9
Alhussain, Zaid
ASSESSMENT & EDUCATIONAL CONSULTANTS, INC.
5825 Sunset Drive, Suite 205 South Miami, Florida 33143 (305) 663-0704
Psychological Report (Confidential: For Professional Use Only)
Name: Zaid Alhussain Referral Source: ELS Language Centers
D.O.B.: 06-15-1985 (CA 25) P.O.E.: AEC offices
Gender: Male D.O.E.: 02-01-2011
02-02-2011
Examiner: Darrell Downs, Ph.D.
Reason for Referral: Mr. Alhussain has requested a psychological evaluation because he feels he needs help in school. He is slow in his studies and does not complete assignments in a timely manner.
Assessment Procedures: In addition to the clinical interview, the following tests were administered:
Academic Achievement
· Woodcock Johnson Tests of Achievement (WJ-III ACH)
· Learning Problems Checklist
Processing Tests
· Woodcock Johnson Test of Cognitive Ability - III (WJ-III COG) selected subtests.
Relevant History: Zaid is from Saudi Arabia. He completed his secondary education there. He moved to Cincinnati, Ohio for five months to study English before pursuing higher education. Recently he enrolled in an ESL program to enhance his English Language skills. Although he has worked diligently for almost a year he has not made progress. That is although Mr. Alhussain has had approximately one and one/half years of intensive exposure to English, he still struggles in this format. He works slowly and requires more time than most students to compete proficiency tests. Although he improves his scores with extra time he is not near the cutoff point which indicates satisfactory mastery of English.
He reports that he has no difficulty in learning and testing when he deals with material written in Arabic. He says that he has been advised to either pursue his education at a different school or to resume schooling in Saudi Arabia.
He described the following difficulties when attempting to learn in English. He says he reads slowly. He skips words and rereads lines. He omits letters and parts of words. He has trouble sounding out English words. His reading is uneven. He does not understand what he reads.
He reports no difficulty with math facts and procedures. He feels this is an area of strength.
He describes difficulties with writing and spelling. He spells words the way they sound; silent letters in English cause him trouble. He may write numbers or letters backwards. He spells the same word in different ways in the same piece of writing. Spelling is hard in part because he can’t remember how the word looks.
He has trouble with grammar. He makes punctuation errors. His is a slow writer who whispers to himself in order to stay on track. He has trouble listening to a speaker while taking notes at the same time.
Zaid feels he does not have trouble with organization. He does not report problems with attention and concentration.
He reports that he is healthy. He vision and hearing are within normal limits. He says his appetite and sleep are good. He denies alcohol or substance abuse. He denies a history of head injuries.
Observations and Test Results: Zaid came to the testing sessions neatly and appropriately dressed. He was oriented times three. He presented as worried. His first language is Arabic and he reports no difficulty when speaking in his native tongue; he has problems when speaking English. He readily understood the requirements for testing. He applied himself to the tasks set before him. The evaluation is felt to be a fair assessment of his current intellectual and academic functioning.
Note: It is important to understand that abilities tests measure only a portion of the competencies involved with human intelligence and functioning. The current results are best seen as estimates of likely performance in English based schools. The scores reflect the degree to which individuals have mastered standard cultural symbols and broad culturally rooted facts, concepts and problems solving strategies. This useful information does not solely reflect innate genetic capacities but is also influence by the environment and the state of the individual at the time of testing. Some persons exhibit increases or decreases in the measured abilities.
WJ III
Zaid was administered a set of tests from the WJ III Tests of Achievement and WJ-III Tests of Cognitive Ability. He was administered a number of subtests involving Thinking Ability and Cognitive Efficiency that did not require English vocal responses (e.g., working with visual puzzles, etc.). Care was taken to ensure he understood the directions for each subtest. Questionable responses were probed with follow-up questions and were scored in a conservative direction. The obtained age-based results appear in the table below (a standard score between 90 and 110 falls within the average range – refer to the SS column). These scores help determine the presence and significance of any strengths and weaknesses among his abilities. An additional measure is the percentile rank – refer to the PR column in the table. Percentile rank is one way to view results in terms of relative group standing. The PR indicates the percentage of subjects in the norming sample who had scores the same as or lowers than Mr. Alhussain’s score.
The CLUSTER SCORES are arrived at by combining two or more subtests. They are more stable than any one subtest score. Each individual subtest score is also shown.
One measure of comparison with other students his age is provided by the RPI (Relative Proficiency Scale). The RPI is read much like a standard 20/20 eye chart. The first number represents Zaid’s standing and the second number indicates the average student’s 90 percent success rate in that particular area. For example, the RPI of 29/90 indicates that while the majority of his peers can perform tasks requiring BROAD ATTENTION with 90 percent success, Mr. Alhussain performs such functions with only 29 percent success.
RPI scores falling in the impaired range are underlined. These are areas most likely to be associated with great frustration.
In general, when compared to others at his age level, Zaid’s performance is low average in long-term retrieval, processing speed, and short-term memory.
Zaid's cognitive performance may be influenced by his working memory capacity (limited), attentional resources (limited), cognitive fluency (very limited), and executive processes (limited to average).
Zaid's oral language skills are very low when compared to the range of scores obtained by others at his age level. When compared to others at his age level, Zaid's fluency with academic tasks is very low. His ability to apply academic skills is low.
Zaid's performance is low in reading, mathematics, and math calculation skills; and very low in written expression.
TABLE OF SCORES: Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Abilities and Tests of Achievement Norms based on age 25
CLUSTER/Test RAW RPI PR SS (68% BAND) Classification
COG EFFICIENCY 11-9 42/90 16 85 (83-88) Low Average
L-T RETRIEVAL 8-3 75/90 12 82 (79-85) Low Average
PROCESS SPEED 11-4 29/90 14 84 (82-86) Low Average
SHORT-TERM MEM 12-9 57/90 23 89 (85-93) Low Average
WORKING MEMORY 13-6 59/90 23 89 (86-92) Low Average
BROAD ATTENTION 11-5 55/90 13 83 (81-86) Low Average
COGNITIVE FLUENCY 7-2 05/90 0.4 60 (58-62) Very Low
EXEC PROCESSES 12-11 78/90 27 91 (89-93) Average
ORAL LANGUAGE 6-7 29/90 1 65 (61-70) Very Low
BROAD READING 9-8 01/90 5 75 (74-76) Low
BROAD MATH 11-9 31/90 9 80 (78-82) Low Average
MATH CALC SKILLS 11-1 37/90 6 77 (74-79) Low
WRITTEN EXPRESSION 8-4 15/90 2 69 (63-75) Very Low
ACADEMIC FLUENCY 9-2 01/90 1 66 (64-67) Very Low
ACADEMIC APPS 10-1 23/90 6 77 (73-80) Low
The following cognitive abilities tests were administered
Visual-Auditory Learning 18-E 75/90 20 88 (84-91) Low Average
Spatial Relations 70-D 88/90 44 98 (93-102) Average
Concept Formation 36-E 93/90 59 103 (98-108) Average
Visual Matching 43-2 15/90 15 84 (82-87) Low Average
Numbers Reversed 14 50/90 23 89 (85-93) Low Average
Auditory Work Memory 23 68/90 28 91 (88-94) Average
Vis-Aud Learn--Delayed 23 ------
Retrieval Fluency 43 76/90 4 74 (69-78) Low
Auditory Attention 35 78/90 18 86 (80-93) Low Average
Decision Speed 30 48/90 16 85 (81-89) Low Average
Memory for Words 17 63/90 30 92 (87-98) Average
Rapid Picture Naming 57 00/90 .1 55 (54-56) Very Low
Planning 92/90 75 110 (99-121 Average
Pair Cancellation 52 22/90 08 79 (77-81) Low
Form A of the following achievement tests was administered:
Letter-Word Identification 56 05/90 8 79 (77-81) Low
Reading Fluency 28 00/90 3 71 (70-72) Very Low
Story Recall 79/90 11 82 (76-87) Low Average
Understanding Directions - 04/90 2 69 (64-73) Low
Calculation 21 43/90 14 84 (80-87) Low Average
Math Fluency 59 32/90 2 68 (67-70) Very Low
Writing Fluency 16 19/90 13 83 (80-86) Low Average
Passage Comprehension 32 44/90 18 86 (83-90) Low Average
Applied Problems 41 20/90 15 85 (82-87) Low Average
Writing Samples 0-E ------
It can be seen that Mr. Alhussain’s Cognitive Ability scores range from average to very low. His Academic Achievement scores range from low to very low.
COGNITIVE EFFICENCY AND PROCESSING SPEED
Cognitive efficiency refers to the ability to process information routinely, economically and resourcefully. It involves processing speed and fluency. Cognitive efficiency facilitates the ability to deal with complex material. The tests measuring Mr. Alhussain’s cognitive efficiency fall in the low average range when compared to others his age. That is, 83 percent of all men his age can perform these tasks in a more efficient manner than can Mr. Alhussain. .
Mr. Alhussain’ subtests scores are consistent within this domain.
Skills at Visual Matching, is a test of processing speed. He was accurate but slow. For the Numbers Reversed subtest, a series of numbers was read to Mr. Alhussain and he was asked to hold them in mind and then repeat them in reverse order. He produced a low average score. He produced a low average score on a timed test in which he was asked to decide which of two pictures were conceptually similar from a row of seven pictures.
Visual Matching Low Average – 15h percentile
Numbers Reversed Low Average – 23rd percentile
Decision Speed Low Average - 16th percentile
PROCESS SPEED
Processing Speed is the ability to perform cognitive task automatically and to maintaining focused attention under time pressure. These tests tap the ability to hold information in immediate awareness and then use that information within a few seconds. Zaid’s overall score falls in the low average range at the 14th percentile. The RPI of 29/90 suggest that while his age mates perform such tasks with 90 percent success, Zaid performs such tasks with only 29 percent success.
His score on the Pair Cancellation subtest, a continuous visual performance task involved the recognition of repeated patterns, was low (08th percentile).
Visual Matching Low Average – 15h percentile
Decision Speed Low Average - 16th percentile
Pair Cancellation Low – 08th percentile
LONG TERM RETRIEVAL (memory) - LOW AVERAGE -12TH PERCENTILE
Reflects the ability to store information and fluently retrieve it later in the process of thinking.
Learning and recalling pictorial representation of words is low average (20th percentile). He struggled to recall the previous learned material after a 1 hour time interval. The ability to quickly recall from long term memory the names – in English - of as many examples as possible from a given category is also low (04th percentile).
Visual Auditory Learning. Low Average. – 20th percentile
Visual Auditory Learning-Delayed Recalled 100 of 123 elements
Retrieval Fluency Low – 04h percentile
COGNITIVE FLUENCY – Very Low – less than 1 PERCENTILE.
This set of tests provides an indication of the ease and speed of processing and recalling information from acquired knowledge. Decision Speed (speed of forming simple concepts) is low average (16th percentile). The ability to quickly recall from long term memory the names – in English - of as many examples as possible from a given category is also low average (16th percentile). Mr. Alhussain’s ability to visually recognize objects and then retrieve from memory and articulate their names – in English – is very low.
Retrieval Fluency Low – 04h percentile
Decision Speed Low Average - 16th percentile
Rapid Picture Naming. Very Low – less than 1st percentile
EXECEUTIVE PROCESSES –AVERAGE – 27TH PERCENTILE.
A set of subtest, examines abilities at strategic planning, proactive inference control and ability to shift one’s mental set. The ability to plan ahead appears average. Pair cancellation, a timed visual attention task, is low.
Planning Average – 75th percentile
Pair Cancellation Low – 08th percentile
WORKING MEMORY and BROAD ATTENTION - LOW AVERAGE
His academic struggles are influenced by how he processes information including attention and short-term memory.
His WORKING MEMORY capacity score of 89 falls in the low average range. His BROAD ATTENTION score (83) is also low average.
Auditory Working Memory involves listening to a jumbled list of ‘things’ and ‘numbers’ and then re-ordering and re-presenting all of the ‘things’ and all of the numbers in the order they were given. It is one measure of division of attention and short-term memory. He produced an average score (SS = 91, 28th percentile, RPI = 68/90). His score regarding immediate memory for recalling a list of words (Memory for Words subtest) also falls within the average range.
His score for Numbers Reversed was low average (SS = 89, 23rd percentile). For this exercise he was asked to hold vocally presented numbers in mind and then repeat them back in reverse order.
The score for Auditory Attention (86) is in the low average range. The Auditory Attention tasks required that he point at named items while an ambient noise gradually increased.
His score on the Pair Cancellation subtest, a continuous visual performance task involved the recognition of repeated patterns, was low (08th percentile).
ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
Note re: CALP. The WJ III allows for the reporting of CALP levels. CALP or cognitive-academic language proficiency is defined as language proficiency in academic situations, or those aspects of language proficiency that emerge and become distinctive with formal schooling. The CALP level helps describe an individual’s language proficiency in English. CALP levels range from a score of 5 (Advanced) to 1 (Negligible). Individuals with a CALP of 5 will find the English language demands of instructions very easy; individuals with a CALP of 1 will find the English language demands of instruction impossible.