Saper- Case 2

Case Study #2
Consultation Case
Student Name: Tina M. Grade: Fourth Grade Date of Report: 4/30/13 Date of Birth: 4/29/2003 Age: 10 years Consultant: Becky Saper

Background Information: Tina is a 10 year old student at Friends Elementary school, where she receives Speech and Language services once a week for thirty minutes to address concerns in regard to her articulation, spelling, as well as academic support for reading and math. In addition, she participates in a weekly social skills group with two other fourth grade students. Tina is described as a pleasant, friendly girl with an energetic and bubbly personality. She is a hard worker and enjoys sharing her ideas with adults and peers. Tinas teacher noted that she works at a very slow pace and has a tendency to engage in tangential conversations. Both her parents and teacher observed that Tina worries about her performance and what others think of her. It was reported that she can get upset easily. Previous evaluation indicated Tinas intellectual functioning fell within the Very Superior range with deficits in executive functioning, verbal working memory, and nonverbal processing speed. She was also noted to have difficulties with modulation of mood. Despite these deficits, she was diagnosed as gifted. PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION: Initial Concerns: Tinas teacher, as well as the schools administrative assistant, described her history of tardiness over the years. In previous years, Tina would arrive 30 minutes to an hour late, causing her to miss out on a lot of instruction and class work. Tinas teacher, Mrs. Todder, explained that her tardiness has fluctuated over the course of the current school year but has improved from previous years. In addition to the tardiness, Tinas pace during transitions had been extremely slow. On top of arriving to school late, putting away her belongings and settling into the school day, Tina was often left with very little time to complete her initial assignments. While the

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majority of students in her class completed all of the morning work assignments, Mrs. Todder explained that Tina rarely finished even one of the assignments. Baseline Data: In collaboration with Mrs. Todder, we initially decided to focus our attention on ensuring that Tina was getting to school on time on a consistent basis. Our first goal was to determine whether Tinas tardiness significantly impacted when she began her work. Baseline data was collected by the schools administrative assistant, Mrs. Lackey, and Mrs. Todder over seven consecutive days. Mrs. Lackey recorded the time Tina arrived to school each morning while Mrs. Todder logged the time Tina began her work. Below are visual representations of the data that was collected.

Baseline Data 9:07 8:52 8:38 8:24 8:09 4/25 4/26 4/29 4/30 5/1 5/2 5/3

Number of Minutes from Arrival to Starting Work

Arrival Time & Time Work Was Started

Amount of Time from Arrival to Starting Work

Baseline Data 30 20 10 0 18 14 20 16 13

Arrival Time Work Started

4/25 4/26 4/29 4/30 5/1 5/2 5/3 Date

As can be seen above, Tina had arrived to school on time with the exception of one day where she was only a few minutes late. The amount of time it had taken her to settle into her morning work does not appear to be affected by Tinas actual school arrival time. After reviewing the data collected with Mrs. Todder, it was decided that focusing our efforts on getting Tina to school on time was unnecessary. We reevaluated the data and compared the information with the norms of the classroom. Mrs. Todder stated that most of her students were able to arrive at school, put away their belongings, and settle into their morning work within a 5 minute period of time.

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Discrepancy Between Tina's Tima and Expected Time

Baseline Data 0:00 19:12 14:24 9:36 4:48 0:00 4/25 4/26 4/29 4/30 5/1 5/2 5/3 18:00 14:00 20:00 16:00 13:00 9:00 9:00 Tina's Time Expectation

The graph above shows that Tina takes a significantly more time on this routine than her peers. From the information collected, we decided to shift our focus to the amount of time it takes Tina to move through this morning transition. Operational Definition: It takes an average of 14 minutes for Tina to arrive at school, put her belongings away, and begin her morning work. The classroom expectation is that students will spend 5 minutes putting away belongings and beginning morning work. As a result of her slower pace, Tina often/regularly is unable to accomplish any of her assigned morning work tasks. PROBLEM ANALYSIS: Several variables were considered collaboratively to determine the main causes of Tinas difficulties. Tina often came to school smelling of cigarettes and without bathing; however, seemed unaware of how she presented to others. From speaking with various adults who have worked with Tina in the past, it seemed as though she does not receive a lot of guidance or external motivation from her parents. Without the external prompting, Tinas self-awareness and ability to self-monitor are limited. Many children begin to develop a sense of responsibility or a need to keep up with their peers; however, Tina does not appear to be aware or motivated by them. Tinas slower pace, disorganization, and lack of peer awareness may also be a form of escaping or avoiding areas of her life she is uncomfortable with. For example, is her lack of peer awareness a result of feeling disconnected over the years? Review of previous evaluations highlighted several weaknesses in her executive functioning abilities. Of particular relevance to our over-arching goal, Tina demonstrated difficulties with organizing herself while working on tasks, generating a structure for learning,

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cognitive flexibility, initiating behavior and speed on timed tasks. Characteristics of these behaviors were also observed within the classroom setting, such as her slow pace, cluttered desk, her inefficiency during transitions, difficulties with initiation, and rigidity. It was collaboratively decided that Tinas difficulties were both a performance and a skills deficit. In addition, two hypotheses were formed: 1. Tina lacks internal motivation. 2. Tina lacks self-monitoring skills. INTERVENTION: Goal 1: To decrease the amount of time it takes Tina to settle into her school day and begin her morning work. This will be measured by an increase in percentage of days Tina is able to meet the expectation from 0% to 50% of the time. Goal 2: For Tina to independently begin to self-monitor her behavior. This will be monitored by whether she checks off each step of her morning routine. Self-monitoring requires an ability to set up learning goals, plan ahead, independently motivate him or herself to meet those goals, focus their attention, and use learning strategies to facilitate their understanding of material (Zumbrunn, Tadlock, & Roberts, 2011). The effects of self-monitoring interventions have been shown to increase classroom on-task behavior, homework completion, academic performance, social skills, and reduce disruptive behaviors (Zimmerman, 1990). Self-monitoring interventions are flexible, easy to set up, and easy to implement. Self-monitoring techniques foster independent functioning, allowing the students to have a sense of control and responsibility over their own learning. Intervention Part 1: In order to decrease the amount of time it takes Tina to settle into school and begin her morning work, she will complete a checklist process each morning. In order to make her routine more efficient, explicit steps were devised for her to follow and check off after completion of each one. As part of this process, she will use a timer to determine the length of time it takes her to settle in and then compare this time with the classroom norm of five minutes. A list of the steps was posted inside her locker with a picture hanging on the outside of her locker to remind her to start her steps before entering the classroom. An additional list of steps was posted on her

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classroom desk which also includes a section to check off the completion of each step. Over the course of the intervention, these charts were reviewing and revised so that they were most beneficial. Intervention Part 2: After the first week of implementation, it was collaboratively decided that an incentive/reward system was necessary to encourage Tina to use the intervention regularly. Upon discussion with Tina, the reward would be presented to her at the end of each week if she completed and checked off each step four out of five days each week. In order to determine what type of rewards would be most effective, she was administered a Reinforcement Inventory Questionnaire. Results from this questionnaire indicated adult approval and independent rewards would the most beneficial. The specific rewards/incentives that Tina and the school psychology intern agreed upon included: Getting dismissed two minutes early from school. Sitting in a reserved section of the lunch room. Lunch with the teacher of her choice. iPad/computer time Pick a Prize from the Speech and Language Pathologists office.

Student Responsibilities: 1. After arriving to school each day, Tina will follow the steps of her new morning routine. 2. After completing each step, she will check it off on her chart. 3. If Tina has followed and checked off each step four out of five days, she will be able to choose a reward at the end of the week. 4. In collaboration with the school psychology intern and her parents, Tina will help devise explicit steps to follow each morning before school. 5. In collaboration with the school psychology intern and her parents, Tina will determine the reinforcement/reward she receives for completing her home routine. Teacher Responsibilities: 1. Greet Tina when she arrives each morning. 2. Remind Tina to complete her new school routine and check-list.

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3. Mrs. Todder will continue to record the time she sees Tina begin her morning work. 4. Mrs. Todder will update the school psychology intern on the progress of the classroom intervention. Parent Responsibilities: 1. In collaboration with Tina and the school psychology intern, Mr. and Mrs. M will create an efficient morning routine that is manageable for all involved. 2. Mr. and/or Mrs. M will work with Tina each morning to help monitor the completion of and the time that is spent on each step. 3. Mr. and Mrs. M will work with Tina and the school psychologist to incorporate an appropriate reinforcement/ reward for completion. 4. Mr. and/or Mrs. M will update the school psychology intern on the progress of this at home intervention. School Psychology Intern Responsibilities: 1. Explain the plan to Tina, Mrs. Todder, and Mr. and Mrs. M. 2. Consider their comments and concerns about the plans and make adjustments accordingly. 3. Provide in school reward for Tina at the end of each week. 4. Work with Mr. and Mrs. Todder to create efficient morning routine and reward system at home. 5. Make sure all necessary materials are ready. 6. Create checklist and morning routine visuals. 7. Analyze data to determine whether the intervention is doing what it is intended to do. 8. Meet with Mrs. Todder and Mr. and Mrs. M to review progress. EVALUATION: For four weeks, beginning Friday, May 10, 2013, the amount of time it took Tina to settle in and start her morning work was tracked using her self-monitoring checklist. Two of the days Tina was absent, therefore will not be included as possible opportunities for data collection.

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Percent Data Was Recorded vs. Percent Data Was Not Recorded
All Intervention Data

46% 54% Percent Recorded Percent NOT Recorded

Out of the thirteen opportunities for Tina to complete her checklist, she did so seven times or 54% of the time. Of those seven completed checklists, she was able to meet the class expectation successfully 71% of the time. This is a 71% increase from her baseline data. Please refer to the chart below.

Tina's Time Settling Into School

Collected Intervention Data

29% 71%

Met Expectation Did Not Meet Expectation

Amount of Time from Arrival to Starting Morning Work

Intervention Data with Trendline
(Only including data recorded)

7:12 6:00 4:48 3:36 2:24 1:12 0:00 5/10 5/13 5/15 5/16 5/20 5/30 5/31 4:34 3:07 3:23 3:03 3:26 6:25 6:00 Time Linear (Time)

Because the initial goal of increasing the percentage of time Tina is able to settle into her school day within the expected time limit to 50% was reached, this self-monitoring intervention

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will be modified to address the percentage of days data is recorded and the completion of each step daily. However, Tina will continue to strive to meet the expected amount of time each school day. In order to generalize self-monitoring behavior in other settings, Tina will begin to monitor the amount of time it takes her to get ready each morning before she leaves home for school. In conversation with her parents, Tina often struggles to wake up and get ready for school independently. In addition, her father mentioned that at times it can take up to ten minutes for Tina to put her socks on in the morning. In collaboration with the school psychology intern and her parents, Tina will create a discrete step by step morning procedure to make her mornings more efficient. In order to create incentive for completion, Tina will work with her parents and the school psychology intern to create a reinforcement/reward system at home. Progress monitoring will continue on a daily basis for both the school and home settings to determine if the modifications are effective and/or to determine whether further modifications are necessary.

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References: Zimmerman, B. J. (1990). Self-regulated learning and academic achievement: An overview. Educational psychologist, 25(1), 3-17. Zumbrunn, S., Tadlock, J., & Roberts, E. D. (2011). Encouraging Self-Regulated Learning in the Classroom: A Review of the Literature. Proceeding of Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium (MERC).

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Appendix A Original Data Chart for Tina

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Appendix B Revised Data Chart for Tina