REBECCA

WJ-III Academic Assessment

REASON FOR ASSESSMENT

Rebecca was referred for assessment by her parents
at the hopes of determining her areas of strength
and learning needs. Specifically, they were
concerned that she was struggling with many areas
of the curriculum and was expressing frustration with
school.
In particular, they wanted their daughter to be able
to access more individualized support and attention
Rebeccas teacher also supported the referral for
assessment to help prepare Rebecca for the
transition to Middle School

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Developmental/Medical
TTTS pregnancy with 6 months bed-rest.
Rebecca was born with her twin at 35 wks.
gestation. Her twin died shortly after birth
Rebecca remained in neonatal intensive care
unit for 2.5 wks
Determined, happy and active baby who
reached all developmental milestones on time
Rebecca has transient facial and vocal tics
(which were observed during testing)

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Family
Lives with mother, father and 6 yr. old sister
Well-liked by her peers
Struggles with regulating her moods (mother
feels it is situational, occasional and triggered
by major stress)
Experienced major trauma in her younger years

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
School
Homeschooled in grade one and two
Attended a small, independent school in grade three
and four
New to current school
Term one joined a large number of out of school clubs
and activities. (recently withdrawn from all activities)
Recently started seeing a counsellor outside of school
to help determine her bouts of low energy and
tiredness

TEACHER INTERVIEW
Current supports

Currently receiving one-on-one and small group instruction with

classroom teacher of educational assistant (when available)

Rebecca was very quiet when she arrived in September.

Confidence is increasing

Finds spelling, grammar and writing activities challenging and

often requires support

Variable skills in math, low numeracy and basic skills

Current adaptations: support with structure of writing, decrease

amount of written output, extended time and peer support

Talented artist, kind, empathetic and hard-working student

ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENT

The Woodcock Johnson Tests of AchievementIII (WJ-III)- is an individually administered

achievement test that provides information
about a students knowledge and
understanding in the academic areas of:
Reading, Math, Written and Oral Language.

ASSESSMENT OBSEVATIONS
Appeared somewhat shy at first, but quickly
developed rapport
Polite and co-operative with excellent effort, attention
and motivation
Tics during math and writing subtests (lip pursing,
throat clearing and grimacing)
Highly aware of challenges: I know I go that one
wrong
Limited strategies

ASSESSMENT RESULTS

Subtest/Composite

ORAL LANGAUAGE (Ext)

Percentile

Classification
73

Average

ORAL EXPRESSION

69

Average

LISTENING COMPREHENSION

72

Average

BROAD READING

51

Average

BASIC READING SKILLS

55

Average

READING COMPREHENSION

64

Average

BROAD MATH

17

Low Average

BASIC MATH CALCULATION SKILLS

Low

MATH REASONING

32

Average

ASSESSMENT RESULTS

Subtest/Composite

BROAD WRITTEN LANGUAGE

Percentile

Classification
45

Average

BASIC WRITING SKILLS

21

Low Average

WRITTEN EXPRESSION

53

Average

CROSSACADEMICCLUSTER

ACADEMIC SKILLS

39

Average

ACADEMIC APPLICATIONS

44

Average

ACADEMIC FLUENCY

22

Low Average

TOTALACHIEVEMENT

36

Average

SUMMARY
Despite overall average academic achievement
for her age, Rebecca is experiencing difficulties
with some areas of basic skill development and
her academic fluency.

Rebeccas current academic performance may

be affected by disruptions to her schooling in
her early school years due to a variety of
emotional events.

SUMMARY
A period of intervention at home and school was
recommended to help remediate Rebeccas areas
of challenge. With a further recommendation to
reassess her skills within the year.

If Rebecca begins to experience increased social,

emotional or academic challenge, then it may be
beneficial to have her skills assessed by a
Registered Psychologist.

Sharing the Results and Post

Assessment
Parents were very supportive and appreciative for the report
to better understand their daughters learning needs.
However, during the meeting they confided that Rebecca
had not been sick (variable attendance) for the past month,
but had been refusing to go to school
We had a very open and supportive conversation about
their daughters potential mental health needs and how
these needs may have been impacting her schooling and
academic progress.
I knew that we had already reached the stage that I had
suggested in my report- We referred her family to a
Pediatrician and Psychologist

Sharing the Results and Post

Assessment
The decision was made to put the academic interventions on
hold while her parents try to find outside of school support for
her emotional needs.
We created a support plan to help Rebecca return to school
part-time
I also met with Rebecca to talk to her about the assessment
and explain the results to her.
Currently, she is booked to see a doctor this week with the
hopes of a referral to a pediatrician. Parents are also looking
into booking a full Psychoeducational assessment
They are also looking into mindfulness meditative practices
(as a family)

Answering the Referral Question

1. Identify learning strengths and needs?
This assessment provided this feedback for the teacher, parents
and learning support teacher to aid in creating an intervention
plan
In school support plan will aid with transition to middle school for
next years teachers to understand learning profile
Identified emotional needs of a child that was likely internalizing
a lot of her concerns

2. More individualized support and attention?

Rebecca will still have the opportunity to work with an EA three
times a week. The school is not able to increase EA time due to
overall needs and resources
Rebecca will now have learning support time (using French
language time to remediate and support)

THOUGHTS?
Has Rebecca missed so much school over the
years for mental health reasons? There appears to
be a pattern in her attendance records.
Can you work on areas of academic weakness
when a child is having significant emotional
problems?
Which comes firstthe mental health needs of a
child or the academic needs? Can the needs be
separated?