ASSESSMENT OF CURRICULUM NEEDS

CONSIDERATION Student and/or family preferences

SOURCE Student Interview (conducted on October 29th) and Parent Interview (conducted on November 5th)

WHAT DID YOU FIND OUT? Student Interview T hopes to go to college. She cares a lot about school and makes it a priority to keep her grades up. She values hard work and achieving her goals. She also realizes that there are areas that she can improve upon including her organization. Parent Interview Ts parents hope the best for her. They hope that she can live a fulfilling life and be happy and healthy. They hope that T can be self sufficient and independent. Her mother expressed her desire for T to become a strong, independent, and self-advocating individual. Ts mom expressed that she would like T to work on standing up for herself, not giving up so easily, and not letting people be mean to her. Her mom expressed that outside of school T does not talk to her same aged peers and that she must assist her with daily functioning. Her parents would like her to be further academically than she is. They have been pleased with interventions provided to their daughter but hope to see more independence and less of T relying on someone else for the answers. Ts parents expressed that she has very little community skills and that she is a very good selfadvocate. Teacher Interview Ts teacher expressed the fact that she sees T continuing her education in a pull out/included and supported situation as she has been. She sees her continuing on to a vocational

Current and future settings What future environments are targeted for the student in the next few years? School, community, vocational, etc.

Teacher Interview, Parent Interview

opportunity post high school. Ts teacher expressed that she thinks T has the thinking skills to hold a job and be trained for the position. She expressed concern, however, in Ts ability to go to college. Parent Interview Ts parents expressed the hope for her to go to college. They are aware that college might be a challenge for T but she would like if it could be an option. Students age and number of years of school remaining Typical rate of learning; effectiveness of previous instruction IEP Student is currently in 7th grade and is thirteen years old. T has 5 more years of school remaining. T picks up on concepts very quickly. She learns quickly and understands patterns and can apply them to various types of problems. However, skill maintenance is a large issue for T. Many skills are not maintained and she often does not consider the fact that she may know how to do a problem or activity and just guesses. However, previous instruction has proved to be effective with her. Ts teacher commented on her interventions with T saying You tell her to do it, she does it. Student acquires skills easily but without plans for generalization, will not generalize. Student relies heavily on examples and non-examples in order to understand when she can use certain knowledge and skills outside of guided practice or instruction. The student has an easy time acquiring skills but has a more difficult time generalizing, especially when the content is presented in a way that she might not have seen before. Academic Areas According to the Woodcock-Johnson test of achievement and extended

Record Review, Teacher interview (October 29th), student interactions (ongoing)

Probability of students acquisition & generalization of skills

Record Review, Teacher interview, student interactions

Discrepancies between student & peers in a) academic areas, b) social skills, and c) daily living

Record Review, Parent

skills

Interview, Formal Assessment

battery there is a large discrepancy between Ts academic skills and those of her typically developing peers. In most areas, T tested at the third to fourth grade level. This was also shown in previously done formal assessments as well as ISAT scores that showed that T is below gradelevel standards in Reading and Mathematics. Social Skills Ts social skills are below average. She feels that she has friends and her parents feel that she does not interact with peers outside of school and that her social communication skills are lacking. Her record review showed that her parents reported that at a young age T was made fun of by her peers and that her social skills were below average. According to the Adaptive Behavior Assessment System, taken in 2011, T scored at the 7th percentile for social skills. Daily Living Skills Ts parents feel very uneasy about her daily living skills. They expressed that she is unable to cross the street by herself, she is afraid to cook, and she is not comfortable with counting money. Her mother expressed that her hygiene habits are fine. Fine motor skills, at a young age, were a concern for T. Physical abilities, such as running, skipping, jumping rope, have also been a concern for T and prevent her from participating fully in physical education classes.

Other needs or considerations?

Record Review

According to the information collected from formal assessments, informal assessments, parent interviews, teacher interviews, and the record review completed, it seems that the most practical approach for TK is the modified curriculum approach. T specifically needs modifications in math and language arts (reading and writing). She will also need support

in other subject areas (science and social studies) but will be able to follow the same curriculum as her typically developing peers with modifications. However, with T testing at a third to fourth grade level in reading and mathematics, it will be most beneficial for her to follow a modified curriculum that attacks similar concepts to her peers but is modified in structure and content taught. Reading and mathematics, due to their practicality in skill, seem to be the highest priority areas.

CURRICULUM NEEDS CONSIDERATION Transition concerns that may affect planning? Diploma status? Social skills/communication skills SOURCE N/A Teacher Interview Record Review, Teacher interview, student interactions, student interview, parent interview Student will, if current track is followed, receive the same high school diploma as typically developing peers. Ts social skills are below those of her typically developing peers but not to the point where it creates a barrier between her and those around her. T is able to maintain relationships with family and friends and is able to communicate her wants and needs to others. She communicated to me, during an interview, that she feels that she has good friends and is happy with them. She struggles with receptive and expressive communication, reported by her teacher and in the record review. As a result, often, communication can become blurry between T and others. However, as stated above, T feels that she has a support system of both friends and family and her communication deficits do not affect her significantly, socially. Her parents feel that her social and communication skills should be improved upon. They wish T spoke to her peers outside of school. Ts teacher reported that she is a very strong self-advocate. She spoke on the fact that T advocates for herself and her needs within physical education. WHAT DID YOU FIND OUT?

Self-advocacy

Teacher Interview, Parent Interview,

Student Interactions

She is very clear when telling someone what she wants or needs. I have been able to see this as well in the classroom. When T needs help or is confused she asks. She also makes sure that she gets what she needs in order to be successful. Her parents feel that she advocates for herself in certain situations and with certain people but that T could easily be taken advantage of. TKs teacher reported, during the teacher interview, that she feels good about Ts personal independence. She is not sure that she would be able to figure everything out on her own without explicitly being instructed upon a skill first, but she feels that once T is comfortable with something she is very confident and has independence in completing tasks. I have observed this during interactions with T. She struggles often with opening her locker but before she asks for help she always tries to problem solve herself. She is independent in completing assignments in class and knows to try things once before relying on someone else for support.

Personal independence

Teacher Interview, Parent Interview, Student interactions

Other considerations?

N/A

CURRICULUM NEEDS SUMMARY: ADDRESS ALL RELEVENT CURRICULUM AREAS T, due to her dedication, goals, and persistence in her schoolwork is very diligent about her learning. She is very quick to pick up on concepts but has trouble maintaining and generalizing them. Due to the fact that her skills and curriculum needs mostly surround reading and mathematics, in order for T to be successful she should participate in a small group instruction; a pull out situation, for these subjects. The pull out reading and math classes will have similar outcomes to Ts typically developing peers but the material will

be presented in a different way and with a different amount of support. She should receive speech and language services in order to work on her receptive and expressive communication issues. T should be included with her typically developing peers in classes such as her specials (P.E., art, music, science). This will help T work on her socialization as well as her communication. In her other academic classes (social studies, science) T should have additional support. In order to accomplish this she should be placed in a co-taught classroom or should receive support from a paraprofessional in the general education classroom. The co-taught classroom is the most ideal option as it is less stigmatizing for T. Testing accommodations should be provided such as extended time, a private testing area, or having questions read out loud to her, if necessary. T should have a resource period in order to make time for testing accommodations, additional interventions, and other supports from her case manager to meet her goals. T should partake in the transition process to deem the future of her educational outcomes and determine what goals are necessary for her to achieve in order to partake in the posteducational world independently.

STUDENT SKILLS CURRICULUM AREA Comprehension

SOURCE/ PROCEDURES FOR GATHERING INFORMATION

RESULTS

Record Review, Woodcock-Johnson Test of Achievement III, AIMS Web, Student Interactions

Woodcock-Johnson Test of Achievement III According to test 9 of the WoodcockJohnson Test of Achievement II, T performs at a grade level equivalent of 2.3 when it comes to reading comprehension. Test 9 is passage comprehension. Test 17, reading vocabulary, also contributes to reading comprehension. T tested at a grade level equivalent of 3.8 on her reading vocabulary test. AIMS Web Progress Monitoring T currently tests at a grade 4 level in MAZE reading comprehension. Record Review In the spring of 2011, T completed the ISAT with accommodations. She tested at the 24th percentile for reading. Student Interactions

T is behind in her reading comprehension in comparison to her typically developing peers. She fixates on details that she may have read instead of focusing on the bigger picture of what occurred within a story. She hears a key word, identifies it, and the repeats that when a teacher checks for comprehension. As a result she is only picking up some of the necessary information when she is reading. Fluency Record Review, Woodcock-Johnson Test of Achievement III, AIMS Web, Student Interactions Record Review, Woodcock-Johnson Test of Achievement III On test two, Reading Fluency, of the formal assessment given to T, she tested at a grade level equivalent of 3.7. AIMS Web Progress Monitoring In one minute, T currently reads approximately 94 words on a 5th grade level reading probe.

Vocabulary

Record Review, Woodcock-Johnson Test of Achievement III

Student Interactions In material that we work on in the classroom T is fairly fluent in reading. She stumbles on words that are unfamiliar but she does very well with words that she knows and sees daily. We perform hot/cold reads in English Language Arts every day and she passes out of them very quickly after she has learned the new, necessary vocabulary. Record Review According to the speech and language assessment taken in 2011, T had an Expressive Vocabulary of 77 (the 6th percentile). This data was taken by the SLP on the Oral and Written Language Scales. According to the Peabody Picture Vocabulary test, taken the same year, T scored an 83, ranking in

the 13th percentile. Woodcock-Johnson Test of Achievement III On the reading vocabulary test, T scored at a grade equivalent of 3.8. On the picture vocabulary portion of the test she scored at grade level of 3.1. Decoding Student interactions, Woodcock-Johnson Test of Achievement III Woodcock-Johnson Test of Achievement III On the letter-word identification test T scored at the grade equivalent of 4th grade. The word attack test, which measures an individuals ability to read nonsense words, showed that T is at the grade level equivalent of 2.7. Student Interactions In ELA I, I am able to see T decode words that she has never seen before within our reading material. Although Ts reading skills are rather efficient she often is tripped up on words and hesitates to sound them out. Often when I ask her to decode a word she confuses the ch sound with th. This is important because many of Ts reading skills depend on her ability to decode. Phonemic awareness Woodcock-Johnson Test of Achievement III Woodcock-Johnson Test of Achievement III According to the Woodcock-Johnson Test of Achievement II, Ts phonemic awareness is behind grade level. On the spelling of sounds test, where T was asked to identify certain sounds, blend words, or isolate phonemes, she scored at a grade level equivalent of 3.7. On the Sound Awareness assessment, which measures Ts ability to identify rhymes, substitute phonemes, delete phonemes, and perform phoneme reversals, T scored at a greater level equivalent of K.9.

Writing mechanics, process

Woodcock-Johnson Test of Achievement III, Record Review, AIMS Web, Student Interactions

Woodcock-Johnson Test of Achievement III According to the spelling assessment given to T, her spelling abilities rank at a grade level equivalent of 4.1. In the assessment that measures her writing fluency, Ts abilities were equivalent to third-grade level (3.0). In the assessment that measured Ts ability to respond to multiple different writing demands she scored at a grade level equivalence of 3.3. In the assessment that measured Ts ability to edit written language that she was presented with she scored at a grade level equivalent of 4.5. Record Review It was reported in Ts record that from a young age she had a difficult time with fine motor skills. Her parents reported it to the school during Ts referral for special education. They reported that she pressed down on her paper very harshly with a pencil. On a previous IEP, it was stated that she ranks below the 10th percentile in six grade writing abilities. AIMS Web Progress Monitoring Given a prompt, one minute thinking time, and three minutes to write, T can produce an average of 35 correct writing sequences. Student Interactions Ts writing skills are below grade level. T can produce meaningful sentences but has trouble with punctuation, spelling, grammar, and capitalization. She has neat handwriting and understands general writing concepts. Woodcock-Johnson Test of Achievement III According to the calculation test

Math computation

Woodcock-Johnson Test of Achievement III, AIMS Web,

Record Review

administered to T, she is able to perform mathematics computation at a grade level equivalent of 2.6. According to the math fluency assessment administered to T, she performs at a grade level equivalent of 3.4. AIMS Web T is progress monitored using AIMS Web for math computation at the fifth grade level. She currently receives an average of 10 points on a fifth grade level probe for eight minutes of mathematics computational skills. Record Review According to ISAT data taken in the spring of 2012, T was below standards. In the spring of 2011 on the same exam, T met mathematics standards by raking in the 66th percentile.

Math application

Woodcock-Johnson Test of Achievement III, AIMS Web, Record Review

Woodcock-Johnson Test of Achievement III According to the applied problems assessment which required T to apply her mathematical knowledge, she tested at a grade level equivalent of 3.5. According to the quantitative concepts assessment, which tested her math reasoning, T tested at a grade level equivalent of 3.1. AIMS Web T is progress monitored using AIMS Web for math concepts and application at the fifth grade level. She currently receives an average of 5 points on a fifth grade level probe for eight minutes of mathematics application skills. Record Review According to ISAT data taken in the

Content areas (science, Woodcock-Johnson social studies, health, Test of Achievement etc.) III, Record Review, Student Observations

spring of 2012, T was below standards. In the spring of 2011 on the same exam, T met mathematics standards by raking in the 66th percentile. Woodcock-Johnson Test of Achievement III During the formal assessment, T received a battery of academic knowledge assessments. She tested the middle level in Science and social studies where she tested at the early level in humanities. Overall her academic knowledge grade equivalence is 2.6. Record Review In the spring of 2011, T met standards at the 57th percentile for her academic science knowledge on the ISAT. Student Observations With the proper amount of support, T performs very well in her content area classes. When accommodations are made for her, and she receives support from a paraprofessional shes able to grasp the same concepts that her typically developing peers are studying. Maintenance of this information, however, is an issue. After conversations with the paraprofessionals that work with her in her content area classes, we have come to realize that T has trouble recalling concepts that she once understood during practice directly after instruction.

Electives/Specials (PE, Teacher Interview, music, art, technology, Student Interactions drama, etc.)

Teacher Interactions/Student Observations T enjoys and does very well and her electives and specials. Her teacher reported that she sometimes struggles in physical education but that shes very good at advocating for herself

and her needs. In her record review it was found that since a young age T has had issues of motor development. However, she does not let these issues affect her. She performs very well and receives good grades in music, art, and health. Social/Communication Parent Interview, skills Student Interactions, Record Review Parent Interview Ts parents expressed that her social and communication skills have come a long way but that they still have a ways to go. Her mother stated that she does not speak to her peers outside of school. Student Interactions T is very friendly with all of the students in our classes. She gets along well with them and they seem to really enjoy her company. She jokes and laughs with her peers. However, there have been social interactions that it seems that T has misinterpreted. She also struggles to communicate something that occurred as it actually did. Record Review In 2011, T participated in a social developmental study in order to determine her continued eligibility for special education. According to the Adaptive Behavior Assessment System where Ts parents were the respondents, she ranked in the 7th percentile for skills such as leisure and social skills. Organizational skills Student interview, teacher interview, student interactions T expressed that she believes that her organizational skills are good but that she thinks they could be better. Ms. Reynolds expressed that T is a very good student who has good selfmonitoring skills. From student interactions I have observed that T is

organized enough for her age to not require a goal set for organization. Vocational skills N/A

Community

Parent Interview

Parent Interview According to Ts parents, her community skills are extremely behind those of her typically developing peers. Her mother stated that T is not comfortable with money skills and will not cross the street by herself.

Domestic/Self-care

Parent Interview

Parent Interview According to Ts parents, she is fearful when it comes to cooking in the kitchen. They expressed that her domestic skills are lacking. They however feel that her self-care is sufficient.

Leisure-Rec

N/A

Functional Academics

N/A

Other?

N/A

STUDENT SKILLS SUMMARY T is behind grade level in terms of academic content, social developmental skills, and life skills. Her content knowledge appears very low due to her difficulty maintaining information. Shes extremely successful with the accommodations provided to her in her areas of need and displays high rates of improvement based upon implemented

interventions. T has strengths in grasping new concepts and putting them into practice. She also has a strong sense of independence and is a driven student. In regards to formal assessments, T tests at an average of the fourth grade level equivalent. This includes mathematics computation and application as well as a various areas of reading, decoding, and comprehension. She is a strong student in her willingness to learn and practice in order to make progress.

PRESENT LEVELS OF PERFORMANCE SUMMARY This section gets transferred over to your IEP, so make it clear, concise, and professional. Each deficit area you mention MUST have be addressed with a goal or objective in the IEP. STRENGTHS According to student observations as well as an interview with Ts case manager and teacher, T is a very hard worker with strengths in her organizational skills, conceptual understanding, and ability to quickly grasp new content. T is able to keep track of turning in her homework, keeping her papers in order, and bringing items back and forth to school. She also can understand knowledge that is not necessarily concrete and can predict the next step in a specific learning sequence according to her classroom participation in an instructional program on division. According to the WoodcockJohnson Tests of Achievement III, as well as her AIMS Web progress monitoring probes, T performs well and her mathematical computation skills, her writing skills, as well as her reading fluency. T, during instruction and assessment, has mastered math facts that she did not have in her repertoire at the beginning of the school year. In various forms of collected writing samples, T has demonstrated strength in written, expressive language. In three minutes she can produce 35 correct writing sequences. T can also read 94 words per minute on a fifth grade level reading probe.

DEFICITS According to assessment probes, progress monitoring, and parent preferences, there are some areas for improvement within Ts skill set. Ts mother expressed a hope for an independent lifestyle for T. She also expressed that T struggles with money concepts. Money, as a skill, has also been identified as an area of concern for T within progress monitoring probes, formal assessments, and classroom instruction. According to the Woodcock-Johnson Test of Achievement, vocabulary and reading comprehension are areas, for T that need improvement. Her decoding and phonemic awareness skills are also below those of her grade level peers and would, if improved upon, greatly assist her in her overall reading skills. According to student observations and parent preferences, Ts social skills could be improved in order to facilitate her independence and happiness. She struggles to communicate with peers outside of school. Ts expressive writing communication could be improved upon in order to prepare her for her future goals. The presence of correct writing sequences within Ts writing samples are a strength due to her

rapid rate of improvement but there is still room for growth. Lastly, functional mathematics skills of computation and application such as time, money, and measurements are areas in which T could benefit from further instruction.