Running header: STUDENT PROFILE

Student Profile: GT
Desiree Lyman
St. Bonaventure Graduate Student
Samantha McStraw
St. Bonaventure Graduate Student
Andrea Claire
St. Bonaventure Graduate Student

STUDENT PROFILE

I. Student Data and Background Information (2 pts)

A. The pseudonym for this student is GT.
B. GT is a male student born on November 4th, 2001. The students current age is 13
years 5 months.
C. He has a learning disability which resulted in his current placement. GT is in a
Developmental 7th grade English class with 6 other students and one general education
teacher. Two of the students in this class have 504s and struggle with reading
comprehension and writing. The three other students in this class also struggle with
reading comprehension and writing, but they are at a higher level compared to their
classmates.
D. GT struggles with reading and writing, and he continues to be significantly below
grade level. He has recently taken a STAR reading test and he has tested at the 4th grade
level. He has trouble with spelling, but more importantly, GT struggles with reading
comprehension. He takes a special, developmental English class in school to focus on his
difficulties in reading and writing.
Some reading and writing strategies, such as annotating the text, and flag reading
strategies with sticky notes and codes, have already been introduced to GT. He would
benefit from this project if he were to have more strategies in his arsenal to help with
reading comprehension and writing.
E. Family History.
1. GT lives with his mother, his mothers boyfriend, 2 younger brothers, and
another sibling on the way. Parents felt specific information pertaining to the
siblings was not appropriate. The familys economic status can be seen in the

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poverty level. GT did have speech therapy when he was younger due to delays in
language development through ERTI. He received the service for 1 year, however
an extension of the service was not no longer needed as of his 1st grade year.
2. GTs family originated from the United States of America and primarily speak
English.
3. The family shows no history of having any other persons with a disability.
4. GT has had previous reports of ear infections and high fevers between the
ages 1 and 3 which required two hospital visits. Currently, teachers report the
student seems healthy. GT scored normal on both vision and hearing tests.
5. His teacher reports that he makes friends easily. GT also participates in track
every day after school.
F. Education History
1. GT rarely misses a day of school. His current teachers report that GT is
always alert and present during the school days.
2. GTs strengths include hands on activities, good thinking and reasoning skills
if he is fully paying attention to the information being presented, good memory
when describing characters in a story, sharing details about things that are of high
interest to him. GT enjoys making pictures and comics and is able to ask for help
and advocate for himself. GT is physically strong, enjoys playing sports, and gets
along with peers and adults.
GT did repeat Kindergarten, but even after his skills continued to fall below the
norm of the class the Speech/Language therapy was discontinued because he was
not weak in that specific area anymore. GT has difficulties in reading decoding

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and comprehension, written expression, and attention skills adversely affect his
academic performance and his ability to keep pace with his peers. GT needs extra
time and directions simplified. His grades for this quarter average in the 75 range.

3. There is no disciplinary record for GT.

II. Present Levels of Performance (7 pts).
A. Checklist to Guide Description of Student: Writer (Appendix C)
B. Checklist(s) to Guide Description of Student

Reading/Writin
g (incl.
decoding,
reading
comprehension,
and spelling)

Meeting Gradelevel
Expectations?

Relative
Strengths
(list specific
skills/concept
s)

Relative
Weaknesses/Nee
ds
(list specific
skills/concepts)

Interests/Preferenc
es
(be specific, i.e.,
topics, types of
assignments, ways
of receiving
information, ways
of demonstrating
knowledge)

GTs reading
continues to be
below grade level.
He continues to
make some
progress with
sounding out
words, but this is
not yet helping
him with
comprehension.
On the STAR
reading test, it
indicated that he
was reading at the
fourth grade level.

GT works
well in a
group and
works hard.
The group
members
often help GT
remember,
but only then
can GT really
collaborate
with the
group work.

GTs low word

reading ability
coupled with
attention issues
make it difficult
for him to
comprehend
what he is
reading.
He struggles
with
remembering and
understanding
what he reads.
He is too
focused on how
to pronounce
words. This
further slows
him down, so he

GT enjoys creating
pictures and
comics, so his
English teacher
often gives him
assignments where
he can draw along
with what he is
reading.

STUDENT PROFILE

ends up
forgetting what
he reads.
Other Subject
Areas-- see
Reason(s) for
Referral. Ex:
Maths, Science,
Social Studies.

GT is significantly
below average on
written expression.
His writing often
contains
misspelled words
and it is hard to
comprehend.

GT can form
complete
sentences.
He also
attempts to
write to the
best of his
ability.

GT consistently
spells repeated
spelling words
inaccurately. He
leaves vowels
out of his words
while writing. He
often cannot read
what he wrote
just after he
finished writing
it. Writing is
very laborious
for him. It takes
GT a long time
to get his
thoughts down
on paper and his
writing is
sometimes hard
to read.

GT benefits from
using speech to
text software to
record his
thoughts for
writing
assignments.

Social/Behavior
al

GT continues to be
immature when
dealing with his
emotions and is
easily
overwhelmed and
frustrated with
academics.

GT gets along
with his peers
and adults
and is polite
to his
classmates
and friends.
GT is aware
that he
daydreams
when he loses
interest in
instruction.

He needs
occasional
reminders not to
stress out over
tasks he views as
a challenge. GT
needs to focus on
the task and
participate
without prompts.

He likes to share
stories and will
talk a lot if given
the time. Gt
continues to try
and figure out how
to do better or get
the support that he
needs
academically. He
wants to do well in
school.

Other areas of
special interest
(e.g., arts,
music, athletics,
extracurricular
activities,

GT is generally
very healthy and
doesnt miss much
school. He is able
to participate in all
physical activities

GT is
physically
strong and
enjoys sports.
He is
motivated by

When GT is tired
or mentally
exhausted his
depth perception
and balance is
often affected.

He is motivated by
games in physical
education class
and enjoys
participating in
sporting activities.

STUDENT PROFILE

hobbies, etc.).

with his peers.

games in
physical
education
class. He is
currently
running on
the track team
and his coach
is very
impressed
with him. He
runs every
day after
school for
approximatel
y 3 miles.

He often knocks
books and
materials off his
desk or drops
items while
walking to class.

C. Individual Goals (from IEP if available, or informal goals if there is no IEP).

Student's current goals

Student's Characteristics: For

each goal, identify the
specific characteristic
observed in the student
leading to that goal (you
may find it helpful to
interview the teacher or
parent).

Example: For each characteristic,

give a specific example of
something the student does that
exemplifies each characteristic.

When given reading

material at GTs
independent reading
level, he will answer 6
out of 8 comprehension
questions accurately in
written form by
answering multiple
choice questions or using
complete sentences.

GT is motivated to answer
the questions correctly to the
best of his ability. He wants
to get the answers correct, but
he sometimes becomes
frustrated when he doesnt
know the answer right away.

When GT is given a prompt or an

assignment, he immediately begins
to work. When the answer doesnt
come to him right away he often
raises his hand and says he doesnt
know the answer.

When GT is given
instruction in a small
group or individually,
GT will stay focused to
the task and be able to

GT is determined to do what
is asked of him correctly, but
he sometimes forgets what is
asked of his and will ask a
classmate or the teacher what

GT understands that many of his

peers perform more quickly than
him when he needs extra time to
process the information. When he
sees his classmates get right to

STUDENT PROFILE

answer a given
comprehension question
verbally without any
prompts from a teacher
with 80% accuracy.

A.

he is supposed to be doing. If work, he does the same, but GT

the prompt is verbal and in
doesnt begin writing or answering
writing, he is less anxious
the question as quickly as some
because he knows where to
others. GT quickly raises his hand
go to find out what is being
and asks for help when he cannot
asked of him.
remember what he has to do, so
when the teacher speaks the
directions and writes them down,
he seems more at ease and less
tense in his seat.

GT seems to excel when he is working with others and continues to put a substantial

amount of effort into his work and assignments. He is physically active and enjoys hands
on activities. His main difficulties are in reading comprehension and written expression.
He does not remember or understand what he reads and when he writes his thoughts
down on paper, he has trouble spelling and even understanding what he just wrote down.

B. Research-based Recommendations. (10 pts)

1. One possible intervention strategy that GT may benefit from is titled Literature
Discussion Groups. This intervention strategy involves the students discussing
the reading as a group. For example, if GT was to participate in a literature
discussion it would include things such as: an adult led discussion of the book (as
a model for the students to see), then a student led discussion of the book using an
anchor chart and strategy prompts (created in advanced by the teacher). This
process is continuous and recurring to give students enough practice with the
intervention strategy to become fluent in the routine. On the anchor chart the
teacher might have things such as: desirable behaviors and undesirable behaviors
of the students while participating in the group discussions. The strategy prompts

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could have things on them such as: When I read...I thought...because or Lets
summarize what we know. (Berne & Clark, 2006)
A second possible strategy that may benefit GT would be Think Aloud
Mysteries. This intervention strategy allows for modeling of a thought process,
scaffolding, and encourages students to relate text to prior knowledge, predict,
question, and seek clarification. Think aloud methods require students to
verbalize their thought process while reading. In the think aloud mystery strategy
small groups of 4-6 students work together to find the mystery subject of a
group of sentences on sentence strips. Students read one sentence at a time and
then discuss their predictions and hypotheses while the teacher prompts using
comprehension questions. If GT were to participate in this strategy he would be
in a small group. The students would lay the first sentence on the table, each
student would read the sentence to themselves and then think aloud in a student
discussion. While the students are discussing the teacher will give prompts and
hints toward the mystery subject. This process continues with each sentence strip.
(Smith, 2006)
The last strategy that GT would benefit from is retelling/sequencing
(Harvey and Goudvis, 2013). When a student retells a story that has just been read
they are describing the main events in the story. Providing the teacher with the
beginning, middle, and the end will allow teacher to assess the comprehension
and understanding of the story. GT could do this with sequence picture cards
while he is retelling the story. GTs current reading level is a fourth grade reading

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level. He could also benefit from acting out the retell which will allow him to be
active in the classroom setting.
2. GT shows no social/behavioral issues that are disruptive to academic learning.
For other areas of interest student is very interested in sports and PE class. This
student could be given readings that are relevant to interest level and then provide
the class with a group discussion on that topic. Another way to do this is to have
GT become the expert on that topic to teach the class about sports or other
physical activities.

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10

References
Berne, Jennifer I., and Clark, Kathleen F., (2008). Focusing literature discussion groups on
comprehension strategies. The Reading Teacher. 62 (1) 74-79.
Harvey, Stephanie and Goudvis, Anne (2013). Comprehension at the core. The Reading Teacher.
66(6) 432-439.
Smith, Alleen L., (2006). Think-aloud mysteries: Using structured, sentence-by-sentence text
passages to teach comprehension strategies. The Reading Teacher. 59 (8) 764-773.

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11

V. Appendices 6 pts.
A. Referral (Appendix A) and Intervention History (Appendix B) forms
B. Complete and attach the most important "Checklist(s) to Guide Description of
Student" (Appendix C)
C. Student Observations and Interview.
1. Student Observations:
a. GT works well with others and likes to discuss with his classmates and
the teacher what has happened at track practice and outside of school. He
struggles to read aloud and silently. When he reads aloud he often focuses
on the spelling and pronunciation of the words instead of what is actually
happening in the story. GT is sometimes asked to make
annotations/questions about what he has read and he struggles to write
something down because he has very little knowledge of what occurred in
the story.
When asked to write down a three sentence summary about what
he read in his independent book, he could only write one while the rest of
his classmates were done and ready to move on. GT doesnt always let
this deter him from the task, but the longer the time goes by and he still
hasnt written more than one sentence, he becomes very frustrated. He is
encouraged to look back in the text to help him. This technique usually
helps because he can refresh his memory.
While looking at work samples, it is easy to decipher that GT has
difficulties in spelling. Though he can write in complete sentences, the

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12

teacher usually has to ask what words are in those sentences in order for it
to make sense to someone else. During group activities, such as literature
circles, GT prefers to draw while another student would like to write. His
classmates understand that it is better for them to write because they know
what they wrote down when it is difficult to read GTs writing. It is also
important to mention that sometimes GT doesnt even know what he has
written.
b. GT is motivated to do his very best and collaborates well in group
activities and assignments. His reading comprehension, spelling, and
written expression are below grade level. His peers immediately begin
writing when given a written task while GT still needs time to process what
he is going to write about. When he is writing a summary he struggles to
write beyond one complete sentence. When his peers struggle with this,
they know to go straight to the text in order to help themselves with the
assignment while GT needs to be prompted in where to look for help.
GT enjoys working groups, but does not like working with peers
that dont do their share. This may be because he works so hard to do his
part and becomes frustrated when someone else doesnt contribute. He
works well with his teachers and often seek their advice and input. He is
currently is a Developmental 7th grade English classroom and enjoys it
because he gets more one-to-one instruction and interactions with his peers
and teacher.
c. Attach completed observation protocol(s). (Appendix D)

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13

2. After an interview with GT, he stated that he really enjoyed school because was
able to hang out with his friends. He didnt like school because he doesnt like
homework and most of the time, he completes his homework, but it takes him a
long time. GT enjoys English because he doesnt have much homework and
dislikes math because he doesnt understand it or why he has to do it. He stated
that he struggles in math the most because he doesnt know what it was asking.
When GT grows up, he is not sure what he wants to be, but he did say he would
like to coach. This goes along with his interests because he really enjoys physical
education and sports. He finds written work hard to complete because he has a
hard time writing. When GT studies for a test, he looks at his notes from class.
D. In the first writing sample (Appendix E), the class had to write a narrative fiction
story. In class, the teacher modeled what an exposition, rising action, climax, falling
action, and resolution were and how to use them in a story. The English teacher
instructed to use these elements in their narrative fiction story, but the writing piece will
also have to focus on these 7th grade Common Core Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined

experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and wellstructured event sequences.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.3.A Engage and orient the reader by establishing a

context and point of view and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an
event sequence that unfolds naturally and logically.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.3.B Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing,

and description, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.

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14

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.3.C Use a variety of transition words, phrases, and

clauses to convey sequence and signal shifts from one time frame or setting to
another.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.3.E Provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects

on the narrated experiences or events.
In Sample 1, GT creates a narrator/character, My name is Clara Johnson... and

maintains the first person point of view by the end of the story: So we all just started to walk
[through] the city This shows me that he can create an imagined experience and
introduce a narrator/point of view. As you continue to read through the story, you see that his
writing becomes discombobulated and his sentence in the third paragraph Then the man
grabbed a mans leg and broke it and we all ran and then the man killed him leaves
questions in the readers mind: Why would you pick up this man earlier in the story? Who is
this man? Why did the man kill the other man? This proves to me that GT struggles with
W.7.3B and C because his experiences in the story are unclear and his shifts from one event
to the other is confusing.
Lastly, GT does actually provide dialogue, even though it is not in quotation marks,
but he does not provide a conclusion. His last sentence is So me and [Katelin] ran into a
room and we found Ed and Sandy. He cannot provide a conclusion that reflects the narrated
experiences and a student in 3rd grade needs to add a concluding statement in their writing.

In the second writing sample (Appendix F), the class had to write argumentative
essays about whether to become a vegetarian or not. They were given an article that listed

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15

and gave research about the pros and cons of becoming a vegetarian. The essay focused on
the following standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.1 Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons

and relevant evidence.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.1.A Introduce claim(s), acknowledge alternate or

opposing claims, and organize the reasons and evidence logically.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.1.B Support claim(s) with logical reasoning and

relevant evidence, using accurate, credible sources and demonstrating an
understanding of the topic or text.
In sample 2, GT makes a clear claim People should not become vegetarian. He

then continues to back up his claim with relevant evidence on the second page, Eating meat
is the convenient protein source available. Where GT tends to struggle is with standard
W.7.1A and W.7.1B. He does not acknowledge an opposing claim in his introduction, like
instructed to do so. He states what might be wrong with becoming vegetarian, I think
people that become vegetarians dont have a perfect health but this is just his opinion and
it is not backed up with evidence. He was given a model of how to construct his essay, but
his organization is lacking and he doesnt understand that he understands the topic. By
looking at Sample 2, a reader would be able to tell his knowledge of vegetarians is low
because he states things like, People that are not vegetarian have better health and raising
beef is often the most efficient way to produce food for humans. First of all, one of the
statements is an opinion and not backed up with evidence from the article and the second

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16

statement is just a random sentence he used to include in his essay. Raising beef doesnt
have too much to do with proving why you should not become a vegetarian.
This analysis proves that GT is working more at a 5th grade writing level: CCSS.ELALITERACY.W.5.1 Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with
reasons and information. GTs work is more of his opinion of vegetarianism and not making
a claim and supporting it with valid text evidence.
E. Test Results.
1. GT was assessed by the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test- Third Edition
(WIAT-III). According to his Psychological Report, the last time he was assessed
was when he was 10 in March 2009. The newest Psychological Report was not
available because the CSE Chair was currently reviewing and adding to the
current report.
2. For the WIAT-III, GT scored Below Average on the Composite Scores: Basic
Reading (SS- 74/PR- 4) and Written Expression (SS- 73/PR- 4). GT scored low
and below average on the following subtest scores: Reading Comprehension (SS69/PR2), Sentence Composition (SS- 79/PR 8), Word Reading (SS-64/PR- 1),
Essay Composition (SS-83/PR- 13), Pseudo word Decoding (SS-84/PR-14), and
Spelling (SS- 67/PR- 1).
3. GTs basic reading skills and written expression scored 74, 73 respectively.
This further proves that GT is below average compared to his peers and has a
learning disability. It was no surprise to see that the Reading Comprehension
standard score was a 69 and the percentile rank was a 2, nor was the Word
Reading (SS- 64/PR 1) and Spelling (SS-67/PR-1) because after observing GT in

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17

the classroom, is was obvious that he struggled with spelling, reading passages
aloud, and comprehending what he just read. Compared to his 7th grade peers,
GT is at the lowest end of the scale.
After viewing the scores, two of GTs strengths are Pseudo word
Decoding and Essay Composition. This is a positive because GT is able to apply
phonic skills when he is writing essays. But, it is also interesting to think that
maybe GT is so focused on this phonic strength and the ability to sound out words
that it is decreasing his ability to comprehend the whole text, not just separate
words.
4. According to the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test- Third Edition. the
WIAT-III Technical Manual is designed for students in Prekindergarten through
grade 12. This test is designed to measure listening, speaking, reading, writing,
and mathematical skills. Coefficients for the WIAT-III reliability were obtained
using the split-half method. The correlation between the total scores of items from
each half of the subtest was corrected by the Spearman-Brown formula. The
coefficients that were reported were in a range from .89 to .97. The Writing
Fluency, Sentence Composition, and Essay Composition are timed tests, so the
test-retest stability coefficients were used. The reliability coefficients were .94
to .98. According to these numbers, the technical adequacy of the WIAT-III is a
reliable and valid assessment to measure GTs reading and writing skills.
F. GT has a great attitude towards school and seems enthusiastic to learn new things. He
has only been absent twice this year and one of those absences was because he had a
house fire. GT seems to have friendly and fun friends in school. His friends have a

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18

couple more absences to the year than GT, but they seem to value education and know it is
important in life. His English teacher stated that GT loves sports and often sees GT run in
the halls with the track team. The teacher reported that GT becomes excited when talking
about his track meets and seems enthusiastic about the positive praise that he hears from
his coach. Sports are definitely a high interest in GTs life.
GTs strengths are collaborating in a group work and staying on task when
prompted. He has difficulties in comprehending written work and/or texts. GT easily
reads the assignments/reading that is assigned, but it takes him almost twice as long as
other students. His reading comprehension is lower when he reads silently, but he seems
to understand more when a story is read aloud. GT has a major difficulty remembering
what he read and being able to write it down. This may be because he doesnt really
comprehend all that he is reading and his thoughts about the reading arent as coherent as
he would like.
G. Other Sources of Information:
H. As GTs English teacher, the biggest area I focus on is his ability to comprehend the
text. I personally dont believe spelling and sentence structure is as important as
comprehension because if you dont understand what you are reading then you really
cant do anything with what you read. In the Developmental English classroom, our
main focus is to have a plethora of strategies that help with comprehension. The special
education teacher has told me multiple times that GT annotates and questions the texts he
reads because it helps him remember what he has read, but his comprehension is still very
low. GT also takes English AIS with a different teacher and she focuses on reading
comprehension with GT. The English AIS teacher also has GT take frequent

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19

comprehension quizzes to measure his growth. As of right now, there is little growth
from the beginning of the year.
After briefly discussing with the school psychologist and the CSE chair, they believed
it would be a great idea to focus on approaches that will help GT in his future English
classes. Since GT will be mainstreamed into the general education, English classroom
with me next year, it was thought of as beneficial to help GT now so he is better prepared
for next year.
Student Project Disclaimer: Readers of this report are asked to interpret the results and
recommendations with the understanding that it has been developed as a project for graduate-level
assessment course. The author is a qualified teacher in an advanced academic program. The
contents may be limited by the as-yet-developing expertise of the author, time limitations of the
course, etc.