PRESENT LEVEL OF ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE 5
PresentLevel of Academic Performance
Therealization of learning instructions is not an easy task. The mattergets worse when teachers or parents cannot explicitly identify thefactors contributing to poor performance of a student. In the casestudy, we examine the academic performance of Laney, who is a studentat Rosa Park Elementary. Laney receives 45 minutes of intensiveinstruction in Tier 2 besides the 90 minutes received in Tier 1. Thestudent has difficulties in decoding hence, the teacher works onways to improve letter-sound correspondence and sight words. However,Laney does not make any significant progress after three weeks. Theinstructor is worried about her performance since there are no signsof cultural or environmental disadvantage. What could be ailing Laneyto the extent of causing poor comprehension?
StudentStrengths
Duringthe first weeks of acquiring the learning instructions, Laney appearsto respond positively against the intended goals. Despite the trend,it is noteworthy that she is still accumulating some of the learninginstructions. She is also likeable to her peers inschool.Evaluations
Itappears that Laney has challenges in letter-soundcorrespondence and sight words.The educator has proposed that the learner undergoes a specialtutoring assessment. It is considered that the move helps tounderstand the reasons why Laney is underperforming. Even with theassistance of the tutor, Laney is yet to respond positively. Specialeducation evaluation will contribute to generating the rightapproaches for ensuring she gets the right assistance. The supportfrom tutors and parents is essential to help them in realizingpositive educational outcomes. Evaluation will play a crucial role inunderstanding the level of disability on the student hence, the needto formulate assistive approaches (Espin, 2012).
Performancein Classes
Inexamining Laney’s current educational performance, one observesthat her accomplishment decreases over time. She does not meet theteacher’s intended goals. After administering briefreading assessment, the teacher observes that Laney has challenges indecoding. It is for such reasons that the teacher recommended aspecial education evaluation to ascertain her challenges.
Influencesof Language, Culture, and Family Background
Theabove variables do not affect her performance negatively. In fact,the socio-cultural environment is supportive towards the attainmentof her educational goals. The teachers remainof any environmental or cultural disadvantage, motivation, andsituational trauma likely to result in her poor performance. Laney’sparents indicate that there are no hearing and vision impairments toher continuing struggles with reading.
Strengths,Preferences, and Interests in Nonacademic Areas
Deeperevaluation is necessary to ascertain Laney’s preferences andinterests in non-academic areas. It is thus appropriate to examinethe functional abilities and behaviors to help in making the rightfuldecisions. Regular assistance and assessment of the students arecritical to advancing the educational goals. Reading challenges maynot arise due to the physical abilities alone but can also resultfrom an inhospitable social environment. The information resultingfrom PLAAFP will assist the parents and teachers in devising ways toenhance Laney’s reading capabilities (Boyle & Scanlon, 2010).
Anyother relevant issues
Laney’scurrent educational performance will now help us understand thevariables to incorporate in the Present Level of Academic Achievementand Functional Performance (PLAAFP) section of an IEP. One importantconsideration is the ability of Laney to understand the learninginstructions given at the current level. We need to imagine that hercapacity is not suited to the present educational attainment. It isnoteworthy that Laney does not experience any health problem asidentified by her parents. We also observe that social environment atschool is conducive. That alone draws the conclusion that Laney’sability is the one affecting the realization of the intendededucational goals (Boyle & Scanlon, 2010).
References
Boyle,J. R., & Scanlon, D. (2010). Methodsand strategies for teaching students with mild disabilities: Acase-based approach.Belmont, Calif: Wadsworth.
Espin,C. (2012). Ameasure of success: The influence of curriculum-based measurement oneducation.Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.