Case Study of Justin

Counseling 621

November 7, 2011

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Client Description

• Justin

• 10 year old Caucasian male

• Della Davidson Elementary student

• Fourth grade student

• First year in the Oxford school district

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Purpose of Assessments• Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT4)

-measure his basic academic skills in reading, spelling, and mathematical computation necessary for effective learning, communication, and thinking

-evaluate achievement/ability discrepancies

-determine his instructional needs

• Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS)

-assess his acquisition of fourth grade literacy skills

-identify if he needs additional assistance or intervention strategies in the classroom

-determine if special services like speech therapy or remediation classes will be needed

• School Motivation and Learning Strategies Inventory (SMALSI)

-assess deficiencies in study, learning, reading comprehension, and test-taking strategies

-identify and target poor learning strategies that affect academic performance

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Assessment Procedures and Protocol

• Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS)

-Given during our first meeting

-Assessment contains three short reading passages on grade level; the student is given one minute for each reading passage, which they read aloud to the administrator

-After reading each passage the student has one minute to explain what the reading passage was about in their own words

• Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT4)

-Given during our second meeting

-Divided into word reading, sentence comprehension, math computation, and spelling subtests

-Each subtest allows a certain amount of consecutively missed questions before test is stopped

Assessment Procedures and Protocol

• School Motivation and Learning Strategies Inventory (SMALSI)

-Given during our fifth meeting

-Composed of 147 questions answered by the student

-Responses include never true, sometimes true, often true, and almost always true

-Quick way to identify poor learning strategies

-Seven scales focus on student strengths and three scales focus on student liabilities

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Medical/Developmental History

• No serious medical issues

• Had surgery during second grade year and accumulated numerous absences

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Family Psychiatric History

• The mother reported no history of family members having psychiatric issues.

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School/Academic History• Academic issues began during his

second grade year

• Attended seven different schools in the past year

• Does not complete homework

• Has difficulty concentrating in class

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Home Behavior/Social• Family of Origin (mom and grandparents)

-Only child

-Lives with his grandparents and mother

-Father not involved in his life

-Mom works the night shift and does not get to spend time with him often

• Few friends or social support at school

-Has moved around and changed schools often

-Very shy and passive

-Physically immature for his age

• Behavior Issues

-Mom reported no behavior issues at home, in the past or presently

-Has had no discipline referrals or reports from teachers regarding behavior issues in the classroom

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Parent’s/Adult’s Perceptions of Academic Standing

• Mother feels like due to the number of absences in the second grade, he missed vital preparatory material and now is suffering the consequences

• Mother, grandmother, and teachers feels like he is missing study skills and motivation

• Grandmother feels like the constant moving and numerous schools has affected his current academic standing

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Assessments Used & Appropriate Interpretations

• Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS)

-Measure his phonological awareness

-Measure his alphabetic principle

-Measure his fluency with connected text

-Oral reading fluency section of the DIBELS is the most researched, efficient, and standardized measure of reading proficiency

• Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT4)

-Measure reading recognition, spellings, and arithmetic computation

-Overall reliability is excellent

-Correlates highly with the Peabody Individual Achievement Test

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Assessments Used & Appropriate Interpretations

• School Motivation and Learning Strategies Inventory (SMALSI)

-Evaluate his student strength scales which include study strategies, note taking/listening skills, reading comprehension strategies, writing/research skills, test taking strategies, organizational techniques, and time management

-Evaluate his student liability scales which include low academic motivation, test anxiety, and concentration/attention difficulties

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Summary of Findings• DIBELS

-Scored a 79 on the oral reading fluency section which is considered “at risk”

-Scored low on the initial sound fluency and phonemic segmentation fluency sections, was not able to produce initial sounds of a given word or produce individual sounds

• WRAT4

-Scored low on word reading subtest

-Scored below average on spelling and sentence comprehension subtest

-Scored average on math computation subtest

• SMALSI

-Scores revealed that he was below average in development regarding study strategies, note taking/listening skills, reading/comprehension strategies, and organizational techniques

-Scored significantly above average in regards to low academic motivation

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Treatment Plan & Recommendations

• Due to low academic scores and assessments given, the student should be monitored to see if placement on Tier II is appropriate

• Student should be tested by special services to see if speech therapy can be provided

• Student needs to be placed in remediation classes offered during the school day to improve reading, organizational skills, and test taking skills

• Student should be invited to participate in Oasis, the after school tutoring program, to help with study skills and motivation for learning

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References• Fuchs, L. S., Fuchs, D., Hamlett, C. L., Walz, L., & Germann, G.

(1993). Formative evaluation of academic progress: How much growth can we expect? School Psychology Review, 22, 27-48.

• Stroud, K., & Reynolds, C. R. (2006). School motivation and learning strategies inventory professional manual. Lutz: Psychological Assessment Resources.

• Wilkinson, G. S., & Robertson, G. J. (2006). Wide range achievement test 4 professional manual. Lutz: Psychological Assessment Resources.