Case Study

Kalee Alter
ETE 443.01

Case Study
Kalee Alter
ETE 443.01
 Case Study
Kalee Alter
ETE 443.01
2

I. Overall Presentation of Materials:

Introduction:

For my case study, a student named A, who is a six years old male first grader at

an elementary school in my home neighborhood, was used. The assessments used were

the Vineland Behavior Adaptive Scales and The Test of Visual Perceptual Skills- Revised

(non-motor). Both assessments were collected in his home environment in October of

2017. By practicing administering assessments, data collection and creating goals, I have

a better understanding of how to manage the assessment process with future students.
 Case Study
Kalee Alter
ETE 443.01
3

Table of Contents:

General Information…………………………………………………………………..….. 5

Background Information………………………………………………………………...7-8

Observational Data……………………………………………………………………….10

Assessment for Each Domain…………………………………………………….......12-13

Assessment Measures…...............................................................................................15-16

Vineland Score Sheet…………………………………………………………….17

TVPS Score Sheet………………………………………………………………..18

Instructional Recommendations & Educational Goals…………………………….....20-21

Communication Plan………………………………………………………………....23-24

Reflection…………………………………………………………………………….26-27

Works Cited……………………………………………………………………………..29
 Case Study
Kalee Alter
ETE 443.01
4

General Information
 Case Study
Kalee Alter
ETE 443.01
5

II. General Information:

Child’s name: A
Birthday: 10/10/10
Gender: Male
Educational Placement: First grader at Eugene Field Elementary in Park Ridge, Illinois
Language: English
Ethnicity: Hispanic
Other: A’s mother had A when she was 18. A, his mother and her siblings all live
together. His mother also shared that A’s father is not in the picture.
 Case Study
Kalee Alter
ETE 443.01
6

Background Information
 Case Study
Kalee Alter
ETE 443.01
7

III. Background Information

A’s mom became pregnant her senior year in high school and was a little over

four months when she graduated. A’s mom stated, “she was not going to be a statistic”.

She was at the time and remains and a very strong, a committed and confident woman.

The father has never been in the picture. A’s mom is continuing to take courses at a local

community college with a goal to earn a college diploma. When asked her about her

pregnancy with A, his mother said she was diagnosed with Preeclampsia at 12 weeks. As

a result, her doctor put her on a low sodium diet and she was put on bed rest for the

remainder of her pregnancy. A was delivered full term by emergency Cesarean Section

because of his mom’s Preeclampsia. Once A was delivered, she returned to a normal diet.

His mother shared that he was a very happy and smiley baby. Some developmental

milestones his mother shared include that he said his first word when he was four months.

A’s first word was “mama”. A started walking when he was 13 months old. A began

forming sentences and then talking around fifteen months and his mom says “he hasn’t

stopped since”. He has always played with other children about his own age and has

many cousins to play with also around his age. He began taking turns with other children

at about age two and has had very few problems sharing. A learned how to self-sooth and

started playing independently when he was approximately three years old. Mom stated

that he has always been and remains a pretty independent child.

When discussing A’s medical history with his mother, she said that he has

developed mild asthma but that it has had little impact on this life. The only agency

information A’s mother shared is that he used to have behavioral issues when he was in

before/after care pre-school at the local park district. To overcome this issue, he had an
 Case Study
Kalee Alter
ETE 443.01
8

aid who worked with him to learn to manage his behavior through scheduling and by

putting him on a rewards program. He could earn points each day for following

directions, listening in class and sharing his toys with his classmates. A was never

diagnoses with any learning or subsequent behavioral issues. A does not struggle with

behavior issues any longer.

Since A’s mother had him when she was eighteen, she is raising her son in her

childhood home with the help of her parents and one sibling, an older brother. Her other

two siblings do not live in the home she shares with A and these siblings have families of

their own. A is very close with his cousins who are around the same age as he is. A loves

to play with his cousins and to be in their company. He has experienced before and after

care at the local park district and is now in one of the neighborhood public elementary

schools.
 Case Study
Kalee Alter
ETE 443.01
9

Observational Data
 Case Study
Kalee Alter
ETE 443.01
10

IV. Observational Data:

Due to A living in my hometown, I needed to conduct one assessment on October

6th, 2017 and the second on October 7th, 2017. The first assessment conducted was the

Vineland Behavior Scales Assessment from 12-12:30 PM on October 6th, 2017. The

second assessment conducted was the Test of Visual- Perceptual Skills Revised (TVPS-

R) from 1:15-2:00 PM on October 7th, 2017. Both assessments were administered in A’s

natural environment, the living room in his home.

During the Vineland assessment A seemed very distracted. He picked up his toys

to play with four times between pages one and two. Twice during the social skills section

of this assessment, A stated “I don’t care” and asked to go outside to play. He made

several distracting noises during the administration of the assessment including snorting

and squealing like a pig.

When I conducted the TVPS-R, A would give me a reason behind picking each

specific answer. During the visual memory portion of the assessment he was able to catch

on to the patterns which resulted in a mid to high correct percentage. He also noticed that

the shapes were turned during the visual discrimination portion of this assessment.
 Case Study
Kalee Alter
ETE 443.01
11

Assessment Data for Each Domain

 Case Study
Kalee Alter
ETE 443.01
12

V. Assessment Data for Each Domain:

Gross Motor:

With respect to A’s gross motor skills development, he could jump rope for an

extended period of time and skip using alternate feet. (Mindes & Jung 2015) A could

skip from one location to another area in his playroom.

Fine Motor:

For fine motor A was asked to properly hold a pencil and did so reliably and with

his right hand. (Mindes & Jung 2015) He could color a picture for me and was able to

stay within the lines. (Mindes & Jung 2015) He is able to use a scissor and cut out a

triangle staying on the lines. (Mindes & Jung 2015)

Receptive Language:

For language comprehension, he could understand pre-academic language by

sorting objects and ordering upcoming events. (Mindes & Jung 2015) Four days after

the first assessment was administered, A was turning seven. He was excited to share

where he would have his birthday dinner, what presents he had asked for and who would

attend his special day.

Expressive Domain:

For the subdomain of expressive language, A has mastered the ability to take

turns in a conversation and demonstrated his ability to communicate with his mom and

me, a stranger. (Mindes & Jung 2015) Before administering my first assessment, A

could share with me what he is learning in school. Not only did A answer the questions
 Case Study
Kalee Alter
ETE 443.01
13

asked, he would then ask his conversational partner, me, a question like “what are you

learning in school?’’ He would then wait for an answer to his questions, listening

intently, before talking again. A is very curious and was very engaged in the

conversation. When his mom asked him a question, he could provide the information he

was asked for and listen to the answers shared by his mom.

Cognitive Skills:

As far as cognitive skills, A has mastered the ability to sequence events. (Mindes

& Jung 2015) He could discuss what he did yesterday and what he plans to do tomorrow

and was able to answer these questions without any difficulty. Additionally, he could

count well past ten and identify all the letters in his name. (Mindes & Jung 2015)

Self- Help:

A recently started to pick out his own clothing and to get himself dressed in the

morning. (Mindes & Jung 2015) He is learning to tie his shoes. (Mindes & Jung 2015)

Social Skills:

For the last domain, social skills, A talked about his friends in his school class and

those in his neighborhood, about their play dates and what they choose to do together.

(Mindes & Jung 2015) He also shared that he used to play T-ball but stopped because he

did not like it.

 Case Study
Kalee Alter
ETE 443.01
14

Assessment Measures
 Case Study
Kalee Alter
ETE 443.01
15

VI. Assessment Measures:

The two assessments conducted with A were the Vineland Adaptive Behavior

Scales (First Edition) and Test of Visual- Perceptual Skills- Revised. The Vineland

Assessment Interview Form is given to a parent in order to find out information about the

student. There are five domains the Vineland collects information about: communication,

daily living skills, and socialization, motor and adaptive. The adaptive domain section is

only used for students with a suspected or diagnosed disability. Since the last section did

not apply to A, this part of the assessment was not conducted. According to his

chronological age of six in the Vineland assessment, he scored in the thirtieth percentile

in the nation for communication with a score of 96 while scoring in the thirty-fourth

percentile for daily living skills with a score of 112. He scored in the ninety-nine

percentile for socialization skills with a score of 110. A’s score for the motor skills

domain is not included in this report because this domain is target for children younger

than 5 years, eleven months and thirty days. After looking at the results from the

Vineland assessment, A is a very independent and social child. He was able to score in

the range of age six to age ten in each category. Some of the questions in the Vineland

assessment in these age categories included printing his first and last name, using a

spoon, fork and knife correctly, having a friend of the same sex, and cutting along a line

with scissors. I could complete the “Score Summary” section but not the “Score Profile”

section because the manual did not include a band of error chart.
 Case Study
Kalee Alter
ETE 443.01
16

The TVPS-R assessment includes seven smaller visual assessments;

discrimination, memory, spatial- relationships, form- constancy, sequential- memory,

figure-ground and closure. A answered the most questions correctly in the visual-

relationships assessment and scored in the sixty-first percentile for discrimination and the

fiftieth percentile for visual memory. In the visual spatial-relationships category, he

scored in the sixtieth percentile. He landed in the forty-fifth percentile for visual form

constancy and in the fifty-second percentile for visual sequential- memory. In the visual

figure-ground assessment, A is in the forty-second percentile and the thirty-second

percentile for the visual closure assessment. Overall, he is in the fortieth percentile

according to this assessment relative to his visual skills. His visual perceptual quotient is

ninety-six.
 Case Study
Kalee Alter
ETE 443.01
17

Vineland Score Sheet

 Case Study
Kalee Alter
ETE 443.01
18

TVPS-R Score Sheet

 Case Study
Kalee Alter
ETE 443.01
19

Instructional Recommendations & Educational Goals

 Case Study
Kalee Alter
ETE 443.01
20

VII. Instructional Recommendations & Educational Goals:

Based on A’s scores from the Vineland assessment, recommendations for him

include to continue to cut and color inside the lines to reinforce and maintain his fine

motor skills. It is apparent that he knows how to hold the scissors correctly and stay in the

lines but at times he veered outside the lines while cutting and coloring. This

recommendation will allow A to continue to use this skill and provide him with

opportunities for further refinement to develop it over time. It is also recommended that

A continue to practice writing his upper and lowercase letters. When looking at his

writing, it is obvious that he knows the difference between the two formations, but his

lowercase letters were only a little smaller in size height than his uppercase. One way to

practice this skill is by having him write all his sentences in both uppercase and then

lowercase and then writing the sentence using both. Another recommendation is that he

continues to dress himself for school in order to boost his daily living skills score. By

becoming more independent in this area he will also grow in his independence at school.

It should also be encouraged that A showers daily and pick out his clothes to further

develop his independence. Additionally, it is important that A be encouraged to find what

he likes to learn about in school and begin to focus exploring that interest. He told me if

he had to choose a favorite subject it would be science. It is advised that A’s mom and

teachers continue to foster a love for a particular subject that interests him in order for

him to feel accomplished and knowledgeable. Performing well in this subject area will

instill confidence and a love of learning.

 Case Study
Kalee Alter
ETE 443.01
21

After scoring the TVPS-R, it is encouraged that A practices exercises in which he

needs to complete the shape to boost his visual consistency. By practicing this skill, A

will become more familiar with a greater variety of shapes and will boost his score.
 Case Study
Kalee Alter
ETE 443.01
22

Communication Plan
 Case Study
Kalee Alter
ETE 443.01
23

VIII. Communication Plan:

In a real-world scenario, in order to communicate A’s assessment data and scores

to his mother and grandparents, a teacher would compile a written report documenting

each assessment administered, the assessment and scoring procedures and my analysis of

each assessment tool. Included in the report would be the teacher’s recommendations and

goals. The report would be brought to the parent-teacher conference to review at length.

At the conference, the teacher would go over the assessment data and student goals. The

teacher would ask his mother and grandparents if they are seeing similar behaviors at

home to further validate the data. A copy of this report would stay at school with the

classroom teacher and a printed copy would be given to his mother to take home. By

doing this, the teacher and family are partnering to keep track of his progress both at

school and at home to help A accomplish the agreed upon goals. Even though A and his

mother do not speak Spanish, I would ask if they would like a copy of the report in

Spanish. It is critical that A has a team on his side to help him reach his goals.

To share the assessment information with his other teachers including fine arts,

library and physical education, the teacher would request for these teachers to attend the

conference with A’s mother and grandmother if possible. The teacher would ask if these

teachers have any questions or any concerns in specific domains based on what they see

in their classes. By doing this, everyone can be working towards the same goals. No other

professionals need to attend this conference because there are no specific concerns in any

specific domains.
 Case Study
Kalee Alter
ETE 443.01
24

A would be invited to attend this conference where the plan to help him grow in a

variety of domains would be shared. The teacher would ask him how he thinks he is

doing in school and how he feels about his overall success thus far in the school year. He

would be included in the goal setting stage and be able to monitor his own progress

throughout the year.

 Case Study
Kalee Alter
ETE 443.01
25

Reflection
 Case Study
Kalee Alter
ETE 443.01
26

IX. Reflection:

Before this project, I did not know the wide variety of assessments that could be

used for the Early Childhood age range; birth to second grade. I knew that there were

several domains that are important during a students’ first years of life but I did not know

that companies produced assessment tools to measure skills in these domains at such a

young age. I also did not know how to administer any type of assessment tools. Through

preparation, time and practice, I learned how to administer a variety of assessments in

order to collect the most valid information. I was also unaware of how many different

skills are assessed having to do with visual perception. I thought of visual perception as

one category and discovered that visual perception includes several factors such as

discrimination, form-consistency and closure. I have learned that there are many ways to

assess a student, including gathering information from parents through a survey. I used to

think of assessment as solely gathering information from the students’ point of view, but

I now know this is not the case. By gathering information from different sources like

parents, fine arts teachers, and gym teachers, a classroom teacher can see that some skills

may not be displayed in a particular environment. A teacher can develop a better picture

of how to help a student transfer skills by gaining different perspectives from different

environments

Through this project, I could see how important having a team to collect

information can be. The team I was on included the student and his mother. I think A felt

supported and encouraged to demonstrate his skills or answer the assessment questions. I
 Case Study
Kalee Alter
ETE 443.01
27

also learned how critical it is to have multiple modes of collecting assessment

information. I collected anecdotal records, survey data and conduct an assessment based

on different visual skills. I have learned to what extent a teacher must go through to

collect the most valid information. I now know how to administer two types of

assessments and look forward to learning how to administer many more.

 Case Study
Kalee Alter
ETE 443.01
28

Works Cited
 Case Study
Kalee Alter
ETE 443.01
29

Works Cited:

Gardner, M.F., Brown,G.T., Rodger, S., Davis, A., Klein, S., Sollereder, P.,… Crowe,
T.J. (1996). TVPS-R: test of visual-perceptual skills (non-motor)—revised: manual.
Hydesville, CA: Psychological and Educational Publications

Mindes, G., & Jung, L.A. (2015). Assessing Young Children (5th ed.). Pearson Education

Sparrow, S. S., Balla, D. A., & Cicchetti, D. V. (1984). Vineland Adaptive Behavior
Scales(1st ed.). USA: American Guidance Service