Case Study: Middle School
ClaraBartonMiddle School includes sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students. The school has won several awards for academic excellence and is a model demonstration site for its inclusion program. All students with mild disabilities are fully included in general education classes. The special education staff uses a mix of co-teaching and collaborative consultation to provide services. Students with emotional or behavioral disorders and low incidence disabilities are placed in a combination of general education and specialized classes depending on their individual needs. The configuration of their placements is determined by the multidisciplinary team.
ClaraBartonMiddle School uses a teaming model to create an enhanced learning environment for its students. Teachers from each of the academic content areas form a team. The team shares the same group of 150 students which enables them to monitor student progress more efficiently. Every week the history, science, language arts, elective, mathematics, and special education teachers meet in their teams to discuss their students. They identify any struggling students and then create an action plan to assist them. The action plan consists of a host of strategies to be implemented by the general educators, the special educator, the parents, and the student. After a plan is formulated, the student and his or her parents are invited to meet with the team to discuss their recommendations. Barton’s philosophy is that the concerns of both parents and the student must be valued if an effective plan is to be developed. BartonMiddle School teachers find that this model makes it possible to offer the social and academic support that improves student outcomes.
BartonMiddle School also offers a variety of after school clubs and activities. Students are encouraged to participate in at least one activity as this can be effective in helping student feel a sense of belonging to the school community. Students may also take part in a supervised Homework Club that is offered from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday. The Homework Club is staffed by a mix of teachers, parents, and high school students. Students may drop in at any time and stay as long as they need to.
David Runyon is a sixth grader at BartonMiddle School. He has had a rocky start and his teachers are concerned about his defiant behavior, lack of motivation, and low academic achievement in all his classes. At the beginning of the school year, the special education teacher, Mr. Sandoval, provided all of David’s teachers with a copy of his IEP. David’s academic goals are to reach grade level standards and he has two behavioral goals. The first was to interact appropriately with teachers by recognizing and abiding each teacher’s classroom rules. The second was to avoid situations with his peers that would lead to conflict. David was to choose and implement one of several strategies such as asking his teacher for help, refusing to engage in negative interactions, or to redirect the conversation by clarifying his intent. However, David has had several incidents with other students that involved name calling. In addition, he sometimes has trouble calming down after lunch and nutrition break and has been rude to his history and language arts teacher. David rarely finishes his homework and does not study for quizzes and tests.
The team decided to take a thorough look at David’s IEP and to discuss implementing a behavior intervention plan. Mr. Sandoval acted as the facilitator at the meeting. The school counselor also attended the meeting in case any changes needed to be made to his schedule. The team decided to meet first and then have another meeting with David and his parents to discuss any decisions the team thought might help support David. David’s most recent IEP was completed the previous June at his elementary school. A copy of his assessment results is below.
Annual Evaluation
Psycho-Educational Assessment
Name:David RunyonParent: Ben and Lacy Runyon
Date of Birth: August 6, 1991School: BartonMiddle School
Chronological age: 11 years, 10 monthsPhone: 909-489-2273
Grade: FifthAddress: Cedar Street
Gender: MaleLanguage: English
Ethnicity: WhiteEvaluation Date: June 7, 2003
Evaluation Team: Mrs. Leticia Cavaioli, Special Education Teacher; Mr. Phillip Taylor, General Education Teacher; Sarah Munton, School Psychologist
Tests Administered
David’s language, racial, and ethnic background were considered before the selection and interpretation of evaluation procedures and measures. The following procedures were components of this evaluation:
Review of RecordsParent Interview
Student InterviewRoberts Apperception Test for Children
Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement (K-TEA/NU)
Background Information
David resides with his adoptive parents. He was originally placed with them for foster care when he was seven years old. He was formally adopted when he was nine. His biological mother had a drug addiction at the time of David’s birth and he was hospitalized at the age of three when he ingested cocaine. His adoptive family finds his behavioral issues challenging, but they have worked closely with school personnel to provide consistent expectations and consequences for him at home and at school. David’s family reported that the challenges David experienced as a baby are the cause of his emotional problems.
David was evaluated for services in fourth grade and was eligible for special education due to an emotional disorder.
Behavioral Observations
Ms. Sarah Munton, the school psychologist, observed David during his language arts class:
David was working in a small group with 1 boy and 2 girls. Their task was to make predictions about the text they were reading. David volunteered few suggestions or comments, but he answered readily when other students posed questions. At one point another student accidentally knocked David’s book off his desk and he yelled at her to “be careful stupid.” David’s teacher came over and asked David to apologize, which he did reluctantly. As the other students left for recess, David’s teacher spent a few minutes talking with David. This appeared to make David feel calmer and he then he joined the other students for recess.
Ms. Munton also administered a battery of assessments designed to evaluate David’s emotional functioning:
David was tested over six days. He refused to be tested on the first day and the session was instead spent on increasing rapport. David was fully cooperative during the subsequent sessions. He presented as alert and fully oriented. He was casually, but neatly dressed and well groomed. He was polite, and responded to questions, but offered little spontaneous speech. David reported his mood to be "happy”; however, his affect was fairly flat. He also disclosed that he has been feeling overly anxious about attending the middle school in September. David spoke fluently with no obvious impairments. Motor movement and gait were unremarkable.
Assessment Results
Academic Achievement Test: Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement
SubtestsS.S.Percentile
Mathematics Applications86 18
Reading Decoding75 5
Spelling73 4
Reading Comprehension69 2
Mathematics Computations85 16
Composite Standard Scores
Reading71 3
Mathematics8618
Battery Composite74 4
Ms. Cavioli conducted the standardized testing
David’s standardized academic testing places him in the below average range for all areas. The testing was completed over several sessions in order to obtain the best results; however, David was highly distracted and uncooperative during a majority of the sessions. As a result, the assessment may not be a valid measure of David’s academic functioning.
David’s teacher, Mr. Taylor, indicates that on curriculum based tests David does significantly better than was indicated by his results on the KTEA; in fact, David is close to grade level performance in all subjects except reading. He reads and comprehends at a beginning fourth grade level. David does have excellent auditory processing skills and learns effectively through listening.
Emotional Functioning
On a self-report measure of emotional functioning, David exhibited mildly elevated levels of depressive symptoms and moderately elevated symptoms of anxiety.
David was also given the Roberts Apperception Test for Children (RATC), a projective measure of psychological functioning. The absence of Refusals and No Score responses, and the high number of scores suggests, in general, that David was responsive without being defensive.
David exhibited several elevations on the clinical scales of the RATC. In contrast to his self report of his mood, his profile strongly suggests significant depressive symptomatology as his score on the Depression scale was extremely elevated. Many of
David’s stories contained themes of sadness with either no realistic resolution, or no resolution at all. David’s high Rejection score shows that he is feeling left out and uncared for. Feelings of rejection are an especially significant factor in his perception of the world and are consistent with his perception of being rejected. David’s Aggression Scale was also elevated and reflects strong angry feelings towards family members and peers. The high Limit Setting score is typical of children who tend to be aggressive and have behavior problems.
David’s Problem Identification score was within normal limits, and shows that he is able to conceptualize situations and is aware of interactions and problems. However, his ability to come up with realistic, age appropriate resolutions is limited. David has the ability to perceive a problem, but not the ability to solve it, a dilemma that may be contributing to his depressed mood.
Recommendations
David would benefit from therapy aimed at increasing self efficacy, problems solving, and increasing social skills. Therapy should initially take a structured approach. Specific interventions may include:
a. Educating David in the basics of identifying and labeling feelings, and assisting him in identifying what he is feeling.
b. Assist David in becoming aware of how he expresses or acts out negative feelings about himself.
c. Assist David inidentifying positive traits, talents, and areas of interest and strength. His sense of self efficacy will be enhanced if afforded the opportunity to succeed in activities he finds rewarding.