TE 803 Case Study Audrey DiComo Case Study Proposal Template In the case of KD, a student of mine: Here

re is a description of the behavior that concerns me: I have KD in my 9th grade U.S. History class. KD has shown that he has potential to succeed in class. He often engages in class discussion, makes intelligent contributions, and asks insightful questions. While he managed to get a B+ on his first semester final exam, which he attributes to studying very hard, he failed every other assessment and barely hands in his homework. Despite his success on his final exam first semester, he currently has a 40% midway through the second semester. Here are some different interpretations (some hypotheses) for why the student is behaving this way: KD is an African American male in a predominantly white school district, which has been labeled as a focus school for its achievement gap between black and white students. Ive hypothesized that he might be behaving in the way he is because he has an understanding that he doesnt need to get high grades. While he makes friends easily in the classroom, he interacts most with the other African American students, most of whom also do not put much effort into the class. I worry that KD is not setting high goals for U.S. History because he understands from his peers and from the community around him that he cannot or should not aim higher. Another hypothesis is that KD simply doesnt have the study skills necessary to achieve in class. While he understands the topics we discuss in class, he does not yet have the maturity to understand that, without hard work, including completing homework assignments, reading the textbook, and studying on his own time, he cannot do well in class. This student may have decided that he is not college-bound, and therefore believes that these are skills that he does not need to have in order to be successful. Perhaps if he sees his hard work pay off with decent grades, he will begin to learn better academic skills. Here is the hypothesis that, for the moment, I have decided upon: I have decided that, while his race and its implications in the community in which he lives probably plays a role, his lack of study skills and habits plays a larger role in my particular class. This is an inventory of what I have already tried: 1. Have I made numerous and varied efforts to connect empathically with the student? KD and I have had discussions about his grade, but he often shies away from extended conversations. I believe he has connected with me as a teacher, as he seems to enjoy my lessons. Often, when other students are making trouble in class, KD will quiet them down on my behalf.

TE 803 Case Study Audrey DiComo 2. Have I provided numerous and varied opportunities for the student to learn? What specific strategies have I tried? Whenever I facilitate class discussions, I very deliberately allow his opinions to be heard often, hopefully encouraging him to use this opportunity to learn. Also, on a few occasions, I have suggested alternative assignments. There are a few reading strategies that we have introduced in class that he found to be helpful, and on a number of occasions, he requested to complete one of those strategies and show me proof in lieu of another assignment. He didnt always complete the alternate assignment, but when he did, he told me that they helped him understand the text better than our regular reading guides. 3. What have I said directly or indicated indirectly to the student that might help to change attitudes, behavior? I often praise KD for his thoughtful contributions in class. I have also acknowledged on a number of occasions that I am willing to help him succeed if he puts in the effort (by asking for alternate assignments, attending review sessions, etc.). 4. Have I contacted others who might help me with the student (e.g. parents, guidance counselor, special ed teacher, other teachers)? I have spoken to other teachers about KD, and while he is exhibiting many of the same behaviors in their classes (e.g. engaging in discussion, not completing work, not performing well on assessments), he seems to be more engaged and interested in my subject matter than he is in some of his other classes. 5. In this case, have I accounted for teaching the student to take responsibility for his/her own actions and learning? How have I done that? I have expressed to this student that, while I am available to offer him assistance and to help him succeed, I have also noted that he must take responsibility as well. For instance, he has mentioned that alternate reading strategies help him more than the assigned reading guides, but unless he talks to me about alternate assignments and advocates for such things himself, I will not offer them. 6. Do I detect in myself any bias toward this student that might interfere with my best efforts? Do I detect a tendency in myself to apply the Fundamental Attribution Error in thinking about this study? How might I counteract this? With this student, I find myself often having a positive bias. While he is sometimes disruptive in class, I altogether find him a sweet kid, and often find myself overlooking these disruptions. I also find myself not being as tough with him as I should be about his grades, simply because I find him to be a very pleasant and friendly student. I think that I need to overcome this and be more frank with him. 7. How have my efforts devoted to this student affected the time and attention devoted to other students? To my personal time? I do not believe that my efforts devoted to this student have affected the time and attention devoted to my other students or to my personal time.

TE 803 Case Study Audrey DiComo Action Plan: In light of the questions I answered in my proposal, here is what I might try: I will have a discussion with KD about his goals for high school and ask him to set some goals for second semester. I will continue checking up on him throughout the semester as he either meets or fails to meet those goals, pointing out assessment scores and missing assignments, and discussing how those impact his grade. Through these hopefully weekly discussions, I hope to point out to KD how his hard work pays off. I hope that by challenging him to complete all of his assignments for one unit, I can show him how its easier to perform well on the assessment when a continued effort is given throughout the unit. Here is some literature that gives me some ideas for and supports my action plan: Marzanos Student Motivation suggests that an action plan intended to increase student motivation should encourage feedback on the students knowledge gain. This also suggests giving feedback without comparison to others in the course. For instance, there are many members of KDs class who are receiving As, but instead of comparing KD to that standard set by other students, I should compare his academic success solely with grades he has received in the past and what he has shown he is capable of. Reflection (after Lead Teaching and enactment of Action Plan): As of March 27, here is an updated description of the students behavior: The student has the same positive behavior in class, and has also been exhibiting the same low assessment scores. However, KD has been turning in homework much more reliably, and as a result of our one-on-one conversations, we have been able to focus more on what the source of his low grades might be. Here are the improvements Ive seen: As I mentioned, KD has begun handing in more assignments than he had been previously. He has also been more open to extended conversations with me about his grade and how to improve it. He is consistently reminding me to check in homework each day, to his classmates dismay, because he wants to improve his grade. Here is what still concerns me: KD is still performing very poorly on his assessments. Because class grades are assessment based (80% summative assessments, 20% formative assessments,) his grade cannot improve significantly until he begins to perform better on his unit assessments. Here is an Inventory of what I have tried: 1. Have I made numerous and varied efforts to connect empathically with the student?

TE 803 Case Study Audrey DiComo KD and I have had a number of extended conversations. Though not weekly, as I had hoped, he frequently asks me for a grade update and we discuss what he could be doing better. 2. Have I provided numerous and varied opportunities for the student to learn? What specific strategies have I tried? While I still leave the door open for KD to complete alternate assignments, he hasnt asked to do so lately and has been completing the regular assignments. He also asks me frequently to check his homework in for credit, which he says is due in part to wanting to boost his grade, but also because he wants accountability for completing his assignments. 3. What have I said directly or indicated indirectly to the student that might help to change attitudes, behavior? I believe that my encouragement of KD, especially after his B+ on his first semester final, have helped to change his attitude. I have told him all semester that, now that I see he is capable of a B+, I expect B+ work throughout the semester. I have certainly not been seeing work of that quality on his assessments, but I keep reminding him of that success and telling him that I believe he has it in him to achieve higher. 4. Have I contacted others who might help me with the student (e.g. parents, guidance counselor, special ed teacher, other teachers)? I have been in contact with his mother, who reinforces his goals at home. She has been a major help in pushing him to complete assignments and take more initiative in his grade. 5. In this case, have I accounted for teaching the student to take responsibility for his/her own actions and learning? How have I done that? I believe that I have asked the student to take responsibility for his own learning. After his grade on the final, it became apparent to me that he was capable of high quality work, but that he wasnt putting in the effort. I have tried to help him understand that he can be attentive in class and use me as a resource, but he wont see significant results unless he is willing to take responsibility for his own work. 6. Do I detect in myself any bias toward this student that might interfere with my best efforts? Do I detect a tendency in myself to apply the Fundamental Attribution Error in thinking about this study? How might I counteract this? I still believe that I have a positive bias toward the student. He is a pleasure to have in class, is funny, and often shows his appreciation for the subject of U.S. History. Still, I think I have been more able throughout this project to have more frank discussions with him. 7. How have my efforts devoted to this student affected the time and attention devoted to other students? To my personal time? I dont believe my efforts have affected the time and attention devoted to other students nor have they affected my personal time. However, I dont think that I

TE 803 Case Study Audrey DiComo could sustain this type of one-on-one grade conferencing with other students as often as I conference with KD. Final Reflection: Here is why I think the student responded the way that he or she did to my interventions (be specific): I believe that KD needed the encouragement that I offered him through my interventions, as well as the push from both his mother and I to complete his homework in a more timely fashion. Here is some literature that justifies my claims: Literature suggests that African American students often attribute criticism or poor grades as having grounds in the teachers negative racial stereotypes. It suggests that teachers should give feedback and criticism with two parts in mind; first to reference the students ability to reach a higher standard, followed by constructive criticism of their work. (Ferguson, Helping Students of Color Meet High Standards). I feel like I have used this type of 2-part feedback in my work with KD, but I also believe that I could be more deliberate about the process. Still, I think that hearing the criticism of his lack of work paired with acknowledgement of his ability helped KD to motivate himself to complete more homework. What mistakes (if any) did I make? What seemed to work? What have I learned that will help me with cases like this in the future? I believe now that focusing more on KDs trouble with assessments and less on his struggle to keep up with homework could have been more productive. Of course, his homework grade, though 20% of the final grade, is still essential to a successful semester, but after months of working with KD, I believe that his problem with his grade lies much more in preparing for and performing well on assessments. What seemed to work, on the other hand, was interacting more with and encouraging KD. He seemed to accept the encouragement very well and I believe that it accounts for his continued success in completing homework. I believe that my experience with this case has prepared me to better assess students needs when they struggle in class. I also have learned that a little bit of encouragement can go a very long way with a student who is struggling to establish successful school routines and practices.