Running Head: INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES STUDENT PROFILE ESSAY 1

Individual Differences Student Profile Essay

Caitlin May
EDUC 230
Spring 2018
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Every child’s ability to learn is different. They all progress on their own unique

schedules. Some follow the average patterns of society and some don’t. Those that don’t

progress educationally on track with what has been deemed average standards or have a

disability may be eligible for special educations services and accommodations. An IEP is one of

the services that may be provided, and it will outline any additional accommodations or services

that will be provided to the child. Each child’s uniqueness is in essence what defines an IEP. It

is an Individualized Education Plan. Within the contents of this essay a specific student who

has an IEP will be discussed. His history, his plan, his development stages, and his provided

accommodations will be discussed and critiqued. Some IEP’s will need to be completely

rewritten at the start of every IEP cycle and some just need to have small adjustments made

based on the students’ progress. The way an IEP functions and changes is all subject to the

student it is written for and how they are learning and developing year after year.

The student is a male, approximately just under 5ft tall and Caucasian. There are a few

small moles on his face but nothing that singles him out from the other students. He has brown

hair and brown eyes. He exhibits right-handedness and appears to be in good physical health.

His teacher has expressed that he misses quite a bit of school but that it is due to lack of wanting

to do his work rather than actual illness. He has never missed school on a day of observation and

always has appeared to be in good health apart from being visibly tired. His vision and hearing

appear to be functioning fine. He can read small print on the board even from the back of the

classroom and always responds when called upon even in a loud class. He appears to have

normal physical maturation as compared to his peers. He is one of the taller kids in his class,

but he does not stand out amongst the other students. The student has also been observed talking

to his peers about playing sports during break times. This shows that he is physically active, at
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least while in school. This example also shows that his gross motor muscles are developed and

functioning properly. The student also plays an instrument for the school’s band class. His hand

writing is poor but legible. He seems to struggle with writing in small print but can handle using

a pencil to write and record information. He has also been observed coloring, staying within the

lines, and keeping his work neat. These examples demonstrate that his fine motor muscles have

developed normally and function properly.

The student is currently enrolled in a 5th grade public school class. His LRE is in the

general education classroom where he spends most of his time. He leaves the classroom to go

to a resource room for three different subjects every week. He goes to the special education

room 225 minutes per week for reading/written language, 90 minutes per week for math, and 30

minutes per week for organization/management. He also sees a speech language pathologist 50

minutes per month for speech and 100 minutes per month for language. These subjects that he

receives extra assistance in are the subjects that make up his IEP goals.

He has academic weaknesses in reading fluency, writing, and mathematics. His struggles

with reading fluency qualify him for specially designed small group instruction that he receives

during his 225 minutes per week in the special education room. He also has access to other

accommodations that help him with this reading fluency and weaknesses in writing. Some of

these accommodations include: using text to speech, reduced pencil and paper tasks, reread

instructions, and a buddy reader. When working with him in the classroom it was observed that

his handwriting, spelling, and sentence structure are also weak areas for him. He is however,

strengthening when it comes to mathematics and reading. He can read assignments on his own if

he stays focused and even assists other students with math problems.
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In the classroom his academic behaviors vary. His IEP diagnosis declares that he falls

under the category of “Other Health Impairment”. His teacher claims that he has A.D.D or

attention deficit disorder. His attention in the classroom is poor. He tends to focus on a

personal object at his desk or he stares off into space. Another accommodation that is provided

to him is prompts to stay on task. If he understands an assignment or has interest in it, he has an

easier time staying focused. He has expressed that his favorite subjects in school are science and

math so those are good motivators for him. He also is motivated by break times. For example,

in his classroom the kids can lose recess privileges for bad behavior and so that motivates him to

stay on task and finish his work. His teacher has expressed that he likes to use going to the

bathroom as an excuse to not work on days that he is feeling unmotivated. Because of that he

usually must prove that he has completed a portion of his assignment before being allowed to use

the restroom. He works well with his peers and participates nicely during group projects if the

group stays on task.

Based on Piaget’s scale of cognitive development the student falls between the concrete

operational stage and the formal operation stage. These are the last two stages in Piaget’s

theory and include the two biggest age groups. Piaget believed that children developed and

learned by essentially performing experiments and building up experience as they grow older

(Cherry K.). The operational stage is described as ages 7 to 11 and has the characteristic of more

logical and organized thinking. Children in this stage also begin to use logic and inductive

reasoning. I think with the student this idea is exemplified by the him being able to use his

critical thinking skills to work through word problems in math or social studies. The formal

operation stage is described as ages 12 and above. In this stage children and adults begin to use
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more abstract thought (Cherry K.). The student’s ability to work his way through hypothetical

situations for a writing prompt proves that he has entered the formal stage in some way.

The student’s social development seems to be on track with the rest of his peers. He has

no problems interacting with other students. He has been observed discussing spending recess

with the other students and plays with them outside. In class he is very quiet and doesn’t cause

any disruptions or interruptions. At first glance this could be mistaken for a child who is

antisocial because there were many other students who did cause disruptions and would talk to

other kids in class. However, during all the observed time with the student the conclusion was

made that he is just simply good at following the class rules of being quiet and working. When

given the opportunity for free time he would initiate and respond to conversations with his peers.

He does not engage in a lot of conversation with his teacher, but he is not uncomfortable talking

with her. When asked to get her permission for things such as leaving the classroom or being

able to work with an aid instead of at this desk he has no problems approaching or speaking to

his teacher. He is also good at responding when prompted, he never hesitates or gives any

defiant attitude.

His emotional behavior is difficult to define based on the small amount of observation

time and only being in the setting of the classroom. He demonstrated confidence in the subject

of math by volunteering to answer questions and even assist other students who needed help. In

social studies however, he seemed less confident and requested more aid. The fact that he felt

comfortable asking for help however is a demonstration of bravery and that he might be

confident enough to not care what his peers might think of him needing help. He seemed

confident in his abilities to play sports with other students during the recess times. There were

no obvious signs that he had low self-esteem. His peers liked him, and he had a confident
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attitude when he wasn’t displaying signs of fatigue. His teacher expressed that she had no reason

to believe he had low self-esteem.

Erik Erikson created a theory explaining that each person’s personality develops over a set

of 8 stages ranging from birth to adulthood. Within each stage the person is said to go through a

crisis of some sort and how they handle this crisis can either positively or negatively impact the

development of their personality (Mcleod S.). After analyzing Erikson’s 8 different stages it is

determined that the students must me in stage 4 the industry or competence versus inferiority

stage. In this stage Erikson explains that the child’s teacher and his peers begin to play a huge

role in the development of the child’s self-esteem and confidence levels. Children in this stage

are from the ages of 5-12 and begin to feel as if they need to prove themselves to others so

therefore the opinions of the people around them are highly valued. The observed student is

most definitely at that age where he wants to be liked by the people around him. He seems to be

well liked by his peers so that aspect of stage 4 shouldn’t prove to be an issue. However, it will

be important that the teacher never makes him feel inferior based on his learning abilities

because that could have a negative impact on not only his willingness to learn but also his self-

esteem.

In conclusion I am in agreement with the student’s IEP team about his goals. I don’t

think I would make any major adjustments to his IEP. I believe with time his reading skills and

speaking skills will improve to the point where he might not need goals in those areas. He can

speak very well and was never hard to understand. His reading was strong, but I support the

accommodation of having a partner to read with. If he reads with a buddy, it seems to keep him

on track more and that other person can help him through words that might still be difficult for

him. I also was in support of his other accommodations, especially the one about providing
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prompts to stay on task. I truly believe that his ability to focus is his biggest weakness which

makes sense because that is what is affected by his disability. I attempted to acquire knowledge

about any medications that may have been proscribed to him for A.D.D. I wanted to know if

there was something better that could be done to help him stay focused on his work in the

classroom. His teacher explained that he has been on medications before, but they seemed to

give him even less energy than he has now. Knowing this I support his family’s decisions to not

have him on medication. However, I do think that the student should be getting more sleep at

night, so he is more rested and alert for class. Unfortunately, it was expressed that the student’s

family does not do much to aid the student in his education and probably does not encourage

much at home. These factors are out of the control of an educator and can be difficult to deal

with in the classroom. I believe his teacher is doing all the right things to help him in the best

ways she can and would not have any critiques for her. My only suggestion might be that if he is

so tired in class that he can’t function I might let him go to the nurse to take a 20-minute nap

which I believe is something they already allow at his school. Overall my experience working

with the student was joyful. I had a blast getting to know him and was really impressed learning

about all his progress in school so far. I believe if he sticks to his current IEP and has the right

educators by his side he will succeed and excel in school and hopefully go on to live a long

healthy life. I look forward to working with more students like him and others with unique

learning abilities in the future.

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Works Cited

Cherry, K. (n.d.). What Are Piaget's Four Stages of Development? Retrieved April 10,2018,

from https://www.verywellmind.com/piagets-stages-of-cognitive-development-2795457

Mcleod, S. (n.d.). Erikson's Psychosocial Stages of Development. Retrieved from

https://www.simplypsychology.org/Erik-Erikson.html