Case Study

Erin Bentley

April 18, 2024

EDUC 474
Table of Contents
Introduction/Statement of Problem 3
Student Information 3
Intervention 4
Data 4
Results and Conclusions 4
Introduction and Statement of Problem
This case study is for Stetson University’s EDUC 474 course - Educational Management of
Exceptional Students. For this project, I needed to find a student with a behavioral issue or issues
that I thought I could address. Most of the students at my placement have great discipline, and I’ve
discussed on multiple occasions with my Cooperating Teacher that there are really no ‘bad kids’ in
any of our classes. There are a few students, though, who like to talk out of turn.
In my first period class, there are two trumpet players who are extremely chatty. At the
beginning of the semester when I was doing my observations, I noticed that one student, who I’ll
call J, stays constantly distracted, rarely ever puts forth notable effort in class, and likes to distract
his neighbor, who I’ll call D. When I was observing, I noticed D trying to pay attention, but J would
always distract him with talking or silly faces or something along those lines. Mrs. Waldo had told
me both of the students were an issue, but I didn’t think so. For my case study, I decided to focus on
student D.
A few observable behaviors I found with D were talking out of turn and not playing. The
talking was almost always with J, and the only reason he wasn’t playing was because he was talking
with J so much. I decided to help him try and fix these issues, since when he plays, he actually does
quite well. When I’ve taught, I’ve noticed that D pays excellent attention, and while he doesn’t
always understand immediately or play perfectly, he is excellent at knowing exactly what he needs
help with. This is true in the full band setting and in smaller sectionals. I think D could be an
excellent student, if he can just stop being distracted by J.

Student Information
D is a 7th grade trumpet player in our Concert Band. I don’t have any information about
how he’s doing in any of his other classes, but he has a B in band. He doesn’t have any behavioral
issues other than the ones previously stated. He’s very responsible and very good at always being
prepared, including having his trumpet, music, and pencil every day. He’s very responsive to
feedback, and he does very well at doing what he’s asked to, as long as it’s stated in a respectful way.
He does not respond well to being called out in front of the class for behavioral reasons, and will
often argue that he isn’t in the wrong. When it comes to playing, however, he’ll gladly take
feedback. He seems to be very social, and comes in talking to his friends every day. He can be a little
rowdy, but no more than I’d expect from a 7th grade boy. I do not know anything about his home
life.
Intervention
My intervention for D was pretty simple. I decided that, since he seems to be invested in
getting better as a player, I should encourage that behavior and engage him in his own learning
process. I started letting him make more decisions about steps we can take to let him grow. I started
asking him things like “Do we need to go over this or do you just need more time with it?” and “Do
you need help or did you just mess up?”. I thought that giving him a more involved role in his
learning might make him more invested in class, and therefore draw his attention away from
talking so much.

Data
This graph shows the amount of times Student D was caught talking at a disruptive level within the
first 45 minutes of class.

Results and Conclusion

According to my data, my intervention definitely worked. On the last day of my
intervention, Student D actually didn’t have any behavioral problems at all. He’s been much more
focused in the past weeks, and though it wasn’t a totally linear path, overall, he’s gotten much better.
Additionally, Student D has grown a huge amount musically in the past few weeks. He’s been very
honest about what he needs, he’s been making responsible choices, and doing what I’ve asked him
to. He’s shown a huge amount of growth, and I’m very glad my intervention was so successful.
To phase out this intervention, I would gradually start asking Student D these types of
questions. I wouldn’t stop completely, as these are actually really good questions to be asking
students. Asking students these types of questions helps them to have more ownership over their
learning experience, so asking all students these questions is a good practice to have. In regards to
Student D, I would just start asking these questions the same amount I ask them to any other
students.
In the future, I would encourage Student D’s teachers to give him a bit more responsibility.
He tries very hard, but he’s easily distracted, so giving him something engaging to focus on works
very well for him. Additionally, let him make choices on the steps he wants to take to improve.
When given the option, he makes excellent choices, and he grows a lot. I’ve noticed a very large
difference in the way he’s been acting and performing, and I think continuing to take similar
measures would help him to be incredibly successful.