skills. On the other hand, Student B and C both qualified for the speech and language program for specific issues. Student B received services for speech and language development for two years in the Head Start preschool program. According to the test results, there were no issues with his fluency, articulation, and voice development. He did receive services specifically for his language skills and development. In elementary school, Student B continued to receive speech and language services in kindergarten, first grade, and second grade for language skills and vocabulary development. Student C’s speech and language services also began in preschool. Student C’s parents were concerned that their child, at age 3, was only communicating through nonverbal cues or grunting. This student was evaluated through Appalachian State at age three and began receiving speech services in preschool. Student C continued speech into kindergarten and is still currently served by speech.
Phonological Development
In regards to the students’ phonological development, each student seems to be making progress in this area. Student B can now blend up to 5 sounds together to read words, read many sight words, and has started to read two and three syllable words. Student C is currently working specific sound patterns such as the ‘th’, ‘r’, and vocalic ‘r’, spelling, and verbal comprehension. Student C did not receive a lot of phonological development in preschool because the student was not verbally communicating at all. Therefore, the speech teacher worked on basic verbal communication skills. Between these three students, none of them have shown problems with rhyming.
Current Functioning
Current Phase (Spear-Swerling & Sternberg) of Reading Development
Student A
I feel Student A falls into the phase of a Nonautomatic Reader. I say this because as stated by Spear-Swerling and Sternberg, she does have “accurate word recognition skills but they are not automatic” (pg.124). She will often struggle through sounds of a word she does not know but then able to correctly say the word. When I ask her comprehension questions about the story she just read, I can tell she struggles to recall them. Sometimes she can remember it and sometimes she makes a guess after looking at the pictures.
Student B
At the beginning of the third grade, Student B was reading at the beginning of a first grade level. Student B is currently reading at a beginning of second grade reading level. Within the last few months, this student has started to blend up to five sounds successfully and can now read some two and three syllable words.
This student’s reading is still somewhat slow and laborious. However, this student has made sufficient progress in the last few months and has shown a lot of improvement from the beginning of the year.
At the beginning of third grade, Student B would be described as a compensatory reader. He understood the alphabetic principal, but his word recognition was not accurate. This student had some general phonological and orthographic skills, but they were not developed enough to accurately name sight words and other familiar words. Because this student has made a lot of progress this year, Student B would now be considered a non-automatic reader.
Reading words accurately is still very laborious and effortful. He now recognizes many sight words, but still struggles when blending unfamiliar words. Due to the slowness of his reading, Student B’s comprehension suffers when reading text that is on his level.
Student C
Based on Spear-Swerling & Sternberg student C went off track in reading at the stage of phonetic-cue word recognition stage. Student C is able to recognize words by their beginning and ending sound but many times cannot fully decode the word. Student C does not fully understand the orthographic rules that govern words. Student C relied on context for word recognition. The teacher spent this year in word study activities to facilitate understanding of the orthographic rules of words. However, student c was not able to progress and therefore is considered to be in the compensatory stage of reading development. According to Spear-Swerling & Sternberg, the compensatory phase of reading acquisition can be identified by students using sight-word knowledge and or contextual skills to read text
Student C understands some phonological information in word recognition but relies heavily on context and on words that have been memorized (sight-words). As student C’s third grade year progressed it was apparent that he was in the compensatory phase because his compensations did begin to hinder his reading comprehension skills. In turn this will affect his ability to figure out words using context.
Leveled Achievement in Reading
Student A is in second grade reading at a level 13-14 (1st grade) which is below grade level. Student B and C are both in third grade and reading below grade level. Student B and C are reading on a beginning second grade level.
Spelling:
All three students are performing below grade level in spelling
Handwriting
Student A and C are performing below grade level in handwriting while student B is performing on grade level in writing.
Written Expression
All three students are below grade level in written expression. Student A and C are performing at a level II in written expression. Student B is performing below grade level in written expression and has a difficult time writing a complete story with a beginning, middle, and end. He also struggles with adding details and elaboration to his sentences.
Math
Student A is performing at grade level in math. Student B is performing below grade level in math and student C is performing above grade level in math.
Achievement Summary
Based on current functioning it would appear that all three students are struggling in reading. Student A is below grade level in all areas except for math, which is on grade level. Student B is performing below grade level in all areas except for handwriting. Student C is performing around a second grade level in all areas except for math. Student C is above grade level in math.
Standardized/Non-standardized Test Results
Student A is only in the second grade and therefore has not taken the EOG’s. Student B took the EOG Pretest and scored a 221 in reading, which is a level I. Student B is performing in the 3rd percentile. Student C scored 14 points higher than student B with a score of 235. Student C is a level II and in the 36th percentile. Student B scored lower on the math EOG Pretest with a score of 316, which is in the 13th percentile. This is considered a level II. Student C out scored student B with a score of 335 and it puts student C in the 66th percentile. This indicates that student C is higher than student B in reading and math.
Grade Level Benchmarks
Student A
· No data or grades were reported for Student A.
Student B
· 3rd Grade - Student B has received C’s and D’s in language arts and math throughout third grade. He has received B’s and C’s in science and social studies.
· 2nd Grade – Student B received 2’s (below average) scores in all language arts areas – reading, spelling, and writing. He did score a 3 (grade level) for reading comprehension. Student B generally received all 2’s and 3’s for the different math concepts for this grade.
· 1st Grade – Student B received below grade level marks for reading. He received grade level marks for spelling. He received on grade level and below grade level marks for writing. For the math concepts to master in first grade, Student B received 2’s and 3’s (below grade level and on grade level).
· K (2nd year) – Student B received on grade level marks in all areas (reading/language arts and math)
· K (1st year) - Student B generally received 1’s and 2’s (below grade level) in all areas (reading/language arts and math).
Student C
· 3rd Grade - Student C had an interim grade of D for reading. He had a B for spelling and English. He also had a B in math. Student C had D’s in science and social studies.