1 Running head: Case study

Case Study

Teaching Students with Intellectual Disability

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

November 2011

Janet Vanheck

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Current Performance

Abilities and Support Needs

Rodrigo is a sixth grade student who was recently placed in the general education room on a

trial basis to see how he performs. He was moved from the autism room and has been diagnosed with

Aspberger’s Syndrome. He needs extensive assistance with complet ing grade level work and for his first

three weeks in general education had an aid to assist him. He is quite capable of doing the work; he just

chooses not to do it. He scored a 320 on the math portion of the CRT and a 340 on the language arts

portion.

Now that the trial period is over, Rodrigo’s general education teachers are ready for him to

return to the autism room, since he seems to have little interest in performing in the general education

classroom. It has been acknowledged by the facilitator that the trial basis has failed, and he will have to

be placed elsewhere. Exactly where he should be placed is yet to be determined.

Past Experiences

In the past, Rodrigo has been aggressive toward fellow classmates. It has been suggested that

the reasons for his acting out was that he was bored in the self-contained classroom. Prior to his

placement in the self-contained room, Rodrigo was in the general education classroom, where he chose

not to do his work or participate in class activities. It was for these reasons that he was placed in the

self-contained autism room. Once there, Rodrigo was unhappy with the environment of the autism

classroom and wanted to return to the general education class, and it was explained to him that he

would have to do his work.

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IEP Appropriateness

Goals and Objectives

Rodrigo’s goals and objectives are functional. They relate to having good student skills and

following directions that the student may not have been otherwise exposed to in the self -contained

setting. Rodrigo needs to learn how to be a student in the general education setting, and apply new

skills to fulfilling his new general education teachers’ expectations. His good student goals and

objectives are as follows:

Goal 1: By the annual review date, in the classroom setting, Rodrigo will demonstrate the following

good student skills: take his seat and begin warm up activity upon enter in the classroom, remain on

task for 15 minutes, and exhibit positive student behaviors (ex. Appropriate language, interaction with

peers), and filling out his planner with his homework assignments and his class assignments, achieving a

criteria of 4 out of 5 trials as measured by observation and documentation as implemented by the

teaching staff.

Objectives:

1. By the end of the second quarter of the 2011-2012 school year, in a classroom setting, Rodrigo

will demonstrate the following good student skills: take his seat and begin warm up activity

upon entering the classroom, achieving a criteria of 4 out of 5 trials as impl emented by the

teaching staff.

2. By the end of the third quarter of the 2011-2011 school year, in a classroom setting, Rodrigo will

demonstrate appropriate skills by using appropriate interaction with peers and teachers

achieving a criteria of 4 out of 5 trials as implemented by the teaching staff.

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3. By the fourth quarter of the 2011-2012 school year, in a classroom setting, Rodrigo will

demonstrate appropriate behaviors by using appropriate language achieving a criteria of 4 out

of 5 trials as implemented by the teaching staff.

4. By the annual review date of the 2011-10`1 school year, in a classroom setting,

Rodrigo will independently fill out his planner achieving a criteria of 4 out of 5 trials as

implemented by the teaching staff.

Goal 2: By the annual review date, in a classroom setting Rodrigo will follow a two step direction the

first time it is given (ex. Take your math book and a pencil out and turn to page 26) and be able to follow

assignments that are written on the board, achieving a criterial of 4 out of 5 trials as measured by

observation and documentation as implemented by the teaching staff.

Objectives:

1. By the end of the second quarter of the 2011-2012 school year, in a classroom setting, Rodrigo

will complete his class work during class time achieving a criteria of 4 out of 5 trials as

implemented by the teaching staff.

2. By the end of the third quarter of the 2011-2012 school year, in a classroom setting, Rodrigo will

complete his homework and turn it in achieving a criteria of 4 out of 5 trials as implemented by

the teaching staff.

3. By the annual review date, of the 2011-2012 school year, in a classroom setting, Rodrigo will

appropriately participate in a group activity a criteria of 4 out of 5 trials as implemented by the

teaching staff.

These goals and objectives are quite functional and will require Rodrigo to learn how to function in

the general education classroom. The structures of the classroom must be learned and mastered, and

new skills must be acquired in order for him to experience success in this new environment.

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Educational Standards

Rodrigo must also adapt to the strenuous academic standards of the general education

classroom. He must learn to learn in his own way and to his greatest potential in the new environment.

His academic goals must be adapted to his level so that he may learn the material and show mastery of

the subject matter. He must take what he has learned in the self -contained room and expand it into

learning further math concepts. The following educational goals and objectives were developed for

Rodrigo to succeed in the general education academic environment.

Goal 1: By annual review date, in a classroom setting, Rodrigo will select, modify, and apply strategies

to solve a variety of mathematical and practical problems achieving a criterial of 80% as measured by

observation, documentation, and work samples as implemented by the general and special education

teachers.

Objectives:

1. By annual the end of the first semester of the 2011-2012 school year, in the classroom setting,

Rodrigo will apply previous experience and knowledge to new problem solving situations

achieving a criteria of 80% as implemented by the general and special education teachers.

2. By the end of the third quarter of the 2011-2012 school year, in the classroom setting, Rodrigo

will generalize solutions and strategies from earlier problems to new problem situations

achieving a criteria of 80% as implemented by the general and special education teachers.

3. By the end of the second semester of the 2011-2012 school year, in the classroom setting,

Rodrigo will interpret and solve a variety of mathematical problems by paraphrasing, identifying

necessary and extraneous information, selecting and justifying efficient methods and/or

strategies, ensuring the answer is reasonable achieving a criteria of 80% as implemented by the

general and special education teachers.

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4. By annual review date, in the classroom setting, Rodrigo will try more than one strategy when

the first strategy proves to be unproductive achieving a criteria of 80% as implemented by the

general and special education teachers.

Goal 2: by annual review date, in the classroom setting, Rodrigo will revise and edit first drafts achieving

a criteria of 80% as measured by observation, documentation, and work samples as implemented by the

general and special education teachers.

Objectives:

1. By the end of the first semester of the 2011-2012 school year, in the classroom setting, Rodrigo

will proofread a paragraph at grade level and identify subject-verb agreement achieving a

criteria of 80% as implemented by the general education and special education teachers.

2. By the end of the second semester of the 2011-2012 school year, in the classroom setting,

Rodrigo will revise drafts to improve the coherence and logical progression of ideas, using an

established rubric achieving a criterial of 80% as implemented by the general and special

education teacher.

3. By annual review date, in the classroom setting, Rodrigo will improve sequence and provide

more detail achieving a criteria of 80% as implemented by the general and special education

teacher.

These goals are written with regard to maintenance and generalization. Rodrigo has to show that

he understands the concepts long-term and be able to generalize them to real-life situations. These

goals may be achieved with the use of voice to text technology that will allow Rodrigo to recite what he

wants to write, and the computer will form his words into text on the computer. He also may receive

extensive assistance from the teachers and students in the classroom.

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Environmental Demands

Classroom Arrangement

Two general education classrooms have been observed for this case study: Mr. Saut’ English

class and Mrs. Sweeney’s Math class. In the English class, Rodrigo sits with a team of fellow-sixth

graders, where Rodrigo must participate in group activities, including peer revision and editing of a story

students have written. Students are required to work together in groups of four or in pairs as following

the Kagan Cooperative Learning techniques and procedures. One day a week, they go to the computer

room to work on typing lessons and writing on the computer.

In Mrs. Sweeney’s room, students are also arranged into teams, where they compare each

other’s work on the warm-up. Each team member is to share his or her answers and determine which

ones are the correct answers. When called upon by the teacher, team members must present their

group effort to the class at warm-up time and provide examples of the work performed and hopefully

provide the right answers to the math problems.

Rodrigo is somewhat anti-social and does not have the skills to be able to interact with the

students in a way that would make him successful in this environment. He lacks the ability to share his

answers and compare them with his teammates. The tasks appear to be at his level, although he like

the other students are just learning the material.

Activities Schedule

The schedule of activities does not appear to be appropriate for Rodrigo. He is required to do

teamwork which seems to go against his introverted nature. He is asked to do individual work, such as

writing stories and doing individual math problems, but even with much prompting from the teacher

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and instructional assistant, Rodrigo refuses to participate. He does appear to be capable of focusing for

three to four minutes at a time, and then take a break.

Environmental Challenges

The physical environment is dark since interactive white boards are used in both rooms. This

makes it difficult for Rodrigo to keep from resting his head and going to sleep. The activities require

longer periods of focus that Rodrigo seems to be able to sustain.

Task and Instructional Demands

Required Typical Tasks

Students in the sixth grade math and English rooms are required to write stories with a specific

structure and to complete math problems independently and as a team. In the English class, students

are required to correct grammar mistakes from examples in the textbook and to write stories with a

clear introduction, body of two or three paragraphs, and a conclusion. In the math class, students must

convert a fraction to a decimal and from a decimal back into a fraction. They must also convert to

percents.

Appropriateness of Tasks

These tasks seem to be at a level that Rodrigo should be able to do, but exactly how to go about

doing them is not clear to him. He needs assistance with framing a story into a clear beginning, middle,

and end, and with completing simple math procedures being presented. The instruction is very explicit

and directions are very clear, which should enable him to understand the material and be able to work

independently and avoid any learned helplessness. Teaching strategies are appropriate, and Rodrigo

receives the one-on-one assistance that he sometimes requires from the special education co-teacher.

There is sufficient use of monitoring and positive and corrective feedback.

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Student Directions

The student is directed by the general education teacher, the special education co-teacher, and

by fellow students in group work. Directions are given specifically and directly, with plenty of

opportunity to check for understanding of tasks to be completed.

Teaching Strategies

The student is expected to participate in the warm-up with the group and present information

to the class and work independently on individual problems and stories. Rodrigo is asked to work for

prompted to work for a few minutes, then allowed to take a break, and prompted again to refocus his

attention.

Functional Behavioral Assessment

The following functional and behavioral skills were reported in the most recent IEP:

Rodrigo is able to groom himself accordingly. Rodrigo is able to use the bathroom with no

assistance. Rodrigo is able to work with peers, as long as he follows the topic. He is very easily

distracted and difficult to redirect. Rodrigo has somewhat appropriate behaviors and can converse with

classmates with some assistance. He generally does not yell or curse.

Supports Modifications and Accommodations

Functional Academics

The student will need regular reminders to do his work and will need help with developing an

appropriate form to a story and practicing appropriate math procedures to get the correct answers. A

copy of notes may be provided to assist him and keep him from having to write everything down

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himself. He will be provided with assistance from the co-teacher and the peer tutors assigned to him on

his teams.

Behavioral

Rodrigo is provided with opportunities to work with peers continually and is given the

opportunity to share his work with peers as well as edit the work of his fellow classmates.

Rodrigo needs reminders to work with his peers instead of focusing so much on his own work

and learn to peer edit a teammate’s paper or math problems.

Social Outcomes

Rodrigo is expected to learn to get along with others and work in teams and pairs. Once

acclimated to the general education environment, Rodrigo should be able to interact with peers in a

non-aggressive demeanor and be able to share the responsibility placed on he and his teammates by the

teachers.

Method

Objectives

The following alternative objectives may be considered for use with the IEP. They are suggested

objectives that may be generalized and maintained over time.

Objective 1. By the end of the second semester of the 2011-2012 school year, in the classroom

setting, Rodrigo will generalize how to tell time and count money achieving a criteria of 80% as

implemented by the general and special education teachers.

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Objective 2. By annual review date, in the classroom setting, Rodrigo will identify common signs

used in public places achieving a criteria of 80% as implemented by the general and special

education teacher.

Program Evaluation

Evaluation for Rodrigo will be a combination of teacher observations and his grades. Teachers

will watch for appropriate behaviors toward others and check to see if he is doing the work required of

him in the general education environment. Each teacher will be responsible for reporting to the

facilitator the progress Rodrigo makes in their classes, both academically and behaviorally.

Evaluation Frequency

A progress check consisting of teachers progress reports to the facilitator will be conducted on a

monthly basis. Approximately, every three to four weeks, Rodrigo’s progress will be reported and

reevaluate in order to determine his success. His successes must come in both the form of behavioral

concerns and academics and he must be able to generalize the material taught, such as the proposed

objectives on telling time, counting money, and identifying common signs used in public places.