Case+Study


 * Profile of Jonathan - Student with Specific Learning Disability in the area of Basic Reading**

Jonathan is a ninth grade student with a specific learning disability in the area of basic reading. He has been served in Special Education since second grade. Jonathan is strong in the area of math computation and math reasoning and excels in visual-spatial tasks. He is often the student class members go to for help when they are unsure of how to solve a word problem or what formula to use for a geometry problem. He has an understated, dry sense of humor classmates and teachers enjoy. Jonathan was a member of his 8th grade Math Bowl Team, and he enjoys playing chess and creating computer graphics.

Jonathan was identified by the SST (Student Support Team) early in second grade as a student struggling with making age appropriate gains in the area of basic reading. After attempts to intervene in the classroom on Jonathan's behalf failed to adequately impact his gains in basic reading, formal testing was administered, and Jonathan was found eligible for Special Education services.

Jonathan's basic reading deficits impact his academic progress in all academic areas with the exception of math. Jonathan enjoys science and does well with tasks not requiring independent reading, but he gets frustrated quickly when he is required to read. Jonathan's grades suffer at times because he avoids assignments that require independent reading. He is currently being served in resource Language Arts and Co-taught Social Studies and Science.

According to psychological testing conducted during his second grade year and again in 5th grade and 8th grade, Jonathan has a processing deficit in the area of visual short-term memory. With a full scale IQ of 101, Jonathan's deficits in the area of basic reading and reading fluency are clearly significant. (Letter-Word Recognition 76, Decoding Fluency 78- weakness areas; Math Computation 107- strength area.)

Results from the most recent psychological evaluation dated 11/3/2010 include:

KTEA II (Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement - Second Edition) standard score - 100 average 85 - 115 average range Letter Word Recognition 76 Reading Comprehension 85 Math Concepts and Applications 94 Math Computation 107 Written Expression 90 Spelling 85 Word Recognition Fluency 85 Decoding Fluency 78

Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing (CTOPP) 100 average 85 - 115 average range Phonological Awareness 67 Phonological Memory 90 Rapid Naming 85

Differential Ability Scale - Second Edition (DAS-2)Standard score 100 average - 85-115 average range Verbal 95 Nonverbal 104 Spatial Reasoning 95 Working Memory 96 Processing Speed 97 Full Scale IQ 101

Results of DAS-II profile indicated greater difficulty with visual short-term memory/recall tasks than tasks requiring perception of spatial orientation, attention to detail, ability to analyze, ability to synthesize, and spatial imagery.