ACADEMIC CONSULTATION

CASE PRESENTATION

ARIEL ELLIS
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, CHICO
FALL 2015

STUDENT DEMOGRAPHICS
Name: Lupe
Age: 7-2

Grade: 2nd
Primary Language: Spanish
Language Spoken at Home: English & Spanish
Language of Instruction: English

California English Language Development Test (CELDT)

Taken 9/2014
Area

Results

Overall

Intermediate

Reading

Beginning

Writing

Beginning

Listening

Intermediate

Speaking

Intermediate

HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENTAL HISTORY

Delayed language milestones.

Wasnt saying single words at age 2.

Referral was made to Far Northern Regional Center (FNRC).

Received developmental services and speech therapy

through FNRC.

Has asthma and gastritis.

Vision and hearing were found to be within the

normal limits (9/2015).

FAMILY HISTORY

Lupe lives with:

Biological parents

Older brother

Younger sister

Lupes brother also had speech delays.

The family speaks both English and Spanish at home.
Lupe has stronger understanding and verbal expression in

English.

ACADEMIC HISTORY
Received Special Education services in preschool due to

Speech and Language Impairment.

Exited in early Kindergarten; scores indicated she no longer

qualified.

Lupe has attended Hamilton Elementary since preschool.

History of good attendance.
Has never been retained.

Concerns have been expressed about Lupes learning since

Kindergarten.

She was recommended for retention in Kindergarten, but parents

declined.

PREVIOUS INTERVENTIONS
Kindergarten:

KPALS reading intervention

Handwriting Without Tears

1st Grade:

Phonics for Reading

Small group 4 days/week for 4 months

At the end of 1st grade, an SST meeting was held with concerns about memory issues and sound-

symbol association.

A referral for special education was made.

Assessment was scheduled to be completed in Fall of 2015.

UNIVERSAL SCREENING
Hamilton Elementary conducts universal screening in the areas of math and reading three

times a year using AIMSweb.

The special education teacher and intervention specialist use the AIMSweb data to form intervention
groups throughout the K-8 school.

Lupe read 4 words correctly per minute on the oral reading fluency (ORF) measure. The target score for
a 2nd grader in the Fall is 55 words read correctly (WRC) per minute on ORF.

READING GROUP
Lupe was placed into a reading intervention group with four other students who scored

similarly on ORF.

These five students were known as being pre-readers/non-readers.

Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) measures were deemed inappropriate for progress monitoring

since the group was made up of non-readers.

These students became frustrated when attempting to read.

It was decided that it would be essential to build upon early literacy skills like letter names and

letter sounds.

EasyCBM progress monitoring tools were used because they were free and easily accessible.

Letter Names and Letter Sounds progress monitoring tools are only available for up to 1st grade.

First grade tools were administered once a week.

*During the first week of intervention Lupe was found eligible for Special Education as a student with
Specific Learning Disability.

INTERVENTION OVERVIEW
Early Literacy Skills for Reading

Short-Term Goals:

Lupe will increase the number of letters named per minute by 2 letters each week.

Lupe will increase the number of letter sounds named per minute by 1.5 sounds each week.

Long-Term Goals:

By the end of the six week intervention, Lupe will reach the 75th percentile for Winter 1st graders for Letter Naming.

By the end of the six week intervention, Lupe will reach the 90th percentile for Spring 1st graders for Letter Sounds.

Intervention:

An intensive intervention, K-PALS, led by a trained teaching assistant or special education teacher. Administered in
a small group four times a week for twenty minutes. The intervention is held in the Learning Center between 1:001:20 p.m.

Progress Monitoring Results:

The school psychologist intern will administer easyCBM Letter Names and Letter Sounds sheets weekly.

KINDERGARTEN PEER-ASSISTED LITERACY STRATEGIES (K-PALS)

K-PALS is a 20-week research-based peer-tutoring

program.

Lupes intervention group was only 6 weeks.

K-PALS uses literacy activities to improve early

reading skills.

Due to the limited literacy skills of the members,

the peer aspect of the program was not used.

The special education teacher or trained teaching

assistant solely implemented the program.

This may have impacted the efficacy of the

program since it was not implemented as

intended.

LETTER NAMING
Lupe received a baseline score of 55

10-1*

10-7

Score

55

41

47

57

Goal

55

57

59

61

for Letter Naming Fluency.

A score of 55 for Letter Naming is just

below the 50th percentile for Winter 1st

graders.

10-13 10-21 10-27

11-3

11-10

62

48

64

63

65

67

It was decided that Lupe should reach

the 75th percentile for Winter 1st graders

with a score of 69 by the end of the 6week intervention.

In order to get a score of 69, Lupes

score needed to increase by 14 letter

names.

This required Lupe to increase her score

by 2 letter names each week.

The intervention for Letter Naming was not

changed even though Lupe did not meet

her goal for five weeks in a row.

The goal set for Lupe was very ambitious.

Although she didnt meet the weekly goals,

she made steady progress.

Letter naming ability is not necessary for

becoming a reader, but practice can be

valuable.

LETTER NAMING

LETTER SOUNDS

Lupe received a baseline score of 52 for Letter

Sounds Fluency.

A score of 52 for Letter Sounds is at the

percentile for Spring 1st graders.

It was decided that Lupe should reach the 90th

percentile for Spring 1st graders with a score of 62
by the end of the 6-week intervention.

In order to get a score of 62, Lupes score needed

to increase by 10 letter sounds.

Lupes data for letter naming was very sporadic.

It is important to note that the intervention group was

held Monday through Thursday. Progress monitoring tools
were administered on Tuesday.

Due to teacher absences, the intervention was not

implemented the week of 11-3. It makes sense that
Lupes scores dropped.

Despite not meeting the goal for 3 weeks in a row, the

intervention wasnt changed. External factors impacted
the effect of the intervention. This made it difficult to
determine Lupes actual progress.

Due to school happenings, intervention was also not held

on the Wednesday or Thursday before the 11-10 data
collection.

This break in intervention was unfortunate for Lupes

progress. It serves as a signal that Lupe requires frequent
repetition of material. Any lapse in intervention can have
a significant impact on her learning and growth.

75th

This required Lupe to increase her score by 1.5 letter

sounds a week.

10-1*

10-7

10-13

10-21

10-27

11-3

11-10

Score

52

39

56

40

48

35

43

Goal

52

53.5

55

56.5

58

59.5

61

LETTER SOUNDS

RECOMMENDATIONS
After the AIMSweb Winter screening Lupe should be placed in an appropriate reading

intervention group.

Recommendations for the new intervention group:

Focus on phonemic awareness (i.e., blending, segmenting, etc.) and include sight word recognition.

Reinforce letter sounds flashcards at least twice a week.

Weekly progress monitoring is ideal.

Repetition and consistency are essential.

The intervention should take place 4 days a week for a minimum of 20 minutes each day.

It would be beneficial for the intervention to align with Lupes IEP goals related to reading.

CASE EVALUATION
POSITIVES

CHALLENGES

Helpful, motivated teacher

Teacher absences

Universal screening

Student absences

Intervention groups were pre-formed

Changes in schedule/holidays

EasyCBM materials were free and easy to

AIMSweb

access

Curriculum was already in place (K-PALS)

K-PALS
Letter naming

RECIPE CARD #1

SIGHT WORDS: WORD LIST PREVIEW AND REPEATED READING

(BARANEK, FIENUP, & PACE, 2011) INTERVENTION CENTRAL

Grade Level:

Purpose:

At least twice a week, 20 minutes each session.

Materials:

To improve sight word fluency and phonemic

awareness.

Directions:

For each session, the tutor creates a worksheet listing 10

sight words.

The tutor sets a criterion for mastery: (e.g., a word is

mastered when the student has read it aloud correctly
within 3 seconds 3 times in succession.)

The tutor first reads all of the words on the list aloud, while
the student follows along silently.

Then the student reads the list of words aloud, 3 times in a

row.

If while reading the word list, the student misreads a word

or hesitates for longer than 3 seconds, the tutor points to
the error word and says, "This word is [word]. Say [word]."

After responding correctly, the student continues until the

word list has been read 3 times.

The tutor then records any words mastered during the

session.

In preparation for the next session, a new word list is

created that includes those words from the previous list not
yet mastered.

Frequency:

Kindergarten and higher

Master list of sight words

Data Collection:

Word reading fluency measures at least once a week

using:

EasyCBM Word Reading Fluency

RECIPE CARD #2
PHONEME SEGMENTING AND BLENDING: PICTURE SLIDE ACTIVITY
PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS K-1 STUDENT CENTER ACTIVITIES: PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS 2005 THE FLORIDA CENTER FOR READING RESEARCH (REVISED, 2008)

Grade Level:

At least two times a week, 20 minutes each session.

Materials:

Access page 6 of: http://www.fcrr.org/curriculum/pdf/GK1/PA_Final_Part5.pdf

Two-to-five phoneme picture cards.

Optional materials: card stock, laminator, scissors

Data Collection:

Activity:

Students blend phonemes to make words while sliding pieces

together to make pictures.

The student will segment and blend phonemes in words.

Frequency:

Purpose:

1st Grade and higher

Phoneme Segmentation measures at least once a week using:

EasyCBM Phoneme Segmenting

Directions:

Place picture card parts in individual stacks on a flat surface.

The student chooses a stack of picture parts and puts in order

leaving spaces between the parts.

Names the picture and segments the word into phonemes

while slowly sliding the parts together (e.g., frog, /f/ /r/ /o/
/g/). Repeats the word (i.e., frog).

Continues until all pictures are assembled.

Self-check.

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?