CWS Part 1 - continued

A.    Case study student description:

Betsy is a 13‐year‐old adolescent who is having difficulty handling schoolwork due to specific reading problems. Because reading is hard for her, Betsy is not able to handle the demands of the content subject areas in the seventh grade.  She has a good sense of humor, expresses herself well, and has insight and feelings about her learning problems.

Although Betsy has had help with reading over the last few years, she has become discouraged because her reading has not improved significantly. She appears to have taken the responsibility for failure upon herself. Betsy's learning problems are compounded by frequent absences from school and have interfered with consistency in learning.

Betsy has poor visual‐motor coordination (reflected in such things as poor handwriting skills), uneven and inconsistent phonics knowledge, a poor sight vocabulary, and some reversals of letters and words. She is an anxious, tense reader. Though Betsy makes many mistakes, she has a quick grasp of the essential material she reads and she can understand material read to her at the seventh grade level. Her reading of words in isolation is at the mid‐third grade level.

·         Step 2 (N) – Case Study Student Strengths & Needs

o   Academics – basic skills, cognitive and learning strategies, & survival skills.

§  Unable to handle demands of content subject areas (-)

§  Poor sight vocabulary and poor handwriting skills (-)

§  Understands material read to her (+)

§  Uneven and inconsistent phonics knowledge (-)

§  Some reversal of letters and words (-)

§  Grasps essential material (+), but is anxious, tense reader (-)

§  At this age, they have very short attention spans and “find it difficult to attend to a single topic or task for longer than 15 minutes” (Brighton, 2007, p.6). 

o   Social-emotional development – interpersonal skills & coping skills

§  “The need for socialization is especially strong during young adolescence” (Powell, 2005, p. 38). (+/-)

§  Good sense of humor (+)

§  Expresses herself well (+)

§  Slightly discouraged and embarrassed by reading problems (-)

o   Physical development – vision, hearing, motor & neurological functioning.

§  Poor visual-motor coordination (-)

§  Going through adolescence and puberty (+/-)

§  Needs frequent movement (+) (Brighton, 2007)

·         Step 3 (C) - Check for Potential Case Study Student Successes

o   Student can listen to directions well.

o   Student is motivated to learn and will respond well to teacher suggestions.

o   Student can work well in groups and pairs.

o   Student can grasp material when read to her.

o   Student verbally expresses herself in the classroom.

o   Student forms opinions and beliefs easily.

·         Step 4 (L) – Look for Potential Problems (Mismatches)

o   Student may have trouble with handwriting.

o   Student may have difficulties completing assignments depending on the length and number of questions.

o   Student may have difficulties following along in the textbook or long paragraphs.

o   Student may feel discouraged if placed in certain groups for activities.

o   Student may feel uncomfortable participating in out-loud readings or when asked a question about reading assignments.

o   Student may become discouraged because her reading has improved significantly.

o   Student may not believe in self-success due to her improvements.

o   Student may have trouble completing individual assignments.

B.     Classroom map 

·         See attached design for classroom map.