Kanna Werner

Case Study
For my case study, I compiled data and implemented an intervention for a 6th-grade
student who qualified for special education with a diagnosis of SLD (math) and OHI (ADHD).
The observed problem with this student in our digital literacy class was that he would either go
to a website on his laptop that was not a part of the activity that we were working on or he would
get up from his seat and wander around the classroom during independent or group work. Either
way, he was frequently off-task when we would be working on an activity (that was not teacher-
led) in class.
The initial data I compiled before implementing the intervention is as follows:
Day Tues 2/20 Thurs 2/22 Mon 2/26 Wed 2/28 Mon 3/5 Wed 3/7
# of times student
was redirected during
an activity (each 5 3 4 3 4 6
activity was timed for
15 minutes of work
time)

The intervention that I used with the student was a version of the “Good Behavior Game”
that we learned in the methods course. I had noticed that this student loved the online typing
program that we used in the class to teach the home-row typing method. He was often on that
website when we were doing a different activity in class. So, I made a chart for him that had one
box for him and one box for me. I have inserted it here:

Ms. Werner (Student Name Went Here)

I laminated the chart and taped it to his desk. I told him that every time I walked past
when we were working on the activity, I would put down a tally-mark. If he was on a website
that was not related to the activity or if he was not in his seat, I would put the tally in my box. If
he was working on the assigned activity and not on a different website or walking around the
classroom, then I would put the tally mark in his box. If, at five minutes before class ended, he
had more tally marks than I did, then he would get the last five minutes in class to practice his
typing on the typing.com website he loved.
The student was very enthusiastic about the “game.” His off-task behavior immediately
decreased—most days to the point of having no off-task behaviors during activities at all. There
were (and are still) some days that I think he just cannot focus as well and takes a little brain
break for himself, which is usually fine as he gets right back to work with a quick reminder.
Otherwise, the intervention was a great success and the student has stayed on-task during
activities. The post-intervention data is as follows:
Day Mon 3/12 Wed 3/14 Fri 3/16 Tues 3/20 Mon 3/26 Wed 3/28
# of times student
was redirected during
an activity (each 0 0 2 1 0 0
activity was timed for
15 minutes of work
time)

Graph of the pre- and post-intervention data: