Students Problems at School Level

Department of Education,Student Services (Anglophone)

P.O. Box 6000, Fredericton, N.B., E3B 5H1(506) 453-2816 November 1999

Resource for the Identificationand Teaching of Students with SpecificLearning Disability

Acknowledgements

The Department of Education wishes toacknowledge the contribution of the followingpeople toward the development of thisdocument. Their time, effort, and sharing ofexpertise is highly valued.

Kate McLellan (Chair)Consultant for Students with Exceptionalities, Department of Education

Joan HoganAPSEA Supervisor for Hearing Impaired, Department of Education

Ed JonesSupervisor of Student Services, School District 16

Susan McConnellLD Consultant, Resource Teacher,School District 6

Kaye EagenResource Teacher, Magnetic Hill School, School District 2

Mary HooperResource Teacher, St. George Elementary,School District 10

Copyright Ownership

Care has been taken to trace ownership of copyrightmaterial contained in this resource book. Anyinformation that will allow the New BrunswickDepartment of Education to rectify any reference orcredit in subsequent editions would be gratefullyreceived by the Consultant for Students withExceptionalities, New Brunswick Department ofEducation, P.O. Box 6000, Fredericton, N.B. E3B 5H1

2

develop their creativity and knowledge to a levelconsistent with the other children in their class,although they will not always be expected toexpress it in the same manner. Methods ofevaluation based on appropriate expectations arekey to addressing the needs of children withSpecific Learning Disability. Remember,fairness does not mean that everyone receivesthe same, what fairness actually means iseveryone receiving what he or she needs.(Richard Lavoie, How Difficult Can This Be?)

In order to accomplish fair evaluation, theteacher must embrace the philosophies inherentin the theories of Multiple Intelligences(Howard Gardner), Learning Styles (Dunn &Dunn), Quantum Learning (DePorter, Reardon,Singer-Nourie), and other preference- basedlearning theories, and vary the presentationmethods, activities and evaluations to suit thestrengths of the children in the classroom.

The goal in developing methods and strategiesfor children with processing deficits is to assistthem by circumventing the difficulty throughmethods and presentations that use otherstrength areas. In addition to this, particularly inthe early years, children with learning disabilitiesoften need explicit intervention, depending onthe nature of their processing difficulty.

Teachers who are sensitive to the needs ofchildren with Specific Learning Disability canhave significant impact on these children andgive them a positive life-long effect on theirability to meet their potential.

Definition

Learning disabilities is a general term that refersto a group of disorders which are due toidentifiable or inferred central nervous systemdysfunction, which may be manifested by delaysin early development and/or difficulties in any ofthe following areas: attention, memory,reasoning, co-ordination, communicating,spelling, calculation, social competence, andemotional maturation.

Introduction

Purpose

The Department of Education supports theinclusion of children with exceptional needs intothe regular classroom setting. However, theidentification of specific learning patterns, aswell as specific strengths and needs, is needed inorder to purposefully plan for the variety ofdiverse learners in our classrooms.

Since students with Specific Learning Disabilitymake up approximately five to fifteen percent ofany population, the Department of Educationrecognizes the need to provide practicalinformation for teachers with regard to thecharacteristics associated with Specific LearningDisability, and information regarding practicalteaching methods and strategies for addressingthe needs of these specific learners.

This document has been developed in responseto this need. It provides teachers withbackground information about the characteristicsassociated with various types of SpecificLearning Disability. It suggests methods forinformal and formal assessment of these students.It presents guidelines for the development ofSpecial Education Plans that address the needsof these students and suggests various resourcesappropriate for their learning needs. Thedocument also recommends ways ofincorporating parental involvement in theplanning process.

Ultimately, the teacher of children with SpecificLearning Disability will recognize the uniquenessof the childrens learning needs and will considerhis or her methods of presentation andevaluation, that will allow the children to showknowledge of the content of what is being taughtand its inherent concepts, while continuing tostimulate the childrens average to above-averageintellectual ability. The teacher must rememberthat, although these children have difficulty inspecific areas, if given the opportunity, they can

3

Learning disabilities are intrinsic to theindividual and may affect learning and behaviourin any individual of average or above- averageintelligence.

Learning disabilities are not due primarily tovisual, hearing, motor or cognitive impairments,or to emotional disturbance or environmentaldisadvantage. Learning disabilities may arisefrom genetic or bio-chemical factors or eventsresulting in neurological impairment.

(Adapted from Learning Disabilities Association ofCanada definition 1988)

In other words:

A child with learning disabilities is one whopossesses average to above-average ability , andoften displays a discrepancy between academicachievement and intellectual ability.

Learning disabilities are not primarily the resultof

sensory impairment physical challenges developmental delay emotional disturbance environmental influences

Learning disabilities, Attention Deficit Disorder,behaviour disorders, etc. can be separate or co-existing conditions. Other behavioural orpersonality disorders can develop as secondarycharacteristics. As such it is essential torecognize these secondary traits as well as addressthe primary difficulties.

4

Learning Disabilities Attention Deficit Disorder

Behavioural Disorders

Slow Learner: Note that the profile is relativelyeven and typically does not vary significantlyfrom the below-average range, i.e. below scaledscore of 8.

The graphs on the following pages display typicalprofiles of intellectual function and learningpatterns as seen on the Wechsler IntelligenceScale for Children-III, for an average learner, aslower learner, and for the child with learningdisabilities.

Average Learner: Note that the profile isrelatively even, and typically does not varysignificantly from the average range, i.e. scaledscore of 8-12.

5

Learner with Learning Disability: Twoexamples are given. In the first example, thechild would score within the average rangeoverall, but note that the profile shows manyareas of significant strength and weakness inboth verbal and performance areas. In thesecond example, the profile shows a child withlearning disabilities who also has an overall scorefalling within the average range, but note thesignificant weaknesses in language-related areas,as compared to the non-verbal, performanceareas, which are much stronger.

6

Processing Information

What is it we really ask a student to do when weask him or her to follow a direction or processinformation to give us some sort of product?Often we only recognize the output of anyprocessing task, but actually the job of processingis much more complicated than we realize.

Consider a simple task such as asking a studentto write down spelling words as you call themout.

Initially, there are attention factors that we needto consider. In this situation, the student mustfilter out or suppress all the unnecessary visualinformation that he or she doesnt need in orderto focus on the task. The student must be able tolook at the teacher while he or she is givingdirections, locate a pencil or pen on the deskwith his or her eyes, and find the correct placeon the page to print the spelling words. Thestudent must be able to ignore the colourfulposters and pictures on the wall, the movementof a fellow-student next to him or her, or thetoys that are sitting just within visual range.

The student must also filter out all unnecessaryauditory information that he or she doesnt needin order to focus on the task. The sound of adesk moving, paper shuffling, air conditionersrattling and the like make it difficult for thestudent to focus his or her attention on thedirections or message the teacher is giving. Thestudent needs to be able to ignore or suppressthis auditory information and focus on theteachers words.

The student also has to suppress needless tactileor kinesthetic information . He or she needs tofocus attention on the teacher, rather than onthe itchy sweater being worn or the coldness ofthe room.

Even in this initial stage of informationprocessing, there is more to consider than isapparent.

Comparison: The last chart shows comparisonsamong the different types of learners.

7

If the student has had the ability to focus his orher attention on the task at hand, then the brainbegins processing the information. Perception,memory, organization, and comprehension areintrinsic to this process.

The student, apart from visual acuity, must beable to appropriately perceive, withoutdistortion, the visual information that has beenpresented. Often students with a disability willmisperceive the visual information, and theimage becomes distorted or disoriented. Studentswill sometimes describe the words as falling offthe page, or parts of the words as disappearing.Often reversals, inversions and transpositions areevident. Obviously this kind of difficulty wouldsend mixed messages to the brain and makecomprehension difficult.

Visual memor y is also a part of informationprocessing. The student must be able to matchthe word being said to a picture of the word inhis or her memory. The task then remains totranslate this picture to written form on thepage without additions, distortions, or omissions.

This task also asks the student to perceive thestring of sounds that are being heard, withoutdistortion or disorientation, in the correctsequence, and match those sounds withvocabulary words stored in memory, in order tocomprehend and follow the directions given.

Finally, once the visual and auditory informationhas been processed and the memory accessed,the student needs to match that processing witha motor output by remembering what it feelslike to form specific letters with pencil or pen ona page. This last stage involves visual-motorprocessing.

8

Characteristics of Children withSpecific Learning Disability

Areas of specific learning disability can becategorized in many ways, but, for the purposesof this resourcebook, the following categorieswill be used:

Attention deficit Auditory-processing deficit Visual-processing deficit Visual-Spatial deficit (with or without motor

difficulties) Written -expression deficit Language deficit Mathematics deficit Organizational deficit Memory deficit

Once processing is complete, generally werequire some sort of output for evaluation. Thisis usually verbal, as we ask the student torespond by speaking; or, as in the case of thespelling exercise, it is a motor output, in this caseprinting or writing. Often the output reflects thedeficits in the mode of processing, the part wecant see.

How Difficult Can This Be?

Learning disabilities are often called theinvisible handicap because it is difficult forpeople to understand just exactly what a studentwith a learning disability sees, hears, or feels thatis different from what we would experience. Itseasy to recognize a physical handicap, as often anassistive device is evident, but with a learningdisability there is no device present, and childrenwith learning disabilities are often notrecognized as such, but rather are seen as lazyor unmotivated. The video How DifficultCan This Be?, provided with the resourcebook,attempts to help viewers experience what it islike to have a learning disability and thereforeunderstand the concept at a far deeper level.

(Please take the time to view the video HowDifficult Can This Be?, provided to eachdistrict Supervisor of Student Services with thisresourcebook.)

9

Example of Difficulty with VisualProcessing when Reading

Try to read the following passage. Note thatletters can be off line, reversed, inverted,transposed, or improperly spaced. What you willexperience is the same frustration a student witha visual-processing deficit experiences when heor she attempts to read. Obviously this type ofdeficit is a detriment to the acquisition ofreading, and why many students with this type ofdeficit have reading disabilities.

See answer key in Resource section

Example of a Language Deficitwhen Reading

Read the following paragraph and answer thequestions. In this case the students languagedeficit involves making meaning of words. His orher ability to recognize and process structure isintact. These students are hard to detect in aclassroom, as they may be able to complete afact-finding exercise, as you will see; however,they will not have understood what they readbecause they could not process the language.

Blix and Splox grummed blantily as they brontedalong. The cront was jilp and because of this Blixand Splox were sniped with their bluxy drant.

1. Who were the main characters?2. What did Blix and Splox do as they bronted

along?3. Why were Blix and Splox sniped?4. With what were Blix and Splox sniped?


Example of Difficulty withComprehension of Visual Material

Read the following passage silently, then read italoud and choose the one that makes more senseto you. This example shows the case of studentswho can read, but make no sense of what theyhave read until they hear the passage read aloud.These are the students who need informationread to them or available on tape.

Ladle Rat Rotten Hut

(heresy ladle furry starry toiling udder warts-warts welcher alter girdle defferent fimer onceinner regional verging)

Wants pawn term dare worsted ladle gull hoe liftwetter murder inner ladle cordage honor itchoffer lodge, dock, florist. Disk ladle gull orphanworry putty ladle rat cluck wetter ladle rat hut, anfur disk raisin pimple colder Ladle Rat Rotten Hut.

Wan moaning Ladle Rat Totten Huts murdercolder inset Ladle Rat Rotten Hut, heresy ladlebasking winsome burden barter an shirkercockles. Tick disk ladle basking tutor cordageoffer groin murder hoe lifts honor udder siteoffer


10

D u re e e sto o the t ey o yo m md ert h ry f hr e

d ll b t ruff? h ewa gi ll ydo at, ai oa s b T er sa b di

m bb esizeb gill yg t, ittl ni l oa an b a l e o e.

e teb e egrW eywan so uic ee r ey

h n th m ng ass, thonl wa lk oss e ib ge elb wh

w d acr th dr to a fi eree br swa llan ut buess

th a s s ta bgre en. Boliv eb e g Y t w sa

wh unb rth edri b e? es, i all.

tro

memory-processing difficulties will often displayan inability to recall information (e.g. often notrecalling concepts taught yesterday or notrecalling concepts over long periods of time).

Teachers should also observe the level of socialawareness evident in the children in theirclassroom. Children with learning disabilitiesoften either show very dominant/aggressivecharacteristics with their peers, or they appearpassive/submissive in the school environment.Because these children have difficultyinterpreting their external environment, theymay miss or misperceive the social cues aroundthem. In considering these behaviours, teachersshould be careful not to misinterpret a lack ofsocial skills as immaturity, and vice versa.

The teacher should be aware of the children whohave difficulty finding a way out of difficultsituations to the point that they become angry orshut down. Children who display thesebehaviour patterns often have difficulty withlogical processing. This inability to problemsolve will also be evident in their approach to aschool task in that they may be unable to followa step-by-step procedure to reach a workingconclusion.

Use the observation report form in the nextsection to assist you with your observations.

Work Samples

The next important step in the assessmentprocess is to consider samples of the childrensoutput in response to a given task. This may bepresented orally, in written form, or throughmovement. Children with Specific LearningDisability often display very obviouscharacteristics in their output samples.

General Language Usage

Children with learning disabilities frequentlyhave difficulty with the language in theclassroom. They will not readily follow oraldirections and explanations. The readingrequirements may involve vocabulary too

Assessment

Assessment is an ongoing process involving thecollection of data for the purpose of evaluatingthe performance of a student. The classroomteacher is in the best position to provideinformation on a current basis. Observation,work samples, student portfolios, journal entriesor logs, project work, interview results, daily orweekly tests, criterion-referenced tests such asthe provincial assessments, and standardizedtests, whether group or individual, are all validexamples of assessment, and therefore are allappropriate in assisting the teacher to determinethe best approach to programming for his or herstudents.

Observation

To assist teachers in identifying the children whothey perceive are experiencing learningdifficulties, general observations may be made inthe classroom that are invaluable in helping topinpoint characteristic weaknesses and strengths.Such observation will require the classroomteacher to be on the lookout for commonbehavioural characteristics of children withSpecific Learning Disability. Observation is thefirst step in the assessment process.

Much common behaviour can be observed inchildren with Specific Learning Disability. Theteacher should begin by looking for the studentswho, when attempting to copy or write in class,are often unable to form letters properly, maystart in odd places on the page, may appear tohave difficulty copying from the board, and aregenerally slower than others to complete theirwork. Also, the teacher should look for thestudents who will regularly have difficultyunderstanding what they have read and may beunable to follow directions easily. Also, teachersshould be aware of the students who display aninability to focus their attention for long periodsor may appear to be easily distracted. Teachersshould try to discern those children who havedifficulties related to memory. The students with

11

technical and well beyond the childrensreceptive language capabilities. Children withlearning disabilities may have communicationdifficulties related to a weakness in their abilityto express what they feel.

Expressive Language

General language usage can be identified inexpressive-language production. Studentsexperiencing difficulty with expressive languagemay have difficulty with word finding, oftendisplaying a limited oral vocabulary. They maynot be proficient at participating in conversationwith others, and therefore may appear quiet orshy. The childrens language production mayshow a tendency toward fragmented sentences,as well as difficulties with syntax, with pronounsand/or with verb agreement. Languageproduction may often contain omitted ormispronounced words in conversation. They mayhave particular difficulty answering who, what,when, where and why questions, as the languageof questioning and the purpose of these words areconfusing to them.

Written Language

Written language is also a form of expressivelanguage production. Students experiencingdifficulty with written language may havedifficulty with any one of the many facets of thetask. These students will display difficulty withexpression and sequencing of thoughts and ideas,with structure in sentences and paragraphs, andalso with word order and verb agreement.Frequently the students written expressivevocabulary will lag behind oral expressivevocabulary. Written responses produced by thesechildren will tend to be very brief. Wordomissions, additions, or substitutions in thewritten product will be frequent. Writtenlanguage mechanics such as capitalization andpunctuation will prove a struggle for the studentswith learning disabilities who have processingdifficulties in this area.

Spelling

Spelling, a specific form of written language, willpoint to other forms of processing difficulties.The phonemic/graphemic association of wordsrequired for spelling frequently causes difficultiesfor students with learning disabilities,particularly those who have auditory- processingweaknesses. The spelling of these students will,on a regular basis, bear no resemblance to thecorrect spelling of a word. Words havingirregular spelling patterns will cause notabledifficulty for children with learning disabilities.Spelling, particularly in daily writing, willevidence omissions, substitutions, additions, andrearrangements of letters or sound units. Thechildren will have distinct difficulty withactivities that ask them to analyse sounds inwords. These children may do well on regularspelling lists, but there is often little or no carry-over to daily work, or over time. Asking thesechildren to write a lengthy, end-of-a-unitspelling test is usually courting disaster, and is,therefore, inappropriate for them.

Math

Characteristic difficulties can also be evident inmath. Although some students with learningdisabilities may display weakness in bothlanguage-related and math areas, some studentswith learning disabilities who are very articulateand whose oral and written language is generallyat a high level may experience processingdifficulty with math concepts. The teachershould be particularly wary of this type of patternand try not to prejudge the childrens mathability, on the basis of their language level.Students experiencing difficulty with math willdisplay the processing weakness in a number ofways. In math computation, weaknesses may beseen in long-term memory for math facts, insequencing the steps in computation problems,in organizing or lining up numbers, inrecognizing place value, in dealing with money,time or measurement, and in estimating.Difficulty in attending to the proper operationalsign is also often a recurring error.

12

This option is usually available in the publishedmaterials, but with classroom materials theteacher is responsible for collecting and sortingthe reading material for this purpose.

A published informal reading inventory is a typeof informal assessment designed to provide theteacher or examiner with a variety ofinformation regarding a students reading ability.It can be used to determine the approximatereading level at which the child is totallycomfortable; a level at which the child islearning and therefore encounters some, but notinsurmountable, difficulties; and a level that istoo difficult for the child, and at which he or shefinds significant frustration. These levels arereferred to as the Independent Level, theInstructional Level, and the Frustration Level.These levels can be determined for both isolateddecoding skills and for reading in context. SomeIRIs provide enough alternative forms to allow adetermination of an approximate listening levelas well.

Most IRIs have a number of graded word lists.The instructional level at which the childoperates with these lists gives an indication tothe examiner as to where to begin whenadministering the graded reading passages.Another important aspect of the graded wordlists is that they allow for an analysis of errors,which then provides diagnostic information tothe teacher or examiner.

Most IRIs also contain graded passages thatallow for a calculation of word accuracy incontext, for miscue analysis, and for anevaluation of comprehension throughquestioning.

As a general rule of thumb, 3-4 errors out of 20words in a list, or approximately 90-95% wordaccuracy when reading a passage is considered aninstructional level. For comprehension, thegeneral rule of thumb is approximately 70-75%comprehension for an instructional level. Eachtest may differ slightly, but, when using an IRIthat does not state the criterion levels, the abovepercentages are adequate.

In the area of the application of math concepts,children with learning disabilities will oftenchoose an incorrect operation when faced with aproblem, or will often have difficulty solvingmulti-step problems, and, in doing so, omit astep or complete a step out of order.

Visual-Motor Integration/KinestheticOutput

Children who experience problems related tovisual-motor integration have gross and finemotor difficulty. They will often display difficultywith simple tasks such as tying their shoes. Thechildren with a weakness in visual-motorintegration will often appear clumsy and willmost likely find copying or writing a chore.Work samples from these children will oftenshow inconsistency in letter formation or size.Copying from near or far point within areasonable amount of time or with satisfactoryaccuracy will often prove an insurmountabletask. Work will not be well organized on thepaper. The teacher will find that the move frommanuscript to cursive writing is not an easytransition for these children.

Use the work sample report form in the nextsection to assist you with your evaluation ofwork samples.

Assessment Tools

Informal Reading Inventory

One very valuable form of informal assessment,the informal reading inventory (IRI), can bebroken into components that accommodate ateachers schedule. Inventories can be teacher-made, using the available reading material or apublished reading series in use in the classroom.Inventories are also available in published form,e.g. Silvaroli.

When an inventory is administered, usually anoral, a silent and a listening comprehensionpassage are presented; however, depending on ateachers schedule, these tests may beadministered at different times. An inventorycan give an approximate grade level for reading.

13

Graded Word List

Generally, graded word lists as contained in IRIs,tests such as the Brigance, or published lists suchas the Dolch have a range from kindergartenlevel to grade 12.

Frequently, a significant shift occurs in thedifficulty and types of words encountered afterthe third-grade level. Prior to this level, manychildren rely heavily on their sight wordvocabulary. Generally, from the fourth-gradelevel and on, the students are required to usetheir strategies for decoding unknown words to agreater extent. As such is the case, even thoughchildren may do very well (independent level)on a third-grade reading list, they mayexperience frustration when attempting thefourth-grade level list.

If this happens, the teacher can hypothesize thata basic sight vocabulary has been established, butmore comprehensive word attack strategies havenot been developed to assist the children whenencountering new and more difficult words.

When administering word lists, the teachershould make a check mark next to the wordwhen the child has read the word correctly, andwrite the pronunciation of the word that hasbeen read if the word has been read incorrectly.This can be later used for analysis.

When analysing the errors from a word list, theteacher should make note of any pattern oferrors that are seen. These patterns may include,but are not limited to, some of the following:

Miscue is visually similar to the stimulusword, indicating that the child is relying onhis visual memory and visual cueing system toattack the word - e.g. mysteriouspronounced as mistress.

Errors indicate a visual perception weakness -e.g. reversals such as drink read as brink,transpositions, such as girl read as gril,inversions such as want read as waut.

Errors in medial vowel sounds - e.g. glimpsepronounced as glumpse, haunt pronounced

as hunt - may indicate weaknesses inauditory analysis.

Errors show only parts of the word have beenidentified. Some children identify only thefirst consonant, blend or syllable. Others mayidentify the beginning and end of a word butmiss the medial portion. Be aware of wherethe child is focusing his or her attention in aword.

Errors show difficulty with auditoryconceptualization . These errors show that thechild has little awareness of soundcorrespondence, and the word produced willhave very little relation to the stimulus word -e.g. salary read as serious.

Errors show missing or added prefixes orsuffixes - e.g. assemble read as assembly,evaporate read as evaporated.

In general, the teacher should hypothesize as towhat strategy the children are attempting to usewhen they encounter an unknown word inisolation. Word miscues can also be analysed forwords in context. Each of the guidelines orexamples above applies, although addedsemantic, pragmatic and syntactic cueing systemsare also playing a part.

This word list was read by a child in grade 6. Hewas at an independent level on the third-gradereading list and then encountered frustrationwith this fourth-grade reading list. (Burns/RoeIRI). What can you hypothesize from the patternof errors seen in this list?

14

appropriate level for the child, and whether ornot the child is monitoring and self-correcting ashe or she is reading.

A teacher generally sits next to the child withthe reading passage in view. Using a codingsystem, the teacher records everything the childreads. Generally a check mark is used to indicatea word read correctly. Teachers may use theirown marking system or one such as is indicatedin Marie Clays book An Observation Survey ofLiteracy Achievement.

Running records give an indication of wordaccuracy in the form of a percentage, found bydividing the number of correct words by thetotal number of words and multiplying by 100%.

Number of words correctTotal number of words

A percentage of approximately 90-95% would beconsidered an instructional level.

Analysis of the running record involvesexamining each error or self-correction anddetermining the cause of the error or self-correction. In each case the teacher considerswhether or not the child is using any of the fourcueing systems, i.e. graphophonic, syntactic,pragmatic, or semantic, as he or she is reading.The teacher also considers whether or not thechild is making predictions. (Adapted fromTeachers Manual for Early Success Program byHoughton Mifflin)

Miscue Analysis

Miscue analysis is a means by which anexaminer, usually a teacher, marks and thendiagnostically analyses the oral reading of a childon the basis of the pattern of errors. Miscueanalysis allows the teacher to hypothesize thestrategies that a child uses when he or she isreading words in context. A word-accuracy scorecan also be obtained in this manner. Thefollowing is a suggested marking system,although teachers may develop their own:

Stimulus Responsecartridge chart..disease dizzydisturbance disturbancefoundation foundactiongaze +harpoon +jewel jellonervous +offend oftenprairie pr..relief +remote +rumor rum orsalary celeryserious sersewilderness winderness

In the previous example, several patterns can benoted. First, it is evident that the child is able toidentify the first few letters if not the firstsyllable of the word he or she is trying toidentify. It is also evident that the child is usingthe visual mode to try to interpret the unknownword. The child identifies the first part of theword, then focuses on one or two key consonantsand then fabricates the rest of the word aroundthese key consonants. This pattern is furthersupported in the errors where the child readsthe word, but, by the inflection, one can tell thatthe word is not recognized; e.g. rumorwasreadRUM or, disturbance..was readDIStur bance. The reading of the word salary ascelery shows that the student recognizes theshape and key consonants of the word.

One can hypothesize from the errors on this listthat the child relies on his visual system to helphim unlock unknown words, but he or she hasfew other efficient strategies to assist him or her.

Running Record

A running record is a way of observing, scoringand analysing a childs reading behaviour. Arunning record can assist the teacher indetermining what strategies the child is using, towhich cueing system(s) the child is attending,whether or not the reading passage is at an

15

x 100% =

Marking:

mispronunciation went The student attempts to pronounce the word but produces a nonsensical word that has no meaning.

substitution went A real word is substituted incorrectly.

insertion sent on

to The student inserts a word or a series of words that does not appear in the text.

omission to school A word or words are omitted from the text.

repetition in the house A word or words are repeated.

reversal that he saw The word order is reversed or transposed.

lengthy pause // The student stops for a second or more.

C in my house successful correction in the roof The student successfully corrects a miscue.

U in my house unsuccessful correction on the roof The student attempts a correction but is unsuccessful

in producing the word.

meaningful substitution T The miscue makes sense within the context of the sentence or story.

prediction P The miscue indicates that the child is predicting as he or she is reading.

nonsense word N The miscue does not make sense whether as a prediction or as a meaningful miscue. Usually these arenonsense words.

(Adapted from manual for Burns/Roe Informal Reading Inventory)

The use of the syntactic system is evident insubstitutions that are meaningful within asentence, but not necessarily within the contextof the story. The child bases his or herpredictions on the word order or sentencepattern (syntax). Self-corrections will also beevident in miscues that are not grammaticallycorrect.

The use of the pragmatic system is evident inmiscues where it is evident that the child has orhas not attended to conventions of print, such asdifferent forms of genres, or conventions such ascapital and lower-case letters or punctuation.

16

In order to interpret properly the miscueanalysis, teachers must rely on their knowledgeof the reading process to determine whatstrategies the child is attempting to use as he orshe is reading. Initially teachers should look forthe use of the semantic cueing system. In otherwords, teachers should try to determine whetheror not the child is attempting to constructmeaning as he or she is reading. The use of thesemantic system will be evident in the childs useof meaningful substitution and prediction,particularly when the prediction is self-corrected.

wert

want

Children who grasp quickly the relationshipsbetween letters and word sounds almost alwaysbecome better readers than children who strugglewith these relationships do. Phonologicalawareness is not all that a child needs to learn toread, but it is a necessary and an integral part ofthe process for most children.

Research has shown that children with a weakawareness of sound/letter relationships andphonology are, on average, below their peers inreading ability. That is, those in the bottomtwenty percent of phonological awareness at thebeginning of the first grade are about two and ahalf grade levels or more below their peers inreading by the end of the fifth grade. (Adaptedfrom Fast ForWord Building a Foundation forReading)

Phonemic awareness is not phonics. Phonemicawareness is an understanding about spokenlanguage. Children who are phonemically awarecan tell the teacher that bat is the word theteacher is representing by saying three separatesounds in the word. They can tell the teacher allof the sounds in the spoken word dog. They cantell the teacher that, if the last sound were takenoff the word cart, the word would be car.Phonics, on the other hand, is knowing therelation between specific printed letters(including combinations of letters) and specificspoken sounds. The teacher is asking children toshow their phonics knowledge when asking themwhich letter makes the first sound in bat or dog,or when asking them the last sound in car or cart.The phonemic awareness tasks that havepredicted successful reading are tasks thatdemand that children attend to spoken language,not tasks that simply ask students to name lettersor tasks that ask them to tell which letters makewhich sounds. In fact, if phonemic awareness justmeant knowledge of letter/sound relations, therewould have been no need to coin a new term forit. (From International Reading Association.Reading Online)

The level of phonemic awareness that a childexhibits on entering school when he or she isfaced with an alphabetic script is widely held to

The use of the graphophonemic system will beevident in miscues that are visually similar orsound similar to the original word, but may notnecessarily make sense.

It is the teachers job to determine on which ofthese systems the child is relying most heavily.The teacher should attempt to determine if thechild is using good reading strategies, or if he orshe is a word-by- word reader who is notattending to the context of the story.

Reading Starts with UnderstandingPhonemes

Reading starts with phonemic awareness theability to notice, think about and manipulate theindividual sounds in words or phonemes.Phonemes are the smallest units of sound in ourlanguage that can make a difference in themeaning of a word (like cat vs. rat). From justforty- four of these speech sounds, we create allthe words of the English language.

Phonemic awareness is an auditory skill. A childmay have satisfactory hearing but still not beable to recognize phonemes in context.Phonemes are much harder to interpret in noisysituations, when they blend with other sounds,or when they occur in a series of rapid successivespeech sounds.

Phonemic awareness is part of a broader skill setcalled phonological awareness , which is theability to recognize and use all sizes of soundunits, such as words, syllables and phonemes.Phonological processing, and particularlyphonemic awareness, is the primary area wherechildren with reading difficulties may differ fromother children.

A child is said to have a phonological-processingproblem when he or she has difficulty perceiving,decoding, remembering and retrieving verbalinformation. These auditory skills are necessaryfor children learning any language, even alanguage as different from English as Chinese.

17

be the strongest single determinant of the successthat he or she will experience in learning to read or conversely, the likelihood that he or she willfail.

Among readers of alphabetic languages, thosewho are successful invariably have phonemicawareness, whereas those who lack phonemicawareness are invariably struggling. Researchclearly shows that phonemic awareness can bedeveloped through instruction and, furthermore,that such instruction significantly accelerateschildrens subsequent reading and writingachievement.

Informal Tests of InformationProcessing

One of the key factors in identifying the needs ofa child with Specific Learning Disability is theidentification of areas of weakness and strength,which relate to the ways in which the childprocesses visual, auditory or kinestheticinformation. Informal tests such as theSlingerland Screening Tests for Identifying Childrenwith Specific Language Disability can provideessential information for understanding thelearning needs of the child with SpecificLearning Disability. Tests such as the Slingerlandprovide information on visual perception, visualmemory, visual motor processing, auditorymemory, and auditory perception. Such tests,since they are informal, can be developed at adistrict or school level, although variouspublished materials are available.

Once processing needs are determined, strategiesto assist children in using their processingstrengths and coping with their processingweaknesses can be developed. Tests such as theSlingerland are informal and therefore are notstandardized using a normative process.However, general guidelines have beenestablished for their use.

Standardized Tests of EducationalAchievement

Another form of assessment tool that is criticalto the process of identifying and planning for theneeds of children with specific learning disabilityis the standardized test of educationalachievement. There are many examples of thistype of test, but the ones that give the mostinformation relative to children with SpecificLearning Disability are tests that assess readingdecoding, reading comprehension, mathcomputation, math applications, and/or writtenlanguage, and have the capability of providinginformation related to error analysis. Someexamples of this type of test include, but are notlimited to, Kaufman Test of EducationalAchievement, Woodcock Reading Mastery TestRevised, Keymath Diagnostic Arithmetic Test Revised.

Standardized tests of educational achievementhave been taken through a normative processand show evidence of validity and reliability.Formal assessment procedures employ tightlyorganized test materials, structured testsituations, and group-based comparisons. Thesetests often have a highly prescribed test formatand are designed to reveal data that can becompared to that obtained on children who weretested during the instruments construction.(Guerin and Maier 1983)

In most cases, those qualified to administer thistype of test include, but are not limited to,school psychologists, learning disabilitiesspecialists, educational diagnosticians, readingspecialists, clinical psychologists, remedialreading teachers, resource and methods teachers,counsellors, social workers, and others within thegeneral fields of psychology, education, andsocial service who have background training inassessment. (KTEA Manual 1985).

Other tests, such as the Wechsler IndividualAchievement Test (WIAT), are slightly morerestrictive in the qualifications of thosepermitted to administer them. Usually,individuals in educational or psychological

18

analysis of the various subtests can help to clarifystrengths and weaknesses in informationprocessing. Examiner qualifications for this typeof test are the most restricted. Teachers may findthe book How to Detect Reading/Lear ningDisabilities Using the WISC-III by EvelynSearls (1997) helpful in demystifying WISC-IIIresults.

Administration of a test of intellectualfunctioning should be the last step in theassessment process for children with SpecificLearning Disability. Having progressed frominformal assessment to formal assessment, andhaving had psychologists, district personnel,resource teachers, classroom teachers and parentsinvolved in a collaborative planning process, thechildren should already have an educationalprogram designed to address their needs.

For those children whose information processingis hindered by weaknesses related to focus ofattention, further investigation with theassistance of a psychologist, using behaviourrelated tests such as the Conners Rating Scales-Revised, may be warranted.

testing who have graduate level training in the useof individually administered assessmentinstruments are qualified to administer thesetests. (WIAT Manual 1990) Many resource andmethods teachers would fall into this category.

In each case it is best to consult the test manualfor reference to examiner qualifications.

Standardized tests of educational achievementprovide further information related to thechildrens level of skill development in certainacademic areas as compared to a normativegroup of children, whether in the same grade orage group. Children with learning disabilitiesgenerally show significant lags in one or moreacademic areas.

Standardized Tests of InformationProcessing

Similar to informal tests of informationprocessing, standardized tests of informationprocessing, such as the Detroit Tests of LearningAptitude: 4, also provide information related tovisual memory, visual perception, visual-motorprocessing, auditory memory, auditory perceptionand kinesthetic processing. Tests such as thePeabody Picture Vocabulary Test III and theExpressive Vocabulary Test provide informationon general vocabulary usage. More in-depthlanguage tests such as the Test of LanguageDevelopment (Intermediate or Primary): 3 provideinformation related to language processing andpragmatics. There are many of these types oftests available, but again the examinerqualifications are restricted.

Standardized Tests of IntellectualFunctioning

In order to confirm whether or not children arediagnosed with Specific Learning Disability, astandardized measure to determine intellectualpotential, such as the Wechsler Intelligence Scalefor Children-III, should be completed. The resultsfrom this testing will help determine if adiscrepancy between intellectual potential andacademic achievement is present. Furthermore,

19

21

Observations Report Form General

Students Name: Date:

Oral Language:

Handwriting or Printing:

Copying Ability:

Focus of Attention:

Written Expression:

(Continued on reverse)

22

Problem-Solving Skills:

Social Skills/Peer Relationships:

General Classroom Behaviour

Observations Report Form General


Oral Language:

Handwriting or Printing:

Copying Ability:

Focus of Attention:

Written Expression:


Continued on reverse

Problem-Solving Skills:

Social Skills/Peer Relationships:

General Classroom Behaviour

25

Work Sample Report Form


Written Language

Expressing/sequencing thoughts:

Sentence/paragraph structure:

Word order/verb agreement

Expressive vocabulary:

Length of paragraphs/sentences:


26

Words omitted/added/substituted:

Language mechanics/pragmatics

Spelling

Phoneme/grapheme association

Regular/irregular patterns:

Letters or sound units omitted/substituted/added/rearranged:

(Continued)

27


Prefixes/suffixes/word endings:

Sound analysis

Spelling lists:

Spelling in daily work:

Expressive Language

Oral vocabulary:

Word finding:

(Continued)

28

Fluency in conversation:

Sentence structure/syntax:

Words omitted:

General articulation:

Comprehension of questions:

(Continued)

29


Math

Math facts:

Sequencing steps in computation:

Organizing numbers (lining up):

Place value:

Money:

Time:

(Continued)

30

Measurement:

Estimation:

Attention to operational signs:

Choosing the correct operation:

Solving multi-step word problems (look for omission of steps or steps out of order):

(Continued)

31


Visual-Motor Integration

Gross/fine motor abilities:

Handwriting/printing:

Letter formation/size/spacing:

Length of time to copy or complete:

Accuracy of copying:

Organization of work on paper:

(Continued)

32

Ease of transition from manuscript to cursive:


Following directions (understanding the language of the direction):

Receptive language:

Social relations related to language weakness:



Written Language

Expressing/sequencing thoughts:

Sentence/paragraph structure:

Word order/verb agreement

Expressive vocabulary:

Length of paragraphs/sentences:


Words omitted/added/substituted:

Language mechanics/pragmatics

Spelling

Phoneme/grapheme association

Regular/irregular patterns:

Letters or sound units omitted/substituted/added/rearranged:

(Continued)


Prefixes/suffixes/word endings:

Sound analysis

Spelling lists:

Spelling in daily work:

Expressive Language

Oral vocabulary:

Word finding:

(Continued)

Fluency in conversation:

Sentence structure/syntax:

Words omitted:

General articulation:

Comprehension of questions:

(Continued)


Math

Math facts:

Sequencing steps in computation:

Organizing numbers (lining up):

Place value:

Money:

Time:

(Continued)

Measurement:

Estimation:

Attention to operational signs:

Choosing the correct operation:

Solving multi-step word problems (look for omission of steps or steps out of order):

(Continued)


Visual-Motor Integration

Gross/fine motor abilities:

Handwriting/printing:

Letter formation/size/spacing:

Length of time to copy or complete:

Accuracy of copying:

Organization of work on paper:

(Continued)39

Ease of transition from manuscript to cursive:


Following directions (understanding the language of the direction):

Receptive language:

Social relations related to language weakness:

41

Giving the TAAS (Test of Auditory Analysis Skills)

The test starts off with two demonstration itemsthat are intended to show the child what he orshe is expected to do. The first (item A) goeslike this: Say cowboy. (Now pause and allowhim or her to respond. This lets you know thathe or she heard the word.) Then say Now say itagain, but dont say boy. Give him or her timeto respond. (The correct answer, of course, iscow.)

If he or she gets this one correct, move on to thesecond demonstration item. If he or she does notget item A correct, attempt to explain the taskto the child. If it requires more than a simpleexplanation, stop testing.

The second demonstration item (item B) is Saysteamboat. (Pause wait for the response.)Now say it again, but dont say steam.

If the child answers both demonstration itemscorrectly, start the test with item 1. If the childdoes not answer both demonstration itemscorrectly, do not administer any more items.Stop testing when the child has answered two ina row incorrectly.

Item Question Correct Response

A. Say cowboy Now say it again, but dont say boy cow (Preschool)B. Say steamboat Now say it again, but dont say steam boat (Preschool)1. Say sunshine Now say it again, but dont say shine sun (Kindergarten)2. Say picnic Now say it again, but dont say pic nic (Kindergarten)3. Say cucumber Now say it again, but dont say cu(q) cumber (Kindergarten)4. Say coat Now say it again, but dont say /k/ (the k sound) oat (Grade 1)5. Say meat Now say it again, but dont say /m/ (the m sound) eat (Grade 1)6. Say take Now say it again, but dont say /t/ (the t sound) ache (Grade 1)7. Say game Now say it again, but dont say /m/ gay (Grade 1)8. Say wrote Now say it again, but dont say /t/ row (Grade 1)9. Say please Now say it again, but dont say /z/ plea (Grade 1)10. Say clap Now say it again, but dont say /k/ lap (Grade 2)11. Say play Now say it again, but dont say /p/ lay (Grade 2)12. Say stale Now say it again, but dont say /t/ sale (Grade 3)13. Say smack Now say it again, but dont say /m/ sack (Grade 3)

(Rosner 1979)

For each statement that you have checked, put a checkmark or X under the corresponding deficit columnsindicated in the chart on the last page of this section.

Once you have identified a potential area(s) of weakness, go to the more specific checklist and strategiesfor the indicated area(s).

42

Checklist for General Warning Signs

Use the following checklist to help you to identify areas of weakness regarding your students.

Check each of the warning signs that apply to the student being considered. Each of these statements isfollowed by a set of capital letters that will help you to further identify specific areas of processingweakness. The capital letters represent the following:

V: Visual VS: Visual Spatial A: Auditory

O: Organization L: Language At: Attention

M: Memory Ma: Math W: Written

q Is the student an adequate oral speller, but apoor written speller? (V)

q Does the student appear to listen, butprocess the information heard inaccuratelyor out of sequence? (A)

q Does the student have difficulty learningsounds and sound patterns (phonemicawareness, phonics, linguistic method)? (A)

q Does the student have difficulty makingdecisions? (At, O)

q Does the student act impulsively.speakbefore thinkingact beforethinking.answer before consideringpossibilities? (At)

q Does the student have difficulty making andkeeping friends? (At,L)

q Does the student find social situationsdifficult? (L)

q Does the student misperceive socialsituations? (At, L)

q Does the student have difficultydiscriminating size, shape or colour? (V,VS)

q Does the student have a poor sense of time?(VS)

q Does the student have difficulty with timeconcepts such as days, weeks, months,years? (VS,O)

q Is the student clumsy and does he or sheshow poor visual-motor co-ordination? (VS)

q Is the student totally dysfluent on paper(known as agraphia)? (W)

q Does the student lose the gist or thoughteasily when writing? (W)

q Does the student have difficulty copyingnotes from the board? (V,M)

q Does the student omit capitalization and/orpunctuation consistently? (W)

q Does the student have difficulty withabstract reasoning or with problem solving?(O)

Checklist for General WarningSigns

q Does the student seem disorganized in his orher thinking? (O, A)

q Are there reversals, inversions, ortranspositions in reading and writing beyondwhat you would usually see at your gradelevel? (V,VS,W)

q Is the student slow to respond when yougive a direction or ask for an oral response?(A,L)

q Is the student confused or slow to respondwhen asked to complete written work?(A,L,W)

q Is written work often not completed within atime limit? (W,O)

q Does the student consistently have difficultywith personal organization? (O)

q Is oral language often rambling ordisjointed? (A,L)

q Is expressive language in written form oftenrambling or disjointed? (At,L,O)

q Does the student have difficulty organizingand/or sequencing his or her thoughts whengiven a general topic or task? (At,O,W)

q Does the student have difficultyremembering what was just said or seen?(A,V, At, M)

q Does the student have difficultyremembering stored facts or coming up withthe appropriate word without prompting?(L,M)

q Is the student restless during videos orvisual presentations? (V)

q Does the student use both left and righthands in motor activities? (VS)

q Does the student tune out in noisyenvironments (may be viewed as adaydreamer)? (A)

q Does the student have difficulty recognizinga pattern or sequencing thoughts orpictures? (VS)

43

q Does the student have difficulty with theconcepts of time, money, measurement,directionality and/or sequencing in math?(Ma)

q Does the student have difficulty withabstract or symbolic math concepts? (Ma)

q Does the student have difficulty choosingthe correct operation in math? (Ma)

q Does the student have difficulty filtering outnon-essential information - i.e. can he or shedirect his or her attention to the task athand? (At)

q Does the student have difficulty focusingand maintaining attention? (At)

q Does the student have difficulty with basiccalculation? (V,M,Ma)

q Does the student have difficulty with mathapplications? (V,M,Ma)

q Does the student have difficulty withabstract patterns and relationships betweennumbers? (VS,Ma)

q Does the student have difficultyunderstanding numerical order or placevalue? (Ma)

q Does the student express himself or herselfmuch better orally than in written form? (W)

q Does the student remember information for aday or two, but forget over the long term?(M)

q Does the student consistently forget how toprint his or her name, or forget his or herstreet address, simple number facts, namesof letters, etc.? (M)

q Does the student have difficulty with wordrecall? (M)

q Does the student have difficulty with mathfacts, formulas or the sequence in aformula? (Ma)

These characteristics should be evident at alevel beyond that which you would usually seeat your grade level.

44

Deficit Chart

Locate the identification letters next to theboxes you checked in the previous checklist. Puta check mark for every letter under thecorresponding columns on this chart. Thecolumns with the most check marks are areasthat need further investigation.

A At L V VS W M O Ma

45

Characteristics of SpecificDeficit Areas with TeachingStrategies and Methods ofEvaluation

The next section of the resource book is dividedinto specific deficit areas. Each area contains amore specific checklist and a section on teachingstrategies and methods of evaluation.

The checklists will help to further determinewhether or not the student is displayingweaknesses related to a specific processing area.

Consider the characteristics listed in the areathat has been identified from the GeneralChecklist as a potential area of weakness, andplace a check mark beside the ones that apply tothe student. If a majority of the characteristicslisted for a specific deficit area are evident in thestudent, then go to the section(s) related to theteaching strategies and evaluation methodsincluded in that section.

47

Attention Deficit

An attention deficit is the inability to filter outextraneous auditory, visual or kinesthetic informationin order to focus and maintain attention to the taskat hand. Hyperactivity or impulsiveness may beevident with this deficit.

The following is a list of characteristics that maybe evident in children with this deficit. Use thisas a checklist with regard to students who youthink may fit this category.

q The student is fidgety.

q The student is slow to respond when askedto give a direction, when asked for an oralresponse, or when asked to completewritten work.

q The student often misperceives socialsituations.

q The student leaves his seat at inappropriatetimes.

q The student runs or climbs or is generallyoveractive in inappropriate situations.

q The student talks excessively.

q The student has difficulty playing or workingquietly.

q The student is always on the go.

q The student tends to blurt out answers.

q The student has trouble waiting for his/herturn.

q The student interrupts often.

q The student has difficulty following throughon instructions.

q The student has difficulty maintainingattention on the task at hand.

q The student loses things necessary for tasksand activities at school or at home.

q The student has difficulty listening.

q The student fails to give close attention todetail.

q The student seems disorganized.

q The student has trouble with tasks thatrequire sustained focus.

q The student is forgetful

q The student is easily distracted.

49

50

Help to build self-esteem by displaying work orprojects that emphasize the childs strengths.

Use a signal to draw the childs attentionback.

Redirect physical energy, or ignore it. Assign a classroom or study buddy to the

child. Provide visual examples and steps for

completing assignments. Provide an outline and ensure that the child

understands the exact requirements for his orher assignments.

Provide the child with a copy of the readingmaterial with the main ideas highlighted.

Allow the child to have practice tests prior totesting so he or she comprehends the structureof testing.

Try using calming music when working on atask, testing, or during transition times.

Provide an outline for lengthy readingassignments.

Provide earphones and tapes of a text, book,or passage.

Evaluation

Adjust the length of tests, not the level ofdifficulty. Measure knowledge, not endurance.

Allow extra time for completion of tests. Avoid visually crowded sheets or confusing

configurations on tests. Arrange for a quiet area for the child to work

during testing. Allow for scheduled breaks during testing. Base evaluations on a demonstration of

knowledge of curriculum concepts andcontent, not simply on completion of all gradeassignments. This child may not be able tocomplete the same number of assignments, butmay display adequate knowledge.

Consider open-book tests. Give oral tests or make a scribe available

when necessary. Consider providing the test on tape, to which

the student responds on an answer sheet.

Methods/Strategies:

Put the child in a morestructured seating plan withhis or her back to classmates,away from high traffic areas. Inform the child whenpossible, prior to all

scheduled changes in routine. Give only one direction at a time. Check with the child to see if directions have

been understood. Activity-based lessons with lots of movement

work much better for this type of child. Try toprogram scheduled breaks into the day. Askingthese children to sit still for any length of time isan unreasonable request and most likely notpossible for them.

A calm, positive manner is much moreproductive with this type of child.

Plan organization strategies into this childslesson ( see section on organization).

Reduce the amount of homework given, but notthe level of difficulty of the task.

Send home an extra set of textbooks tocircumvent memory lapses with regard tobringing books home or to school.

Be patient, as these children become morefrustrated and tire more easily than others.

Make eye contact with the child when givinginstructions.

Establish daily contact, if possible, with theparents, e.g. notes in a homework book, TalkMail, or brief daily reports to be signed by theparents.

Use classroom tokens for reward whenappropriate.

Use encouraging statements to elicit appropriatebehaviours.

Praise appropriate behaviour and ignoreinappropriate behaviour.

Immediately give a reprimand if one is necessary. Use time out when necessary. Provide a quiet space to work without

distraction when appropriate and if possible.

Assign oral reports or hands-on projects. Give more weight for assignments or projects

that allow the child to show his or herunderstanding, using his or her strengtharea(s).

51

52

q The student has difficulty learning soundsand sound patterns (phonemic awareness,phonics, linguistic method).

q The student is unable to retain sounds orwords long enough in order to make meaningfrom them.

q The student has a delay in languagedevelopment, vocabulary, or articulation.

q The student is unable to discriminatebetween similar sounding words (e.g. shutand shot).

q The student often looks to see whateverybody else is doing before carrying outdirections.

q The student prefers visual or active games tothose involving listening or speaking.

q The student may not respond as rapidly tosounds as others.

q The student is unable to explain in verbal orwritten fashion what he or she can achieveby doing.

q The students written or oral responses willappear very simple and will not be anaccurate indication of his or her knowledge.

q The students responses and comments mayoften appear to be dissociated from thetopic.

Auditory-Processing Deficit

An auditory-processing deficit is the inability tointerpret, organize, analyze, or synthesize an auditorymessage in the absence of a hearing impairment. Manychildren who have been diagnosed with CentralAuditory-Processing Disorder (CAPD) would fallunder this category.

The following is a list of characteristics that may beevident in children with this deficit. Use this as achecklist with regard to students who you thinkmay fit this category.

q The student tunes out in a noisy environment(may be viewed as a daydreamer).

q The student listens but processes theinformation heard inaccurately and often out ofproper sequence.

q The student is unable to follow oral directions,especially those given quickly.

q The student frequently asks for information tobe repeated (often uses question words suchas huh? what?).

q The student has difficulty retaining materialpresented orally.

53

q The student experiences difficulty withdictated notes.

q The student experiences difficulty with shortand fast quizzes.

q The student experiences difficulty makingnotes from what the teacher has said.

q The student has difficulty sorting outbackground noises.

q The student has difficulty focusing on onesound among many.

q The student has difficulty answering oralquestions and repeating sentences.

Methods/Strategies:

Place the student near the front of the roomor near the teacher, away from the door orwindow that may provide a source of auditorydistraction.

Offer the student a study carrel to work in ifone is available.

Place the student in a structured rather thanan open classroom if possible.

Have most oral lessons in written form or inoutline form for this student.

Place less emphasis on decoding words.Encourage the use of context and picture cues.

Use taped books, as this will assist the child toassociate the auditory with a visual message.

Intervene with phonemic awareness activitiesor programs.

Make sure the student has eye contact withthe teacher when instructions are given, andensure that the student is attending to what isbeing said.

Teach the student the mouth positionassociated with certain sounds, when teachingthese skills in the classroom.

Speak in a slow and distinct manner, usingsimple vocabulary.

Use gesture to reinforce what is being said. Emphasize key words and word endings when

speaking or writing, especially whenpresenting new information.

Paraphrase instructionsand information in simplerlanguage rather than onlyrepeating.

Encourage the student toask questions whenconfused.

Make instructional transitions clear. Avoid asking the student to listen and write

notes at the same time. Provide copied notes when necessary. Show patience with these children as they tire

easily. Monitor the students understanding of

directions by asking the student to repeat thedirection given.

Pair the student with a peer helper who canassist the student when he or she has notgrasped the auditory message.

Do not count spelling in daily work or testsituations.

Evaluation Strategies:

Break the test into smaller portions. Provide a scribe for testing. Do not count spelling on a test. Ensure that the student has understood the

directions for a test. Give the student short directions,

explanations, and instructions to follow. Provide written directions and instructions to

supplement verbal directions and instructions. Identify a list of word endings, key words, etc.

that the student will practise listening forwhen someone is speaking.

Have the student silently repeat or sub-vocalize information just heard.

Deliver directions to the child individually. Interact frequently with the student during

testing. Give the student one task to perform at one

time. Provide visual aids whenever possible.

54

Provide a quiet place towrite a test. Provide extra time whennecessary (usually time anda half is sufficient) Allow point-formanswers to essay questions.

Visual-Processing Deficit

A visual-processing deficit is the inability tointerpret, organize, analyse or synthesize a visualmessage in the absence of a visual impairment.


q The student is inattentive to visual tasks andcan be easily distracted by too much visualstimuli (e.g. brightly coloured posters, or toomuch clutter in the classroom).

q The student is restless during videos orvisual presentations.

q The student has difficulty copying from theboard, test paper, calculator or textbook tothe students own paper.

q The students written copy may showmissing figures or words, reversals,inversions, additions, deletions, ortranspositions in letters or numbers.

q The student does not remember what he orshe has read silently

q The student rubs his or her eyes orcomplains that his or her eyes are bothering

him or her. The eyes may be botheredbecause of the intensity needed to decipherthe visual material.

q The students reading level is belowaverage.

q The students oral reading comprehension isbetter than his or her silent readingcomprehension.

q In math, the student is inattentive to functionsigns, omits steps in a formula, or confusesvisually similar formulas.

q The student is a poor written speller, but isan adequate oral speller.

q The student does not observe visualchanges or stimuli that other children notice(e.g. bulletin board displays, posted noticesin obvious places).

q The students directionality is weak, and thestudent gets lost in unknown places, oftencopies numbers reversed, inverted ortransposed from the original.


q The students work shows persistent spellingerrors.

55

Methods/Strategies:

Reduce the amount of visual information on apage.

Have the student use graph paper to assist himor her in lining up the numbers properly.

Highlight or underline important phrases inthe students assigned reading.

Assign fewer questions, but retain the level ofdifficulty given to an assignment.

Have the student consistently use a wordprocessor for written work.

Reduce distracting visual stimuli in theclassroom.

Allow for extra time for written tasks. Provide copied notes. Allow the use of a calculator for math-related

activities. Have the student use a sliding mask, finger, or

ruler when reading. Use a scribe when necessary to record answers. Be aware of the difficulty associated with

visual tasks such as matching.


Provide oral testing. Provide a scribe for testing. Give extra time. Be aware of the visual difficulty of particular

test questions. Provide a model or example if possible.

56

Visual-Spatial Deficit

A visual spatial deficit is the inability to interpret,organize, analyse or synthesize the spatialcomponents of a visual message in the absence of avisual impairment.

q The student has poor handwriting orartwork.

q The student loses his or her place whenreading and skips important details orfigures on a page.


q The students mapping or graphing abilitiesare weak.

q The student consistently uses a finger tokeep his or her place when reading orfinding a word in a composition (poortracking).

q The student has poor skills when attemptingto accurately match letters and figures incorrect spaces (e.g. letter and numbermatching activities in columns).

q The student has difficulty locating specificwords in dictionaries or texts.

q The students papers are poorly organized,and information is scattered.

q The student has difficulty with depthperception and measurement.

q The student is clumsy.

q The students written work appears sloppy.

q The student has difficulty perceiving spacesbetween words and recognizing punctuationin written language.

q The student often pushes the wrongnumbers on a calculator or phone.

q The student has difficulty with time conceptsor with the passage of time.

Methods/Strategies:

Have the student use outline format or visualorganizers.

Encourage the use of a word processor. Have the student use coloured overlays when

reading. Encourage cursive writing rather than

manuscript to reduce reversals, inversions, etc. Provide strategies for organization. Have the student consistently use an agenda

or calendar to assist in preplanning. A peerhelper, volunteer or parent may assist with thistask.

57

Use concrete, hands-onexamples wheneverpossible when introducinga new concept. Have the student usegraph paper to assist inlining up numbers on apage.

Reduce the amount of visual information thestudent has to absorb at one time.

Reduce the number of assigned questions, butretain the level of difficulty.

Use clay or other kinesthetic means whenintroducing letters in the early years.


Provide oral testing or a scribe. Allow blank visual organizers to be brought to

a testing situation, and evaluate theseorganizers if not enough time is available tothe student to translate the organizer towritten form.

Accept point-form answers. Allow calculator for math activities. Limit the amount of visual information

presented on a test page. Consider alternative methods, other than a

written test, of checking for understanding ofa concept.

Allow extra time.

58

The student loses the gist or thought easilywhen writing.

The student omits capitalization and/orpunctuation consistently

The student can express himself or herselfmuch better orally.

Methods/Strategies:

Consider alternative forms, other than writtentasks, of practising and demonstratingknowledge in a concept area.

Encourage the use of a word processor. Pair the student with a classroom buddy who

can do the writing for the child. Utilize co-operative learning groups. Model written work for the student to allow

him or her to imitate your sentence structures. Allow the student to read his or her written

work aloud to help identify errors inorganization.

Help the student brainstorm ideas about atopic and then show him or her how to putthese ideas into an outline form, combiningsome ideas and discarding others.

Reduce distracting stimuli by placing thestudent in a study carrel or office whenengaged in writing activities.

Written-Expression Deficit

A written-expression deficit is the inability toeffectively communicate thoughts and ideas in astructured, sequential, and organized form.


The student has poor or dysfunctionalhandwriting, otherwise known asdysgraphia.

The student has total dysfluency on paper,known as agraphia.

The student has poor spelling.

The student has difficulty copying from theboard or from dictation.

The student has poor visual-spatialperception (may start in odd places on thepage, use erratic spacing, use different sizesfor letters).

The student prefers to print while others arewriting, or the student uses both printing andcursive writing in the same assignment.

The student is much slower than others tocomplete written work.

59

Have a peer act as amodel for spelling wordsphonetically. Have thestudent read thematerial that the peerswrite phonetically. Allow the student

to keep a dictionary of most often misspelledwords.

Provide practice in spelling by using acomputer software program that gives thestudent immediate feedback.

Try various activities to help strengthen andreinforce the visual memory of spelling words(i.e. flashcards, word lists on the chalkboard, alist on the students desk, etc.).

Have the student maintain a folder of allspelling words.

Place a grip on the pencil to enable thestudent to hold it more effectively.

Allow the student to use wide-lined paper (forstudents at the beginning stages of learningprinting and cursive writing).

Use computer paper to help the student writeletters at the correct height.

Use paper with raised lines to help a studentwhose letters tend to go above or below theline.

Allow the student to demonstrate knowledgein non-written form (i.e. oral report, artproject, play, etc.).

Have the student practise air writing (ofcritical importance for dyslexic and dysgraphicstudents). This connects kinesthetic withvisual mode.

Have a poster with a list of the qualities ofgood writing posted in the classroom.

Provide specific organizational strategies forwriting, e.g. story maps/webs, visual organizers,flow charts, outlines.

Allow the student extra time for copying orfor producing written assignments.

Have copied notes available for the student. Encourage the student to use a tape recorder

to record draft copies of written work.


Permit the use of point form or visualorganizers for answers to essay questions orquestions of a similar type.

Provide oral testing or a scribe when possible. Follow up a written test with oral questioning

on missing parts. Provide a word processor for tests. Consider a take-home test. Use fill-in-the-blank, true-or-false or matching

questions to reduce writing requirements. Allow the student to answer questions, using a

tape recorder. Have the student with visual perception

difficulties use a ruler to place under thequestion to guide him or her to the correctresponse box.

60

Language-Processing Deficit

A language-processing deficit is the inability toreceive, comprehend, organize, and express languagein its appropriate forms in the absence of sensoryimpairments.

The following is a list of characteristics that maybe evident in students with this deficit. Use thisas a checklist with regard to students who youthink may fit into this category.

q The students spoken language showslimited vocabulary, incomplete sentences,improper grammar, and confused or poorlysequenced thoughts.

q The student has word retrieval difficulties.

q The student has difficulty understanding themeaning of some phrases.

q The student does not express feelings orthoughts logically.

q The student says one thing, but writessomething else.

q The student substitutes words of similarmeaning.

q Peers and others often have difficultyunderstanding the student.

q The student has difficulty determining themain idea or theme.

q The student has difficulty identifying asequence in a story.

q When given a general theme, the studenthas difficulty generating or identifyingsupporting details.

q The student has difficulty linking andcategorizing verbal concepts.

q The student has poor spelling.

q The students written work is disorganizedand messy.

q The student needs to read a passage orstory several times before understanding itsmeaning.

q The student has difficulty followingdirections.

q The students work shows poor coherence inthe structure of sentences, paragraphs andlonger passages.

61

Methods/Strategies:

Note: The strategies listed for auditory-processing deficit are appropriate here as well.

Allow the student ample time to read silentlyfor practice before asking him or her to readorally.

Model slow, easy speech for the student and donot interrupt or finish his or her sentence.

Slow down rate of speaking to allow the childto process the information.

Assign the student to work with a classroomfriend who is a good language model.

Establish a signal to remind the student toslow down and speak in complete sentences.

Have the student record his or her speech toteach monitoring strategies.

Emphasize the use of context cues. Provide a language-rich environment. Place an alphabet strip on the desk for

younger children. Encourage the student to read a story more

than once. Monitor reading material to ensure that the

level is appropriate. Use high-interest books with accompanying

taped version for rereading. Teach reading strategies that will help locate

information in a text. Help the student use associate cues when

sequencing events. Practice sequential activities. Have the child retell stories he or she has

read. Introduce and explain key vocabulary in

context.

Use a multi-sensory approach. Provide intervention in phonemic awareness.


Provide oral testing or a scribe. Adjust vocabulary usage in testing to suit the

language needs of the child. Allow extra time for testing. Provide a quiet space for testing.

62

q The student has difficulty with abstract orsymbolic math concepts.

q The student has difficulty copying or readingnumbers.

q The student has difficulty choosing thecorrect process to use.

q The student has difficulty visualizing orverbalizing numeric information.

q The student has difficulty generalizing mathinformation to new situations.

q The student has difficulty with mathvocabulary.

q The student often responds with an answerthat bears no relationship to the mathquestion asked.

q The student has difficulty with basiccalculation/application.

Mathematics Deficit

A mathematics deficit is the inability to deal withnumber and mathematical concepts.

The following is a list of characteristics that maybe evident in students with this deficit. Use thisas a checklist with regard to students who youthink may fit into this category.

q The student has difficulty distinguishing theimportant from the unimportant details inword problems.

q The student has difficulty recognizingpatterns or relationships among numbers.

q The student has difficulty putting facts in alogical sequence in order to find a solution.

q The student has difficulty remembering mathfacts, formulas or a sequence of formulas.

q The student perseveres with an improperprocedure.

q The student does not understand numericalorder or place value.

q The student has difficulty with such spatialmath concepts as time, money,measurement, directionality and sequencing.

q The student is consistently reluctant to beginany math task.

63

Methods/Strategies:

Use word problems that relate to the studentsexperiences.

Use concrete manipulatives to demonstrateand practise problems before moving tosymbolic.

Encourage the use of a calculator or mathcharts, ensuring that the process isdemonstrated in the childs work.

Have the child highlight key words for steps,directions or operations in questions given tohim or her.

Use visual cues (e.g. stop signs or red dots) onthe paper when the student must changeoperations. Have the student raise his or herhand when reaching STOP signs, and providenecessary instructions to go on.

Use colour coding (e.g. green for addition, redfor subtraction, etc.).

Provide extra large symbols next to questionsin order that the student will be more likely toobserve the symbols.

Provide practice in math by using a computersoftware program that gives the studentimmediate feedback.

Use large coloured arrows to indicate wherethe student begins to work a math problem.

Reduce the number of questions given to thestudent, but not the level of difficulty.

For younger students, put a number line onthe desk.

Have a math reference sheet or cue cards thatdemonstrate the steps to solving a particulartype of question.

Ensure that the student has a clearunderstanding of the math vocabulary beingused.

Use modeling frequently. Have the student work with a classroom peer. Teach strategies for checking math work.


Evaluate on daily or weekly basis rather thanon lengthy tests or exams.

If lengthy tests are required, do not mixconcepts at one time.

Allow the use of a calculator or charts. Provide a visual model with test questions to

demonstrate what is being asked. Provide graph paper for lining up numbers

when working math problems. Use personal experiences when designing

math problems. Have oral testing for word problems. Provide the student with a quiet place to

work. Allow extra time to complete tests. Highlight operational signs so that the student

is sure to notice the signs before beginning anoperation.

Highlight key words on a test so that thestudent is sure to notice the words beforeanswering the question.

64

Methods/Strategies:

Provide structure and routine. State directions clearly and directly. Try not to

wander off topic. Clearly state the purpose or points to be

covered in a lesson prior to beginning. Acourse or project outline is helpful.

Print key words on the board prior to eachlesson.

Ensure that students write homework in anagenda or lesson book.

Using a talk mail set up for at risk students,send a talk mail daily, stating homeworkrequirements.

Use a binder to help keep materials together. Use a colour coding system for subjects. Have two sets of books, one for school and

one for home. Model and teach strategies for approaching a

project. Try not to assume that the studentknows how to organize this task. Have thestudent transfer the steps of these strategiesonto a recipe card or index card, and tape tothe inside of a binder or scribbler.

Post class rules or learning strategies in avisible location in the classroom.

Organizational Deficit

An organizational deficit is the inability tointernally structure for the purposes of planning,monitoring, and evaluating information.

The following is a list of characteristics that maybe evident in students with this deficit. Use thisas a checklist with regard to students who youfeel will fit into this category.

q The students personal appearance isdisorganized, as are books, locker, desk,assignments and thoughts.

q The student speaks in a rambling,disorganized manner.

q The student is forgetful (e.g. forgets to takeassignments home, write out lessons, and/orbring back completed work).

q The student is often late or absent.

q The student is immature or impulsive.

q The student has difficulty making choices ordecisions.

q The student shows inconsistent behaviours.

q The student strays from the topic quickly.

q The student procrastinates when faced witha highly structured task.

65

Have the childsummarize notes or textreading, using visualorganizers. Provide easy to followmnemonic devices whenavailable, for remembering

or organizing concepts; e.g. COPS .Capitalization, Organization, Punctuation,Spelling as a mnemonic for proofreadingand editing.

For middle level, post or provide mark valuefor course components at the beginning ofeach unit.

Involve parents in monito

Students Problems at School Level

Documents

Transcript of Students Problems at School Level