Marisol’s son Jason had been recommended for services for almost seven months by school teacher and supporting staff. Throughout his year in Pre- K, his teacher documented several incidents which lead her to believe he needed to be evaluated for special education. He was not reaching academic milestones for his age. In response, Marisol felt that she was being pressured into rushing an evaluation and thought her son deserved to meet the milestones at his own pace. Marisol delayed the evaluation process by not submitting necessary consent and paper promptly. When asked what hopes or fears she had about special education, she expressed fears of Jason being treated different not only by teachers and peers, but by relatives and friends. She noted that she also did not feel well- informed on the process of evaluation and allocation of services when asked about what would help calm her fears. Marisol explained that she just needed a meeting where every question she had would be answered with knowledge, exactitude, and expertise. After Jason’s behavior led to a teacher injury, Marisol felt forced to allow the evaluation process to begin. Jason, who is now five years old, was placed in a twelve-to-one Kindergarten setting upon
This paper discusses the pros and cons of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-III). First, important definitional, theoretical issues, including the nature of intelligence, a brief history, and pros and cons are discussed. Next, the development, reliability, validity, and assets and limitations of the WAIS-III are examined. This is followed by discussion of the meaning of IQ scores, use of successive level interpretation and cautions and guidelines for administration. Last, subtests, assessing special population groups, short forms, profile forms, and what a
In this mock IEP meeting, we examine John Grohman from Kelsey Elementary School. John is a 2nd grade student who has Asperger’s Syndrome. He is a student who has extreme behavioral problems. John’s parents are extremely concerned about his behavior at home and at school. In this mock IEP, we look at John from his parents, special education teacher, administrator, general education teacher, and evaluator; to get a better picture of what is needed to help John be successful.
A major strength of this assessment is that this assessment has a Nonverbal Index. This is beneficial for students who are not yet proficient in the English language or struggle with language. Administering the Nonverbal Index allows the administrator to gain a better understanding of the child’s abilities because their language issues are not working against them with this test. Also, this assessment has two theories of intelligence that can be tested: the Luria neurological processing theory and Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory of intelligence. With the Luria Model, you will obtain the Mental Processing Index of Learning Ability, Sequential Processing, Simultaneous Processing, and Planning Ability. With the Cattell-Horn-Carroll model, you will obtain the Fluid-Crystallized Index with the areas of long-term storage and retrieval, short-term memory, visual processing, fluid reasoning, and crystallized ability. This assessment is also more child-friendly because of the visuals throughout the test. A weakness of this assessment is the administrator will not be able to obtain a score for auditory processing and processing speed with this assessment, requiring the administrator to utilize another intelligence assessment. This assessment has two intelligence theories options to choose from: the Luria
The author performed two separate interviews face-to-face, selecting two individuals with different backgrounds in order to obtain unique perspectives. The first interviewee, named Jennifer Hodge, works for Allen ISD as a special education teacher for a self-contained DEAR (Developing Early Academics Readiness) class for students in kindergarten through sixth grade. In addition, her experience includes teaching for 22 years, with seven of those years teaching students with disabilities in both self-contained classrooms along with resource and inclusion environments. The meeting to discuss psychoeducational testing occurred in Jennifer’s work place during her conference period over a 45 minute period on Friday, August 28, 2015. The second
Ms. Bennett emphasized that she frequently felt unjust since the time of her placement in the IEP, but that there was nothing she could do to change the circumstance. She stated that she fell further behind in every subject in each grade, as she continued her participation in the IEP. Ms. Bennett stated that even when she moved on to the middle school and high school, she was unanimously determined to remain in the program at the beginning of the school years although Ms. Bennett vaguely indicated that
Ms. Bennett is a 29 year-old, single, heterosexual, African American, woman who presented herself at the Argosy University Therapeutic Assessment and Psychotherapy Services (AUTAPS) for her main concern that she takes longer time to comprehend material taught in class. Ms. Bennett is a first year graduate student at University of La Verne who is pursuing a Master of Science degree in Leadership and Management. She reported that she is currently receiving accommodations from the university, as the University was temporarily able to accept the documentation provided for the previous university. She appeared to be of stated age, dressed appropriately for assessment with good personal grooming, and arrived just on time for her appointment. Ms. Bennett appeared to be guarded, as she sometimes appeared to inhibit her speech by saying “never mind.” Similarly, the range of her demonstrated affect was relatively constricted and the tone of her speech seemed low. Nevertheless, she appeared effortful and respectful toward the examiner throughout the assessment. Ms. Bennett was alert and attentive, and is likely to be a reliable historian, as the stories she told were consistent and thus her memory appeared adequate. Her thought process seems to be clear and linear, and she was oriented to person, place, and time. Ms. Bennett is seeking comprehensive assessment to determine whether she may be eligible for accommodations based on the results of testing.Ms. Bennett reported that she was
Beakstead, personal communication, October 31, 2013). Alternately, another student’s area of concentration might be based solely on independent living skills at home or with caretakers, and less focused on academic goals. As the goals are implemented by the special education team the student’s achievements can be evaluated daily, weekly, or monthly and in independent and group settings until mastery of the IEP goal is achieved, and where the learning goals of the IEP are age and skill level appropriate and address the future needs of the student. Additionally, these experiences encourage opportunities to practice new knowledge and skills, where teacher-directed and student feedback is available, and where instructional practice and student expectations can be reflected on and adjusted if necessary (Johnson-Gerard, 2012).
Cathy Turner, my mother, is the executive director, president of the board, and the lead therapist at NewSong Counseling Center located in Mt. Sterling, Kentucky. Her duties are extensive because she has so many roles within the organization. Some of these include paying the bills involved with running a business such as rent and utilities and creating clinical reports. As the president of the board she creates the agenda for board meetings and suggests places for growth. Also as lead therapist, Turner selects the treatment plans for all of her clients utilizing evidence-based practices that she researches and implements.
For special education students who is unable to participate in End of Course assessment, and who have an active IEP, may choose to demonstrate mastery of core knowledge and skills rather than take the regular End of Course assessment (tn.gov). As with the TCAP-Alt PA, all attempts are made to provide students with accommodations which will allow them to complete the traditional assessment. The decision to use performance based assessment is made by the IEP team and should be considered in
Jane Doe shared several challenging experiences about when John Doe was in elementary school. She shared that her personal views did not match the views of the special education staff. She felt that they were determined to integrate John Doe into a general education classroom when she felt he was not ready. This was a hard time for John Doe. He experienced many behavioral issues and meltdowns due to being frustrated about being behind his peers academically. The special education staff was rather headstrong about John Doe taking medications to alter his behavior to continue in general education classes. Jane Doe refused this “treatment” and switched him to a therapeutic school
In defense of my position after completion of my graphic organizer, I have determined that the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children 4th edition, (WISC-IV) should be administered. When administering such a test, it allows for a child’s strengths and weaknesses to be identified which can provide a starting point for further investigation. For example, a low working memory Index score may suggest that a more specific test of working memory may need to be administered; to investigate further the child’s
Tiyana completed a series of performance based tasks (NAB, WAIS-IV) assessing executive function abilities including working memory, inhibition, verbal fluency, nonverbal planning, and shifting. Her performance on these tasks was variable, with scores falling into the average to well below average range.
Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV; Wechsler, 1949). This seminal intelligence scale assesses a child 's general intellectual ability across four domains, producing four corresponding index scores: (1) the Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI), (2) the Visual Spatial Index (VSI), (3) the Working Memory Index (WMI), and finally (4) the Processing Speed Index (PSI). The VCI measures verbal concept formation, specifically assessing children 's ability to listen to a question, draw upon learned information from both formal and informal education, reason through an answer, and express their thoughts aloud. An example item from this index is similarities, vocabulary, and comprehension. Next, the VSI measures non-verbal and fluid reasoning and assesses children 's ability to examine a problem, draw upon visual-motor and visual-spatial skills, organize their thoughts, create solutions, and then test them. An example item from this index is solving a 3D puzzle. The WMI measures working memory and assesses children 's ability to memorize new information, hold it in short-term memory, concentrate, and manipulate that information to produce some result or reasoning processes; an example item would be letter-number sequencing. This measure is particularly important for higher-order thinking, learning, and achievement. Finally, the PSI measures the speed of information processing and assesses children 's abilities to focus attention and quickly scan, discriminate between, and
The book Lovey helped me to reflect on what life as a special education teacher would be like in the past. While reading the book I admired the remarkable commitment that Mary MacCrackin has to her job teaching special education students, no matter the circumstances. Most teachers would have a hard time accepting a student that knowing they would interrupt and disturb the safe environment that you worked so hard to create. However, Mary chose to take on that responsibility with Hannah. Mary worked with Hannah each day little by little helping her become part of the class. Hannah is a student who I would consider to be emotionally disturbed and have autism. Reading about her daily life at school, life at home and her personality I began to understand her as a student who has autism. In the past, it was common for students to not be diagnosed with autism. After reading Lovey it is clear that Hannah was both emotionally disturbed and had autism.