CASE STUDY GUIDELINE

The case study is to be double-spaced. Standard English grammar, spelling, etc. and organization of material will be
considered in achieving and attaining the point total for the project, and final grade.

 Respond to the Case Study in this syllabus.

 Assume that the student is in an Indiana School District.
 If there is not specific information or facts included, you may conclude certain conditions, situations, or
facts regarding the case. If you do this, be sure it is clear in your discussions.
 Be sure to organize your paper so it flows. When writing don’t assume because information is presented in
the background it is obvious. Be sure to state it with your defenses.
 Use the text and at least three other resources to assist you in your decisions. Be sure to support all of your
answers. Cite your sources as you use them following the APA guidelines.
 Address the following questions in your paper. The questions are not presented in any particular format.

1. IDEA Provision Application (6 points)

Choose at least two IDEA provisions (out of 6 provisions) which may apply to this case. Describe legal definitions
of each provision and discuss how this case can be connected to each provision
.
Tip: Utilize Week 2 IDEA Provision Assignment.

2. Assessment (6 points)
How should the child in the case be assessed? What techniques should be used? What formal tools/test should be
used? Why are these appropriate? Defend your answer.

Tip: this part must include two major parts. (1) overall summary of testing/assessment results from the case study (2)
further testing recommendation to confirm certain type of disability category. This part can be developed together
with Eligibility part.

3. Eligibility (6 points)
Under what disability category is the child able to receive special education service? How was eligibility
determined? Discuss the disability (what does it mean?). Is it appropriate?

Tip: There are several different types of disability categories can be used in this paper because Juan’s case is quite
open. There is no right or wrong answer for which disability category you choose. Important thing in this part is how
to justify/back up about your choice of disability. Also, only one major disability category can be identified. The
worst educational practice is to label a child with multiple types of disabilities. Students in this class must be able to
identify what is the major issue of a child which influence all other developmental areas. Also, please be aware that
being ELL is NOT a disability.

4. Services (6 points)
Discuss the services the child is or should be receiving. Are they appropriate? Should they be altered? Defend you
selections. (This refers to continuum of placement options)

Tip: The service plans should cover ALL difficulties Juan present at school even including social interaction issues.
Also, it has to be very specific including frequency of the service like speech therapy 30 minutes per day etc.

5. Accommodations/Modifications (6 points)
What accommodations/modifications are being provided? What are needed in order to allow ultimate success for
the student? You should present at least three additional accommodations/modifications that would benefit the
child. Defend your selections (why are the accommodations necessary?).
Tip: Students must distinguish between accommodation and modification because these two are two separate
concepts. Then, students need to choose which way (either accommodation or modification) will be addressed in
this paper.

6. Myths/Misconceptions (6 points)
Provide two myths about the disability presented. (They can be learning or social skill myths.) How would you as a
teacher, assist colleagues, students and the child overcome the myths?

Tip: The myth must be about common misunderstanding about the disability category only identified in earlier
Eligibility part. This should NOT be about general misunderstanding about all children with special needs or ELL.

7. Family Issues (6 points)

What values, language, or cultural factors may be influencing the child’s education? What family factors need to be
considered in regards to the child’s special education needs? How might the child’s disability affect the family
(parents, siblings, extended family)?

Tip: Two important parts for this part are (1) thorough analysis of all important home environment aspects addressed
in the case (even like the matter of support from extended family members) (2) specific/insightful plans for teachers
to incorporate Juan’s home issues/needs into their instructional delivery. For example, how to differentiate
homework requirements considering Juan’s family issue, etc.

8. Additional Information (6 points)

Address any other issues that you believe are important in relation to the student discussed in the case study (i.e.
assistive technology, transition planning).

Tip: Being specific about any additional support is an important aspect of this part. For example, if AT is
recommended, any specific types of AT devices useful for Juan??? At this moment, it is highly recommended to go
to AAC device discussion week for more detailed information.

9. Conclusion (6 points)
After addressing and supporting the above issues, present a reaction to the student in the case. If the student were in
your classroom, what should be done? How would you react? Would you need help? What affect would the child
have on other students?

10. FORMAT (6 points)

Do not use 1st or 2nd person unless you are asked for your feelings/comments.
Grammar, Conventions APA style must be used. A copy is available on Oncourse, under Resources.

Please use headings.

Standard English is expected as well as accurate spelling and punctuation.

There is not required length; however your responses to each of the sections must be thorough. You need to defend
your answers with research.
SCORING RUBRIC CASE STUDY Name ____________________________

Elements Score

IDEA Provision:
Choose at least two IDEA provisions (out of 6 provisions) which may apply to this case. Describe
legal definitions of each provision and discuss how this case can be connected to each provision
6 points
Assessment:
How was or how should the child in the case be assessed? What techniques are/were used? What
formal tools/test are/were used? Why are/were these appropriate? Defend your answer.
6 points
Eligibility:
Under what disability category is the child able to receive special education service? Discuss the
disability (what does it mean?). Is the appropriate? How was it determined?
6 points
Services:
Discuss the services the child is or should be receiving. Are they appropriate? Should they be
altered? Defend your selections.
6 points
Accommodations/Modifications:
What accommodations/modifications are being provided? What are needed in order to allow
ultimate success for the student? You should present at least three additional
accommodations/modifications that would benefit the child. Defend your selections.
6 points
Myths/Misconceptions:
Provide two myths about the disability presented. (They can be learning or social skill myths.) How
would you as a teacher, assist colleagues, students and the child overcome the myths?
6 points
Family Issues:
What values, language, or cultural factors may be influencing the child’s education? What family
factors need to be considered in regards to the child’s special education needs? How might the child’s
disability affect the family (parents, siblings, extended family)?
6 points
Additional Information:
Address any other issues that you believe are important in relation to the student discussed in the case
study (i.e. assistive technology, transition planning).
6 points
Conclusion:
After addressing and supporting the above issues, you must present your reaction to the student in the
case. If the student were in your classroom, what would you do? How would you feel? Would you
need help? What affect would the child have on other students?
6 points
FORMAT: no use of 1st or 2nd person,
APA style must be used.
6 points
TOTAL POINTS AND COMMENTS /60

EDUC-K205_505 Case Study – Juan

 Juan is a 10-year-old third grader at Villano Elementary School. He is a
bilingual child who was recently referred for special education evaluation. Juan is
considered Spanish dominant for receptive language, but English dominant for
expressive language.

Juan and his mother, Mrs. Gallegos came to the United States when Juan was
2 years old. Mr. Gallegos was to join the family later, but he was killed in a tragic car
accident on his way to meet them. Although this accident occurred more than 8
years ago, family members say that Mrs. Gallegos has never recovered and has
suffered from severe depression since that time. Juan and his mother live alone. An
elderly aunt who lives down the street visits them occasionally, but not very often,
and helps to care for the family. Although they have some other relatives in the city,
they rarely visit them because of Mrs. Gallegos’s illness. She is bedridden much of
the time, and she needs Juan to care for her. Juan is not allowed to go out of the
yard because Mrs. Gallegos fears for his safety.

Juan started kindergarten a year late. His mother told the school she did not
understand that he could have started at the age of 5. Although his kindergarten
teachers wanted to have him repeat kindergarten because his socialization,
expressive language, and visual-motor skills were so poor, Juan’s mother decided
against this recommendation because he was already a year older than most of the
other children. Even though he was behind his first-grade peers from the beginning,
no remedial intervention was given during his first grade. The first grade teacher
simply thought it was a matter of maturity and a language barrier he would catch
up soon. Yet, a year later, the first-grade teacher felt that she could not let him go
on to the second grade because he was doing so poorly. As a result, he was
retained in the first grade, but no remedial supports including ELA service were
given again. At this moment, the mother requested language support from the
school, but she was told that the ELA class was already full. The mother even heard
that if Juan needs additional language support, she would have to hire a private
English tutor for him because of lack of ELA personnel in the school.

Next year, he finally moved to the second grade. His second-grade teacher
referred him for the special education evaluation near the end of the school year
because his work in her classroom was well below that of his peers. During spring,
he was tested in both Spanish and English for the special education evaluation. His
Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – Fourth Edition (WISC-IV; Wechsler, 2003)
profile indicated that his verbal comprehension index (VCI) was 82 while his
perceptual reasoning index (PRI) was 74. Both scores indicated that Juan was quite
below the average in these two areas. (70 or lower scores is considered as
significantly below). Academic testing indicates that he has significant delay in
learning. Juan is currently reading on a first-grade level in English, and his Spanish
is only slightly higher; his decoding skills are weak in both languages. His math
skills appear to be somewhat higher, at approximately the second-grade level.
Other areas of weakness that were noted in the testing were illegible handwriting
and poor eye-hand coordination.

At Juan’s special education eligibility meeting, his teachers from the previous
year commented on some of his problems in the classroom. Juan’s reading teacher,
Mrs. Renfro, felt that many of his reading problems were due to auditory processing
difficulties; he frequently confused the sounds of various letters and had struggled
with decoding one-syllable words. His second-grade teacher, Mrs. Fernandez, noted
that he could not copy accurately from the board and that his handwriting was so
poor that it was difficult to evaluate his written work. Mrs. Fernandez was also
worried about Juan’s socialization. She identified him a loner who did not seem to
have any friends. His current teacher, Ms. Jacobs, was concerned because he was so
reticent in class. It was difficult to get him to speak up in oral discussions. She felt
this reticence would interfere with his English language development.

From this brief introduction to Juan, please address the aspects listed in the
K205/K505 Case Study Rubric.