Courtney White

The Pennsylvania State University

Professional Development School
Case Study
2016-2017
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Student C is a sophomore in my Collaborative Teaching Initiative World History II class.

Collaborative Teaching Initiative (CTI) is designed to support identified students in the general

education setting. There are a few other identified students in Student Cs class as well. In order

to best support the students there are three of us in the room: me, my mentor, and our CTI

partner. When I first thought of IEP I expected severe learning disabilities. I was surprised when

I met my students and realized that most of them need mild accommodations. Student C is an

example of this. The accommodations given to her are important to help support her learning, but

she is very capable of working well with these accommodations.

Student C has a specific learning disability in reading fluency. According to Meisinger,

reading fluency is most often defined as the ability to read text quickly, accurately, and with

appropriate expression (1). Typically, dyslexia is thought of when it comes to single word

decoding, however, there has been an increase in recognizing reading fluency as a significant

aspect of reading disabilities (Meisinger 2). It was with the reauthorization of the Individuals

with Disabilities Education Improvement Act that reading fluency was added to the federal

definition of a specific learning disability (Meisinger 2). For students who struggle with reading

fluency it is likely that they will have difficulty learning content area knowledge, and they may

experience frustration with reading (Meisinger 2). With Student C I have seen examples of

frustration with reading which has appeared to cause her to try to avoid it at times. In the

beginning of the year she would complain whenever we did an activity in class that involved

reading, and she would ask why she had to do it. The reason most likely underlying why she did

not want to work on the assignment is because she struggles with reading fluency. This can be

due to the basic level of trying to process words. There are several theories as to how processing

deficits impact reading fluency. One theory, the Automaticity Theory, states that, as the process
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underlying decoding and reading words become automatic, resources are freed to use for higher-

level processes such as comprehension (Meisinger 4). So, for students like Student C, higher-

level comprehension of reading, and furthermore content, can be difficult because more time is

spent trying to decode and read words since it may not be automatic.

Student C has an IEP to help her be successful despite her specific learning disability in

reading fluency. According to her IEP she also has difficulties with math and writing. Student

Cs IEP was last updated last January, and she has not had her IEP meeting for this year yet, so

the information I will be providing is based on her IEP from last year. Student C spends 89% of

the day in the regular classroom. The rest of the time she receives learning support. The

accommodations that are required for Student C include reteaching/review of concepts,

opportunity for assistance with writing assignments one paragraph or longer, discreet

visual/verbal cues for being on task, support for self- monitoring of grades and assignment

completion, extra time, testing modifications, and preferential seating. My mentor and I have

made sure to try to provide these accommodations for Student C when she needs or requests

them. As of last year, Student C was not meeting state standards for reading at the ninth-grade

level. She has strengths in key ideas and integration of knowledge, but struggled with vocabulary

acquisition and use. Student C was also not meeting state standards for writing, however her IEP

noted that she scored an 85% on one of her recent English assignments at the time. According to

her history teacher last year Student C worked well with others and asked for clarification on

assignments, but she did not complete homework assignments. She had no behavior issues in this

class. Two accommodations that were successful when implemented in history class were

specific grouping and extended time when needed.

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Although Student C has not had an IEP meeting yet this year, I was able to give feedback

on the IEP Teacher Input Form. This included feedback on her performance in areas such as

homework and assignment completion, classwork, tests/quizzes, paying attention, and following

directions. I also provided feedback on her academic strengths/needs, behavioral strengths/needs,

interventions/adaptations we have tried, and interventions/adaptations that have been successful.

From working with her for the past four months I felt confident in providing accurate feedback

for Student C, and I look forward to having the opportunity to provide more feedback when her

IEP meeting is held. This experience will help improve my understanding of Student Cs needs,

and since her meeting will be the first IEP meeting I will attend I will learn more about the

process of creating an IEP. All I have learned about this process was what I learned in SPLED

400 which is the only special education class I have taken.

Student C works well with others in our class and is not afraid to ask for clarification on

assignments. She has no behavior issues in our class, she is very polite and listens well. She also

participates well in small group and whole class discussions. Her IEP from last year stated that

she did not complete assignments. This was a bit of a struggle in the beginning of this school

year too. However, as time has gone on there has been a lot of improvement in this area. Up until

the most recent assignment Student C had been finishing her homework assignments on time

consistently for the past month or two. The most recent assignment which she did not complete

on time involved reading, and one of the main focuses of Student Cs IEP is her difficulty with

reading fluency. Through working with Student C I have noticed that she does not enjoy reading,

and I can see her struggle at times. Below is one example of an interaction I had with Student C

back in October that displays her dislike for reading.

Note-taking Note-making
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The students were sitting and reading.
They were looking at events of the
French Revolution and determining
whether or not they met the goals of
liberty, equality, and/or fraternity. My
mentor told them to work to the end of
class so she could see how much they
complete in order to determine what
they would need to finish for
homework. One student raised her hand
and I walked over to her. She asked me
how she would be able to finish this on
time. She said it was a lot, and that she
could not get a lot of it done during
class.
This student really seems to dislike
reading. This is not the first time she
has complained about a reading
assignment. I told her that she only had
to worry about the first section right
now, which in total was about four
pages. She sighed when I told her that
was not a lot. It is still hard for me to
understand how some students think
four pages is a lot of reading. I am still
trying to understand how much these
students really seem to hate reading
and homework.

At the time of this interaction I did not even think about that fact that one of the reasons Student

C probably dislikes reading is because it can be a struggle for her. I thought that she hated

reading in general and was complaining about having to do a reading assignment. This example

shows how even though the reading was only four pages, this could take Student C a while to

read and then complete the assignment because of her specific learning disability. Although for

me this is a not a long reading, for her it may seem much longer. That is why she did not believe

she would be able to get a lot of her assignment finished during class. This interaction occurred

relatively early in the year, and since then I have become more aware of the fact that students

may dislike reading because it can be very difficult for them to get through. It can be

discouraging at times, and it may feel frustrating for students when they cannot complete an

assignment in class that other students without a disability may be able to finish in class. I have
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also noticed that at times Student C has a difficult time with deeper thinking like answering the

why part of a question. The interaction below from September displays this.

Note-taking Note-making

I introduced the assignment and passed
out paper and markers. I then
explained the directions. The students
started to work on the assignment, and
one had a question. She asked me how
much she had to write for one of the
questions. I told her at least a sentence.
There was a why part to the question
and she asked if she could just write
because. I told her no, and she
sighed and said I dont know what to
write. I then tried to give her some
examples, but she still was reluctant to
write out why. It took about five
minutes, and then she finally put
something down.
It seems like this student does not like
writing at all. She wanted to do bullet
points for everything. I told her this
was okay for all of the questions
except the one where I asked her to
explain why. She was not very happy
about the fact that she would have to
write a little extra, and explain her
thinking. She kept asking me why she
could not just write because, or
telling me that she did not have a
reason. I told her there had to be a
reason she picked that answer, and I
worked through why she chose that
with her. This seemed to help her, but
I had to give a lot of push to get the
work out of her.

In this example, Student C shows resistance to writing out the why part of her answer to the

question that was asked. At the time, I once again was not considering her learning disability

when thinking about how much she did not want to write out the why. It may have been

difficult for her to think at a deeper level which is most likely why it took her so long to come up

with something to write down rather than because. This interaction took place during the first
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month of school, and since then I have become much more aware of my students strengths and

what they have difficulty with. I also have a better understanding of why they may have

difficulty, and how to help them work through it. In Student Cs case providing extra explanation

and sometimes even providing an example too has seemed to help her when she is having trouble

understanding or completing an assignment.

As mentioned earlier there are several accommodations outlined in Student Cs IEP.

These include reteaching/review of concepts, opportunity for assistance with writing assignments

one paragraph or longer, discreet visual/verbal cues for being on task, support for self-

monitoring of grades and assignment completion, extra time, testing modifications, and

preferential seating. My mentor and I have made sure to provide these accommodations for

Student C when needed. Whenever there is an exam we ask Student C if she would like to take

the test with learning support, however, she usually decides to stay in the classroom to take it.

We also provide her assistance when needed, and make sure that she stays on task. Most days she

does not have trouble staying on task, but sometimes she does need a reminder. One of the first

accommodations we made sure to implement was providing Student C with preferential seating.

In the beginning of the year when we created the seating charts we looked at every identified

students IEP to see who required preferential seating. Student C was one of those students, so

we sat her near the front of the room so that she would be able to be more likely to pay attention

and not miss any important instructions or information. There are only four girls in this particular

class, and after about a month of school they asked several times if there could be an all-girls

table when we created the new seating chart. My mentor and I decided to try this out, and it has

been one of the most successful accommodations we have made for Student C. The other three

girls in the class are not identified students, and all three are motivated students who do well in
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class. Sitting and working with these three other girls has significantly helped Student C with her

assignments. Her grades have gone up since she was seated with these girls, and she has been

more productive in class. When given time to work in class she has used her time more wisely

and thus has improved in completing assignments on time. She also has a better understanding of

the material, and has increased her participation in whole class discussions. Student Cs progress

is obvious when looking at her test grades. In the first marking period her assessment grades

were a 63%, 38% (this was an essay and it had late points deducted), and a 95%. Her second

marking period assessment grades so far are a 92%, 86%, and a 65%. Although the most recent

grade is low, with her other grades it is evident that she has made much improvement. The low

grade she received this marking period may have been a tough unit for her since it was on

Imperialism which is a dense topic. Student C has also turned in almost all of her assignments on

time since the seating change. This combined with her improved assessment grades has

improved her overall grade by a whole letter grade. In the first marking period, she finished with

a C-. Her current grade is a B-. Grades aside, Student Cs improvement is evident when talking

with her, and when hearing her replies to discussion questions. It is clear that she has a better

understanding based on her answers. She also has shown less frustration when working in class.

She has not seemed to need as much clarification on assignments, and with her group she starts

working right away and does so productively.

Student C is identified, but she is capable of being successful in all of her classes. When

provided with the necessary accommodations, and with hard work Student C has shown a great

amount of improvement over the last four months. It is fascinating to me that something as

simple as changing the students she is sitting with has significantly helped Student C with her

school work and understanding of information. I have learned a lot about helping identified
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students succeed through my inquiry into Student C. I know I have a lot that I can continue to

learn, and I hope to learn more as I continue to help Student C improve and thrive in our

classroom.
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Works Cited

Meisinger, Elizabeth B et al. Reading Fluency: Implications for the Assessment of Children

with Reading Disabilities. Annals of Dyslexia, vol. 60, no. 1, June 2010, pp. 117.

JSTOR [JSTOR].