Case Study
Paula Widell
Grand Canyon University: SPE-536
February 25, 2015

Case Study
Introduction
“Assessments in the field of education are one of the pivotal factors of a student’s success. Students are assessed on the basis of their knowledge and the mastery of subject matter. This is such an integral part of education that without this factor, the field of education cannot attain its goal.” (Karodia, M, 2014). Assessments help teachers, parents, administration, and other school personnel evaluate a student and help determine the student’s strengths and weaknesses. Not only can they help determine what a student is struggling with and/or excelling at assessments can also determine if a student requires special education services. This paper discusses two different students and the assessment process that was used with them.

Case Study 1: EARLY CHILDHOOD “JB” is a vibrant young boy who just started his first year in Pre-Kindergarten. He came into the school system with an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) in hand. When in the classroom environment “JB” knows how to spell his name along with his colors, shapes, months and days of the week. His teacher and special education itinerate teacher (SIET) work hard with “JB” on his social/emotional skills. He is now 4.7 years of age and still has a hard time with self-regulation of feelings especially when he needs to express himself to peers and adults. “JB’s” mother decided to have him evaluated when he was not reaching certain milestones in age such as speech and walking. When he entered daycare, at the age of two, it was noted that he was having problems using self-expression and transitioning. “JB” was given a full evaluation in
April just before he turned the age of two. The scores on the assessments classified “JB” as a preschool with a developmental delay in his IEP. Due to him scoring low on his assessments “JB” receives speech twice a week for duration of thirty minutes per session.
Assessment
“Assessment in educational settings serves five purposes (Pierangelo & Giuliani, 2006b):
1. Screening and Identification. To screen students and identify those who may be experiencing delays or learning problems
2. Eligibility and Diagnosis. To determine whether a student has a disability and is eligible for special education services, and, if so, to diagnose the specific nature of the student’s problems or disability
3. IEP Development and Placement. To provide detailed information so that an individualized educational program (IEP) may be developed and appropriate decisions made about the student’s educational placement
4. Instructional Planning. To develop and plan instruction appropriate to the student’s special needs
5. Evaluation. To evaluate student progress”

The evaluation batteries in which “JB” was assessed in were: Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI-IV), clinical observation, parent interview, BDI-2, PLS-5, Goldman Fristoe-2 test of articulation. Upon review of “JB’s” evaluations it was determined in the area of cognitive development he has a significant development delay, with a standard score of 64. The personal/social domain “JB” had a standard score of 70 also resulting in a significant developmental delay. In his communication and motor assessments “JB” also scored low resulting in a score of 64 in communication placing him in the category of significant development delay and mild developmental delay in his motor skills with a score of 76. “JB’s” language assessment was administered in English, the test results reviled a delay in receptively and expressional. “JB” was unable to understand expanded sentences, understand qualitative concepts or understand spatial concepts.
Reliability and Validity The definitions if reliability and validity can be explanation as reliability being the extent to which an experiment, test, or measuring procedure yields the same results on repeated trials. The term validity has