Educational Report

Brigham Young University Idaho

Early Childhood Special Education Program
Demographics
Name: Brinley Waters
Date of Birth: March 29, 2010
Age: 6 years, 3 months
Evaluation Date: June 2016
Reason for Referral
Brinleys mother has expressed concern for Brinleys math skills. Brinleys mom has also
expressed that her and her teachers think Brinley may have dyslexia like her father, but has not
been tested for such. Brinley will be assessed using the Woodcock-Johnson and the Kaufman
Test of Educational Achievement Math Subtest. Observation and interviews will also be used to
see where Brinley is performing in each academic domain.
Background Information
Developmental History: The pregnancy and delivery of Brinley had no complications. Over time
she hit all of her developmental milestones (according to her age range) on time. However, her
parents have recently expressed concern for her development and understanding in math.
Medical History: Throughout Brinleys development, she attended all of her periodic check ups
with her pediatrician and there was never any cause for concern. Last year when her vision and
hearing were tested there was no cause for concern for her hearing. However, Brinley was
experiencing frequent headaches and upon suggestion from the doctors, she had an MRI. When
nothing abnormal was found on the MRI they came to the conclusion that she must be having
problems with her vision. When her vision was tested it was found that her left eye was average
but her right eye was below average. She was prescribed glasses with a 0.25 in the right lens and
plain glass in the left. The glasses have helped her and currently there is no more cause for
concern in that area.
Family History: Brinley is the oldest of two girls. Her younger sister is 2 years younger than her.
Her mother is currently pregnant with the third child (a boy) and is due sometime in November.
Her mother, currently attends Brigham Young University - Idaho, studying Biology. She plans to
attend Dental school once she graduates with her Bachelors degree. Her father has a high school
diploma but has never attended college and does not plan to as of now. He is currently working
full-time outside of the home.
Educational History: Brinley just finished her Kindergarten year at Lincoln Elementary. Before
she attended Lincoln Elementary, she attended toddler lab (starting at age 2 and a half) on

campus at Brigham Young University - Idaho. Then she moved to the PreSchool Lab when she
hit the appropriate age to do so. It was reported that when Brinley was younger she never
showed interest in reading. At the end of this academic school year, Brinleys mom told us that
she did well is Reading and Writing but struggled the most in Math.
Social/Emotional History: During the interview with Brinleys mom, she stated that she has
always been an extremely happy girl. When she was a baby she never cried. She did not even
cry to communicate hunger or a soiled diaper. She said that she is the peacemaker in the home
and rarely gets upset. She struggled in school at one point and expressed disinterest in attending
school. It was later found that she was being bullied at school because of her height.
Observations
Reading
During observation in her home, Brinley was asked Do you read much? She responded, Not
much, only when they have big words. When asked to read a book with an adult, Brinley was
invited to read the title of a childrens book. She demonstrated letter and sound matches by
sounding out the words in and cat . When the title of the book was read, Brinley then said
I dont want to read. After a few indications, she got up and walked away from the book.
During assessment, Brinley was given pictures and asked to match words to the indicated image.
Brinley matched the picture with articulated initial letter sound. When completing subtests
including reading, she sounded out words one letter at a time. Each occurrence lasted for about
30 seconds to 1 minute.
Written Language
During a more formal assessment observation, Brinley wrote her name with legibility. In the
student response booklet, she wrote words with both correct uppercase and lowercase letters. In
between subtests and breaks, Brinley used a pencil to draw in a notebook and label her drawings.
Brinley was observed writing at home and in a formal environment. Brinley was shown a picture
of a boy skating and spelled the word, scading. When shown a picture of a bird she spelled the
word brd. When prompted to write, on more than five occasions, Brinley would say, I cant,
walk away, or put her pencil down and refuse to continue.
Oral Language
In her home, Brinley was observed in oral communication. Brinley initiated conversations with
the assessors and with her family members. During formal assessment, Brinley expressed her
feelings mostly through words by saying I dont want to. Her little sister recalled a story of
Brinley hurting her, and she raised voice and stated Dont tell that story, it makes me
embarrassed. Stop it! It was an accident! When counting aloud, Brinley said One, two, free.
Mathematics
When visiting Brinley in her home, she demonstrated her counting skills. Brinley laid out her

Barbies and other dolls. Brinley pointed to each one, using one-to-one correspondence when she
was asked how many are there? When counting the dolls, she counted each item only once and
did not leave any out. She counted up to 25. Later Brinley wanted to play a game similar to hideand-go-seek. She closed her eyes and began to count to 20 by ones. On her next turn, Brinley
counted by 10s up to 100. When she was asked to try counting by 5s, she stated I dont
remember how to. She was given some assistance, she started counting by 5s and then
switched to 10s. During assessment observation, Brinley showed verbal, symbolic, and physical
representation of numbers up to ten. When given addition problems, Brinley was not able to
compute without verbal assistance.
Tests Administered
WJ IV- Woodcock-Johnson, Fourth Edition. Normed, standard full-battery assessment of
individual strengths and weaknesses in cognition, math, reading and writing.
K-TEA II- Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement, Second Edition. Subtests Math Concepts
& Applications, Math Computation. Individually administered battery that provides in-depth
assessment of key academic math skills.

Test Results
WJ-II
Raw Score
Basic Reading Skills

Standard Score

Percentile Rank

101

93

Letter-Word Identification

22

95

75

Passage Comprehension

11

94

68

Word Attack

13

112

99

Oral Reading

73

82

Spelling

14

105

97

Writing Samples

69

0.4

95

66

Calculation

98

81

Math Facts Fluency

10

92

50

Written Language

Math Calculation Skills

Applied Problems

14

82

16

Raw Score

Standard Score

Percentile Rank

91

27

Math Concepts &

Applications

15

83

13

Math Computation

100

50

K-TEA

Math

Interpretation
Reading
Based on observation, testing, and interview data, Brinley is performing above average in the
Reading academic domain, with a delay in oral reading. Brinley was administered the
Woodcock-Johnson to assess skills in this domain. Brinley was also observed at home and in a
testing environment in this academic domain. On the Woodcock-Johnson, Brinley scored at or
better than 93 of 100 students in Basic Reading skills and equal to or better than 4 of 100
students in Oral Reading. Interview and observation done with Brinley and her mother reveal
some of the same trends. Based on an interview with Brinleys mother, from an early age Brinley
showed no interest in reading and was not read to frequently. Brinley was observed in a testing
environment matching words with picture associations with comfort and ease. However, when
Brinley was asked to read aloud, both at home and in the testing environment, she would begin
sounding out letters and then state, Im done. When prompted to create words from the sounds
Brinley would complain, shake her head no, say, I dont want to, and refuse to continue.
Brinley already shows frustration in reading for extended periods of time or bigger words. As she
begins first grade, Brinley will likely show frustration in reading, math, and written language and
withdraw herself.
Brinley consistently:
Knows that print conveys meaning
Makes letter/sound matches
Identifies letters when prompted
Brinley occasionally:
Chooses books according to her interests
When given a word and a new beginning sound, she can create familiar words
Read familiar sight words

Brinley never:
Begins to blend individual letter sounds to make a new word
Divides words into syllables
Read a complete sentence
Written Language
From observation and assessment data, Brinley is performing below average in the academic
domain of Written Language. On the Woodcock-Johnson, Brinley scored at or better than 0 out
of 100 students in Written Language. When observed in a formal testing situation, Brinley was
able to spell her name with ease and would spell other words phonetically. For example, Brinley
spelled the word tree, chre and happy as, hape. In her home observation, Brinley properly
labeled a drawing she made at home with her parents labeled as mom and dad and her sister
and brother-to-be labeled with the correct spelling of their names. However, during formal
testing, when asked to write a sentence to describe what was happening in a picture Brinley
wrote only one word and then did not want to continue writing. Brinley began to complain and
say it was too hard for her. As a result of Brinleys writing deficit, she will likely show frustration
expressing herself in written language in the first grade and be hesitant to complete writing
assignments, such as journals and reflective responses.
Brinley consistently:
Writes uppercase letters
Writes lowercase letters
Uses multiple tools for writing (crayons, markers, pencils, etc)
Brinley occasionally:
Writes her first and last name
Spells words phonetically correct
Imitates writing concepts in play
Brinley never:
Writes words with correct spelling
Writes words from her surrounding environment
Uses books to show that books and writings continue from page to page
Oral Language
Brinley is performing typically in the Oral Language domain. Based on interview and
observation done at home and in a formal testing environment, Brinley shows no signs of
struggling in Oral Language. From an interview with Brinleys mother, Brinley began saying,
dada at nine-months old, which is typical in the language/communication developmental
domain. When communicating with others, Brinley is able to openly express her wants and
needs. When Brinley attempts to use words with at th in them she makes a f sound; she was
observed doing this most frequently using the word free for three. Brinley was also observed

drawing simple pictures and telling stories about the picture she made. Due to Brinleys ability to
express herself, Brinley will be able to let her teachers and other adults know when and where
she is struggling in the other academic domains.
Brinley consistently:
Expresses wants and needs through verbal expression
Describes objects and actions using adjectives and adverbs
Correctly name shapes regardless of their orientation
Brinley occasionally:
Correctly pronounces
Solves simple mathematical word problems using addition
Uses words to negotiate emotional situations and disagreements
Brinley never:
Makes up stories
Classifies and describes objects
Creates made-up words or jokes
Mathematics
The interview, observation, and assessment data indicate the Brinley is average in Mathematics.
Brinley scored equal to or better than 66 of 100 students on the Woodcock-Johnson Math
Calculation Skills portion of the assessment. On the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement
(KTEA) Brinley scored at or better than 27 out of 100 students. When Brinleys mother was
interviewed she mentioned that Brinley struggles with math, especially word problems, and that
she scored a 2 out of 3 in two math categories on her end-of-the-year, Kindergarten report card.
When observed at home, Brinley was able to count to 25 with ease, count to 100 by 10s and
attempted to count by 5s but finished counting by 10s. While observed in a testing environment,
Brinley was able to do simple addition with ease when she could count them on one hand, such
as, 5+2= 7. However, Brinley was inconsistently able to do math that required the use of both
hands to count, for instance, 7+2=9. When presented with the math problem 57+36=?, Brinley
stated, I cant do that one. I cant count it on my fingers. Because of Brinleys math abilities,
she will likely struggle when being introduced to new concepts and concepts that require abstract
thinking and reasoning skills.
Brinley consistently:
Identifies symbols such as a plus, minus, and equal
Compares objects by measurement attributes (big/small, most/least)
Names days of the week
Brinley occasionally:
Demonstrates the difference between addition and subtraction

 When counting items, counts each item only once and does not leave items out
Uses basic time vocabulary
Brinley never:
Reads calendar according to months, week, days
Uses conventional vocabulary of measurement
Recognizes, names, sorts, and creates two- and- three dimensional shapes
Recommendations
Brinley currently functions in the average range of academic growth with some delays in oral
reading. While Brinley is in the average range, she still has some delays and personal
weaknesses.
Home Recommendations
Brinleys parents should continue to read with Brinley in her home. While modeling reading and
fluency skills, Brinley will gain more concepts of print awareness. Her parents should use a
shared reading method in which they read a page and then encourage Brinley to read a page.
Books that Brinley is reading should be at an instructional level in which she will not become
frustrated. Through practice and modeling, Brinley will increase in her ability to blend words and
work towards reading fluency. In mathematics, Brinleys parents should encourage her to count
and practice simple addition in the home. Simple math practices each day will help Brinley with
her math application and problem solving skills.
Professional Recommendations
Because Brinley has no cause of academic or developmental concern, she will not need to meet
with a professional. If Brinley continues to struggle with reading throughout first grade, she
should consider getting tested for dyslexia if there is cause for concern.
Classroom Recommendations
Brinley has no cause for concern in her academic growth, because she is still so young. If
Brinley struggles in first grade with basic reading and math skills, her teachers should use a oneon-one approach to help Brinley blend letters and sounds. Teachers should read to the class
everyday using a shared reading approach. Brinley should also participate in silent reading and
reading groups. For addition and subtraction problems, Brinley should use manipulatives as well
as visualizing the algorithm. Brinleys teachers should occasionally assess Brinley during math
to determine she is understanding the material.
Summary
Brinley is six years and three months old and has shown struggles in math and oral reading.
Brinleys parents have expressed concerns with regards to her math ability, based on her report
card from Kindergarten. Brinley is performing above average in reading with a delay in oral

reading. Brinley is able to identify letter and letter sounds with ease but struggles with reading
out loud to the point of frustration. As for written language, Brinley can spell cvc words with
little to no trouble and otherwise spells words phonetically, but cannot yet write a complete
sentence without making an error. Brinleys oral language expression is typical for her age. She
is able to express herself with little to no ease and will make sure others know how she is feeling,
especially when she is uncomfortable. In the academic domain of Math, Brinley is average,
while she struggles with word problems. Brinley can solve simple addition problems and count
with ease. It is suggested that Brinley continue to receive support from her parents and teachers
through continued practice in group and individual reading. Brinley should read books that in her
instructional level so to avoid frustration.