Ability test information to enhance instructional delivery

CASE STUDY

As a future teacher, you must understand how ability test information can be used to enhance instructional delivery in the classroom. Examine the following case:

Ian is a fifth grade student who was recently diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and is currently taking medication to manage his symptoms. He is generally cooperative, hard working, and has demonstrated grade appropriate progress throughout his elementary career. Starting in 5^th grade, however, Ian demonstrated some difficulty, particularly in the area of reading, and his progress has been below average, according to his teacher report. A reading intervention is currently in place but his parents have requested that the school complete a psychological evaluation. An intelligence text (WISC-IV) was administered.

Ian’s performance across the WISC-IV domain areas fell in the average to low average range (see Table 1 below). His weakest performance was demonstrated in the verbal comprehension area, which reduced his overall ability estimate.

Regarding his subtest performances, Ian showed relative strengths; he performed within the average to upper end of the average range across tasks of visual-spatial reasoning, constructional ability, quick decision making, and the ability to sequence letters and numerically based information. In addition, average- to below-average performances were noted on 6 of the 10 subtests, including all the verbal subtests in the Verbal Comprehension domain. In the area of verbal comprehension, Ian was within the borderline to low average range, relative to his age peers, in all tested areas including verbal reasoning as well as general word knowledge and comprehension. With other measured skills, Ian appears to have some difficulty with short-term auditory retention (Digit Span) and the ability to link visual-spatial information with language-based concepts (Picture Concepts). His weaker ability to retain auditory information to associate nonverbal and verbal concepts would appear to be consistent with his deficits in the area of verbal comprehension. Finally, it should be noted that Ian was able to handle a pencil well but demonstrated difficulty copying a written code from memory when he was being timed (Coding). This may indicate that he has some paper-and-pencil difficulties. When he performed this task, he had trouble with spatial organization, symbol formation, and motor planning skills, and he used excessive pencil pressure. If such concerns exist in the classroom, he may need further intervention with fine motor and handwriting skills.

The concern about reading appears warranted based on his verbal comprehension performance of his intellectual assessment. In fact, follow-up standardized achievement testing also confirmed these findings (passage comprehension performance – standard score = 84, percentile rank = 14).

Beyond the actual scores, Ian’s approach to the tasks and the strategies she used or did not use were quite telling. In particular, for the various tasks in the intellectual assessment, Ian often required extended time to process and produce his responses or work. Also, for some activities, he needed considerable practice before he understood the task and its requirements. In order for Ian to understand what he reads or is told, he appears to need repeated exposure and additional time to “digest” and understand the material. For this reason, he may lag behind his peers and this will likely continue as he encounters more comprehensive material and higher reading expectations that are associated with the higher grades. Also, developing more learning strategies may be helpful, along with ways for him to gain assistanceand confirmation of his reading and comprehension accuracy. For instructional purposes, this information can be used to confirm intervention strategies that are already being utilized as well as in the consideration of new ones.

Access to information like this can and should be provided in formal reports that summarize a student’s overall performance. Looking at the results and gaining insight from the findings can provide a more complete picture of a student’s learning strengths and weaknesses. The more information that is collected, the more complete the picture of the student and his or her educational needs.

TABLE 1

Based on the results of Ian’s intellectual assessment, answer the following questions in complete sentence with examples from the assigned readings:

1. How would you direct your instruction for Ian in the classroom? (Include a minimum of 3 examples).
2. How can aptitude information inform your view of students and their current and future accomplishments? (Include a minimum of 3 examples).
3. How can information on a student’s processing skills (e.g., attention, memory) be used to enhance instruction? (Include a minimum of 3 examples).