Case Study

Case Study Assignment

Butler University ED 589
Professional Portfolio Development and Intense Field Experience
By
Anna Cassiday

Case Study
Demographic Information
Student A is a 16 year old, white/not Hispanic female. She is currently in the 10th grade at
Brown County High School. She has always been in this school district since she was in
elementary school. Services started for her when she was placed in the custody of her
grandparents while in the second grade. Her primary disability is an Emotional Disability that
impedes her educational progress. She has also suffered from early traumatic abuse from a
family member who no longer has contact with her due to court orders.
State assessment scores over the last couple of years: ISTEP 2012 LA 431/478 DNP, Math
602/487 P; ISTEP 2013 LA 461/501 DNP Math 498/511 DNP; ECA (End of Core Assessment)ALG I 2015 09 04 Algebra 589 P. As one can see she has passed 2 out of three state assessments
in math, but has not been successful in passing either of the two language arts assessments.
Current classroom grades are: English 10I D, Geometry C, Biology D-, Painting A-, and
Construction Trades C (She receives 3 credits by attending this every day to build skills I the
construction filed). This is the first year girls have been permitted to take this construction class.
She works well outside, and with her hands, so it is a good trade for her.
The English 10I is an intensive classroom for students that at risk of not passing the
English 10 ECA. This English class is extremely small, no more than eight students. She is
placed in this class to help with the hopes of eliminating unwanted behaviors that often occur
when being in a larger setting of students. Also, because she has to pass English 10 ECA to
graduate with a diploma in the state of Indiana. There are waivers that can be made, but the
student still has to continuously take the test until their senior year if not successful, then a
waiver can be signed that the student has in good faith taken this test continuously without
success, and she may still graduate.
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Student A is coded as being in the classroom 80% of the school day. The other 20%
Student A has access to the LRC, Learning Resource Center, where she can ask to have any of
her accommodations given to her. In this room there are certified special education teachers that
have been granted approval to view the confidential files that are in the IEP at a glance to serve
as facilitators to this student. The students with this access are allowed a pass out of class at the
students discretion. This also gives the student control of their own learning. Here it is
encouraged to promote independence as goal, so that she will be better prepared for her future
education, and potential job responsibilities.
Observations
Student A is like many students her age without ELNs. She is a conscientious student that
cares about her grades, is very sweet and kind, tries hard in school, and is social and energetic.
There is a desire to have friends, and to be well like among her peers. Student A works hard to
want to fit in and be a part of a positive group of friends. Like most she likes attention that is
given by others, and wants to give it back.
The differences between Student A, and others is that because of her ELNs and her
emotions are a greater obstacle to success, and maintaining friendships receives the greatest
portion of our attention. She can be quite hyperactive and can react quite strongly to perceived
comments by peers, feelings of persecution, being excluded from activities, or groups she wants
to be in. When she acts out emotionally she is blaming, loud and on the verge of becoming
hysterical. However, she is much improved and much more manageable than in previous years.
With her ELNs, she can be more impulsive than others that are without ELNs. It takes more to
come down to a calmer state than others as well, where others are easy to dismiss a situation.

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These characteristics that Student A has direct connection to what was learned specifically
to a lesson taught by a professor in ED 589. I have used this example more than once. It has
really stuck with me. It has to do with emotion, attention, and learning. These characteristics
really have to be in balance for Student A. Without having control of her emotions, there is no
attention to focus on learning. Student A knows that she has much to still work on to maintain a
sense of stability in her learning. Many times it is a day by day process, but progressively over
the years it is getting better.
The impact of her ED characteristics can start off successfully daily. Student A can have a
great morning that brings good attention to learning throughout the day. It is not every day that
is affected by her ELNs. However, there can also be that one thing that causes a domino
effect throughout the day. When this happens, there are steps to follow, but are not always
followed up on to ensure success with the rest of her educational activities and learning. She can
just shut down (not being engaged with classroom instruction, and taking unnecessary breaks
from class to text friends that may be in turn escalating unwanted behaviors), and that will follow
her throughout her classes, even the ones that she enjoys.
As part of her ELN, it does not just go away when she is not in school. There are many
times on a daily basis that it affecting her emotional well-being. Part of her ED is that she can
often become very depressed, also causing unwanted outburst by her as a release. She receives
counseling both inside and outside of school as well as daily problem-solving instruction in
actual social situations. She is open to discussing her feelings and tries to employ the skills or
actions recommended, and so often goes for long periods of time with little or no conflict with
peers or staff. However, emotionally charged behaviors do return and sometimes quite strongly

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and can be quite disruptive to the classroom setting. Progress is noted, but room for growth still
exists.
Fortunately for Student A, she is very outgoing most of the time. She loves to interact
with friends outside of school. She loves to ride in the fields with her four wheeler, have friends
over, and go to others homes. Friends of hers are typically ones that she hangs out with at
school, and sometimes others that are homeschooled. Student A likes to make things, and often
her and her friends find time to make tie dye t-shirts, and work on Student As farm with some of
the farm animals.
Student As family interaction at home is for the most part good. Student As guardian
talks about how Student A can be strong, and make good choices. Once that point has been met,
then it can be easy to look at the positives in her daily life, make connections to those around her
that create that positive feeling of being wanted, and accepted. There has to be that trust factor
between her and her peers in order for her to work with you. The guardian states that interaction
with in the family is good, but there are going to be those ups and downs. The guardian
expresses how Student A likes to garden with her, and work at the farmers market in a selling
produce.
Working at the farmers market selling produce creates social interaction. She earns a small
wage by helping out. These skills help promote management of money skills, and positive
interaction with others in the outside world. These skills are imperative for her as she enters the
workforce whether she works for the family, or another company. Other times of social
interaction for Student A happens at church where she often helps in the nursery. Student A does
have compassion and caring to provide care for ones that are unable to care for themselves. This

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skill takes compassion, and is a release for her. She takes control, and knows that the babies are
relying on her to help care for them.
Student A is on a medication, but was not able to get the name. She takes it before she
comes to school to help with her hyperactivity. I know that typically it is used for children with
ADHD, but with her hyperactivity that assists with her emotional disability, it has shown to be
effective. Without it, Student A will be more emotionally distressed. The medication has shown
to not have any adverse effects on her education, and only benefits her interactions with her daily
life outside of school as well. She has regular checkups that sometimes adjusts the amount of the
dosage that is needed.
Behaviors expressed by Student A are generally environmental where things around her
triggers her medical diagnosis. She reacts whenever there is a situation that is conflicting to/or
with her. It can happen at school, or at home. Social media has been playing a big role in recent
conflicts. Kids can be cruel, and post things they do not really mean. For someone like Student
A, who tends to take everything to heart, it does not help her with her emotional distress. It is
really a burden to have, but she like many kids her age are addicted to the many different apps,
games, snap chat, and Facebook. Guardians to not want to punish her by taking it away, but
knows it is a problem.
Description of Guardians and Involvement
Student As guardians are her grandparents on her moms side of the family. They were
awarded custody after Student As parents were listed as being unfit, and unable to care for her.
The grandparents also took custody of the other two siblings. They were not physically abused
or sustained the same abuse as Student A did. The guardians have taken many measures to help

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with Student A. Extended counseling sessions, and even gone to the extreme where she had to
be placed in a facility for a short period of time where Student A was a little lost on her way, and
guardians were not sure how to help her. It may seem extreme, but it did help the child and
guardians.
The guardians are also very interested in making sure that they are a part of her academic
learning, and that she makes graduation. There are a couple classes that she did not pass last
year that she will need to make up. They have gotten her registered for summer school, so that
she can make those up so that she is not behind on her credits. They chose not to do this last
summer, because they felt that she was not ready to take that extra step. Student A has had a
realization that she needs to get a high school diploma, and wants to graduate on time.
Therefore, she is now willing to move forward on this.
There is no avoiding the everyday struggles, but we, me and the guardian, have an open
line of communication. As an example of an email below of how we communicate via e-mail.
The guardian only has email service through her work, because of no internet at home. This one
shows the concern after Student A had surgery, and that they were trying to make sure she stays
on top of the work, so she will not need to make up a lot when she comes back.
Guardian Wrote:
From: XXXXXX XXXXXXXX
Sent: Wednesday, January 13, 2016 11:32 AM
To: Anna Cassiday
Subject: Student A
XXXXX had oral surgery yesterday, I tried to send an email to all of her teachers but I also wanted to touch base
with you. It was pretty rough so Im not sure if she will be at school tomorrow either. I asked her teachers if there is
anything that she needs to complete (since she has been out for 2 days) to please leave it in the office and we will
pick it up at the end of the day. We will have a better idea on what we are dealing with on Friday when she has a
follow up Hpt. I also wanted to know how she did on the Algebra ECA test. Thanks for your time. If you have any
questions or just need more info you can give me a call.
Thanks again, XXXX XXXX 800-000-0000
On Jan 13, 2016 11:46 AM, Anna Cassiday <Acassiday@brownco.k12.in.us> wrote:

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Hi XXXXX,
Thank you for the update. Since you emailed teachers already, I wont email them again. I will check in with them
tomorrow if she does not return. We have not received the ECA scores back yet, and I do not believe they will be
back until February sometime. I will let you know as soon as I do. Tell XXXXXX to take care. I know in biology
she had chapt 13 vocab to do. She may have had it finished already. If we take notes today in that class I will get
her a copy filled out for her. Have not been there yet so, I am not sure. Please keep in touch. Update me tomorrow
if you will. She will also have a day for a day make up on anything she misses.
Best,
Anna
Guardian:
From: XXXXX XXXXX
Sent: Thursday, January 14, 2016 8:20 AM
To: Anna Cassiday
Subject: RE: Student A
XXXXX will not be at school again today. Some info as to what is going on, I took XXXX to the dentist on Monday
thinking she had a cavity (her back bottom tooth was aching), on the ex-ray they noticed that she had bone loss from
her last ex ray(4 months ago). The dentist sent her to an oral surgeon that day. He then noticed a tumor. The oral
surgeon removed part of the tumor on Tuesday, now we are waiting for the biopsy results on Friday. So she is on
pain meds because over the counter isnt strong enough. We are praying its not cancer. She is still able to do
homework, just gets sleepy easily. So please let her teachers know that she will work hard to keep up. Hoping she
still is be back on Tuesday.
Thanks,
XXXXX XXXXX
Me:
Here is the letter I forwarded to her teachers:
On Jan 14, 2016 8:30 AM, Anna Cassiday <Acassiday@brownco.k12.in.us> wrote:
I am forwarding this to you to keep you updated on XXXX XXXXXX. She is trying to stay on top of her
homework, so please send any work down to the office, so that her mom can pick it up at the end of the day. If it is
online, please print her off a copy. Thanks for your help.
Best,
Anna

Cultural, Linguistic, and Environmental Background

Student A comes from an English speaking family, who lives in a rural area in Brown
County. Here they live on 5 acres of land that they rent, and are able to farm on. The family
lives in the poverty level of income. Therefore, the children receive free and reduced lunches, as
well as extra assistance with text book rental. There are no linguistic background information
recorded for this student, so no examples can be provided.

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Due to the socio-economic background of the student, and her guardians certain things
affect her learning. An example would be the way that her guardians were educated. They are
not as educated as some would be in academics, therefore it is hard for them to help her with her
homework. This in turn frustrates Student A, because of the required work that she is to do.
When her emotional disability advances due to the fact that she is unable to complete
assignments, she shuts down. This puts her more behind than she already is in completing her
work.
Another example of how the socio-economic background has affected Student A is that due
to the not having adequate funding the guardians are unable to have internet at home. Without
this, Student A is not being given the same opportunities as others that access resources to
research, or work on classes that can be accessed online to complete assignments at will. This
disadvantage discourages her when others worked on a class at home over the weekend, as an
example, and she is the only one that is still behind. There is time in class to do things, but some
is expected to be done at home. The reality is that not everyone has a computer, or the internet
access. This has proven to be a burden to some students that want to do the extra work, but
cannot.
Assistive Technology
Assistive technology is available to this student through the high school in the learning
resource center. As stated before, she does not have access to a laptop, computer, or IPAD. It
would prove to benefit this student educational skills if she was provided with an IPAD, or some
kind of tablet that she could take home to work on, so that she could work on things that take her
typically longer to do. In our school district we do not have these resources to send home with

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students. I know that in her case, it would help her stay on top of her work more. Classroom
work could be uploaded to it, so that she could at least work on it at home.
Having the appropriate tools to work with such as a computer at home, the guardians
could also Google things that they may not know how to do that could help all of them. The
teachers could also send links for tutorials. Many benefits can be had with the communication
factor. I know that when I communicate with students parents, there are times during the week
end that I respond to various emails when topics or problems arise. It is good practice, and
parents appreciate the extra mile that you go to provide assistance.
Other communication techniques that are used with many students with ELNs are
agenda books. Here correspondence can be made back and forth on a daily basis if needed.
Another benefit is if the student cannot communicate the assignments due and when the student
can have these written in the book for the parent or guardian to see. It can be of great assistance
for a child that may not be as responsible enough to remember things, not just assignments, but
classroom trips, and newsletters can be stabled in them to give information on upcoming events.
Analysis and Recommendations
Manifestation of this disability is caused by certain triggers. Many of these are social,
but are not limited too. The results of this manifestation can keep the Student A from to listen,
think, speak, read, write, or spell. Ways of coping with her disability is to allow her to vent her
thoughts, remove her from the environment and help her process her feelings. Student A needs to
connect with a staff person so that she has a safe environment. Positive comments sent home
may be helpful when being successful.
At her request, Student A can use a support pass to access the LRC at any time
throughout the school year. Student A is able to use the support pass more than once a week if

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she needs to. She may also use the support pass to excuse herself to her counselors office, or to
her teacher of record.
Dealing with Student A by others such as parents/guardian, teachers, and peers has
become more routine than anything at this point. Many times students know not to take things
she says or does seriously. She has been around her same peer group for quite some time, and
they have learned to adapt to the behaviors just as parents/guardian and teachers. Some factors
that hinder the situation are when some students still react negatively towards her. This happens
occasionally, but not all the time. Students sometimes feel that she takes things too far. This is
when Student A needs to remove herself from the situation. As she has gotten older she has done
this several times, and is showing progress. Also, as she meets with new teachers that are not
accustomed to the triggers that can make her emotionally distressed do not handle her in ways
that others may. It is a learning process for every teacher every year since she continues to move
throughout the high school.
To change Student As environment may benefit her. I do believe that possible change to
her schedule may help eliminate unwanted social behaviors by certain peers. Student A wants to
fit in just like we all do, she is willing to forgive and forget, though this also takes longer for this
to happen. This is another reason it is hard on her educational outcome. Once she is flared up by
her emotions, it can take time throughout the day to come down from impeding her ability to get
the education she needs to do her work. So, a possible schedule change of classes can break up
the day differently, and put in a move positive group of peers.
My observations of Student A is that she is a girl that will do whatever she can to gain
attention whether it be positive or negative. Much of this I believe was a result of her early
childhood abuse. Her emotions have played a huge role in her education, with friends, family

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and her own state of mind. I know that she is getting professional help on the outside, but it
appears that she could use more interactions with positive peer interactions. Possibly getting her
into a program after school to assist with a child care facility, or working with the elderly can
help with her ability to build patience and understanding.
As a teacher, I look at what other ways can be applied to help assist her mentally, so that
she can focus on her learning. First by working with her, and building that connection to where
there is a system of control, that will again assist her in the future. Possibly brainstorming
together. Trust is a big factor, and once that is established, the use the understanding of what can
be obtain. She needs to make better choices, and find ways of release. Options could be,
encouraging them to believe they can, teach them to meditate, help serve others, learn to value
themselves, watch their predictions play out, they have meaningful choices at every step, revisit
their past mistakes. With the hope of her coming to terms with her mental state, she can then
focus on her learning.

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