3- Assessing through Observations
Running Record Observation
Observing Travis’s various encounters with school academics and his peers has assisted in investigating the causes for his behaviors. Travis is capable of socializing appropriately with his teacher and with his peers. He seems to value the support from his family, especially his mother. Travis appears to become upset when there is an interference with his academic performance. He tends to become upset if his peers interfere with his school performance. Travis exhibits plenty of pride through his work. He acknowledges complements and adores positive feedback from the teacher as well as his peers. When he receives feedback that makes him feel as a pitiable performing student, Travis tends to become enraged with anxiety. He becomes easily discouraged and unmotivated when he thinks he is incapable of executing a task.
Travis does have the ability to collect himself after an episode of anxiety. He works very well independently then when working with others. When he works independently he is not easily distracted and performs better when he focuses on one item at a time. Travis has a difficult time multi-tasking and can become easily frustrated because he becomes confused when he is focusing on more then one task at a time.
When Travis works independently, he puts more effort and care into his work. He sits quietly in his seat and promptly focuses on the direct task. When he is working independently he is not distracted by his surrounding environment. He seems to ignore the situations around him.
I have noticed Travis has a hard time understanding directions at times. When he is given an activity, he asks multiple times how to perform the task. When he doesn’t ask for directions and does it on his own, he tends to perform the task incorrectly. When Travis is directing the class as line leader, he tends not to effectively listen to the teacher’s directions of where to walk and stop at in the school hallways.
From my observations, Travis should be recommended to think and analyze the current situation or task before acting upon it. When Travis thinks about what he will do, before actually performing a task or duty, he achieves superior work products.
Anecdotal Record Observation
When Travis feels unskilled to perform a task, he becomes filled with anxiety that causes him to cry or to have a temper. When he feels incompetent he refuses to ask for assistance and only describes the situation when he is approached by an adult or teacher. He also refuses to ask or accept assistance from his peers or his friends.
When Travis becomes upset, he has a tendency to portray a primary body language signal. This significant sign is indicating through his facial expressions. Travis’s eyes role up toward the sky and then his eyes become very watery. His bottom lip then exceeds over his top lip and his face becomes clenched and stiff. Depending on his level of rage, he can make these facial expressions and not cry, he first may yell at someone and then cry, or he just begins to cry and ignores everyone. When he does become enraged or upset he will put is head in his arms when he is sitting at his desk or he will throw a jacket over his head so no one can see him. Travis’s crying is also always silent so no one can hear him as well. He seems to be very embarrassed by his expressions of anxiety or rage. He doesn’t want the other students to see him when he is upset.
Academically, Travis is capable of third grade work. When I helped him with his reading and math work he performed adequately. He was reluctant to work on his reading assignment by himself but when he did, he understood the task and did very well on it. His math work needs improvement. When I was working on counting and adding money values, Travis refused to organize the math problems. He wanted to rush through them to get the answer. He didn’t like to write the problems down on paper, he wanted to solve the problems on his own by adding in his head. When I showed Travis how to organize the math problems he was retrieving the correct answers but he didn’t want to demonstrate the problems the way I modeled them. If Travis didn’t want to rush through his work, I think he would be capable of performing on a higher-cognitive level of thinking.
Observation Reflection
Travis is capable of behaving appropriately with his teacher and with his peers. His seems to admire the support he receives from his family, especially his mother. He is courteous and acknowledges his mother with respect. When he is working with his peers, he wants to maintain control of the current situation. When he feels he is unable to access control or becomes confused, Travis develops anxiety which initiates from frustration.
How much do behavioral disorders affect academic development? Observing Travis’s behavior through direct sensory experience has assisted me with interpreting the reasons for his actions and his infantile mannerisms. I have interpreted my findings from factual information and intuition based upon analyzing Travis’s behaviors through running record and anecdotal record observations. Interpretation of Travis’s mood, desires or intentions is assumed by his behaviors of crying may be correlated with high-anxiety due to low self-efficacy. Travis exhibits a high need for involvement in school activities and he doesn’t cope well with feelings of incompetence. When Travis feels he is faced with a challenging task, he is unable to cope with the demanding task. His behaviors then turn toward feelings of vulnerability which then leads toward aggression because of the fear of failure. These assessment methods have assisted my exploration in the ways behavioral disorders could hinder academic performance and development. Travis’s lack of coping skills may impede his academic performance because of the massive time consumed worrying about his incapability’s as well as his defenses used that involve others which may cause destruction of social relationships. He also may learn to focus and organize his thoughts properly and this may lessen the provocation of anxiety or aggressive levels.
Too many organizations today have cultures of perfection. They contain a set of organizational beliefs that any failure is unacceptable. Only pure, untainted success will do. To retain your reputation as an achiever, you must reach every goal and never, ever make a mistake that you can’t hide or blame on someone else. There may be a large amount of stress and terror when Travis has feelings of incompetence. The constant covering up of the smallest blemishes is one of Travis’s characteristics. He refuses to admit when he feels or knows he has performed poorly. Successful people like to win and achieve high standards. This can make them so terrified of failure it ruins their lives. When a positive trait, like achievement, becomes too strong in someone’s life, it’s on the way to becoming a major handicap.
Travis has a tendency not to engage in an activity in which he fears failure. He may not participate because he is safe from failure. Children with a fear of failure may fake injury, illness, and they may damage equipment, or pretend to forgot or loss materials. There may also be an apparent lack of interest or motivation, or just plain refusals to take part are common ways in which children can avoid failure to maintain their personal and social esteem. These reactions of a fear of anxiety may be perceived by the teacher incorrectly and the teacher may mark this student as a poor achiever which will hinder future academic development. The question remains for further investigation, how much does a behavioral disorder affect academic development?
4- Traditional Assessments/ Standardized Tests
New York State requires two standardized tests in third grade. This is the first year for standardized testing. This year Travis will be taking the English Language Arts test and the math test. The ELA test will be given in January and the math test will be given in March. The total test time consists of two or three sessions and the total test time ranges from seventy to hundred and fifty minutes.
The ELA tests will instruct students to listen to a story read aloud and answer questions based upon what they heard about the story. They will also be required to answer questions about a passage they have read and they will be asked to identify correct grammar, punctuation and other errors in a passage they have read.
The math tests instruct students to answer multiple choice questions and open ended questions that require them to show how they arrived at that answer. Students must read and interpret graphs and tables. In order to do this, students must recognize and use signs, symbols and terms that represent mathematical concepts.
Students will be scored on a range from one to four. A score of a one or two is considered below the state standard, a score of three is considered proficient and a score of four represents highly proficient.
Teachers and approved scorers are the persons who score the tests. Students who receive a one or two score are recommended for extra help. Principals and teachers must contact the students’ parents because the school district is accountable for supplying extra assistance to the student. This assistance can be in forms of summer school, resource room, and before or after school programs for extra help or tutoring. Some students who score in the lowest out of four may even be held back a grade.
These New York standardized tests are considered to be formal assessments. Formal assessments have data which support the conclusions made from the test. They usually refer to these types of tests as standardized measures. These tests have been tried before on students and have statistics which support the conclusion such as the student is reading below average for his age. Formal assessment usually implicates a written document, such as a test, quiz, or paper. Formal assessment is given a numerical score or grade based on student performance. The data is mathematically computed and summarized. Scores such as percentiles or standard scores are mostly commonly given from this type of assessment. The assessment used needs to match the purpose of assessing. Formal or standardized measures should be used to assess overall achievement, to compare a student's performance with others at their age or grade, or to identify comparable strengths and weaknesses with peers.
These tests are considered to be objective assessments. Objective assessment is a form of questioning which has a single correct answer. Objective question types include true/false answers, , multiple-response and matching questions. Objective assessment is becoming more popular due to the increased use of online assessment since this form of questioning is well-suited to computerization, which is less costly to grade.
These standardized tests are graded by criterion-referenced assessment. A criterion-referenced test is one that provides for translating the test score into a statement about the behavior to be expected of a person with that score or their relationship to a specified subject matter. Most tests and quizzes written by school teachers are criterion-referenced tests. A criterion-referenced test would report the student's performance strictly according to whether or not these questions were answered correctly. The objective is simply to see whether or not the student has learned the material.
In elementary school, these tests are considered to be high-stakes testing. High-stakes testing is the assessment of individual performance, normally through paper-and-pencil measures, and the use of those data to make decisions about promotion, graduation, instructor effectiveness, program performance, and the approval of educational programs and institutions.
A good assessment has both validity and reliability, plus the quality of the test attributes for a specific context and purpose. A assessment is one which measures what it is intended to measure. An assessment that would not be valid would be to assess driving skills through a written test alone. A more valid way of assessing driving skills would be through a combination of tests that help determine what a driver knows, such as through a written test of driving knowledge, and what a driver is able to do, such as through a performance assessment of actual driving.
relates to the consistency of an assessment. A reliable assessment is one which consistently achieves the same results with the same or similar group of students. Various factors affect reliability, including ambiguous questions, too many options within a question paper, vague marking instructions and poorly trained markers
It is very reliable, but not very valid. Asking random individuals to tell the time without looking at a clock or watch is sometimes used as an example of an assessment which is valid, but not reliable. The answers will vary between individuals, but the average answer is probably close to the actual time.
Standardized tests must be valid and reliable in order for students to be adequately graded. If they are not, students’ futures and academic performances can be hindered by the continuing failure. If Travis performed poorly on these tests, it would create internal anxiety and provoke an enormous fear of failure. How much would Travis’s behavioral disorder affect his academic performance? Travis may develop test anxiety that could interfere with his performance on standardized tests. He may need additional support from his teacher, school psychologist and his family when it is time to take these tests.
Test anxiety is the uneasiness, apprehension, or nervousness felt by students who have a fear of failing an exam. Students suffering from test anxiety may experience any of the following, the association of grades with personal worth, embarrassment by a teacher, taking a class that is beyond their ability, fear of alienation from parents or friends, time pressures, or feeling a loss of control. Emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and physical components can all be present in test anxiety. Sweating, dizziness, headaches, racing heartbeats, nausea, fidgeting, and drumming on a desk are all common. An optimal level of arousal is necessary to best complete a task such as an exam, however, when the anxiety or level of arousal exceeds that optimum, it results in a decline in performance. This is why Travis may be a canadate if he is not prepared and instructed the proper way for these tests by his teacher. Travis exhibits a fear of failure, if this is not treated properly his fear may actually cause him to fail because of the refusal to face the challenging task. The question remains, how much do behavioral disorders affect academic performance? As Travis experiences more with increased age and new learning methods, will he be able to develop coping skills or will the tasks become too demanding causing more frustration and fear? I predict this answer may be answered only with time and support from his family and school.
5- Instructional Assessment
Travis’s inability to cope with stressful academic situations requires effective and beneficial academic and behavioral instruction. Behavioral disorders become apparent when the student displays a repetitive and persistent pattern of behavior that results in significant disruption in other students. When Travis has been upset, he has taken out his frustration on his peers in forms of verbally abuse. His disturbances, if they continue, may cause significant impairments in academic and social functioning.
Some general strategies that can assist Travis in controlling his behavior is for the teacher to research any prior records and discuss the situations with the school psychologists to enable positive future outcomes. Some strategies that are useful are using positive reinforcement techniques. These techniques include recalling positive behavior and establishing a reward system, pointing out good effort, monitor behavior frequently, administer consequences immediately, acknowledge the person’s role in group activities, provide encouragement, enforce classroom rules, praise immediately at all good behavior and performance, and reward more than punish in order to build self-esteem are many among the numerous techniques that can be used to establish a positive classroom environment for Travis. The teacher should also encourage other students to be friendly with Travis. Travis needs assistance to build his self-esteem and interpersonal skills.
It is the teacher’s role to try and anticipate classroom situations when Travis’s emotional state will be vulnerable so preparation can be applied to the appropriate strategies. Travis also needs instruction that is very structured and simple. This student needs activities demonstrated to him so he knows what is expected of him through the modeling process. Travis should also be involved in more group activities to make social contacts so he can strengthen his interpersonal skills. During these group activities, Travis should be the leader to reduce aggressiveness. The teacher needs to prepare for successful participation and develop questions that can be answered by different cognitive abilities. The classroom needs to have a structured routine and should be well organized. When Travis understands the instructions, expectations and content of a task, he will work with more proficiency in this well thought-out and planned classroom.
When Travis is in a laboratory setting, some recommendations would be to alternate activities for different learning styles, different interests, be sensitive to pairing Travis with other students, use a wide variety of equipment, and give simple, specific and thorough directions. Travis needs checklists when given a big project so he can organize his thoughts and monitor his progress.
During group interaction and discussion, Travis’s contributions should be acknowledged by the teacher. As Travis’s comfort level rises, it should be encouraged for him to be a spokes person as well as manipulate increased challenges but be provided with increased positive reinforcement. Travis should be monitored to carefully ensure he does not dominate the discussion or distract other students.
To assist Travis during reading, the teacher needs to target specific prosocial behaviors for appropriate instruction and assessment. Travis should take turn reading when working with a partner or in a group. The teacher should provide instructional activities that involve strategies of self-control, self-reinforcement, self-monitoring, self-management, problems solving, and metacognitive skills should be focused on when teaching students reading skills.
Math instruction should include general instruction techniques from laboratory and reading techniques but should also focus on organizing data and problems. Travis has a problem organizing his thoughts and this causes him to get frustrated. Travis needs structure during math. He needs to know how to organize and write down the problems so he can effectively solve them. The teacher needs to show clear examples of what is expected during each step to solve a problem.
When Travis received a sixty percent out of a hundred percent on his reading test he became very upset. The teacher needs to be sensitive to Travis’s reactions to various aspects of assessment. The teacher should have a portfolio of Travis’s formal and informal assessments that demonstrate Travis’s knowledge of the subject matter or unit of study. Informal assessments are procedures without rigid administration or scoring, such as projects and activities. The teacher must combine different assessment methods to weaken anxiety. Travis’s fear of failure may slowly decline if he is well prepared for tests and administered different forms of assessments that allow him to develop his different learning styles.
The elementary school Travis attends administers a bench mark assignment four times a year. This is a writing assignment that the students must work on independently and is not allowed to receive any help from their teacher or from their peers. Travis was instructed to write about a type of community he would chose to live in when he is older and to include several specific reasons why he selected this type of community. Travis received a nine out of a sixteen on this assignment which is basic score on the rubric. The rubric ranges from the lowest grade which is a one that means below basic, two is basic, three is proficient and the highest grade is a four which means advanced. Travis was first instructed to complete the paragraph planning sheet which is an outline to observe the way he organizes his thoughts and how he will write his paper. This outline has barely anything written on it and is incomplete. His paper is not in a story format, instead he wrote sentences that begin with a star and it is not a complete paper. Travis had a hard time organizing his thoughts and did not correctly complete the prompt which instructed him to write why he would want to live in the community he chose. Instead he wrote things that are in that type of community but not the things he would enjoy or like to do when he lived there. His teacher wrote on his scoring rubric that Travis and his parents will receive, “You did not address the prompt, Travis. Choose the type of community you think you would like to live in when you are older. Vary the way you are beginning your sentences as well. Transitions will help your writing flow better.” I think the teacher is correct about Travis’s writing, but I think she needs to assist him with organizing his thoughts and writing them on paper to guide his transitioning of sentences.
This benchmark assignment clearly demonstrates proof that Travis has a difficult time organizing his thoughts. He is capable of working on this task but he has a hard time gathering and organizing his thoughts unless he is interested and motivated about the topic or activity. Unfortunately, Travis will have required assignments in the future that may not always be geared toward his interest or learning style.
The teacher could assist Travis by approaching instruction that includes Travis’s interest and learning styles. Travis likes to play sports and he enjoys watching sport games and animated movies. Travis also seems to be a kinesthetic learner. In order for him to understand a task, he needs it modeled to him and he needs to perform the task himself. Travis enjoys running around and playing because he has a hard time sitting at his seat through out the day. Travis’s teacher can assist the situation by including these factors to motivate Travis and help the learning process.
The question remains, how much do behavioral disorders affect academic performance? Currently in Travis’s situation, his behavior toward stressful situations has been disrupting his ability to adequately perform. Travis is known to perform proficiently and his prior teachers have said he is very capable of performing well. Travis needs assistance in developing a method to organize his thought process in a relaxed and effective environment. This assessment has proven Travis understood the content of assignment because he listed objects and things in the community environment he chose, but he did not include more reasons, based upon his opinion, of why he would want to live there.
Travis clearly needs more support and assistance from his teacher during these instructional objectives. Travis needs positive reinforcement and directions need to be simple and clear. Travis’s fear of failure may continue if his social and academic does not change gradually. It is known Travis is capable of performing well but it shouldn’t be on just selected tasks when he has the potential to work better. This may what be triggering Travis’s anxiety, his teachers or family members may tell him, “we know you can do better,” and this may actually be enabling his anxiety and causing his reactions to stressful situations because of the emphasis placed on his work causing a fear of failure.
6- Conclusion
When being diagnosed with a behavior disorder, a person must have a pattern of hostile, aggressive or disruptive behaviors for more than six months. Travis has been diagnosed with a behavioral disorder since the beginning of second grade. I have not been informed if Travis’s behavior is caused by genetic, social or environmental factors. Mental health disorders in children are mostly caused by biological or environmental factors, or even a combination of both. Biological factors are genetics which are chemical imbalances in the body. These factors may be connected to damage to the nervous system such as a head injury. Environmental factors that may affect mental health are factors such as exposure to violence, extreme stress and the loss of an important person. How ever, I am more focused on Travis’s current behavior and the effects it may have in his life.
How much do behavioral disorders affect academic development? Many students with behavioral problems are not universal, they are targeted. They are mostly targeted at family members but in Travis’s case, they are targeted directly at the given situation or at his peers because of a situation or event. Children recognize and deal with people in different ways, this begins at birth and is reinforced through out their life by genetic or social observational learning. When a child targets one person when he or she acts out, it is an indication that the person has learned he can feel powerful at the expense of the other person targeted. On the surface, Travis doesn’t look like he is getting anything out of the targeted behavior. When Travis feels incompetent, he may target his behavior if someone is present and involved because this makes him feel powerful. When putting someone else down, it makes him feel as though he is regaining self-confidence. It is a sense of gratification for Travis.
The most efficient way to prevent aggressive behavior is to give the student a stable, secure, supportive environment that contains caring discipline and full supervision. Teachers must be a good role model for the student and reprimand immediately so that the student understands exactly what he or she has done wrong.
Travis’s appalling behavior is a result from his fear of failure. Travis’s anxiety due to his preventive efforts to perform poorly will hinder his ability to succeed. If Travis continues to feel as though he will be unable to accomplish certain tasks, it will be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Travis’s prediction of incompetence will indirectly become true because he may fear new things or difficult tasks and this will inhibit his ability to grow academically. How ever, I may be incorrect.
I have only observed Travis for a short period time but in that time, I have noticed his reactions of aggression and crying have occurred due to the stressfulness of feelings of academic weakness. When Travis is in a setting in where he feels comfortable, he performs with pride and brilliance. Analyzing Travis’s benchmark assignment and working with him on his math assignment, Travis needs to know how to work more slowly and think about how is going to perform that assigned task. Travis wants to perform well because he has asked me if he can sit in the back of the room and work with me because there are less distractions, but he needs to allow him self to write down his plan for conquering the task instead of just skipping over important steps.
These formal and informal assessment tools have assisted with some exploration of Travis’s case but they do not fully support my analysis. Travis does need assistance to modify his behavior and academic integrity but I am unable to give a definite of answer of how much his behavior disorder actually affects his academic performance because of the lack of supporting evidence. The running record assisted my observations because they were conducting during different activities. Observing Travis during different tasks assisted me in making a prediction of his condition but since this was done during one day, his actions may have been a product to a certain overall event. The anecdotal record was also conducted during one day. I may have observed Travis during a time period that was difficult for him and so his behaviors those days may not have been his usually reactions. Travis’s benchmark assignment may also not be a reliable source of information because he may not have liked the direct task and so his lack of motivation could have been a strong contributing factor to his low performance. In order to make a real judgment about this case, I would need to conduct more running record and anecdotal record observations, and speak with Travis’s family members to make a thorough analysis.
As a future teacher, this case study has made me aware how important it is as a teacher to observe each and every student. It is imperative to assess each student thoroughly for productive instruction and to create a manageable classroom. Assessment tools must be utilized in different forms and should be performed daily and weekly. Students may have a bad day or even a bad week, so I would keep a wide range between assessment periods for more accurate results. I also would not duplicate assessment forms because I would want to observe the student during different activities and during different time periods of the day to establish an assessment that is more reliable about the student’s performance and ability.
However, Travis does exhibit many of the defining signs of a fear of failure. Travis has lied and has not taken responsibility for his actions. He has also made poor decisions when he is unfamiliar with a topic such as crying, treating others poorly, and being disrespectful to his peers. Studying these reactions to certain situations has led me to my own understandings about behavior disruptions and fears of failure. Travis’s symptoms correlate with a fear of failure which changes my guiding question. Does a fear of failure affect academic performance?
A fear of failure must affect academic performance negatively because the fear of criticism and fear of rejection will always come in the way for chances of success. A person will be scared to explore new activities and new objectives because of the fear of performing badly. They would rather not try new things then fail which may lower their self-esteem. For Travis to overcome this, I recommend assistance and taking bold, decisive action. Action gives you the power to change the circumstances or the situation. You must overcome the inertia by doing something. This can be done by doing things different. Travis needs assistance by learning how to conquer tasks in different ways. If Travis has more options and ways of performing, he would be more inclined to try new tasks which will lower feelings of failure. Travis also needs support and to learn not to take failure as a personal self-worth. Travis needs to look at failure as an event or a happening, not as a person. Travis’s support systems need to help his way of thinking. Travis needs to think of failure as a learning experience. If Travis was given more optional methods of performance, this would significantly help him build his self esteem and knowledge. Travis needs to learn how to problem solve. He needs to think of optional ways he will perform the task when he is having trouble. The teacher and the school psychologist need to develop ways Travis can learn problem-posing procedures.
Travis needs to learn that there is more than one way to solve a problem. If Travis is taught the different ways he can develop answers to solve math problems and the different methods used for reading and writing, I think it would lower his fear of failure. I believe part of growing and developing is to learn the idea of choice. Yes, in elementary school most students have not developed cognitively to think abstractly but I still think it should be taught. Students learn differently and must be given choices in which they can learn and develop information. I recommend Travis to learn differentiated methods of instruction and learn the concept that there is not always one correct answer for everything in order to lower his fear of failure.
Bibliography
Banks, S.R. (2005). Classroom Assessment: Issues and Practices. Boston: Pearson.
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