CEC STANDARD 9 // PROFESSIONAL AND ETHICAL PRACTICE

The ability to provide sound professional judgment is a key ingredient to success in the business of education. Exceptional education teachers must pay a great deal of attention to their practices, as many aspects of this occupation include managing a variety of complex legal matters. The subsequent case study provides an analysis of professional judgment in the context of an exceptional education referral for an elementary school student demonstrating difficulties in the area of mathematics. The case study presentation reviews both formal and informal data, tests administered, and formative assessment data, as well as the ultimate determination that was made by the exceptional education team in order to provide insight as to which steps in this process requires professional judgment and in what form.

Jennifer Stansel

20 April 2013

Case Study: Specific

Learning Disability Report

The Importance of Professional Judgment

Presented by Jennifer Stansel

Key Points of Report

1. Using selective assessment strategies

2. Determining a pattern of strengths and weaknesses

3. Importance of cognitive assessment

4. The use of professional judgment

Professional Judgment

“The reasoned application of clear guidelines to the specific data and circumstances related to each unique individual. Professional judgment adheres to high standards based on research and informed practices established by professional organizations or agencies” (Iowa Department of Education, 2006).

Professional Judgment

Professional judgment is necessary to:

Select tests, integrate data, and match interventions

“Look beyond” the scores

Utilize a variety of assessment tools and strategies

Consider behavioral observations and request information from the student

Full Individual Evaluation Report

Name: Olivia Firek

Date of Birth: 01/22/2000

Age: 9-9

Gender: Female

Ethnicity: Caucasion

Parents: Thomas and Claudia Firek

Address: 300 Main Street

School: Fain Elementary

Teacher: Davis

Grade: 4

Date of Report: 11/23/09

Evaluator: Edward Schultz, Ph.D

Reason for Referral

Olivia has difficulty with mathematics, specifically division and word problems involving division.

Olivia has had 12 weeks of targeted interventions, but has been unable to meet fourth-grade math standards.

Student support team suspects a specific learning disability (SLD) affecting mathematics.

Tests Administered

Informal data collected: School records

Teacher reports

Parent reports

Classroom observation

Vision and hearing screenings

Speech and language evaluation

Formative assessment data: CBM data

Current work samples

In-class tests

Benchmark testing

Formal data: Woodcock-Johnson III

Tests of Achievement (selected tests)

Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Abilities (selected tests)

Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Abilities Diagnostic Supplement (selected tests)

Informal Data: School Records

Olivia has attended Fain Elementary since kindergarten. School records show regular attendance.

Olivia’s behavior does not interfere with her learning.

Review of school records indicate passing grades with As and Bs in most subjects.

Olivia’s reading score on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge exceeded the minimum passing standard, though she failed to meet the standard in math.

Olivia has acquired basic math skills such as number concepts, number recognition, and addition. Previous math grades were Bs and Cs.

Informal Data: School Records During current school year, Olivia has been served through the

general education program and has received standards-based math instruction 45 minutes daily.

Olivia also received supplemental math instructions for 45 minutes each week, which is standard protocol for students who do not meet state standards on end-of-year tests.

Olivia received math tutoring in a small group for 45 minutes twice a week over a 12 week period as part of the school’s RTI system.

Olivia’s class grades reflect a C average, but her grades on weekly tests have declined.

Olivia’s basic math skills teacher states that Olivia has made little progress, and that Olivia can understand the concept at the time it is taught but cannot do similar problems on her homework. She has particular difficulty with multi-step problems.

Olivia’s parents report that they spend at least 1 hour a night working with her on her math homework.

Informal Data: Teacher Reports

Parents and teachers report that Olivia is a good student who has a positive attitude towards school.

Teachers describe her as “friendly,” “outgoing,” and well liked by her classmates.

3rd grade teacher recalled that Olivia did very well with addition and subtraction of whole numbers, measurement, and geometry, but that Olivia needed more support with multiplication and a great deal of support for division.

Olivia’s 3rd grade teacher also states that Olivia has outstanding work habits and does well in her other subjects, which are social studies, science, PE, and music.

Informal Data: Parent Reports

Olivia is a 9 year old girl who lives with her mother, father, and 5 year old younger sister.

Parents indicate that Olivia met all of her developmental milestones and is in good health. She has had no major illnesses and has not required surgery.

Parents report that Olivia is “sweet and caring” and gets along well with her younger sister. She is responsible, completes her chores, and is rarely noncompliant.

No apparent physical factors that might affect educational progress.

Informal Data: Vision/Hearing Screenings,

Speech/Language Evaluations

Olivia’s hearing and vision were recently screened by the school nurse with normal results.

Olivia speaks Spanish, but English is her dominant and primary language in school and at home.

Olivia has no significant speech or language problems.

Informal Data: Classroom Observations

Olivia was observed in both her math class and math tutoring session.

In math class, Olivia sat with three other students near the front of the room. Students were learning about probability using coins and dice. Olivia was actively engaged and was assigned to be the “recorder” of the group.

During tutoring, Olivia was observed during 30 minutes of TRI Tier 2 small-group instruction with four other students. The teacher used a “think aloud” strategy to work through the steps. Olivia remained on task.

Informal Data: Observations During

Assessment

During both test sessions, Olivia entered the test room willingly. Rapport with the examiner was established and testing began promptly. She was friendly and polite, and seemed to put forth her best effort. Followed instructions well and attempted all tasks.

During math tests, Olivia rarely used paper and pencil to help solve problems. When she did, her problem-solving strategy was unsuccessful. After testing, the examiner asked if she uses pencil and paper in class, and she said, “My teacher taught us how, but I forgot.”

Informal Data: Conclusions

Olivia’s limited progress in math is not attributable to a vision, hearing, or motor impairment, emotional disturbance, cultural factors, or environmental or economic hardship.

Formative Assessment Data

While Olivia was in the RTI program, her progress was measured using the Success Maker, which the school used for students who did not meet state standards in state assessments.

Her baseline score was 2.85, and after 12 weeks of interventions, her scores improved slightly to 2.89 (growth is considerably lower than expected).

Formative Assessment Data

Olivia’s RTI data, collected using AIMSweb CBM probes and norms, also indicated little growth.

Baselines score was 16 correct digits (10th percentile when compared to other 4th grade students).

After 12 weeks, Olivia’s score was 19 correct digits (growth rate of 0.25 digits per week).

Formative Assessment Data

Pattern of Strength and Weakness

In contemporary assessment and policy, PSW evaluations are not always clearly defined.

In practice, data collected using a PSW evaluation should be used to:

Understand the learner

Predict future performance

Develop meaningful interventions

Pattern of Strength and Weakness

This PSW report describes Olivia’s overall learning profile from a cognitive, academic, and social perspective.

Olivia’s PSW prediction, which is based on the numerous data points collected over time, essentially states that, if Olivia’s education continues as is, she will continue to fail to make adequate progress.

Selective Assessment Strategies

In order to use selective assessment strategies, the examiner needs the following:

A focused referral question

Complete and thorough documentation of academic history

Data-based documentation of the formal assessment that was completed during the pre-referral process

This allows the examiner to chose assessment instruments that will maximize the information obtained during the evaluation.

Selective Assessment Strategies

Examiner chose the following tests:

Number Matrices test, as a measure of fluid intelligence for comparing measures underlying math learning with one that directly involves the use of math knowledge.

Measures of long-term retrieval, which will provide information as to why Olivia appears to forget information she seemed to previously understand.

SLD Assistant Volume 1 and Cross-Battery Data Management and Interpretive Assistant (CBDMIA), which help the examiner determine if overall cognitive functioning is within normal limits.

Importance of Cognitive Assessment

While RTI was used to establish Olivia’s need for further intervention, the cognitive assessment allows the evaluator to identify the cognitive processes involved in Olivia’s failure to respond to previous interventions.

Subsequently, understanding Olivia’s cognitive processes will allow educators to develop more effective interventions.

Formal Data: Cognitive Processes

Olivia’s cognitive abilities were evaluated using the WJ III Tests of Cognitive Abilities and the WJ III COG Diagnostic Supplement.

Olivia’s strengths: visual-spatial thinking, crystalized intelligence, auditory processing, processing speed, and short-term memory.

Weaknesses: fluid reasoning (ability to use inductive and deductive reasoning to solve problems), associative memory.

Formal Data: Cognitive Processes

Associative memory is the ability to learn new associations between words and visual information, retain them, and use them over a period of a few minutes.

To further explore this weakness, Olivia was later given versions of the associative memory tests, in which her performance was weaker.

Findings indicate that not only does Olivia forget newly learned associated relatively quickly, but also what information she has retained deteriorates over time.

Olivia has no difficulty retrieving information that is well-established in her mind, according to the Retrieval Fluency test.

SLD Determination

According to state (Texas) and federal regulations, a SLD student is one who:

Has been determined through a variety of assessment tools and strategies to meet the criteria for a specific learning disability (SLD).

Does not achieve adequately for the child’s age or meet state-approved grade-level standards when provided appropriate instruction.

Does not make sufficient progress when provided a process based on the child’s response to RTI.

Exhibits a pattern of strengths and weaknesses in performance, achievement, or both relative to age, grade-level standards, or intellectual ability.

Eligibility Statements

Olivia meets the Texas Education Agency criteria to be identified as a student with a specific learning disability. Olivia’s disability significantly impairs her performance in the area of mathematics, and she requires specialized instruction and classroom accommodations in order to make adequate progress in the general education program.

Implications for Education

Olivia should continue to have access to the full range of the general education mathematics curriculum and general education services.

Use her strengths in visual processing by having her draw or act out word problems and use graphic organizers such as flowcharts and decision charts to help her learn algorithm sequences.

Allow her to continue through the math curriculum even if she is not able to rapidly compute her division facts on her own. Provide a division chart, but encourage her to try to think of the answer before referring to it. (Immediate reinforcement and/or immediate correction)

Implications for Education

Provide recorded instructions to help her remember the procedures when she is doing assignments at home.

Olivia should have access to and be allowed to use a calculator. This is necessary to progress through the math curriculum.

Teach Olivia how to use visual association or mental imagery strategies to enhance the retrieval of information.

Have Olivia repeat multi-step instructions to facilitate encoding and storage of information.

Provide math instruction using the concrete-representational-abstract (CRA) approach.

Summary

Professional judgment is necessary to conduct an effective assessment that will adequately review and utilize all relevant information in order to create a sufficient learning intervention.

Can you name some instances in which professional judgment were used in this case study?