Running head: STUDENT SUCCESS PLAN

An Individual Student Success Plan

Emily Lemons

Lewis & Clark College

Author’s Note

This paper was created on December 3, 2016 for SCED 501, section 01 with Professor

Holly Thompson.
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An Individual Student Success Plan

School counselors know that “The future quality of life of students depends upon schools

providing an environment which incentivizes students to achieve” (Visser, Daniels, & Cole,

2012). When the environment can support students by providing a success plan, the quality of

life for the student at school improves. In this paper, I will devise a student success plan after

reviewing information on a specific student’s academic and behavioral background, the school

context/environment, current research on the student’s problem behaviors, and a description of

the interventions that will be used.

Student Background

Sammy is a 3rd grade student at West Gresham Elementary in Gresham, OR, and has just

recently qualified for SPED in November 2016. Like many 3rd grade boys, he enjoys drawing,

cartoons, Pokémon, and using objects to create action scenes from comic stories. The limitations

he encounters in the classroom include having a hard time focusing and staying on task as if he

were living out a video game scene. He cannot read or track text well due to his poor eye sight,

and often does not complete assignments because he cannot keep up with writing down the

lesson, whether it is math, reading, writing, or other homework. Overall, his improvement in

these areas is not consistent. The learning specialist at West Gresham says there will be weeks

when Sammy is improving in his learning, and other weeks when he reverts back to where he

started. Sammy falls asleep in class at least once a week after lunch time, as well.

In addition to his problematic eye sight, Sammy showed possible evidence of

developmentally delayed symptoms during his recent SPED evaluation. The psychologist in this

meeting recommended to Sammy’s mother that Sammy be examined by an ear, nose, and throat

doctor for his sleeping problems which might be causing his overweightness, and also
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recommended that Sammy see a specialist for a potential diagnosis of General Anxiety Disorder

(GAD). All of these conditions need further assessment from specialists, yet his mother has not

made any efforts to make these appointments.

Since Kindergarten, Sammy has transferred to four different school districts. He started in

the Portland Public School District at Woodmere Elementary for the 2012-2013 school year. In

the fall of 2013, he transferred to the David Douglas School District at Cherry Park Elementary,

and withdrew in October 2013. Sammy then attended West Gresham Elementary in the Gresham

Barlow School District for the month of November in 2013, and then moved to California to

attend school and live with his father because his parents got divorced. He returned to Gresham

in the spring of 2014, and has remained at West Gresham. According to his updated CUM file,

his mother and father are living together with Sammy in the district.

Attendance has been a major problem for Sammy throughout his academic history. Not

only did he move a lot during his primary grades, he has struggled with chronic absences. This

has made him ineligible for an IEP until now—yet once he qualified for SPED this year, he

immediately missed 7 days of school in a row. His teacher also mentioned that he will be missing

the last week before winter break for a trip to Disneyland with his family.

Test scores reveal that Sammy is not meeting his grade level requirements. In Math, he

scored an average of 14 in 2 minutes resulting in a 1st grade math competency when he was in

2nd grade. For reading, he scored 80% accuracy in 2 minutes of reading aloud, placing him in the

12th percentile for 1nd grade. In writing, he spelled 9/10 words correctly when tested on the Dolch

pre-primer words list used for Kindergarten writing assessment when he was a 2nd grader. Now

in 3rd grade, he still cannot capitalize the letter “I” and often reverses letters.
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In the book, International Perspectives in Inclusive Education (2012), authors Visser,

Daniels, & Cole describe how important early academic and social emotional learning (SEL)

interventions are for development all the way to adulthood: “The strong relationship between

behavior difficulties/disorders and learning difficulties creates an endangering factor for quality

of life in adulthood of these children exactly in the domain of lifelong education” (Visser,

Daniels, & Cole, 2012).

The primary reason I chose to create a success plan for Sammy is that I see what his

future could be without adequate academic and SEL supports, resulting in long term

developmental health concerns. Sammy is a cognitively bright student, full of imagination. I see

Sammy as being able to make big academic strides if he could get the proper supports. His

handwriting is at the level of a Kindergartner or 1st grader. He writes in big letters and is often

unable to group words. When he slows down enough he can sound out most words, but he often

needs support. He was recently approved for classroom accommodations and is allowed to have

someone read text and record responses for him so that he doesn’t fall behind. He also falls

asleep in class a lot, showing he is not getting adequate sleep at home.

If interventions could be put in place now, Sammy would have a better chance of

graduating high school in the future as he should be developing important skills at this time.

Understandably, a lot of Sammy’s struggles are caused by external forces that are almost

impossible for a school counselor or teacher to change. The hope is that these academic

interventions would encourage Sammy to be more motivated to attend school because it is a

positive environment, and because he feels supported in his assignments and encouraged every

day to do his best. I want kids like Sammy to recognize that he has support, but that he is also an

active part of his academic success. This active participation is meant to empower the student
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and help them develop skills that teach them to become more independent and self-regulated. It

is important to teach them that they can be responsible for their successes, and that being

responsible and capable leads to rewards. This benefits them as a person in the big picture.

Obviously, this is an abstract concept that might be too big for a 3rd grader to understand, but the

motivation to empower students like Sammy is, I believe, something that is possible through

encouragement, targeted skill practices, and consistency in interventions for reaching goals. If

school can become more of a place where Sammy feels encouraged and empowered in his

learning, I see the possibility that his attendance, academic focus, and social emotional learning

would improve immensely.

School Context

For the 2015-2016 school year, the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) profiled

West Gresham Grade School’s student demographics as 66% white students, 22%

Hispanic/Latino, 2% African American, 1% Asian, and 1% American Indian/Native American

(ODE, 2016).

The entire staff consists of 22 employees: 10 grade-level teachers, 1 music teacher, 1 PE

teacher, 6 supportive service employees (including ELL, SPED, and a part time school

counselor), 1 Title I Reading teacher, and 3 administrative/office employees. The ODE describes

the faculty as predominately white and female; there are 3 male teachers—2 of them white, and

one Asian. These dedicated staff members are committed to teaching the “whole child”,

emphasizing a high standard for academics, along with the visual and performing arts.

West Gresham is classified as a Federal Title I designated school, placed in the Tier 2

category (ODE, 2016). For state testing, the school scores show that at least 95% of students
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participated in state testing assessments. Assessment scores seem to be increasing with each

academic year, even compared to state averages and schools of similar demographics:

(ODE, 2016).

Overall, West Gresham provides a school climate that is consistent in its traditions,

providing a welcoming environment and a supportive staff that is dedicated to the academic and

developmental successes of its students.

West Gresham is adequately addressing Sammy’s academic and behavioral needs, yet his

attendance is ultimately affecting his progress. Sammy receives pull-out services from the

learning specialists at the school twice a day where they work on his writing skills and reading

comprehension.

Current Research on the Problem Behavior

During Sammy’s SPED evaluation, the specialist determined that there needed to be

further evaluation before drawing conclusions on behavior diagnoses. The specialist asked if

appointments with Sammy’s doctor would be set up to explore the possible diagnosis of being
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developmentally delayed, and to explore the referral to a specialist for diagnosis of GAD.

However, there has been no action taken toward these steps.

From what I have observed in the classroom, Sammy’s behaviors seem to suggest the

presence of two other disorders: Executive Functioning Disorder (EFD), and a learning disorder

called Dysgraphia. Although both of these disorders were not suggested or diagnosed during the

SPED evaluation, Sammy’s observed behaviors appear to be closely linked to these problem

behaviors. I will discuss dysgraphia further, taking a closer look at the limitations that this

disorder presents as to find more specific academic interventions.

Dysgraphia

The symptoms recorded from Sammy’s academic problem behaviors fall closely within

the parameters of what is called dysgraphia which is an “oral and written language learning

disability” (Richards, Abbott, & Berninger, 2015). This learning disability is strongly related to

Sammy’s academic struggles:

Dysgraphia affects a person’s handwriting ability and fine motor skills; A person with

this specific learning disability may have problems including illegible handwriting,

inconsistent spacing, poor spatial planning on paper, poor spelling, and difficulty

composing writing as well as thinking and writing at the same time” (Learning

Disabilities Association of America, 2016).

In her book, The Writing Dilemma: Understanding Dysgraphia (1998), author Regina G.

Richards, an education specialist and mother of a child with learning disabilities, addresses other

specific characteristics that this learning disability presents for students:

Cramped fingers on writing tool

Odd wrist, body, and paper positions

Excessive erasures

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Mixture of upper- and lowercase letters


Mixture of printed and cursive letters

Inconsistent letter formations and slant

Irregular letter sizes and shapes

Unfinished cursive letters

Misuse of line and margin

Poor organization on the page

Inefficient speed in copying

Decreased speed of writing

General illegibility

Inattentiveness about details when writing

Frequent need of verbal cues and use of sub-vocalizing

Heavy reliance on vision to monitor what the hand is doing during writing
Slow implementation of verbal directions that involve sequencing and planning

(Richards, 1998, p. 15)

With these specific characteristics in mind, it becomes clearer why his assignments in class take

longer and require extra assistance and extra effort for Sammy if they are to be completed. Due

to the many limitations of this learning disorder, it makes sense that Sammy often gives up and

finds other distractions in class that are more enjoyable and less frustrating. Richards (1999)

points out, “for many students with dysgraphia, letter formation is a cognitive task which leaves

little mental capacity to devote to these other aspects. Children with dysgraphia can become

frustrated, leading to low motivation to use and practice written language.” (Richards, 1999).

Intervention Plan

As the school counselor, the intervention plan I would start for Sammy to become more

academically successful would be solution-focused and goal-oriented. It would also celebrate

every positive action Sammy makes when applying and challenging himself in his academics.

This form of encouragement would address his social emotional needs while reinforcing a new
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skill set of positive thinking and self-regulation, commending him even when he notices he did

not follow directions.

I would recommend to the learning specialist to form a small group for hand writing as a

targeted skills practice intervention. If that is not possible, I think this intervention could also be

qualified as small group for the school counselor. In the article, Dysgraphia: How it affects a

student’s performance and what can be done about it (2007), Alyssa L. Crouch and Jennifer J.

Jakubecy who both work in education give suggestions on targeted skills practices that help

prepare the student’s hands for writing. These practices are used to not only to strengthen hand

movements and coordination, but to prepare students with dysgraphia to understand the

importance of hand writing (Crouch & Jakubey, 2007). Crouch used the following sensory

activities during the handwriting club intervention:

Rub hands together

Squeeze tennis balls
Rub hands in circles on the carpet
Play with Wikki Stix
Build with small Lego blocks
String small beads
Roll clay between fingers
“Walk” fingers up and down the pencil (Keller, 2001, p. 11).

After these activities have been accomplished, the learning specialist would have the small group

practice handwriting skills by writing sentences. The sentences copied would be short in length.

However, the content of the sentence could focus on positive thinking and encouragement.

The classroom interventions of modified assignments and preferential seating that are

already in place would continue. As a school counselor, I would like to offer the use of

technology assistance/word processing to increase Sammy’s participation in class assignments.

When this technological assistance is not compatible with certain tasks, the use of pencil grips

for writing or the accommodation of a note taker would help strengthen Sammy’s aptitude for
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academic participation. To improve Sammy’s behavior of being easily distracted, finding a

reward system that motivates behavior to improve will be a part of the classroom interventions.

This reward system could be a daily check list of tasks Sammy needs to accomplish; each task

completed would determine how much time he has earned for drawing, breaks, and any other

incentives that motivate him to check off tasks. These rewards will be designed with Sammy’s

help and input, helping to create a solution-focused/goal-oriented plan while benefiting his

classroom organization.

Below is an outline of how these interventions would be presented to Sammy’s teacher,

his specialists, and his family. These interventions would also be presented to Sammy as an

active shareholder in his academic successes, showing him that school is an environment that

supports him achieving academic and behavioral growth.

Interventions Outline

1. Academic Interventions
a. Hand-writing small group
i. Hand exercises with sensory activities
ii. Positive message sentences
b. Modified assignments
2. Behavioral Interventions in classroom
a. Reward plan
i. Daily tasks check off list
ii. Earns rewards
b. Self-regulation
3. Classroom Accommodations
a. Preferential seating
b. Allow use of technology assistance/word processing
c. Use of pencil grips for writings
d. Allow use of note taker
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References

Crouch, A. L., & Jakubecy, J. J. (2007). Dysgraphia: How it affects a student’s performance and

what can be done about it. TEACHING Exceptional Children Plus, 3(3) Article 5.
Retrieved December 3, 2016 from
http://escholarship.bc.edu/education/tecplus/vol3/iss3/art5

Keller, M. (2001). Handwriting club: Using sensory integration strategies to improve

handwriting. Intervention in School and Clinic, 37, 9-12.

Learning Disabilities Association of America. (2016). Dysgraphia. Retrieved December 3, 2016

from https://ldaamerica.org/types-of-learning-disabilities/dysgraphia/

Oregon Department of Education (n.d.) Retrieved December 3, 2016 from

http://www.ode.state.or.us/.

Richards, R. (1998). The writing dilemma: Understanding dysgraphia. Riverside, CA: Richards

Educational Therapy Center.

Richards, R. (1999). The source for dyslexia and dysgraphia. East Moline, IL: LinguiSystems.

Richards, T., Abbott, R., & Berninger, V. (2015). Differential diagnosis of dysgraphia, dyslexia,

and OWL LD: behavioral and neuroimaging evidence. Reading & Writing, 28(8), 1119-
1153. Doi: 10.1007/s11145-015-9565-0

Visser, J., Daniels, H., & Cole, T. (2012). International Perspectives in Inclusive Education:

Transforming Troubled Lives: Strategies and Interventions with Children and Young
People With Social, Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties. Bradford, GB: Emerald
Group Publishing Limited

West Gresham Grade School (n.d.) Retrieved December 3, 2016 from

http://westgresham.gresham.k12.or.us/.
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