Case Study: Billy

Case Study: Billy

	Billy	Changes needed if Billy is also an English learner
1a) Identify one instructional strategy or student activity from the outline of plans that could be challenging for the student, considering the description of the student’s learning disability.	Billy is reading at a second grade level, which means he will likely struggle with writing vocabulary words and definitions independently.	Even without having to write out the words or definitions, Billy would likely struggle to grasp the conceptual meaning of vocabulary words if he is an English learner.
1b) Explain why the strategy or activity you chose could be challenging for the student, based on specific aspects of the student description.	Billy’s literacy level is years below his grade level. His classmates encountered these concepts in the 3rd grade, but Billy only has second-grade level literacy, so he is at even more of a disadvantage compared to his classmates. Billy also needs lots of encouragement in order to get work done, which would be difficult since the outline calls for students working presumably alone on the vocab and definitions.	Because Billy also struggles with working well with any of his classmates, being an English learner would make him even more isolated in the classroom. Disrespectful behavior may also make it a challenge for a teacher to follow-up effectively.
1c) Describe how you would adapt the strategy or activity you identified to meet the needs of the student.	Instead of having Billy work on vocab in order to share with an elbow partner, I would allow Billy to use a school computer or laptop with headphones to look up his vocabulary words and definitions during this portion of the lesson.  Many dictionary sites also have audio pronunciations, which Billy could listen to with headphones.	As an English learner, using the computer would also allow access to programs like Google Translate, which would then help him learn the words and definitions in English by first allowing him to encounter them in his native language.
1d) Explain how your adaptation would be effective for the student in making progress toward achieving the learning goal(s) of this unit.	Billy enjoys listening to music and watching television, so the audio/screen access component of using a computer would give him a way to encounter the information in a way that plays on his strengths and tastes. The only better way I could think of would be if there were some sort of video dictionary for the vocabulary words that could show Billy meanings and context. If there weren’t one, maybe I would make one!	As an English learner (and even if not, given Billy’s literacy level) it would be important to work one-on-one with Billy and listen to his pronunciations of vocabulary words. This could easily be done while the rest of the class works with their partners. Doing this while the rest of the class is talking would help prevent Billy from being singled-out or sounding funny/awkward as he learns new words.
2a) Identify one additional instructional strategy or student activity from the outline of plans that could be challenging for the student, considering the student’s other learning needs.	Billy will likely struggle with gathering data and plotting percentages for his bar graph or pie chart, especially if he has to do it for homework.	If Billy is learning English as well, he would have to understand the meaning of what the different data percentages are referring to.
2b) Explain why the strategy or activity you chose could be challenging for the student, based on specific aspects of the student description.	Billy’s math skills are also low, and though he is aided conceptually by picture cues and assistance, he likely is not yet able to generate illustrated data, such as graphs, by himself.	Billy receives assistance in his literacy, but he would not have assistance to help him make meaning of the English words correlating with the numbers data.
2c) Describe how you would adapt the strategy or activity you identified to meet the needs of the student.	I would give Billy his very own copy of an illustration of the Earth’s hydrologic cycle including the labeled steps of the cycle. Then I would give him another copy of the illustration with the labels left blank, so that he could fill them in himself. For homework, assuming he has computer access at home, I would replace the assignment of generating a pie chart with a pie chart containing the pictures of various aquatic life. I would ask Billy to look up each animal and tell me if it lived in salt water or fresh water. Then I would ask him to color salt water animals one color, and fresh water animals another color. Hopefully the color representation would help him learn the portion of the lesson that covers the salt water/fresh water ratio.	Billy may be challenged by the vocabulary in the water cycle. However, this is a great opportunity for Billy to build more vocabulary words. I would use a slight modification to help him catch up from what he missed in his 3rd grade curriculum by giving him a worksheet for his homework instead of the pie chart. On this worksheet, Billy would explore the states of water by finding instances around his house where water is frozen, such as the freezer, where water is liquid, such as the bathroom sink, and where water is vapor, such as when a pot boils on the stove and releases steam. I would recommend Billy reach out
2d) Explain how your adaptation would be effective for the student in making progress toward achieving the learning goals(s) of this unit.	Because Billy’s literacy level is so low, allowing him to interact with illustrations would give him more interaction with the information in a way that would boost his confidence. Having to recreate the information would give Billy low-stakes practice with completing his assignments.	This assignment would also make it fairly easy for Billy to complete. Illustrating the water cycle by locating the various stages of water within his own home would be another confidence-boosting assignment, with easy enough vocabulary to make it possible for Billy to participate in partner or small-group discussion. This assignment would be most effective if it were completed a week or a couple days before the example lesson plan was delivered.
3a) What progress monitoring assessment would you choose to obtain evidence of the student’s progress toward a learning goal(s)?	Allowing Billy to turn in assignments with his written words and his own illustrations.	As an English learner, completion of these assignments would show how well he can review and recite vocabulary.
3b)Give a rationale for your choice of assessment.  Use your knowledge of academic content in this unit and this student’s learning needs in your rationale.	Billy is a visual learner who can associate images with meaning. We know this because he enjoys watching television.	Working with the images and assigning the word to them would help Billy show his understanding of English vocabulary.
4a) Billy will be moving on to the middle school at the end of the school year.  What will you do to include Billy in his transition meeting and to help him express appropriate self-determination and expression skills?	I would reiterate Billy’s own words that he really does enjoy going to school, and genuinely wants to do well. I would be an advocate for Billy to use study skills such as planners and reminder apps.  Because Billy is often disrespectful in class, it could be that he struggles with self-expression, which may include swearing. Billy will need to be shown appropriate language when he needs help, or doesn’t understand something, as well as a plan to reward him for positive or constructive self-expression.	Because Billy genuinely likes school, his disrespectful and noncompliant behavior may likely be out of frustration from being behind his peers in his classroom, as well as mentally and emotionally. By giving him more interaction with English language, even in the previous box, Billy will likely catch up and feel less need to cause disturbances in being disrespectful toward his teachers or classmates. Aside from using a planner, Billy might benefit from being encouraged to keep a journal daily, encouraging English but giving him the option to use whichever language he prefers.
4b) What community agencies would you include/collaborate in planning for a successful transition for Billy?	Billy would benefit with the help from his future teachers, the school administrators, a language pathologist, her grandmother, and a resource special education teacher.	Same as before, with the addition of a resource EL specialist that could help Billy grow in his English language skills.

Case Study Summary

Using the chart provided, the special education candidate will summarize the student’s needs as identified in the case study and recommend actions to be taken to improve student learning in the general education classroom.  The general education candidate will summarize the student’s needs as identified in the case study and recommend actions to be taken to improve student learning in the special education classroom.  Add additional rows as needed.

Case Study Results -  Student Needs	Recommended Interventions/Actions	Person Responsible (General Education Teacher/ Special Education Teacher)
Billy needs to wear glasses.	Billy should have two pairs of glasses: one for when he is at home, and one pair to wear at school.	Grandmother, General Education Teacher, Special Education Teacher
Billy needs remediation in speech.	Billy should work with a speech pathologist in collaboration with his General Education teacher.	General Education Teacher, Special Education Teacher, Speech Pathologist
Billy needs remediation in literacy and academic subjects of reading and math.	Billy should work with a Special Education teacher who could help him unlock and access the information by pulling him out of regular class for tutoring, including working on sight words.	Special Education Teacher, General Education Teacher
Billy needs to be respectful in class.	Participation in class discussion should be consistently solicited from Billy, but never forced. Any time Billy is respectful in discussion toward his teacher or classmates, the teacher should express praise and appreciation.	General Education Teacher
Billy needs to work well with his classmates.	Partner work and small group work should be a consistent experience for Billy several times per week, offering him consistent opportunities to be rewarded with praise for successful interactions.	General Education Teacher
Billy needs to use appropriate self-expression skills.	Billy needs to learn language in order to express himself when he is feeling stressed, excited, or overwhelmed. This behavior can be modeled in the classroom as well as taught through discussion and role-playing during resource periods.	General Education Teacher, Special Education Teacher, Speech Pathologist
Billy needs to use appropriate self-determination skills.	Billy needs to be shown how to keep and organize a planner, with the goal of him being able to keep his planner current on his own by the end of the school year. Billy’s planner can be checked first daily, then twice a week, then once a week.	General Education Teacher, Special Education Teacher.