Jillian Schoer & Ronilyn Aquino EDUG 787

EDUG 787 December 10, 2013

Final Paper: Assessment Practicum of Tommy For our EDUG 787 practicum portion of the course we decided to test a student named Tommy. Tommy is an eleven-year-old boy who is on the Autism Spectrum. Tommy goes to a private school on Long Island, which specializes in educating students on the Autism Spectrum. Tommy is currently enrolled in a 6:1:1 classroom setting. Tommy functions on a second grade reading and mathematics level. Tommy enjoys reading Dr. Seuss, the Froggy series, the Olivia series, and many other books. Tommy loves Sesame Street, The Muppets, The Wiggles, and Thomas the Tank Engine. Tommy enjoys watching these characters on his iPad, iPod, DVD Player and YouTube. Tommy finds watching these videos very stimulating. When Tommy is not watching these videos he is illustrating these characters and other Disney movies such as UP, Toy Story, Madagascar, and many more. Currently Tommy is transitioning from not being medicated to taking antipsychotic medication. This change in medication has been done as a result of negative change in behavior at school and at home. Tommy has become extremely frustrated when he cannot express his feelings, even when he uses his communication device on his iPad. Tommy becomes so frustrated he starts to have self-injurious behaviors such as hitting his head, pulling his hair, scratching his cheeks, and screaming in a high pitch voice. At this current time, Tommys parents have been looking into different school settings for Tommy to help with these

behaviors due to the fact that these behaviors seem to be identified only at school. These behaviors occur most frequently at school; from the moment he enters the building. Tommy begins to relax towards the end of the school day when he understands it is time to go home. Tommy has started going to a Family Counselor to reinforce positive family interactions and relationships with his parents. Our general impressions of Tommy were that he was a fun, energetic, and a loving little boy. Tommy enjoyed saying silly words and phrases from his favorite shows. Tommy absolutely loved when we would repeat the phrases in the same tone he had said them in. Jillian had prior experience working with Tommy as his babysitter so he had already developed a comfortable relationship with her. Since Tommy had never met Ronilyn before we were unsure how Tommy would react. On the first day, Tommy would not look at Ronilyn or answer any of her questions. As the experiences with Tommy continued Ronilyn was able to develop a relationship with Tommy. Tommy grew more comfortable and responsive to Ronilyn and would even show physical affection towards her, such as holding her hand or sitting on her lap. On our first day interacting with Tommy we introduced ourselves by participating in an Icebreaker activity. We each had a poster of our favorite things that Tommy could relate to. For instance for favorite movie we would put Despicable Me, and for favorite television show we put SpongeBob Square pants. By participating in this activity we were able to develop a comfortable relationship with Tommy because we establish had similar interests.

During this semester we decided to start informally assessing Tommy by conducting a Running Record. Since this was our first informal assessment we decided to have Tommy pick what book he would like to read from the bookshelf in his room. Tommy selected Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss. After struggling to keep Tommy engaged with the book, we figured to best way to keep him engaged was to offer rewards. This strategy of offering rewards was used throughout our assessment process due to the success. Tommy read fluently and with enthusiasm. Tommy had two student corrected miscues and four miscues during his reading. Tommy was able to make text-to-self connections when asked, How does Sam look, and Can you show me how Sam feels now? Tommy was able to explain the illustrations in the book. For the unprompted writing sample we decided to allow Tommy to complete a Free Write about any topic he wanted. Tommy decided to write about Kermit the Frog and his friends. Tommy wrote what color Kermit is, his friendship with Miss Piggy, other characters from The Muppets, and a couple of phrases that Kermit the Frog says. The writing sample was about a paragraph in length and was written in about twenty minutes. Prior to Tommy starting the writing sample we gave him an option of rewards to receive after writing, and we provided positive reinforcement of his reward upon completion of assignment. Ronilyn would say, Remember we are earning Goldfish. For the prompted writing sample we decided for Tommy to write about his favorite trip. Tommy wrote about how he enjoys going to the Botanical Gardens during the wintertime to see the trains with his parents. Tommy wrote about the

color of the trains and how many there are. Tommy explained the normal routine of when he goes to the show with his parents. This writing sample was expected to be written in a twenty minute time period as well. Tommy wrote efficiently because there was a structure to the writing sample with specific guidelines. Similar to previous assessments Tommy was given the option of a reward for completing the assignment. We both offered positive reinforcement to keep Tommy engaged in writing sample. Before receiving the WIAT we decided to informally assess Tommy using mathematical problem solving questions. This informal assessment had 15 questions written on a piece of loose-leaf paper. The questions were made up of addition, subtraction, and multiplication problems. Tommy correctly answered 8 out of the 9 addition problems. Tommy answered 2 out of 2 subtraction problems incorrectly. Tommy answered 2 out of 3 multiplication problems incorrectly, and he omitted the third multiplication problem. While observing Tommy answer the mathematical problems, we noticed that when Tommy was adding two numbers he had to start with 1 rather than beginning with the first addend. For instance 3+ 1= Tommy would count 1, 2 ,3 and 4 instead of starting at 3 to add 1. We also made the observation that Tommy has difficulty applying the operation of addition to two addends when they were aligned horizontally instead of vertically. This semester we used WIAT to conduct formal assessments. For our first formal assessment we decided to test his reading skills. The subtest we used was Early Reading Skills. Tommy received a 30 for his raw score, which calculated to 78 standard score, and a percentile ranking of 7. Tommys descriptive classification for

Early Reading Skills is considered Below Average. During the assessment Tommy answered majority of the questions correctly. Tommy omitted two questions that asked him to produce a rhyming word for the sample word given. We believe the errors occurred due to the lack of guidance. We believe that if Tommy was given the opportunity to choose two out of three words that rhyme, Tommy would be able to correctly chose the two words that rhyme. We believe that since these questions asked for Tommy to independently produce a rhyming word, Tommy was not able to listen the word and distinguish another word that would rhyme the sample word. The next subtest that we used to assess Tommy was the Math Problem Solving. Tommys raw score was 29, his standard score was 60, and his percentile ranking was 0.4. Tommys descriptive classification was identified as Low. During assessment Tommy was given rewards to keep him engaged and constantly needed to be redirected redirected. Tommy showed difficulty sequencing the number of apples from the bowl, measuring using a ruler, sequencing numbers in order, interpreting the concept of money, understanding a time on a clock, and place value. As a result of this assessment we can interpret that Tommy has difficulty understanding sequencing and number patterns of increasing and decreasing. Tommy had difficulty creating connections between alternative representations of money, for instance ten pennies equal one dime. For the subtest Alphabet Writing Fluency, Tommy received a raw score of 25, a standard score of 129, and a percentile ranking of 97. Tommys descriptive classification was identified as Above Average. Tommy wrote all twenty-six letters of the alphabet even though in the directions Tommy was to write all consecutive

letters after a. Tommy wrote all the letters in lower-case. As a result of this subtest, we are able to interpret the results that Tommy is unable to begin a task at an unfamiliar starting point. Tommy received a raw score of 21 for the Word Reading subtest. Tommy received a standard score of 84, and a percentile ranking of 14. Tommys descriptive classification was Below Average. Tommy completed 34 words at a thirty-second interval. For the first eleven words, Tommy had 1 self- corrected response. During the course of the next nine words, Tommy substituted depend for deep. In the next twelve words, there was two consecutive miscues equipment and manage. Tommy omitted questions 31, 32, 33, and 34. We believe as an interpretation of results, Tommy had miscues on words that are considered Tier 2 words. These words would not be used in Tommys everyday life whether at school or at home and typically do not have an illustration that can accurately depict them and support understanding. For Pseudoword Decoding subtest, Tommy received a raw score of 24, a standard score of 100, and a percentile rank of 50. Tommys descriptive classification is identified as Average. At first we believed these words would be difficult for Tommy to comprehend because they were considered to be silly words. To our surprise, Tommy did quite well with this subtest. Tommy pronounced 23 Pseudowords correctly out of 33 attempted words. Tommy had 6 miscues that were either pronounced incorrectly or omitted. Tommy had 4 consecutive miscues, which led to the termination of the subtest. We believe that since the Pseudowords sound

silly when pronounced Tommy performed well because he was engaged with the subtest content. Tommy received a raw score of 18 for Oral Word Fluency subtests. Tommy received a standard score of 88 and a percentile rank of 9. Tommys descriptive classification is identified as Below Average. For the first section of Oral Word Fluency Tommy identified 9 animals; bear, goat, duck, snake, dog, cat, lion, zebra and penguin. For the second section Tommy identified 9 colors; red, green, blue, purple, black, white, gray, pink, and brown. We believe that the results were affected by Tommys behavior. During the assessment Tommy was frustrated and was more engaged in playing with his trains than completing the subtest. If Tommy was more engaged in the subtest, we predict he would have done a much better job. For Sentence Repetition subtest, Tommy received a raw score of 13, a standard score of 88 and a percentile ranking of 21. Tommys descriptive classification is identified as Average. Tommy repeated the expression exactly 3 out of 11 questions. Tommy repeated the expression with one or two errors 7 out of 11 questions. Tommy enjoyed this subtest because when we were conducting the assessment we were saying the expressions in silly voices to keep him engaged. Tommys academics can be varied depending on his level on engagement during a lesson or activity. While we were assessing Tommy we created strategies that seemed to work effectively during each subtest. One strategy we used was the use of rewards. Tommy enjoys earning food rewards such as Goldfish, Cheese its, and cookies. We would offer Tommy a choice of a reward before starting a subtest, and then constantly verbal remind him what he was earning. For example we would

say, Remember we are earning ______, or when Tommy was becoming disengaged we would say, What are we earning? We believe that giving Tommy a choice of a reward, he will be more willing to complete an activity. Since it is not practical to provide food rewards to Tommy to keep him engaged, we have brainstormed ideas that can be used in a classroom setting. Since Tommy responds extremely well to his videos on his iPad or iPod he can earn a certain amount of time watching a desired video. Another idea for a reward can be for Tommy to earn a certain amount of time drawing pictures of his favorite characters. Depending on the mood of Tommy on a certain day he may be more willing to complete an activity or may need more support for an activity. We suggest that when a teacher, paraprofessional, or other researcher works with Tommy they are patient and continue using positive verbal praise. Tommy enjoys being complimented and told how well he is doing. Whether Tommy is reading a page in a Dr. Seuss book or answered an addition problem correctly it is crucial to constantly give positive feedback. Examples of positive verbal praise are, Awesome job reading, I love the way you answered that problem, You are sitting so nicely while you write. After analyzing Tommys results from the assessments have helped us create a set of strategies that will help future teachers work with Tommy. We believe that Tommy will be more engaged in homework and assignments when it is related to topics that he is interested in. We have observed how well Tommy responds to

visual representations so we suggest that his teachers use visuals such as charts, checklists, and pictures for different content areas.