Student Regression and No Child Left Behind

Lauren Background: A Case Study The rights and wrongs of the general and/or special education teacher and Responsiveness to Intervention (RTI) is demonstrated in case studies, which can be effective tools for learning. Interventions that address the development of students can be a delicate process because of the many different factors, both external and internal (from social to economic environment to biological/psychological disabilities) that need to be considered before the right intervention can be performed.

This paper will use the case study of Lauren Background in order to better understand how interventions can help and/or hurt a student's progress. Lauren is a young student, 10 years old and in the 3rd grade, whose reading level has consistently declined over the past year. In 2004, her reading level using the Idaho Reading Indicator was at or near grade level. Four months later at the start of 2005 and midway through the school-year, her reading level had dropped to below grade level.

Instead of advancing, the scores showed that she was regressing. This trend continued through 2005 and the various interventions that were utilized (more time spent in different reading level groups, including a very small 1-on-2 group with special teacher focus) did nothing to reverse this trend. Lauren's scores continued to fall. Different books and approaches were utilized as well to help Lauren recover and different tests were conducted, such as the DIBELS oral reading fluency assessment -- but Lauren still felt short of her reading goals.

Evaluation: What is Being Done Correctly What is being correctly done in the case of Lauren is that she is being shown attention and given extra assistance as a means of helping her to develop and boost her reading skills so that they are where they should be for her grade level. Even if the overall result is negative, this intervention RTI method is helpful in that it provides an overall assessment of her development over a given period.

As one intervention fails after another, it suggests that there may be other factors contributing to Lauren's regression -- whether internal or external. For example, her sight may be impaired, or she may be suffering from dyslexia. She may be experiencing a difficulty at home life over this period that causes her to lose focus and attention at reading. She may have a learning disability that is being manifested as the rigors of the more advanced reading level increases.

In short, there are a number of variables that need to be considered and evaluated in order to find out why the interventions are failing. Needless to say, the fact that the interventions are occurring is a positive sign and shows that care and attention are being given, even if the results are negative. They at least allow teachers to rule out these methods and move towards something else.

Evaluation: What is Being Done Incorrectly Instead of attempting the same intervention approach (more concentrated efforts at reading), Lauren's external and internal variable should be tested in order to see if the cause of her regression is related to something out of her control and out of the teacher's control.

There is no indication that the interventionists ever considered these possibilities, which is problematic because instead of launching into one intervention after another, all of which are in the same methodological approach (concentrated efforts on improving reading exposure), the interventionists should be performing a standardized assessment of Lauren in which these variables can be monitored. Suggestions for Improvements As Reschly (1996) asserts in his assessment of students with learning disabilities, the one major suggestion for improvement focuses on taking a comprehensive view of the situation and not just the student.

Children are products of their environment as well as of their biology and psychology. This is also the claim of Goldstein (2014), who advocates employing "sympathetic methods" that incorporate the whole life and activity of the student (including home life and social life) in the intervention instead of simply swapping out teachers, books, or styles of learning. In other words, the block may not be simply the result of a cognitive barrier.

Non-cognitive barriers may also be responsible for the regression, which is a point that is noted by Farmer et al. (2004) and Hawkins (2010) in their studies of inter-city minority youths and the problem of educational success for this group. Thus, according to the theories of Farmer (2004), Hawkins (2010), Goldstein (2014), and Reschly (1996), a better approach to helping a student like Lauren would be to evaluate her condition in terms of psychological barriers, biological barriers (eyesight), needs barriers (Maslov's hierarchy, for instance), and home life barriers.

This deeper assessment should help to improve the situation of Lauren by revealing obstacles to her reading performance. Clearly, the change of teacher and method is not the solution. NCLB, IDEA and RTI The ideas of NCLB and IDEA are being applied in this case in the sense that Lauren is receiving attention because of her low test scores: she is not being "left behind" in the sense that she is not being ignored by the teachers, even if they cannot help to improve her reading for whatever reason.

Also the science-based approach to identifying Lauren's learning disability (if she has one) is evident in the record-keeping and consistent scoring of her reading ability. Thus, it s clear that Lauren is being viewed as a student in need of special educational attention and assistance: what is unclear is how this attention should be given and how Lauren's disability should be viewed or even assessed.

Professional Development Opportunities to be Offered the Teacher The teacher may be offered the opportunity to develop psychological assessment skills as well as social worker skills that could be utilized in the relationship to be developed with Lauren, following the Goldstein (2014) of reaching out and participating in the child's life. The NCLB and IDEA options are essential and helpful in identifying a gap or problem.