Ashley Sims December 05, 2013 EduG 787 61 Professor Sheeh !

"i! l P #er

$ c%&rou!d
We started this semester off with great anticipation to start working and administering actual assessments to a child that would be given in the field. It would be the first time either of us would be given hands on experience with the administration of the WIAT. During the beginning of working with the student, DD, we were somewhat surprised with the initial reaction DD had toward us. The one advantage we had was that the student is related to one of us, so we began the process with some background knowledge on the child. B nature DD is a ver !uiet student, who does not speak a lot or loudl . DD is an " ear old in the second grade at #.$. "%. &e was retained last ear and is currentl repeating second grade. We were told that DD has alwa s been this wa around adults and even children his own age until he feels comfortable. Due to his behavior during testing our opinion is that DD ma experience difficult in keeping up with his peers in a variet of situations that re!uire age' appropriate thinking and reasoning abilities. As mentioned, he is extremel sh and this ma make him appear at times inattentive or uninterested, however once rapport is established DD is ver pleasant and attentive. &e en(o s being with others but his grandmother has reported he has a difficult time making friends because of his sh nature. We were pleasantl surprised the first time we worked with DD. &e was a lot more open

than expected. &e continued to be soft spoken throughout the time we administered the test but we believed this stems for a lack of confidence in his academic abilit . When the opportunit presented itself he was eager to share his interests with us. DD explained and shared his love for basketball and in particular his allegiance to the )ew *ork +nicks. DD,s other hobbies included watching and pla ing football. DD continued telling us that he is a -iants fan while his cousins are .owbo s and /ets fan. Another topic DD shared with us is that he likes wrestling because DD,s older brother is now a wrestler. Again, throughout the discussion he was ver soft spoken but at the same time engaged. There was an evident shift in his attitude once he began testing. 0n the first da of administering the test DD was ver eager to do the work and opted to point out answers rather than verball sa them. We figured the lack of verbal response was due to DD,s sh nature. While administering the other tests we noticed that DD,s confidence began increasing b starting with the kindergarten leveled !uestions. When he was confident of an answer he would point or even use words and his actions showed that he was sure of himself. There was an interesting change when the material became more challenging. &e would fidget in his seat or sit on his hands and rock. We noticed that DD opted to sheer guessing with little thought if an given to the answer when a problem seemed too difficult. We also noticed that during the readings DD was prone to sitting up and moving around on the couch, sitting on its legs, and even on top of the seat. Within the areas of mathematics we saw that DD had more confidence in himself right awa . 1nlike the reading passages which caused an outward uneasiness DD sat up straight and showed he was read to begin. Although he was ver confident, DD rushed through answering the problems and did not utili2e the working paper. This lead to man errors being made and after totaling his scores his mathematical abilit was said to be lower than his reading abilit .

0verall, it was a pleasure to work with DD3 however at times he was reluctant to work. We reall noticed that he thrived off praise and reall responded well to the verbal praise or pats on the back given to him as he worked.

Testing Results
A' ()A*+))) $ubtests #erc enta ges %. 556 7. 756 3' ,e di!& 0om#rehe!sio! 8. %96 1' 2 -h Problem Sol.i!& :. %96 5' Al#h be- (ri-i!& "lue!cy 6' (ord ,e di!& <. %=6 7'Pseudo3ord Decodi!& ;. 8=6 8'4umeric l 5#er -io!s ". 76 6' E7#ressi.e /oc bul ry =. 86 10' 2 -h "lue!cy + Addi-io! 11'2 -h "lue!cy + Sub-r c-io! %9. 8=6 %%. 7;6 ;7 Average =< Average =% <= Below Average =< >ow "; Average 5. 7;6 "% Average =% Average "% Below Average =9 Below Average $ta nd ard $c ore %9 7 Average 4ualitativ e Descripto rs Average

1' ,ece#-i.e /oc bul ry 2' E rly ,e di!& S%ills

(ri-i!& Prom#= out of 7: "ree (ri-e < out of 7: ,u!!i!& ,ecord >ate %st grade We began the administration of the WIAT'III with the Listening ComprehensionReceptive Vocabulary subtest. DD scored within the average rank, meaning one of his strengths are that he had the abilit to hear a word being said to him, process it, and point to the corresponding picture. This manifested itself when giving directions to DD, we rarel , if ever, had to repeat ourselves. &e processed the information given to him and responded according, at times he was hesitant to follow the directions but again, that could stem from a lack of confidence. A second strength DD possessed was shown when he was given the Early Reading Skills subtest. DD was able to identif all the letters asked of him and he was able to differentiate the sounds of letters in words. Another strength DD presented was the abilit to come up with rh ming words. DD was able to distinguish words that began with the same sound and ended with the same sound but had some difficult with finding words that began with the same two sounds. DD was also able to decode words and recogni2e the consonant blends in given words however when presented with individual sounds DD had some difficult blending, especiall with words in which the medial sound contained two vowels ?this was shown Pseudoword Decoding !lphabet "riting and "ord Reading subtest'all which DD fell in the average range@. While working with DD he expressed that although he did not have a favorite sub(ect in school, other than recess, he en(o ed math and he barel scored within the average rank for the

#ath $luency- !ddition and Subtraction subtests. DD rushed somewhat through the problem set and this was especiall evident when we administered the %umerical &perations subtest. DD fell into the low range meaning he was significantl below the average. DD also struggled with #ath Problem Solving, scoring below average in this subtest. Aeflecting back on the experience we noticed this was more of a language subtest than (ust a math subtest and this ma have accounted for the low score. DD was able to answer basic !uestions with simple, one step operations, but when asked to extend that knowledge and use it to solve a word problem he was unable to do so. This coincides with the low score he received for the Reading Comprehension subtest. DD as mentioned before opted to reading the passages to himself. &owever, the subtest revealed that he had difficult in retelling details from the stor and identif ing basic stor elements. The details he was able to provide about the stor were not complete and were ver vague. It demonstrated ver minimal understanding of the text. DD,s writing was also a weakness3 the free write was ver daunting to him. &e asked !uestions such as B.an it be a stor C and BDoes it have to be trueDC After prompting DD finall sat down and wrote a fictional stor about a trip to +ansas .it . &is stor was one run on sentence. It lacked structure and transition. DD made basic grammar mistakes such as not capitali2ing the word BIC. When he had the option to choose between two prompts, DD decided which one he wanted to write about and !uickl began working. $ome of the same errors were evident in this writing piece as wellE lack of organi2ation, one long run on sentence, and basic grammar mistakes. &owever, there was one difference which was his attitude toward the piece. &e proudl wrote and looked back at the piece and even made some corrections. &e was eager to share this piece, his illustration, and the final product.

,ecomme!d -io!s The benefit of working with this student over a time period is that we felt like we got to know him on a personal level, as we would a student in the classroom. &e was in his comfort 2one, his home, since we visited each week being that it is in Aiverdale. We strongl believe that DD exhibited all the characteristics he would in a classroom. With that being said, our initial recommendation would start off with the social aspect. DD should work toward completel expressing his thoughts aloud and tr ing to give better e e contact. The social aspect will give room for his academics to flourish once he feels more capable of expressing himself. We would have liked to have seen DD give more effort into answering certain !uestions. .onstant prompting from the teacher will help DD sta on task and increase his motivation. &e should continue to tr to make meaning of the words being used while reading. DD should focus on pulling out the stor elements such character, setting, and plot. DD should be able to verball answer !uestions about these stor elements or plug the information into a graphic organi2er. .hunking the texts he reads so he is able to respond on a post it, or fill out worksheets that will hold him accountable for understanding the text will greatl benefit DD. During the F>A block DD should be given time to listen to fluent reading and then read in small group or in a one'on'one settings with an adult. This will give him the opportunit to blend words together and practice making meaning of what he is reading. DD should strive to answer !uestions such as, WhoD WhatD WhereD Wh D and &owD We believe that DD will be able to make significant progress with the help of our recommendations. 0verall, we en(o ed working with DD and would love to continue working with him in the future.