Diagnostic Testing
The purpose of this report is to give Mr. and
Mrs. G., Nicholas G.’s parents, a
more complete and up to date picture of
Nick’s academic skill levels. Nick is
a neighbor of the examiner, and both
parents and examinee have cherrfully
volunteered Nick as testing subjuect for
the examiner’s Diagnostic Testing
class. Nicholas has been in the Special Day
Class Program, attending Santa
Barbara public schools since kindergarten.
Nicholas is developementally delayed
and has mild cerebral palsy. Nick's
parents report that he has made good
academic and social skills progress,
especially in the past two years. Strong
parental concern remains in the area
of reading and independent life skills.
Nick feels that he writes and
cuts with extreme difficulty, hates reading, and
enjoys math and computers.
Nick attends several mainstream classes per semester
with an aide's help, and
appears to have enjoyed the social aspects, but feels
the classes were
"really hard." Nick's mother reports that his hearing
and vision have been
checked within the past six months, with no apparent
problems. Despite
academic and motor frustrations, Nick's school attendence has
been excellent,
as has been his general health. Results of academic achievement
testing:
Woodcock-Johnson Revised: Age Grade Standard Percentile Equiv.
Equiv.
Score Letter-word Identification 7-2 1.7 49 0.1 Word-Attack 7-1
1.6 62 1.0 Basic
Reading Skills 7-2 1.6 52 0.1 Passage Comprehension 7-3
1.7 51 0.1 Reading
Vocabulary 6-6 1.2 41 0.1 Broad Reading 7-3 1.7 44 0.1
Dictation 6-5 1.1 29 0.1
Spelling 6-9 1.4 45 0.1 Writing Samples 6-9 1.3
29 0.1 Broad Written Language
6-8 1.3 31 0.1 Calculation 6-9 1.3 28 0.1
Quantitative Concepts 7-6 2.1 53 0.1
Applied Problems 7-0 1.6 59 0.3
Broad Mathematics 6-10 1.4 40 0.1 Visual-Motor
Integration ( VMI) (normed
on 12-2) raw score 8 standard score 5 %ile 1.0
Visual-Aural Digit Span
(VADS) Aural-Oral 3 Visual-Oral 3 Aural Written 2
Visual- Written 2 Total
VADS 10 (defective range, grade 4) Nicholas appeared
relaxed and eager to
please while testing. Once in awhile he would say, "this
is hard," but when
given the option of stopping or going on he would
consistently express a
desire to continue. His parents report that this stubborn
tenacity has
carried him beyond expectations. Nick has a good sense of family,
community,
and social settings. When offered a cookie on a napkin, he put the
napkin on
his lap. Nick enjoyed talking between tests about friends, cars,
computers,
and other age-appropriate subjects. During the testing he
concentrated very
hard, took his time, and did not answer until he seemed quite
sure of his
answers. While in deep concentration, Nick’s head would
temporarily stop the
constant movement apparant with cerebral palsy. His mother
stated that this
recent ability to temporarily cease head movement has aided his
reading
progress. READING: Test results show that Nick appears to be reading at
a
level comparable to that of an average student at the grade 1.7 level,
which
rank at the Very Low level. Reading tasks at the 1.4 level will be easy
for
Nick, those above grade 2.0 will be difficult for him. It is noted
that on the
word attack and Word Analysis Skills test, when decoding nonsense
words Nick
could decode CVC pattern words and has learned some basic
sound-symbol
associations. Comprehension tests show that Nicholas
candetermine meaning from a
passage (Passage Comprehension 1.7) at a slightly
higher level than he can from
a single word (Reading Vocabulary 1.2). While
these scores are also in the Very
Low range, they show that Nick is
beginning to use some contextual clues in his
reading. WRITTEN LANGUAGE:
Nick’s test results on Broad Written Language is
comparable to that of the
average student in grade 1.3, and in the Very Low
range of scores. Tasks
requiring written language skills below grade level 1.1
will be easy for him;
those above the grade 1.4 will be difficult for him.
Spelling Test
observations (1.4) showed that Nick has difficulty with short
vowel useage,
the fine e rule, and consonant blends. An informal writing sample
showed that
Nick could use correct punctuation at the end of a sentence, but
ignored
punctuation marks within a sentence. The same sample showed that
Nick’s
writing is legible and that he forms most of his letters correctly,
having
difficulty with line placement . Nick interspersed cursive letters,
and
verbally expressed a desire to write in cursive like "mainstream
buddies"
do. Nick uses simple sentence structures, writing one compound
sentence out of
10 total sentences. Because of his orthopedic
impairments, the written language
tests were untimed. MATHEMATICS: Nick’s
Basic Mathematics Skills are in the
Very Low range, in the mid first
grade level (1.3). Regrouping skills were
limited to two-digit problems in
addition, and Nick could not "remember"
how to regroup in subtraction. Nick
used his fingers to solve addition problems,
and was proud to have memorized
many basic multiplication facts. He did not
demonstrate division. Nick tells
time on a standard clock to the 1/2 hour, and
correctly on his digital watch.
In an informal observation, Nick was able to
count bills correctly, and name,
but not count, coins correctly. His parents
reported that they were working
on the "dollar over" method of money
handling with him. Nick does not solve
story problems with money, time,
fractions or measurement. As a life-skill,
however, Nick showed the examiner
while making cookies that he is able to
relate fractional symbols to
measurement. Nick’s sense of humor and tenacity
regarding task completion made
him an inspiring test subject. Although the
examiner was requested to test
without benefit of prior scores, parents
reported that scores showed very slow,
but steady progress; typical of what
they had seen in previous years. The
examiner recpmmends continued and
intensified work with computer skills, and a
multi-sensory teaching approach
with Nick, utilising as many hands-on
experiences as possible. The examiner
feels that Nick will continue to benefit
from and enjoy his Special Day Class
placement, continuing his learning at a
steady pace.