Document date: 10/20/2010Eligibility Report Specific Learning Disability Page 1 of 14 [ ] Initial Assessment [ ] Reassessment [X] 3-Year Reevaluation Parent/Guardian Name: Mr. and Mrs. Middle Home Phone: (208)888-8888 Address: Native Language: Spanish/English Daytime Phone: (208)888-8888 Parent/Guardian Name: Home Phone: Address: Native Language: Daytime Phone: EVALUATION TEAM INFORMATION Directions: Provide a complete list of those in attendance at the eligibility team meeting, be sure to provide name, position or title, and check whether you have agreed with report. Names of All Evaluation Team Members Invited to Attend Mr. and Mrs. Middle Mrs. Helpful Ms. Easy Going Ms. Say It Like It Is Mr. Numbers Ms. Friendly Ms. Does It All Ms. Lab Position or Title Parent Special Education Teacher Assistant Principal School Psychologist Special/General Education Teacher School Counselor General Education Teacher General Education Teacher Agreement with Report [ X ] Yes [ ] No [X] Yes [ ] No [X] Yes [ ] No [X] Yes [ ] No [X] Yes [ ] No [X] Yes [ ] No [X] Yes [ ] No [X] Yes [ ] No Note: Each member must indicate whether the report reflects that member s conclusions. Any evaluation team member who disagrees with the conclusions of this team report must attach a separate written statement of his or her conclusions.
Document date: 10/20/2010 Eligibility Report Specific Learning Disability Page 2 of 14 Section A: Do Any One of the Following Factors Contribute to the Student s Learning Difficulty? Directions: Please complete this section by carefully reviewing items 1 through 5 prior to considering SLD eligibility. Place a check in the box marked yes or no. If yes was checked in items 1 through 5, use the text box provided below to provide additional narrative information. 1. A visual, hearing or motor impairment Yes No 2. Cognitive impairment Yes No 3. Emotional disturbance Yes No 4. Environmental or economic disadvantage Yes No 5. Cultural factors Yes No For any of the above factors marked yes, describe how the student s performance is impacted and indicate if this factor is a primary factor in the student s learning difficulty. No factors noted. If one or more of the factors listed in this section is found to be a primary factor in the student s learning difficulty, the student may not be found eligible for special education services under the category of Specific Learning Disability. Section B: Student Does Not Make Sufficient Progress in Response to Effective, Evidencebased Instruction and Intervention for the Child s Age or to Meet State-approved Grade Level Standards in One or More of the Following Areas: Academic Area(s) of Concern Directions: Place an X in the space below for each area of academic concern. Basic Reading Skills Oral Expression Written Expression Math Calculation Reading Comprehension Reading Fluency Listening Comprehension Math Problem Solving 1. Information shared by the parent(s) Directions: In the text boxes below, describe the student s strengths and weaknesses as related to the area of concern that were shared by the parent(s). Student Strengths: Middle is friendly and outgoing. He enjoys doing math and is good at it. Student Needs: Middle struggles with reading and does not like to do it at home. He has to be pushed to do any kind of reading assignment. He would much rather listen to a book on tape then actually read. Middle also does not like to write and struggles with remaining focused when doing homework.
Document date: 10/20/2010 Eligibility Report Specific Learning Disability Page 3 of 14 2. Educationally relevant developmental, health and medical findings. Directions: Please note any developmental, health and medical findings that are educationally relevant. If none, please provide evidence that records were reviewed (e.g. Vision/hearing screening on August 10, 2010 indicate functioning in the normal range). Middle passed his most recent vision screening in November 2008 and his most recent hearing screening in October 2004. No concerns noted in his health file. 3. The student s parents were notified about: state and school district policies regarding the amount and nature of student performance data that would be collected and the general education services that would be provided, Yes No strategies for increasing the student s rate of learning, and Yes No their right to request an evaluation. Yes No Parents were provided data-based documentation of repeated assessments of achievement at reasonable intervals, reflecting formal assessment of student progress during instruction. Yes No 4. Data that establishes that the core curriculum is effective for most students. Directions: For each of the assessments, list the percentage of students within the student s grade level who met grade-level performance benchmarks (may include ISAT, IRI, Grade Level Curriculum Based Measures, other measures). Name of Assessment Area Assessed Date Performance Benchmark Percentage of Grade Level Peers Meeting Performance Benchmark Percentage of Disaggregated Group Level Peers Meeting Performance Benchmark (if applicable) Target Student Performance Level ISAT Reading Spring 2010 208 92% 205 (Basic) ISAT Language Usage Spring 2010 214 79% 203 (Below Basic) AIMSweb MAZE Reading Comprehension Fall 2010 21 (50 th percentile) 91% 10 (7 th percentile) AIMSweb Writing-CBM Correct Writing Sequence Fall 2010 43 (50 th percentile) 78% 27 (21 st percentile) MAP Reading Fall 2010 25 th percentile 88% 19 th percentile
Document date: 10/20/2010 Eligibility Report Specific Learning Disability Page 4 of 14 5. Document information that the student was provided with appropriate instruction in the general education setting by qualified personnel prior to or as a part of the referral process in the academic area(s) of concern. Core Instruction Provided Duration Frequency Intensity Academic Core Instruction Begin End Total (how often (minutes per Area Date Date (weeks) per week) session) (M/D/Y) (M/D/Y) Reading Houghton Mifflin 08/2009 ongoing 43 weeks 5 times/week 45 minutes Intervention Provided Duration Academic Frequency Intensity Area of Intervention Begin End Total (how often (minutes per Concern Date Date (weeks) per week) session) (M/D/Y) (M/D/Y) Reading Language! Sopris West 08/31/09 ongoing 43 weeks 5 times/week 45 minutes Written Expression Written Expression Language! Sopris West 08/31/09 ongoing 43 weeks 5 times/week 45 minutes Step-Up to Writing Sopris West 01/2010 ongoing 25 weeks 2 times/week 20 minutes The evaluation team determines that the student s learning difficulty is not due to lack of instruction. The student was provided appropriate instruction by qualified personnel in reading, including the essential components of reading, instruction which includes explicit and systematic instruction in (A) phonemic awareness; (B) phonics; (C) vocabulary development; (D) reading fluency, including oral reading skills; and (E) reading comprehension strategies. The student was provided appropriate instruction by qualified personnel in math. Yes Yes No No
Document date: 10/20/2010 Eligibility Report Specific Learning Disability Page 5 of 14 6. Data-based documentation of repeated assessments of achievement at reasonable intervals, reflecting formal assessment of student progress during instruction and intervention for each academic area of concern. For students who are culturally diverse and/or English Learners, progress documenting the student s growth should be also compared against their subgroup s progress Attach to the evaluation report, a copy of the student s progress monitoring graph for each academic area of concern. The graph(s) must include the aimline, trendline, decision points, student s rate of improvement, and national or local norm for grade level peers. For culturally diverse and English Learners, include comparisons to peer group progress.
Document date: 10/20/2010 Eligibility Report Specific Learning Disability Page 6 of 14 Summary of the data demonstrating the student s progress during instruction and intervention in the academic areas of concern: Middle has participated in the Applied English and Applied Reading classes at Middle School for his sixth grade and first quarter of his seventh grade years. He has received the Language! Curriculum for both classes since 6 th grade. In sixth grade from January to the beginning of June, 2010 (5 months), on the Language! Curriculum summative test, the class mean on the Test of Silent Word Reading Fluency assessment was an increase of 5 months. Middle s increase on the same assessment was 2 months. On the DRP Reading Test (comprehension) for the same curriculum, the class mean increase was 7 months, while Middle showed a decrease of 3 months. Middle has been progress monitored in oral reading fluency (Reading-Curriculum Based Measurement), reading comprehension (Reading MAZE), and written expression (Writing-CBM). The above charts show his progress monitoring data since last spring in all three areas. In the area of oral reading fluency, Middle has been progress monitored at his instructional level, which is at the 5 th grade level. According to AIMSweb 5 th grade norms for the fall, 117 correct words per minute (cwpm) is at the 50 th percentile. Middle s scores on his last three reading probes were 73, 64, and 89 (cwpm), which is a median percentile rank of 13 th. His rate of improvement is.60. When given 7 th grade oral reading fluency probes, Middle s last three probes were 75, 65, and 69 cwpm. [The 50 th percentile for fall for 7 th graders is 137 cwpm.] Middle has also been progress monitored in reading comprehension with the use of AIMSweb MAZE probes. His scores on his last three probes were 15, 10, and 12 correct responses, which is a median percentile rank of 12 th. His rate of improvement is at -.18. [The 50 th percentile for 7 th graders in the fall is a score of 21 correct responses.] In written expression, Middle has been progress monitored using AIMSweb probes. His Correct Writing Sequence (CWS) scores on his last three probes were 23, 23, 21, which is a median percentile rank of 15 th. His rate of improvement is at.88. [The 50 th percentile for 7 th graders in the fall is a CWS score of 43.]
Document date: 10/20/2010 Eligibility Report Specific Learning Disability Page 7 of 14 6. Observation of academic and behavior functioning in the area(s) of concern: Directions: Include documentation of the results from an observation of the student during routine classroom instruction. (In the case of a child not attending a typical school setting, the child must be observed in an environment appropriate for the child s age). The observation must be conducted in a general education environment in which the area(s) of concern would be manifested. Name and Title of Observer: Ms. Say It Like It Is, Psy.S., NCSP, School Psychologist Location of Observation: Applied Reading and Applied English Date Conducted: 09/22/2010 & 10/13/2010 Duration of Observation: 30 minutes & 15 minutes Summary of relevant behavior and relationship of behavior to academic functioning in the area(s) of concern during observation: Middle was first observed in his Applied Reading class which is his third period of his day. The students were working with partners doing timed readings while Middle read to his teacher for his timed reading. He read slowly and haltingly during his three timed readings. The students then returned to their desks and the teacher asked if anyone wanted to share their scores. Middle did not want to share and sat quietly at his desk. The teacher then began a review lesson on synonyms, antonyms, and syllables. Middle appeared to quietly listen to the direction and instruction given by the teacher and answered questions correctly, with some teacher assistance and prompting. He did not follow along while other students read and when he was asked to read the directions, he needed assistance in finding his place and then read in a very slow, halting manner. Middle contributed to group discussions with questions, answers, and information but would occasionally get off-task by daydreaming or playing with his mechanical pencil. The teacher gave each student tiles to use in learning about syllables. Middle seemed to move the tiles and understand emphasis as it related to syllables and became more animated and involved with the lesson with the tiles. The teacher then divided the students into groups of two. Middle was reluctant to work with his partner but did complete the activity. During Applied English which is his fourth period of the day, Middle again contributed to class discussions with questions and answers but needed to be reminded to raise his hand and wait to be called on before blurting out his responses. While the lesson was being given, Middle appeared to be listening but would occasionally become distracted by his classmates or his mechanical pencil. He stayed in his seat during independent practice and worked quietly and appropriately. He began the assignment immediately and at times prior to the instructions being given and would complete the assignment during the allotted time. Middle sat at the front of the class and used his right hand to complete paper-and-pencil tasks for both observations.
Document date: 10/20/2010 Eligibility Report Specific Learning Disability Page 8 of 14 Section C: Evidence of Low Achievement in One or More Areas Directions: Mark the area(s) of concern with an X and provide evidence of low achievement. Complete the table by providing specific assessment information as requested in the table for each are marked with an X. Basic Reading Skills Oral Expression Written Expression Math Calculation Reading Comprehension Reading Fluency Listening Comprehension Math Problem Solving Area of Concern Basic Reading Skills Date Name of Assessment Subtest(s) SS %ile Evaluator/Title 10/01/10 Woodcock Johnson III Tests of Achievement (WJIII) Basic Reading Skills 84 15 Mrs. Helpful/Special Education Teacher Description of assessment measure, validity statement, and interpretive information: The WJIII Tests of Achievement assess individuals between the ages of 2 to 90 in academic achievement. The Basic Reading Skills cluster of the WJIII is made of the Letter-Word Identification and Word Attack subtests. Middle s score on the Letter- Word Identification subtest is a standard score of 79 (9 th percentile) and his score on the Word Attack subtest is a standard score of 90 (25 th percentile). He did much better when required to sound out words rather than relying on sight word vocabulary. Middle s overall basic reading skills score is below the average range. Throughout the testing he was on-task and had appropriate motivation to do his best; test results are considered valid Area of Concern Reading Fluency Date Name of Assessment Subtest(s) SS %ile Evaluator/Title 10/01/10 Woodcock Johnson III Tests of Achievement (WJIII) 10/13/10 Gray Oral Reading Test- Fourth Edition (GORT-4) Reading Fluency 76 6 Mrs. Helpful/Special Education Teacher Fluency Score (Rate & Accuracy) 60 <1 Mrs. Helpful/Special Education Teacher Description of assessment measure, validity statement, and interpretive information: The WJIII s Reading Fluency subtest is used to measure a student s reading fluency. Middle s standard score on this subtest is a 76, which is at the 6 th percentile and below the average range. The GORT-4 is a norm-referenced, reliable, and valid test of oral reading rate, accuracy, fluency, and comprehension. It is appropriate for students ages 6 to 18 years of age. Middle s performance on the fluency (rate and accuracy) portion of the GORT-4 indicates significant difficulties with decoding, sight word vocabulary and fluency. The majority of his errors were self-corrections. His overall score is below the first percentile and significantly below grade level. Test results are considered valid for both measures as Middle put forth good effort on each task given to him. Area of Concern Reading Comprehension Date Name of Assessment Subtest(s) SS %ile Evaluator/Title 10/01/10 Woodcock Johnson III Tests of Achievement (WJIII) 10/13/10 Gray Oral Reading Test-Fourth Edition (GORT-4) Reading Comprehension 83 13 Mrs. Helpful/Special Education Teacher Reading Comprehension 105 63 Mrs. Helpful/Special Education Teacher Description of assessment measure, validity statement, and interpretive information: The WJIII Reading Comprehension cluster is made up of the Passage Comprehension and Reading Vocabulary subtests. Middle s score on
Document date: 10/20/2010 Eligibility Report Specific Learning Disability Page 9 of 14 the Passage Comprehension subtest is an 84 (15 th percentile) and on the Reading Vocabulary is an 85 (16 th percentile) with are both within the lower end of the Low Average range. His overall score on the Reading Comprehension cluster falls below the average range. The GORT-4 is a norm-referenced, reliable, and valid test of oral reading rate, accuracy, fluency, and comprehension. It is appropriate for individuals ages 6 to 18 years of age. Middle s score on the reading comprehension subtest is in the average range. The differences in scores between the WJIII and GORT-4 in reading comprehension is indicative of his poor decoding skills and recall of information but relative strengths in his use context clues within texts, recognition, and listening comprehension. Test results are considered valid on both test measures. Area of Concern Written Expression Date Name of Assessment Subtest(s) SS %ile Evaluator/Title 10/01/10 Woodcock Johnson III Tests of Achievement (WJIII) 10/19/10 Test of Written Language-Fourth Edition (TOWL-4) Written Expression 97 42 Mrs. Helpful/Special Education Teacher Contrived Writing Spontaneous Writing Overall Writing 85 99 88 16 47 55 Mrs. Helpful/Special Education Teacher Description of assessment measure, validity statement, and interpretive information: The WJIII s Written Expression cluster consists of two subtests Writing Fluency and Writing Samples. Middle scores within the average range on both subtests at the 45 th percentile on Writing Fluency and 38 th percentile on Writing Samples. His overall Written Expression score also within the average range (42 nd percentile). The TOWL-4 is a seven-subtest, normreferenced measure used to assess written expression for students between the ages of 9 to 17 years. Middle shows relative strengths in his Spontaneous Writing, which are his skills in style, contextual conventions, and story composition. His greatest difficulties were in the Contrived Writing, which includes vocabulary paragraphs and sentence structure, capitalization, spelling and punctuation. His overall writing on the TOWL-4 is within the low average range with difficulties noted in contrived writing. Based on his performance on both assessments, Middle has a significant weakness in spelling, conventions (capitalization and punctuation), and sentence structure which correlate with the Contrived Writing assessment of the TOWL-4. Middle demonstrated on-task behaviors and put forth good behavior on all tasks given to him for both assessment measures. Test results are considered valid.
Document date: 10/20/2010 Eligibility Report Specific Learning Disability Page 10 of 14 Section D: Pattern of Strengths and Weaknesses in Psychological Processing Skills That Impact Learning Directions: Provide the specific strengths and weaknesses of the student s psychological processing skills that have a direct impact on learning as demonstrated through the evidence provided throughout this report. Be sure to include specific processing area and use a cross battery approach as needed to demonstrate the areas suspected as strengths and weaknesses. Processing Area Phonological Processing Date Name of Assessment Composite/Cluster/ Subtest 10/05/10 Comprehensive Test of Phonological Awareness Phonological Processing Phonological Memory (CTOPP) Rapid Naming SS %ile Evaluator/Title 112 88 76 79 21 5 Ms. Say It Like It Is, Psy.S., NCSP/School Psychologist Description of assessment measure, validity statement, and interpretive information: The CTOPP is a testing measure used for individuals between the ages of 5 and 24 years old in order to assess phonological awareness, phonological memory, and rapid naming, which represent three correlated yet distinct kinds of phonological processing abilities related to reading. Middle shows strengths in phonemic awareness and sound blending as seen on his performance on the Phonological Awareness subtests Elision (75 th percentile) and Blending Words (75 th percentile). His greatest difficulties in phonological processing are in his ability to quickly process and name letters and digits as seen in his score in Rapid Naming (5 th percentile). Middle struggles with the automaticity of letters and digits. Reading fluency difficulties have a direct connection with the automaticity deficits noted in this test. In addition, Middle scores in the low average range in the area of Phonological Memory (21 st percentile). Rapport was easily established during testing and Middle appeared to put forth his best effort; therefore test results are considered valid. Processing Area Short-Term Memory, Visual Processing, Long Term Retrieval and Storage, Fluid Reasoning, Crystallized Intelligence, Nonverbal Index Date Name of Assessment Composite/Cluster/ Subtest 10/13/10 Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children- Second Edition (KABC-II) Short Term Memory/ Working Memory (Gsm)= Visual Processing (Gv) = Long Term Retrieval & Storage (Glr) = Fluid Reasoning (Gf) = Crystallized Intelligence (Gc)= Nonverbal Index = SS %ile Evaluator/Title 83 100 114 111 87 101 13 50 82 77 19 53 Ms. Say It Like It Is, Psy.S., NCSP/School Psychologist Description of assessment measure, validity statement, and interpretive information: The KABC-II is an individually administered measure of the processing and cognitive abilities of children and adolescents aged 3 to 18 years. When looking at Middle s performance on this test, he demonstrates a strength in his ability to store information in long-term memory and to retrieve that information fluently and efficiently. He also has strengths in his ability to use a variety of mental operations to solve novel problems with adaptability and flexibility operations such as drawing inferences, understanding implications, and applying inductive or deductive reasoning. His difficulties appear to be in the areas of short-term and working memory as seen on his performance on the number recall and word order subtests. Middle also scores within the low average range in the area of crystallized intelligence which reflects the amount of specific knowledge that he has acquired within a culture. Working memory difficulties have a direct correlation with reading comprehension and written expression difficulties. An analysis of Middle s scores using the Cultural-Language Interpretive Matrix (C-LIM) from the Essentials of Cross-Battery Assessment-Second Edition 2007 by Flanagan, Ortiz, and Alfonso, indicate that acculturation and English-language proficiency variables were not systematic or dominant influences on the obtained test scores. Rapport was easily established and maintained throughout the evaluation; therefore test results are considered valid. Processing Area Visual-Motor & Visual Processing Date Name of Assessment Composite/Cluster/ Subtest 10/15/10 Bender-Gestalt-Second Visual-Motor Processing = Edition Visual-Motor (Recall) = SS %ile Evaluator/Title 111 118 76 88 Ms. Say It Like It Is, Psy.S., NCSP/School Psychologist Description of assessment measure, validity statement, and interpretive information: The Bender-Gestalt-II
Document date: 10/20/2010 Eligibility Report Specific Learning Disability Page 11 of 14 measures visual-motor integration skills in children and adults from 4 to 85+ years of age. Middle s performance on this test shows high average skills in his visual-motor processing skills as well as his visual-motor recall of designs. Further analysis of his drawings shows that Middle has poor planning capacity as two of his drawings collided with two other drawings. During this assessment, Middle put forth good effort on all tasks required of him and took his time in drawing the designs. Test results are considered valid. Section E: Supplemental Assessment Information (when applicable) Directions: Not all students will have assessment information to include in this section. This section is to be used to include additional information gathered through assessments not directly related to academic achievement or psychological processing. This might include assessments conducted to address additional areas of concern such as behavior. Area of Concern Date Name of Assessment Composite/Cluster/ Subtest SS %ile Evaluator/Title Description of assessment measure, validity statement, and interpretive information: Area of Concern Date Name of Assessment Composite/Cluster/ Subtest SS %ile Evaluator/Title Description of assessment measure, validity statement, and interpretive information: Section F: English Learner (EL) Directions: Include information detailing how the student s language acquisition impacts his/her ability to learn. 1. Is the student s first language English? Yes No 2. Documentation of English Language Proficiency when the Student is an English Learner (EL): Directions: Provide supporting evidence using information gathered through formal and informal assessments including: Home Language Surveys, Idaho English Language Assessment (IELA) information, etc. Date Assessment/Documentation Result/Score 11/09/06 Home Language Survey English Spring 2006 Idaho English Language Assessment (IELA) Speaking = 115 (Early Fluent+) Listening = 115 (Early Fluent+) Reading = 101 (Advanced Beginning+) Writing = 118 (Early Fluent +) Comprehension = 109 (Early Fluent+) Total IELA = 434 Early Fluent (4) 31 st percentile
Document date: 10/20/2010 Eligibility Report Specific Learning Disability Page 12 of 14 3. Impact of English Learning on the student s academic functioning in the area(s) of concern Directions: Describe how the student s English Learning impacts his/her ability to learn and their achievement level. Middle s primary language is English according to his mother and the Home Language Survey. Middle s father was born in Mexico and speaks primarily Spanish within the home. His mother was born in Idaho and speaks both Spanish and English within the home. Middle has three other siblings in the home and they speak English with one another. In addition, he currently has an older cousin within the home who speaks primarily Spanish. In a Home Language Survey completed when Middle was in third grade, his mother indicated that English is the first language Middle spoke, is the one he uses in the home, is the language she uses to speak to Middle, and is the language he uses outside of the home with his friends. In a recent interview with Middle he indicated that he speaks both Spanish and English but feels most comfortable speaking English. He prefers to read and write in English as he has limited skills in reading and writing in Spanish. However, when he thinks to himself, Middle indicated that he usually uses Spanish. Middle s mother indicates that Middle s primary language is English. He has been fully immersed into the general education curriculum and setting since kindergarten and is fully acculturated into the English culture. Section G: Summary of Evidence and Eligibility Determination Summarize evidence as documented in sections A through F of this report. The impact on achievement of the following factors: visual, hearing or motor impairment, Cognitive impairment, Emotional disturbance, Environmental or economic disadvantage, Culture, or English Language Learning. Middle passed his most recent hearing and vision screenings and no other areas have a primary impact on his academic achievement. Middle was born in Idaho and has attended the public schools in Meridian since kindergarten. He has participated fully in the general education classroom since kindergarten. Middle s father was born in Mexico and speaks primarily Spanish within the home. His mother was born in Idaho and speaks both Spanish and English within the home. Middle has three other siblings in the home and they speak English with one another. In addition, he currently has an older cousin within the home who speaks primarily Spanish. In a Home Language Survey completed when Middle was in third grade, his mother indicated that English is the first language Middle spoke, is the one he uses in the home, is the language she uses to speak to Middle, and is the language he uses outside of the home with his friends. In a recent interview with Middle he indicated that he speaks both Spanish and English but feels most comfortable speaking English. He prefers to read and write in English as he has limited skills in reading and writing in Spanish. However, when he thinks to himself, Middle indicated that he usually uses Spanish. Middle s mother indicates that Middle s primary language is English. Response to evidence based instruction and interventions in areas of concern Middle has participated in the Applied English and Applied Reading classes at Middle School for his sixth grade and first quarter of his seventh grade years. He has received the Language! Curriculum for both classes since 6 th grade. Middle has been progress monitored in oral reading fluency (Reading-Curriculum Based Measurement), reading comprehension (Reading MAZE), and written expression (Writing-CBM). The above charts show his progress monitoring data since last spring in all three areas. In the area of oral reading fluency, Middle has been progress monitored at his instructional level, which is at the 5 th grade level. According to AIMSweb 5 th grade norms for the fall, 117 correct words per minute (cwpm) is at the 50 th percentile. Middle s scores on his last three reading probes were 73, 64, and 89 (cwpm), which is a median percentile rank of 13 th. His rate of improvement is.60. When given 7 th grade oral reading fluency probes, Middle s last three
Document date: 10/20/2010 Eligibility Report Specific Learning Disability Page 13 of 14 probes were 75, 65, and 69 cwpm. [The 50 th percentile for fall for 7 th graders is 137 cwpm.] Middle has also been progress monitored in reading comprehension with the use of AIMSweb MAZE probes. His scores on his last three probes were 15, 10, and 12 correct responses, which is a median percentile rank of 12 th. His rate of improvement is at -.18. [The 50 th percentile for 7 th graders in the fall is a score of 21 correct responses.] In written expression, Middle has been progress monitored using AIMSweb probes. His Correct Writing Sequence (CWS) scores on his last three probes were 23, 23, 21, which is a median percentile rank of 15 th. His rate of improvement is at.88. [The 50 th percentile for 7 th graders in the fall is a CWS score of 43.] Based on observations of Middle in his Applied English and Applied Reading classes, he appears to listen to directions and instruction for the majority of the time but will get off-task and be inattentive occasionally. He contributes to class discussions and will volunteer information. When asked to read, he will do so but in a very slow and halting manner. He began tasks immediately after being given the assignments and completed them in the allotted times. Sometimes, he appeared to rush through written task or begin them prior to hearing all of the instructions. Summarize the evidence regarding whether the student demonstrates low achievement in the suspected area(s) of difficulty indicated above as evidenced by a norm-referenced, standardized achievement assessment. For culturally and linguistically diverse students, provide evidence indicating low achievement: The Basic Reading Skills cluster of the WJIII is made of the Letter-Word Identification and Word Attack subtests. Middle s score on the Letter-Word Identification subtest is a standard score of 79 (9 th percentile) and his score on the Word Attack subtest is a standard score of 90 (25 th percentile). He did much better when required to sound out words rather than relying on sight word vocabulary. Middle s overall basic reading skills score is below the average range. Middle s standard score on the WJIII Reading Fluency subtest is a 76, which is at the 6 th percentile and below the average range. His performance on the fluency (rate and accuracy) portion of the GORT-4 indicates significant difficulties with decoding, sight word vocabulary and fluency. The majority of his errors were self-corrections. His overall score is below the first percentile and significantly below grade level. His overall score on the Reading Comprehension cluster on the WJIII falls below the average range. Middle s score on the reading comprehension subtest of the GORT-4 is in the average range. The differences in scores between the WJIII and GORT-4 in reading comprehension is indicative of his poor decoding skills and recall of information but relative strengths in his use context clues within texts, recognition, and listening comprehension. Middle scores within the average range of the WJIII subtests Writing Fluency and Writing Samples. His overall Written Expression score also within the average range (42 nd percentile). Middle shows relative strengths in his Spontaneous Writing, which are his skills in style, contextual conventions, and story composition. His greatest difficulties were in the Contrived Writing, which includes vocabulary paragraphs and sentence structure, capitalization, spelling and punctuation. His overall writing on the TOWL-4 is within the low average range with difficulties noted in contrived writing. Based on his performance on both assessments, Middle has a significant weakness in spelling, conventions (capitalization and punctuation), and sentence structure which correlate with the Contrived Writing assessment of the TOWL-4. Summarize the evidence regarding whether the student demonstrates a pattern of strengths and weaknesses in psychological processing and the impact on academic achievement. For English Learners, provide the preponderance of evidence that supports the psychological processing deficits are not related to the student s level of English acquisition.
Document date: 10/20/2010 Eligibility Report Specific Learning Disability Page 14 of 14 Based on Middle s performance on the CTOPP, KABC-II, and Bender Gestalt-II, he demonstrates strengths in the areas of phonological awareness (phonemic awareness and blending words), long-term storage and retrieval, fluid reasoning (deductive and inductive reasoning), and visual-motor integration skills. His weaknesses are in the areas of shortterm/working memory and rapid letter/digit naming. These two areas of psychological processing are explicitly connected to reading fluency, reading comprehension, and written expression skills (Flanagan, Ortiz, Alfonso, and Mascolo (2006)). In addition, given Middle s linguistically diverse background with both Spanish and English languages, the KABC-II was used to assess his overall cognitive abilities as well as his nonverbal abilities. When looking at his performance on this test as well as using the Culture- Language Interpretive Matrix (C-LIM) from the Essentials of Cross-Battery Assessment- Second Edition (2007) by Flanagan, Ortiz, and Alfonso, the data from the testing is considered valid and uncompromised by cultural or linguistic factors and can be used, in conjunction with other converging data, to support hypotheses regarding the presence of a disability. The evidence in sections A through F of this report demonstrates that the student meets of the state criteria for Specific Learning Disabilities. Yes No Describe the adverse effect that the student s Specific Learning Disability has on their educational performance in the general education curriculum and ability to meet grade level achievement standards: Middle s reading comprehension, reading fluency, and written expression skills are significantly below grade level and greatly impact his ability to perform within the general education setting. His deficits in short-term and working memory as well as his difficulties with rapid naming of digits and letters impact his abilities to decode words, recall vocabulary and letter sounds and names automatically, recall writing mechanics rules, and spell. Describe the specially designed instruction necessary for the student to be able to access and progress in the general education curriculum and grade level achievement standards: Middle demonstrates the need for specially designed instruction in the areas of reading fluency, reading comprehension, and written expression due to significant weakness and deficits in short-term and working memory and rapid naming of letters and digits. Middle s strengths in storing and efficiently retrieving newly learned or previously learned information and in solving novel problems by using reasoning abilities such as induction and deduction could be used to assist him in learning coping strategies for his weaknesses in short-term and working memory. In consideration of the reported information, the evaluation team finds (must mark one of the following): OR the student meets the criteria requirements under the category of Specific Learning Disability and is eligible to receive special education services. the student does not meet the criteria requirements and is not eligible to receive special education services under the category of Specific Learning Disability.