Elementary Special Education Case Study The purpose of this case study is to focus in on a student in the classroom to determine

the students educational perspective by gathering background information, observing the student, identifying the main student issues, analyzing the main issues, and reflecting on effective solutions and strategies to assist the student reach his/her full potential. I observed and instructed XX over the span of 6 weeks in my Special Education Student Teaching Field Experience. I selected XX due to his difficulty focusing and listening to initial directions. XX often talked to himself, played with his fingers or looked around the room instead of having direct eye contact with the teacher or attending to his work. XX was also the lowest functioning student out of the small group of three 1st graders in the resource room. Since I was acutely aware of XXs weaknesses I desired to actively appreciate his strengths. I sought to understand XXs disability, strengths, and weaknesses in order to adjust my instruction to meet his needs. XX was born prematurely in the month of November at 33 weeks gestation; he experienced health complications in the first few months of life. XX is currently 7 years old and in the 1st grade. This Caucasian family consists of his middle class working parents, a 6th grade sister and a 4th grade brother, all of whom live in a small town that is about 20 minutes away from the school. At the age of 3 while in Preschool, XX was referred by his parents to be tested for a disability due to concerns in communication, motor skills, behavior, and cognitive skills. XX was diagnosed with a developmental delay and started to receive services immediately. At the age of 6, XX qualified for a cognitive disability due to the age limit of the disabling developmental delay and his

testing results. XX also qualifies for Occupational Therapy and Speech and Language Therapy services. Incidentally XXs older sister and brother have been diagnosed with specific learning disabilities. XX takes medication for his ADHD which has improved some major issues. Currently, XX has a modified curriculum at a Kindergarten-low 1st grade level for all his subjects. A small group is utilized for XXs math and reading setting; inclusion into the general education classroom is utilized for all other subjects. XX has taken multiple assessment measures to determine his academic, developmental and functional needs. XXs last IQ score for his qualifying diagnosis of cognitive disability was 69 out of an average score of 100. These assessment measures have determined XX to have major issues in reading, math, and behavior. XX is reading at the Kindergarten grade level because he is unable to blend CVC words and his disability limits retention of information after long periods of time. He also has a hard time recognizing high frequency words and words that cant be sounded out, both at the Kindergarten level. At the beginning of 1st grade, XX was unable to recognize any phonemes. Currently, XX is able to say the sounds of all letters when shown singly; when presented with a word to blend the sounds together he is unable to produce the correct sound of any letter. XX becomes easily frustrated when he is unable to decode a word. With slow decoding skills, XXs fluency rate doesnt meet the minimum skill proficiency for Kindergarten level student. XXs math skills are another major issue. XX has no number recognition skills past the number 3. Currently, XXs class is working on counting and writing the numbers to 30. When presented with a written number XX will guess the name of the number until he is right which typically takes numerous tries. After XX counts a number

of items he has drawn on his worksheet, he is unable to write the number he has counted. Avoidance and withdrawal behaviors occur during math time since he does not know his numbers. The following behaviors were exhibited by XX in the classroom throughout my observation: needs much assistance to complete homework and in class assignments, interrupts others, talks excessively to himself, needs repeated directions, and is easily distracted from tasks. These behaviors run throughout the day and seem to never disappear. The teachers give constant reminders to XX to do his work and not to interrupt conversations, but it doesnt stop XX from discontinuing. XXs ADHD medication has subdued many of his behaviors, though most behaviors remain evident. XX learned his phoneme sounds through a series of flashcards. Originally students were instructed to give the letter name, say the picture on the card, and then say the sound the letter makes. Every day the special education teacher had each student flip through the flashcards. For example, the student for letter t would say t, top, /t/. Since XX was unable to come up with the sounds for each letter in a CVC word on his own, his special education teacher and I decided to use his skill from the flashcards to assist him in decoding the word. For example, if XX saw the word hot and could not sound it out he would then say the following: h, hat, /h/; o, octopus, /o/; t, top, /t/, h/o/t; hot. Currently, XX has the entire flashcard letter phrases memorized and does not require the flashcards to help him. This decoding process takes some time while XX is decoding a short passage, but by using the flashcard skills he was able to do it on his own majority of the time. With consistency and practice, XXs decoding skills will improve, his need for his letter phrases will decrease, and his fluency rate should

increase. For XXs high frequency words, he should be seeing them every day to develop repetition and memory. When I started student teaching this class I required the students to flip through their high frequency words daily. XX was showing small gains in his high frequency words. With consistency and practice, XX should be able to recognize the high frequency word list by the end of the school year. In the past, XX has taken Extended School Year (ESY) in the summer after preschool and Kindergarten to assist with attention and to catch up to his peer group. XX has been given tests to provide information on his ability to retain knowledge over long breaks, such as Winter Break and Spring Break. In XXs assessments, it shows that he is unable to retain knowledge during these types of long break. XXs special education teacher also verifies that teaching XX after the summer break is like teaching him all over again. The previous assessment data and the teachers perspective provide adequate documentation to allow XX to have ESY services after 1st grade. Unfortunately with very little progress towards meeting 1st grades state standards, XXs special education teacher and his parents have held serious discussions about grade retention. Proponents of holding back low-achieving students argue that this gives them a gift of time to catch up and sets clear standards that students must strive to achieve (Slavin, 2009). Reportedly, after much consideration XXs parents decided that retention in 1st grade is best for their son. To assist XX in remembering how to write numbers his special education teacher found a mnemonic strategy of number poems. Mnemonic strategies have been shown to be particularly effective for instruction in youth with disabilities (as cited in Wolgemuth et al., (2008). Some examples of the rhyming poems his special education teacher

found are the following: down and over, down once more, thats the way to make a four; make an s and close the gate, thats the way to make an eight; and a ball and a line thats the way to make a nine. The poems have had a dramatic impact on XXs recognition of his numbers. When XX doesnt know the name of the number he traces the number as he states the poem. Though XX is not currently consistent, with more practice he should achieve writing his numbers. Positive change in XXs mood has been demonstrated in math class since he has learned his number poems. XX now smiles when he recites his poems and accomplishes number assignments faster. In order to resolve XXs behavioral concerns, positive reinforcements have been implemented. Positive reinforcement is defined as the contingent presentation of a stimulus that increases the probability of the occurrence of the behavior in the future (Wheeler & Richey, 2010). XX currently receives the following reinforcements: verbal praise, candy/treat, a sticker for his behavior sticker chart, and a substantial prize when his behavior sticker chart is filled. To receive a sticker XX must complete his in class assignments and stay on task the majority of the class times. Throughout the lesson or activity the teacher and/or I give XX verbal praise to let him know what appropriate behaviors XX is displaying. XXs special education teacher and I have verified that positive reinforcements have been working well for XX the majority of the time. When XX does not receive a sticker, he understands why and says he will try better next time. With more practice, consistency, and positive reinforcement XXs behavioral concerns should diminish over time. Understanding XXs disability, strengths, and weaknesses allowed me the opportunity to determine this students educational perspective. Throughout my

teaching experience I was able to adjust my instruction and implemented these strategies to best meet XXs educational needs and actively assist him to reach his full potential. Over the six week span of my Special Education Student Teaching Field Experience I was able to positively impact XXs growth in learning and decrease behavioral concerns with during reading and math lessons. This was rewarding field experience for the student, teacher, and student teacher.

References Slavin, R. E. (2009). Educational psychology: Theory and practice. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. Wheeler, J.J. & Richey, D.D. (2010). Behavior management: Principles and practices of positive behavior supports (2nd ed., p. 22). Boston: Pearson. Wolgemuth, J. R., Cobb, R., & Alwell, M. (2008). The effects of mnemonic interventions on academic outcomes for youth with disabilities: A systematic review. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 23(1), 1-10.