EDU 665 CASE STUDY #1 ASSIGNMENT (25 POINTS)
Instructions: SEE ATTACHMENT
Read the case study attached about a fourth grade boy named Derrick who is having
difficulty in reading fluency. Read the study carefully and respond to the
questions/assignments that follow.
Case Study:
Derrick is a 10-year-old African American male who is currently in the fourth grade
in Ms. Duncan’s classroom at Anderson Elementary School. He repeated first grade.
According to curriculum-based assessment, he is functioning at a beginning 3rd grade level in reading and language arts. His math scores are at 4th grade level. Derrick has an eligibility ruling of Specific Learning Disability in Basic Reading Skills, Reading Fluency, and Reading Comprehension.
Derrick receives special education services in an inclusion classroom in which a special education teacher, Ms. Reed, assists him with assignments and makes proper accommodations and modifications as needed. It has been determined that this placement adequately represents Derrick’s least restrictive environment.
Prior to entering kindergarten at Anderson Elementary at the age of five, he had never attended pre-school or Head Start programs. The primary language spoken in the home is English. Derrick comes from a low socio-economic, single-parent family but appears to have the basic components necessary to be successful in school, such as school supplies, family support, adequate attendance, appropriate clothes and shoes, and completed homework. He attends school on a regular basis.
Derrick began having difficulty in reading in kindergarten. His kindergarten teacher referred him to the Teacher Support Team in January of his kindergarten year. The team recommended Tier 2 Interventions to address reading difficulties. Derrick began making progress and appeared to be ‘on-track’. He continued in Tier 2 intervention and was promoted to first grade.
Derrick enrolled at Westhaven Elementary in a nearby school district at the beginning of his first grade year. In March at the end of the third nine weeks, Derrick returned to Anderson Elementary. It was found that Tier 2 interventions had not been continued at Westhaven, and Derrick’s reading grades fluctuated between D’s and F’s. He had failed the mandated dyslexia screener that was administered to first graders in the fall. After two weeks at Anderson Elementary, he was once again placed in Tier 2 intervention for reading; however, he did not show adequate progress over the next seven weeks before school ended. His yearly average in reading was an “F”, and he was retained.
Derrick was moved to Tier 3 in September of his second year in first grade. An assessment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder was conducted, and he was not found to have ADHD. He did not make adequate progress with the Tier 3 interventions and was referred for a comprehensive assessment for special education services in January of the second semester.
The results of the comprehensive assessment indicated no significant problems in the areas of language/speech, adaptive behavior, social skills, behavior, or emotional. Derrick’s achievement in basic reading skills and reading comprehension as measured by a norm-referenced achievement test was considered below average. His reading fluency skills fell within the range of low academic achievement. His overall intellectual abilities were well within the range of average intelligence. Derrick was given an eligibility ruling of Specific Learning Disability (Basic Reading Skills, Reading Fluency, and Reading Comprehension in March. He began receiving special education services and was promoted to second grade.
Derrick made steady progress in reading during second and third grade with the help of special education services. He was placed in an inclusion classroom and pulled for resource services in reading a minimum of one hour daily. This school year he has been moved to inclusion only. Derrick’s basic reading skills and reading comprehension were found to be at third grade level; however, his oral reading fluency was at an approximate second grade level and considered poor. SEE NOTE AT THE END OF THE CASE STUDY.
Ms. Reed was determined to raise Derrick’s oral reading fluency rate (ORF) by at least a grade level by the end of the school year (107 or more correct words per minute). The first step was to gather information (collect data) about Derrick’s oral reading fluency level. See scores below to view how Ms. Reed was able to establish a baseline using 5 probes of Derrick’s oral reading fluency taken over the first week. The next step was to determine which program or intervention would work the best for Derrick’s challenges in reading. Ms. Reed chose a program called Quick Reads. Derrick began the new program for thirty minutes daily with one-to-one instruction from Ms. Reed. Ms. Reed typically conducted probes on a weekly basis and recorded Derrick’s correct words per minute or oral reading fluency rate.
Two weeks after using the new program, Derrick began to show progress; therefore,
Ms. Reed decided to continue the program. Derrick and his mother were very pleased
with his progress which served as a tremendous motivator for Derrick to continue. The final
probe (at the end of a 16-week period) would serve as the post-test assessment to determine
the overall success of the intervention.
NOTE: Reading fluency is the ability to read quickly and easily. It means that a child can recognize and decode words accurately and automatically and understand the words as they are being read. Children who do not read fluently (choppy readers) have to work hard on the mechanics of reading that there’s no mental energy left to think about the meaning of what they are reading.
To measure students’ oral reading speed and accuracy, teachers use selected passages to determine the number of words that students can read correctly in one minute. To obtain a words-correct-per-minute (WCPM) score, students are assessed individually as they read aloud for one minute from an unpracticed passage of text. To calculate the WCPM score, the examiner subtracts the total number of errors from the total number of words read in one minute.
Assignment: (15 pts for line graph) (10 pts for answers to questions)
- Take the data from the table below and compile it into a line graph.
Prepare the line graph using an Excel spreadsheet on the computer.
- Label all parts of the line graph, giving a title to the graph (include student’s name and subject), correct numbering, and identifying the x and y axes.
- Plot each reading score (including the pre-assessment, probes at the end of each week and post-test score) on the line graph. Connect the data points to form a data path. Remember to draw a vertical line through the graph (break point) to divide the baseline scores from the scores occurring during the intervention phase.
- Answer the following questions about the case.
DATA FOR ORAL READING FLUENCY OBJECTIVE
1. Did the teacher take into account Derrick’s ethnic background, socio- economic status, school resources, home resources, and prior opportunity to learn in designing a reading intervention for Derrick? Explain. (Remember with what ABA is concerned.)
2. What pertinent information did Ms. Reed need to know before choosing an
intervention?
3. What was the specific targeted behavior to be changed? (such as ‘to
increase or decrease’ a specific skill))
4. What was the independent variable?
5. On October 12, Derrick’s score dropped fairly dramatically. If you were
his teacher, name at least two variables that you might explore to
determine why his score dropped.
6. Overall, did Derrick’s oral reading fluency performance change during the
course of the intervention? Explain and give pre and post scores.
7. By what percentage did he improve/decline?
8. What was the consequence of his behavior (performance) before
intervention?
9. What was the consequence of his behavior (performance) after
intervention?
10. Compose a specific objective for this intervention for Derrick. Refer to Chapter 3 about behavior objectives. Note: Objective must include ALL four components (condition, learner, specific behavior, criteria) and be written in one sentence.
