A Case Study: Why Does Logan Struggle with Learning and Behavior?
Adam Scheller, Ph.D.
Why Does Logan
Struggle with
Learning and
Behavior?
Adam Scheller, Ph.D., NCSP
Senior Educational Consultant
Pearson Clinical Assessment
Reason for Referral
•
•
•
Logan was referred mid-third grade by his
school RTI Team for a comprehensive
evaluation.
9 years old
His parents and teachers were concerned
about his behavior,
– Inattentive and impulsive, and his growing academic
difficulties, primarily in math, reading comprehension,
and writing.
•
Parents recently consulted pediatrician who
was considering a medication trial.
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Agenda
Let’s analyze assessment results to answer the
following 3 referral questions:
1.
2.
3.
Why has Logan not responded to a series of
math interventions provided through general
education in both Tier 1 and Tier 2?
Does Logan have strengths in areas that may
be compensating for weaknesses in others?
What can be done to address Logan’s
behavioral challenges, so that he is more
successful in the classroom?
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A Case Study: Why Does Logan Struggle with Learning and Behavior?
Adam Scheller, Ph.D.
Introducing Logan. . .
1. Review of test records, discipline
reports, and grades
2. Parent, Teacher, & Student Interview
3. Classroom observation
History
•
Family
•
Birth and Development
•
Heath/Medical
– Paternal hyperactivity
– Normal birth; typical to early development
– Healthy; normal vision/hearing; accident prone; no hx of
head injury
•
School
– Summer school for math between 2nd and 3rd; mid-2nd
grade identified as at-risk in math (campus math coach
for 30 min twice/week); continued difficulties into 3rd
grade
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Previous Assessment Results
•
Texas Primary Reading Inventory (TPRI) at
the end of kindergarten, and quarterly in
first and second grades.
– All scores were within the average to above average
range.
– Beginning in second grade, he was assessed in the fall,
winter, and spring using CBM benchmarks for math.
• Performance steadily declined from the 45th to the 30th
percentile ranking over second grade and to the 25th
percentile by the winter of third grade.
– Students on his campus are identified as being at-risk
when their scores fall at or below the 25th percentile
ranking.
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A Case Study: Why Does Logan Struggle with Learning and Behavior?
Adam Scheller, Ph.D.
Classroom Observation #1
•
The first observation occurred in language arts class
– Instruction on identifying main idea when reading a passage.
– Interacted appropriately with his teacher and classmates and
appeared to be listening to instruction, but squirmed in his seat,
raised his hand to answer before the teacher finished the
question, and played constantly with his pencil and worksheet.
– Small groups to complete a worksheet together, Logan left his
seat, visited with classmates in other groups, and wandered
around the room until his teacher redirected him.
– As group work progressed, he participated (loud voice), but he did
not write any answers on his worksheet.
– When his teacher approached his group, he asked to call his
mother about his forgotten lunchbox.
– Required redirection and teacher proximity to complete the
worksheet.
– His handwriting was difficult to decipher, but he answered the
first three of the five main idea questions correctly.
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Classroom Observation #2
•
Occurred 2 days later during math
– Class has 4 third-graders, including Logan
– Working independently at computers on a set of
subtraction problems requiring regrouping,
– Teacher worked with another student one-to-one at a
table close by.
– Logan was attentive and on task; using verbal mediation
to talk himself through calculations (student beside him
complained about the noise).
• Teacher asked Logan to stop talking, he complied, but two
minutes later, the self-talk resumed.
• Teacher again asked him to be quiet, at which time Logan
stopped working altogether.
• Teacher directed Logan to the hallway to ―discuss his
behavior.‖ When they returned to class, Logan put his head on
his desk until the class ended a few minutes later.
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Interviews
•
•
•
Interviews confirmed that Logan’s
observed behaviors were typical.
L/A commented that she saw Logan as a
bright student, good ideas, who was
frustrated by demands to sit quietly, do
seatwork, and demonstrate through
writing what he has learned.
Math viewed Logan’s inappropriate
behavior as immature and oppositional.
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A Case Study: Why Does Logan Struggle with Learning and Behavior?
Adam Scheller, Ph.D.
Assessment Procedures
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Behavior Assessment System for Children—
Second Edition (BASC-2): Parent Rating Scales
(PRS) & Teacher Rating Scale (TRS)
Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of VisualMotor Integration, 6th Edition (Beery VMI)
Wechsler Individual Achievement Test®–Third
Edition (WIAT–III) selected subtests
Differential Ability Scales—Second Edition (DASII) selected subtests
Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children—
Second Edition (KABC-II) selected subtests
NEPSY-II selected subtests
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Academic Achievement
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Sensorimotor Functions
•
•
•
Presenting Concerns
Current Levels of Functioning
Summary of Sensorimotor Processing
– Logan demonstrated visual-motor integration
abilities similar to others his age.
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A Case Study: Why Does Logan Struggle with Learning and Behavior?
Adam Scheller, Ph.D.
Attention (selective & sustained)
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Attention (shifting)
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Behavioral Ratings
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A Case Study: Why Does Logan Struggle with Learning and Behavior?
Adam Scheller, Ph.D.
Visual Spatial
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Language
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Memory and Learning
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A Case Study: Why Does Logan Struggle with Learning and Behavior?
Adam Scheller, Ph.D.
Memory and Learning (cont.)
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Integrated Visual-Verbal
Memory and Learning
•
DAS-II
– Recall of Objects Immediate and Delayed
– Recall of Sequential Order
•
KABC-II
– Atlantis
– Rebus
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Executive Functions
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A Case Study: Why Does Logan Struggle with Learning and Behavior?
Adam Scheller, Ph.D.
Cognitive Speed and Efficiency
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Results Summary
•
Distinct pattern of strengths and
weaknesses in both cognitive functioning
and academic achievement
– Strengths often undermined by specific
deficits.
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Recommendations
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A Case Study: Why Does Logan Struggle with Learning and Behavior?
Adam Scheller, Ph.D.
General
•
Share findings with pediatrician
•
Use computer and computer-based games/programs to
practice skills and maintain automaticity
Encourage verbal mediation to talk his way quietly through
problem solving, to use verbal rehearsal to support memory,
and to discuss information he is in the process of learning
with others
Use visual imagery to enhance the encoding, storage, and
retrieval of information to help Logan compensate for
memory deficits
Modification of how he achieves goal, not lowering the
actual goal
Remediation of executive functions
– Support ADHD
•
•
•
•
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Behavior
•
•
Assigned desk located out of the classroom traffic
pattern, with easy access to the teacher, away
from the door or windows, and close to students
who model appropriate behaviors.
More structure and supervision on team projects or
when working in a cooperative learning group.
– With a well-organized team leader or pairing with classmates less likely to
socialize.
•
•
•
Allowance for movement during class
Behavior management plan for school/home
Make the steps of an assignment more explicit and
provide frequent stage-gates on longer assignments
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Math
•
Multiplication facts to level of
automaticity
– Practice addition and subtraction to sustain skills
•
Errorless learning in math
– Guided practice to limit errors
•
Use mastered number facts to focus
mental effort on learning the algorithm
rather than retrieving the fact.
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A Case Study: Why Does Logan Struggle with Learning and Behavior?
Adam Scheller, Ph.D.
Reading and Writing
•
•
•
•
Explicit and systematic fluency
instruction
Develop visual imagery
Strategies for writing
Keyboarding
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Resources
Bender, W. (2005). Differentiating math instruction:
Strategies that work for K–8 classrooms. Corwin: Thousand
Oaks, CA.
Bley, N. & Thornton, C. (2001). Teaching mathematics to
students with learning disabilities (4th ed.) Pro-Ed: Austin,
TX.
Dawson, P. & Guare, R. (2010). Executive skills in children
and adolescents: A practical guide to assessment and
intervention (2nd ed. ) Guilford: New York.
Graham, S. & Harris, K. (2005). Writing better: Effective
strategies for teaching students with learning difficulties.
Brookes Publishing: Baltimore.
Meltzer, L. (2010). Promoting executive function in the
classroom. Guilford: New York.
Rasinski, T. (2003). The fluent reader: Oral reading strategies
for building word recognition, fluency, and comprehension.
Scholastic: New York.
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Customer Service
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Questions and Comments
Adam Scheller, Ph.D., NCSP
[email protected]
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