KEY POINTS TO INCLUDE IN WRITTEN REPORTS WHAT GOES INTO AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY MAKING SURE PARENTS UNDERSTAND YOUR EVALUATION Writing Effective, Comprehensive Reports For Initial Evaluations
Jan 02, 2016
KEY POINTS TO INCLUDE IN WRITTEN REPORTS
WHAT GOES INTO AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
MAKING SURE PARENTS UNDERSTAND YOUR EVALUATION
Writing Effective, Comprehensive Reports
For Initial Evaluations
Introductions…
Tom Campo, school psychologist at WHS
Phil Medeiros, school psychologist at WMS
Donna Alfisi, school psychologist at the preschool, Sweeney & Natchaug Elementary Schools
Bernie Barile, school psychologist at the Charles H. Barrows Elementary School
Patricia Wilding, school psychologist at the preschool, North Windham & Windham Center Elementary Schools
Katherine Halpine-Siegelstein, special ed. teacher/team leader at WMS
Adele Lanza, special ed. teacher/team leader at Sweeney Elementary School
Today’s Objectives
Review content and components of educational evaluations
Understand the district’s Executive Summary form
Practice writing & presenting parent-friendly executive summaries
Today’s Agenda
Time Activity
9:00-9:10 Arrival
9:10-9:30 Comfort Zone Activity
9:30-9:45 Small Group Discussion
9:45-10:30 Review of Report Writing/QA Session
10:30-10:40
BREAK
10:40-12:40
Review Executive Summary Template & Summary Writing Activity
12:40-1:40 LUNCH
1:40-2:30 Mock Presentations
2:30-2:45 Update on Annual Reviews
2:45-3:00 Debrief of the Day
Comfort Zone Activity
How it works…
There is a marker in the room that represents “complete comfort.”
You will be asked your level of comfort with a variety of things.
The closer you are to the marker the more comfortable you are.
The further away from the marker the less comfortable you are.
What’s Your Comfort Level With…
Dogs
Heights
Spiders
Grading homework
How About Testing & Report Writing?
The more comfortable you feel you are, the closer to the marker you will be
The less comfortable you feel you are, the further away from the marker you will be
NOW…Break into Groups
Form 5 groups of special ed teachers & 1 psychologist
Each group must contain at least one person:
From each school
Who feels comfortable with testing/writing
Who feels less comfortable with testing/writing
BREAK AWAY FROM YOUR COMFORT ZONE!!
Small Group Discussion
What are the essential components of an initial educational evaluation?
What do you think is the most important section of an initial educational evaluation?
Report out: Initial Education Evaluations
Essential Components Most important Section
Demographics (chronological age) Scores/validity
Reason for Evaluation Summary
Information supports classroom performance
Recommendations
Concerns/Why are we testing? Concerns/how to address them
Instrumentation
Current performance
Background information
Seeing the child/analyzing the results
Scores
Validity
Sample Educational Evaluation Report
Key Components Of Educational Reports
Demographics
Introduction
Student Behavior During Testing
Statements of Testing
Scores
Score Interpretation
Conclusion
Recommendations
Demographics
Includes:
Student Name
DOB
Grade
Age
Name of Evaluator
Date of Evaluation
Demographics Example
Student: Penny Lane
DOB: 01/29/2003
Evaluator: Katherine Halpine-Siegelstein
Grade: 6
Age: 12-1
Date of Report: 01/20/15
Introduction Example
Penny was referred by the PPT for an educational evaluation in order to determine eligibility for special services. Penny is a 6th grade student who has been in the EIP process since the beginning of September. Despite tier 2 and tier 3 interventions, she continues to struggle in all academic areas. Please refer to the psychological evaluation for further background information.
Student Behavior During Testing
Includes:
How student responded to testing
Student Behavior Example
Penny approached the test setting with a positive attitude. She appeared to work to the best of her abilities, but at times was fidgety, tapping her pencil or moving in her seat. However, this did not seem to distract Penny from the testing as she remained on task throughout all subtests. In order to give her sufficient breaks, she was tested during three 45 minute sessions. The test examiner feels that Penny’s performance on this assessment is a valid representation of her abilities.
Statement of Testing
Essential Components
Tests administered
Dates
Description of tests
RPI: Relative Performance IndexPredicted score relative to a peer in the classroom.
Ex: RPI 59/90 predicts that compared to an average peer, the student will receive a 59 when a peer will receive a score of 90.
Statement of Testing Example
Penny was administered the Woodcock-Johnson IV Tests of Achievement
*All tests have a mean of 100 and standard deviation of 15.
Scores
Essential Components
percentiles
Confidence levels
Graphics
clusters
Score Example
2/13/15
ClusterScore
Age Equivalent
Standard Score
PercentileRank
Academic Skills 9-9 88 20
Academic Fluency 12-7 104 68
Academic Applications 9-2 83 17
Broad Achievement 10-6 92 32
Broad Reading 10-1 90 34
Reading Fluency 11-4 98 53
Basic Reading Skills 9-7 89 30
Letter-Word Identification
9-8 88 30
Passage Comprehension
7-8 69 4
Sentence Reading Fluency
12-7 103 72
Word Attack 9-5 92 40
Oral Reading 9-5 88 30
Score Interpretation
Essential Components
Break down subtests to report on performance and report on actual examples of what student did.
Timed vs. not timed
Item analysis (score says one thing, actual work says another)
Identify where the breakdown of area that student had difficulty with
Score Interpretation Example
Broad Reading
The Broad Reading cluster measures reading achievement including reading, decoding, reading speed, and the ability to comprehend connected text while reading. This cluster combines the Letter-Word Identification, Passage Comprehension, and Sentence Reading Fluency. Penny’s score falls in the average range as compared to peers of the same age with standard score 90 and percentile rank 34.
Continued…
Score Interpretation Example
Continued.....
Penny scored in the average range on the Letter-Word Identification subtest. This measures the examinee's word identification skills and reading ability. The student is asked to read aloud individual words which become increasingly difficult toward the end of the subtest, with words that Penny required increased time and attention to phoneme-grapheme relationship. Penny was able to read words such as “guarantee” and “veteran.” She struggles with silent letters. For example, when asked to read the word “knead”, Penny pronounced the /k/ sound. Words with more complex affixes were also a challenge for Penny. For example, she was not familiar with the suffix –cious in “ferocious”. Compared to other students of the same age, Penny’s decoding skills fall in the average range.
Explaining Results in Parent-Friendly Terms
Phoneme-grapheme relationship
Affixes
Decoding skills
Another Score Interpretation Example
The Passage Comprehension subtest measures the student's ability to use syntactic and semantic cues to identify a missing word in the text. Penny was asked to silently read a CLOZE passage and supply the correct word. Toward the beginning of this subtest, the passages are short and include a picture cue. As the test continues, the passages become larger and picture cues are omitted. This was a relative area of weakness for Penny, as she scored in the low range on this subtest. Although she appeared to read the passage at an appropriate rate, many of her answers were unrelated to the text. For example, when presented with the paragraph, “I like pizza. What do you like to ____?” Penny supplied the word “do”, which completes the sentence but is unrelated to the context. On some items, her answers did have relevance to the text, but showed her lack of vocabulary. An example of this was when she used the word “turn” instead of “wind” with reference to “winding a clock.” Students with difficulties with expressive and receptive language often have difficulty with this subtest.
Remember…Parent Friendly Language!
Rate??
Expressive and Receptive Language??
Also… Be sure to give examples to support your findings …
On some items, Penny’s answers did have relevance to the text, but showed her lack of vocabulary. An example of this was when she used the word “turn” instead of “wind” with reference to “winding a clock.”
Conclusion
Essential Components
Conclusion Example
Overall, Penny is a very capable and hard-working sixth grader. She is currently functioning in the average range in all academic areas. Relative weaknesses for Penny are passage comprehension and oral reading. She does not always understand directions and lacks the vocabulary necessary for reading comprehension. She may have difficulty keeping up with class discussions or following multi-step directions. Activities involving working quickly and accurately are relatively easy for Penny. She should be able to keep up with classroom tasks and complete work within appropriate time limits.
Recommendations
Essential Components
Recommendations Example
Explicit instruction in vocabulary to improve reading comprehension. Instruction should encourage Penny to use new vocabulary as often as possible both orally and in written work.
Visuals to support new vocabulary.
Remediation of calculation concepts including operation with fractions.
Direct instruction in math problem-solving strategies. Teach key vocabulary to help determine the operation.
Break tasks into smaller steps.
Provide multi-step instructions in written as well as oral format.
Teach reading comprehension strategies, specifically making inferences and using context clues.
Your Turn…
If:The sentence reading fluency standard score
is 70and…The letter/word identification standard score
is 90
Then:Given the standard score and testing
observations, what recommendations would you make for this student?
Your Recommendations…
Essential Components
Additional Recommendations…
Give student more time
Build automaticity
Time management techniques
What NOT to Include in the Report
Avoid direct recommendation of eligibility determination
Avoid specific programs to be used with student(e.g. Wilson Reading Program)
Avoid excessive jargon
Avoid using “inability” instead use“weakness/deficit”
Sample Psychological Evaluation Report
Questions??
Take a Break…
10 Minutes
EXECUTIVE
SUMMARIES
Purpose of Executive Summaries
Only for initial evaluations where there is a psychological evaluation in addition to an academic evaluation
Meant to be collaborative…the special educator and the school psychologist work together to develop a clear, concise, parent-friendly way to present information to parents at PPT2.
By doing so, PPT2 will be more productive in less time!!
Name of Student: DOB: _______Date of this report _______
Is the student’s difficulty the result of a disability (IDEA ’04)Key Referral Questions:1. 2. 3.
Answers / Key Findings: 1. 2.3.
Impact of Combined Findings on Learning:1.2.3.
Moving Forward: Strategies include but are not limited to:1.2.3.
*Regardless of eligibility determination, strategy recommendations will be shared with staff*
Windham Public Schools Draft Executive Summary for Initial
Evaluation
Executive Summary Activity
Work together in groups to develop an executive summary using the educational evaluation & psychological evaluation samples provided.
Elementary Teachers: Patricia Wilding, Donna Alfisi & Bernie Barile
Middle School Teachers: Phil Medeiros & Tom Campo
LUNCH TIME!
Presenting
Executive Summaries
To Parents
Presenting Your Executive Summary
Take 5-10 minutes in your group to: Finalize your executive summary Decide on one person from your group who be the
parent of the student the initial evaluation was for.
Then: The “parent” will travel to another group to
participate in a mock PPT2 meeting
Annual Review
Updates
Debrief of the Day
Questions you still have
Your thoughts on: Finding the time to collaborate on executive summary Impact summary will have on parent understanding of
reports
Email [email protected] for a copy of the Powerpoint
Thank You forYour
Participation!