A Case Study: Sammy

Sammy is 16 years old and of African American heritage. He lives in a small southern rural town with his mother, father, and younger brother. Sammy's mother and father are both employed in low-wage service jobs. Over the years, they have tried to arrange their work schedules so that one of them has been available when the children were not in school. Sammy's mother has been very involved with the children's education, attending conferences and seeking solutions to problems.

Sammy began his elementary schooling at Tate Elementary under the district's majority- minority transfer plan. His mother believed that an integrated school would provide her children with a better education than their local school would. During first grade, Sammy experienced difficulty with the beginning reading process and had trouble staying on task. A special education evaluation indicated that he was eligible for services as a child with a learning disability, and he was served in Tate's resource program for the next 2 years with minimal progress.

The next year, the school district opened a self-contained program for students like Sammy. His underachievement was severe enough, and he was transferred to that program. Ms. Cole, his teacher, reported that during the next 2 years, Sammy began to make some progress in reading, but mathematics was still difficult. He had difficulty completing his math assignments, frequently being off task and unable to sustain attention. He also experienced continuing problems with impulse control and displays of anger. However, Sammy impressed Ms. Cole as being a capable child despite his reading and behavior problems.

During his second year in Ms. Cole's class, he was mainstreamed for fourth-grade science. Academically he was passing, but his behavior was erratic. He had particular problems dealing with teasing. A behavior contract was initiated in which he earned a star for each class period that his behavior met stated guidelines, and this seemed to have some positive effect.

At the end of that year, it was decided that Sammy had made sufficient progress to return to Tate School in a regular fourth-grade class with resource help. It was suggested that he be put on an organizational behavior contract and receive instruction in anger management. Unfortunately, the fourth-grade teacher was not willing to provide any extra support and was, in fact, overtly negative and sarcastic toward Sammy. In addition, the resource position was vacant for the first 2 months of the year, so there was no transition support. Sammy's behavior deteriorated, and his academic progress evaporated. By January he was sent back to the self-contained class, where he stayed for the remainder of elementary school. It seemed as if Sammy had decided that life was easier in the self-contained classroom and that was where he wanted to be.

He moved on to another self-contained class in seventh grade, and his behavior became more violent. He was frequently involved in fights and was suspended a number of times. At 15 he was socially promoted to ninth grade at the high school. There he was involved in a fight and suspended. His mother asked that he be placed in the alternative program for out-of-school youth; she did not understand that by doing so she was removing him from coverage under IDEA. The school district said that because she had removed him from school, they no longer had an obligation to serve him. He was soon expelled from the alternative program because of fighting and was placed under the jurisdiction of the juvenile justice system.

Sammy's mother is at her wits' end. She can no longer handle his emotional outbursts at home, and she feels that the school and other agencies just want to get rid of him. She knows that Sammy needs help emotionally and academically. Sammy's mother and the advocacy representative have requested that the school revisit Sammy's case and evaluate the possibilities for reinstituting services. At the request of Sammy's mother, the following information was provided by Ms. Cole, Sammy's special education teacher in elementary school:

To Whom It May Concern

I have been asked by Sammy's mother to provide some historical information that may be useful in Sammy's future educational placement and planning. I served as Sammy's teacher in the self-contained class for students with learning disabilities when he was 9 to 11 years old. I have kept in touch with the family since and have followed Sammy's journey through the school system.

When Sammy was a student in my class, he was classified as a third grader. He was reading at an average second- grade level and had difficulty completing math assignments. His primary problems at the time were work-habit related, including attention to task, task completion, and goal setting. He also exhibited periodic problems with impulse control in unstructured settings. This manifested itself by his engaging in fighting on the playground when teased. His failure to control his impulses appeared to increase when he was under stress. such as during state testing periods. It is unclear to me now whether his learning disabilities led to the behavioral problems or whether the behavioral problems resulted in his difficulty profiting from instruction. In any case, both areas impeded his academic and social progress.

Under certain circumstances, Sammy demonstrated average to excellent cognitive abilities. When he was 10, Sammy was invited to join a community Odyssey of the Mind team. He was the only member of the team not identified by the school system as gifted and talented, but observation of his interactions in the group would not have called attention to this fact. Because the competition relied on nonverbal exhibition of creative thinking, his poor reading skills were not a problem. On the contrary, his capability in logical problem solving proved to be an asset to the team, resulting in their winning second place at the regional competition. ln addition, although he was the only African American student on the team, he interacted well with the other members. This experience indicated to me that, given a challenging environment that did not present assaults on his self-esteem, Sammy had the cognitive ability to function well. It also demonstrated that he was able to control his behavior as well as any other child, given clear goals, supportive leadership. and interesting tasks. I saw him grow during that semester, growth that was evidenced in his work at school as well.

By the time he was 11, Sammy had made sufficient academic and behavioral progress that mainstreaming for fourth grade science was initiated. He had some difficulty with the work expectation at first. but with my assistance and oral testing, he earned passing grades. He then began to have lunch and recess with that class. Behavior was a recurrent problem, primarily when he would 'lose it" on the playground. We initiated a behavioral contract to help him monitor his behavior and work habits, and there was improvement.

By the end of the year it was decided that he was ready for a less restrictive placement. His reading was at a lower third-grade level, and so he was recommended for placement in a regular fourth grade at his home elementary school. lt was expected that his resource teacher and general education teacher would work closely with him during the transition to mainstream programming. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons primarily related to staffing problems during that period, the needed close support and monitoring apparently did not occur. The reported negative behaviors increased, and Sammy was returned to a self-contained class in the spring of that year.

In summary, Sammy has manifested a number of problems in the past that have interfered with his progress in school. His problems have primarily involved his inability to set and work toward goals, to accept the restrictions placed on him, and to control his impulses. While he appears to have some perceptual and cognitive disabilities, it appears to me that the behavioral aspects were primarily responsible for his performance problems. He needed then-and likely still does need-assistance, coaching, and support to develop the social cognitive skills to accomplish what he needs to do and to refrain from actions that are detrimental to him and others. The frustration he must feel at this point, after all these years of being shuffled from program to program without developing the skills he needs, must be seriously undermining his self-esteem.

Sincerely, Susan Cole

The following psychoeducational testing report was prepared for the multidisciplinary team meeting at the request of Sammy's mother.

EVALUATION REPORT

Sammy is 16 years old and attended the senior high school until 3 months ago, when his mother withdrew him while he was under suspension for fighting. Sammy is currently on probation with Juvenile Services for fighting al school. Even though he was never expelled from school, he entered an alternative program for dropouts operated by the school district. Sammy was dropped from that program 2 weeks later, again for fighting. Up until his enrollment in the alternative school, Sammy had been suspended for 21 days this year. Formal evaluations over the last 8 years have all found Sammy to be functioning in the low-average range intellectually. Sammy is currently receiving counseling at the community mental health clinic.

Test Results and Interpretation

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-IV (WISC-IV)

Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT)

Sammy's PPVT score indicates that his receptive language is comparable to his intellectual ability measure:

Standard Score: 84 (moderately low)

Percentile: 14

Peabody Individual Achievement Test-Revised

Sammy's reading recognition is significantly below his overall ability level, although his reading comprehension is comparable to ability level.

Wide Range Achievement Test-Revised (WRAT)

Evaluator Conclusions

This evaluation indicates that Sammy is functioning intellectually in the low-average range. His receptive language is comparable to his estimated mental age. His academic achievement in reading recognition, spelling, and arithmetic is severely deficient. Sammy appears to have poor listening skills, with stronger visual processing skills. Some adjustment problems are apparent in the school setting: however, Sammy's behavior throughout the evaluation was exemplary, indicating that he can control his emotions. Lack of academic achievement no doubt contributes to his frustration, leading to his inappropriate behaviors. The assessment indicates that Sammy should probably continue to be classified as a student with a learning disability.

Learners with Mild Disabilities: A Characteristics Approach, Enhanced Pearson 5th Edition By Eileen B. Raymond Published by Pearson, p. 309 – 311. Copyright © 2017 ISBN-10: 0-13-382711-9; ISBN-13: 978-0-13-382711-8

Collepals.com Plagiarism Free Papers

Are you looking for custom essay writing service or even dissertation writing services? Just request for our write my paper service, and we'll match you with the best essay writer in your subject! With an exceptional team of professional academic experts in a wide range of subjects, we can guarantee you an unrivaled quality of custom-written papers.

Get ZERO PLAGIARISM, HUMAN WRITTEN ESSAYS

Why Hire Collepals.com writers to do your paper?

Quality- We are experienced and have access to ample research materials.

We write plagiarism Free Content

Confidential- We never share or sell your personal information to third parties.

Support-Chat with us today! We are always waiting to answer all your questions.