A KABCII Based LD Evaluation Within the Context of Nondiscriminatory Assessment The Case of Rosalind

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A KABC-II Based LD Evaluation Within the
Context of Nondiscriminatory Assessment The
Case of Rosalinda
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LD Assessment of Culturally and Linguistically
Diverse Learners

• Assessment involves a parallel-process
• Knowledge of operational definition of SLD
• Coverage of SLD areas and related CHC cognitive
  abilities and processes
• Relations between cognitive abilities, processes
  and achievement
• Knowledge of cultural and linguistic issues to
  consider throughout assessment
• Culture/language loadings of assessment batteries
  used
• Information on individuals language proficiency
  (BICS/CALP)
• Expected pattern(s) of cognitive test performance

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The Case of Rosalinda Background
Information

• 5th grade student with dual-language background
  (Spanish/English)
• Teacher-referral to building intervention team
  (BIT) due to significant academic difficulties
• Teachers primary concern was Rosalindas ability
  to transition to middle school without additional
  support

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Academic Concerns

• Classroom performance and rate of progress
  described as well below peers
• Language arts is the area of primary concern,
  including reading and writing
• Rosalindas reading is described as slow and
  awkward with poor fluency and word recognition

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Academic Concerns

• Writing below grade level and lacks the
  development expected of students in the same
  grade
• Spelling, grammar, punctuation, and usage are
  also described as considerably below classmates
  and expected 5th grade standards
• Performance in other subject areas suffer mainly
  because of poor language arts skills

6
Behavior Concerns

• Rosalinda is described as very distractible and
  at times not focused on the assigned task
• Described as slow in completing work rarely
  finishes her work in the allotted time

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Academic Strengths

• Mathematics is Rosalindas strongest subject
  (recently experienced some difficulty with word
  problems)
• Rosalindas oral expression skills described as
  an area of relative strength - speaks clearly
  without difficulty or awkwardness and without any
  trace of accent or pronunciation problems

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Pre-referral Interventions Classroom Strategies

• Repetition of instructions
• Refocusing techniques
• Check for understanding
• Practice work sent home

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Pre-referral Interventions Parent Recommendations

• Parents were asked to read in English more often
  with and to Rosalinda
• Stop speaking Spanish in the home because it is
  confusing Rosalinda
• Involve Rosalinda more in community activities
  (Boys and Girls Club)
• Take Rosalinda to culturally-oriented events
  (concerts, plays, museums)

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Pre-referral Interventions Parent Recommendations

• Buy Rosalinda grade-level literature, typical for
  5th grade readers so that she has the opportunity
  to practice her reading and so her parents can
  assist her in the process

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Overall Teacher Evaluation

• Rosalindas progress has not improved, despite
  numerous interventions and modifications and
  feels an evaluation is warranted

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Pre-referral Team Recommendation

• Conduct LD Assessment
• Teacher has substantiated concerns (test scores,
  work samples)
• Teacher demonstrated evidence of implementing
  classroom-based interventions and making several
  home-based recommendations
• Rosalinda tested out of ESL no accent
  speaks well no language issue

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Developmental/Medical History

• Product of normal labor/delivery
• Developmental milestones achieved within normal
  limits
• Walking around 13 months
• Talking around 1 ½ years
• Toilet training age of 4
• Normal hearing and vision

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Developmental/Medical History

• Unclear early medical history but some history of
  chronic ear infections and bronchitis
• All immunizations received but well after the
  recommended dates and only to comply with
  school/state regulations

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Educational, Cultural, Linguistic Information

• Mother and Father born in a small village near
  the town of Oaxaca, Mexico
• Mother completed enough schooling to be equal to
  about 3rd grade (teacher was a circuit rider who
  held classes for about 2 months in any given
  year)
• Father managed to complete the 4th grade before
  dropping out to provide economic assistance to
  his family

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Educational, Cultural, Linguistic Information

• Family immigrated to US about 6 years ago
• Father works in landscape business previously a
  migrant farm worker
• Mother stays at home and cares for 2 children

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Educational, Cultural, Linguistic Information

• Rosalinda has 2 brothers. One is age 21 and no
  longer lives at home, he works as a clerk at the
  shipping/receiving department of a local
  manufacturing company
• Rosalindas younger brother is 4 years old and
  lives home he doesnt attend preschool but plays
  with English and Spanish speaking peers in the
  neighborhood

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Educational, Cultural, Linguistic Information

• Rosalinda communicates with her mother and father
  in Spanish
• Speaks almost exclusively in English to her
  younger brother

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Assessment Decisions

• Evaluate developmental language proficiency
  with Woodcock-Munoz Language Survey-Revised
  (WMLS-R)
• Evaluate cognitive functioning using KABC-II
• Low to moderate linguistic/cultural loadings on
  most subtests
• Spanish responses provided/allowed instructions
  worded in Spanish on several subtests teaching
  can be done in Spanish

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Assessment Decisions

• Evaluate academic areas of concern using KTEA-II
• conormed with KABC-II
• extensive error analysis
• coverage of all 8 LD areas
• Evaluate behavioral concerns
• Conners or BASC
• Observation

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Comprehension and Classroom Behavior and
Performance for English Learners
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Woodcock-Munoz Language Survey

• CALP level in English 3-4 (emergent English
  CALP)
• CALP level in Spanish 2-3 (limited Spanish CALP)
• No formal schooling in L1
• Parent education levels limit informal conceptual
  development in L1

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KABC-II Performance

• Crystallized Intelligence (Gc) 75
• Riddles 75
• Verbal Knowledge 75
• Fluid Reasoning (Gf) 85
• Pattern Reasoning 95
• Story Completion 80
• Visual Processing (Gv) 94
• Triangles 100
• Rover 95
• Long-Term Retrieval (Glr) 94
• Atlantis 95
• Rebus 95
• Short-Term Memory (Gsm) 85
• Number Recall 90
• Word Order 85
• WJ III Aud. Working Mem. 85
• Auditory Processing (Ga) 82
• WJ III Auditory Attention 78
• WJ III Sound Blending 86

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KTEA-II Performance

• Reading Composite 84
• Letter-Word Recognition 90
• Reading Comprehension 82
• Math Composite 105
• Math Concepts Applications 98
• Math Computation 108
• Written Language Composite 79
• Written Expression 79
• Spelling 81
• Oral Language Composite 85
• Listening Comprehension 84
• Oral Expression 92
• Comprehensive Achievement Composite 87

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General Guidelines for Expected Patterns of Test
Performance for Diverse Individual (Ortiz, 2005)
DEGREE OF LINGUISTIC DEMAND
DEGREE OF CULTURAL LOADING
Slightly Different Includes individuals with
high levels of English language proficiency
(e.g., advanced BICS/emerging CALP) and high
acculturation, but still not entirely comparable
to mainstream U.S. English speakers. Examples
include individuals who have resided in the U.S.
for more than 7 years or who have parents with at
least a high school education, and who
demonstrate native-like proficiency in English
language conversation and solid literacy
skills. Different Includes individuals with
moderate levels of English language proficiency
(e.g., intermediate to advanced BICS) and
moderate levels of acculturation. Examples
include individuals who have resided in the U.S.
for 3-7 years and who have learned English well
enough to communicate, but whose parents are
limited English speakers with only some formal
schooling, and improving but below grade level
literacy skills. Markedly Different Includes
individuals with low to very low levels of
English language proficiency (e.g., early BICS)
and low or very low levels of acculturation.
Examples include individuals who recently arrived
in the U.S. or who may have been in the U.S. 3
years or less, with little or no prior formal
education, who are just beginning to develop
conversational abilities and whose literacy
skills are also just emerging.
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STANDARD SCORE AND PERCENTILE RANK CONVERSION
TABLE
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KABC-II/WJ III Performance

• Evaluated from a normative perspective and in
  accordance with the operational definition of SLD
• Normative weaknesses present
• Areas of weakness logically related to academic
  areas of concern
• Evaluated from a cultural/linguistic perspective
  and in accordance with nondiscriminatory
  assessment practices
• Pattern of scores suggest that language and
  culture primarily impacted performance
• Scores are consistent with what is expected given
  Rosalindas level of language proficiency

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Recommendations

• Provide Rosalinda with read along books on tape
  that will facilitate her language acquisition
  while providing an appropriate English language
  model
• Allow Rosalinda access to additional library
  books that she can use to improve independent
  reading skills

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Recommendations

• Consult with Rosalindas teacher regarding
  extending upon/simplifying language
• e.g. (can I have extra time yes, you may
  have additional time)
• e.g. (water can be transformed or changed into
  ice when you freeze it)
• Encourage teacher to support language with
  nonverbal communication (e.g., gestures)

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Recommendations

• Assign a peer buddy to assist during independent
  seatwork
• Allow Rosalinda extra time to process information
  
• Break down assignments into more manageable tasks

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Recommendations

• Consider in-house after school programs that may
  be appropriate for Rosalinda to further expose
  her to English language models (e.g., homework
  helper programs)
• Provide Rosalindas parents with a list of free
  community-based activities

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Resources

• everythingESL.net (contains teaching tips
  section and links to other resources)
• www.eslcafe.com (resources for teachers and
  students)
• http//www.emsc.nysed.gov/ciai/biling/nysben.html
  (New York State Bilingual/ESL network - NY State
  Education Department) information, assessment,
  publications, resources)

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Resources

• Flanagan, D. P., Ortiz, S. O., Alfonso, V. C.,
  Mascolo, J. (2007). Essentials of Cross-Battery
  Assessment, 2nd Edition. New York Wiley Sons,
  Inc. (refer to Ch. 5)
• Rhodes, R. L., Ochoa, S. H., Ortiz, S. O.
  (2005). Assessing Culturally and Linguistically
  Diverse Students A Practical Guide. New York
  Guilford Press. (refer to Ch. 11)

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The CHC Culture-Language MatrixCaveats and
Conclusions (Ortiz, 2005)
Used in conjunction with other information
relevant to appropriate bilingual,
cross-cultural, nondiscriminatory assessment -
level of acculturation - language proficiency -
socio-economic status - academic history -
familial history - developmental data - work
samples - curriculum based data - intervention
results, etc. the matrix and the
classifications upon which it is based should
prove to be of practical value in decreasing bias
inherent in both test selection and
interpretation and by helping to answer the basic
question in assessment Are the students
observed learning problems due
to cultural or
linguistic differences or disorder?
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Nondiscriminatory Assessment and Standardized
Testing

• Probably no test can be created that will
  entirely eliminate the influence of learning and
  cultural experiences. The test content and
  materials, the language in which the questions
  are phrased, the test directions, the categories
  for classifying the responses, the scoring
  criteria, and the validity criteria are all
  culture bound."
• Jerome M. Sattler, 1992