BILINGUAL SPEECH AND LANGUAGE EVALUATION Committee of Special Education (CSE)- Triannual Student’s Name: Sue Sylvester Date of Birth: 11/19/2008 Evaluator: Ana M. Santos M.A., CCC-SLP; TSSLD-BE Date of Evaluation: 01/26/2018 Languages: Spanish & English Chronological Age: 9; 2 years School: McKinley School Grade: 3rd District: Glee UFSD Current Procedural Terminology®: 92523 (Evaluation of language comprehension and expression) Purpose of the Current Speech & Language evaluation: The following bilingual speech and language evaluation contains clinical observations of auditory, visual, oral-motor, and cognitive-linguistic status; and standardized and/or non- standardized measures of specific aspects of speech, spoken and non-spoken language, cognitive-linguistic communication, and analysis of current speech and language samples. Sue is a 9;2-year-old female student, who was seen for a bilingual (Spanish/English) speech and language evaluation at her school. She attends McKinley school (Glee district), where she is currently in third grade. This evaluation was requested by her school staff and family, due to concerns regarding her current levels of communication functioning and possible eligibility for speech and language therapy services. The purpose of the information in this report, is to provide documentation to assist the Committee of Special Education (CSE) in determination of eligibility for speech and language therapy services, to address Sue’s current academic deficits. This bilingual Speech and Language Pathologist aimed to identify Sue’s unique speech and language strengths and needs, and determine the areas that may require intervention, by assessing the ability to mechanically form language (to say words and sentences in terms of using the tongue and lips correctly); ability to process language (to understand spoken and printed language and to express oneself verbally and in writing); how well Sue understands the language spoken by others (directions, stories read, teacher lecture, classroom discussion); how well expressive language is used (express needs, thoughts, and ideas verbally); how Sue grasps the underlying structure of language (grammar, vocabulary, word usage, and how words go together to form sentences); how well language is used to meet specific needs and navigate the social world; and whether Sue has acquired the foundation of speech and language skills needed in order to effectively participate, read and write, to perform in curriculum-based tasks in school. Background Information: Relevant Medical & Developmental History- Please refer to the school files for documents available regarding gestation, birth, developmental, language acquisition, and bilingual background information, as well as pertinent information regarding family history of speech/language/learning/hearing impairments, and cultural considerations. Hearing & Vision Skills- Sue does not wear hearing aids, nor corrective lenses, and does not use alternative/augmentative communication devices. During this evaluation, Sue responded to all conversational exchanges and identified all items without visual struggles noted. Cultural Considerations for Assessment: ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Sue Sylvester (DOB: 11/19/2008- 9;2yo) Bilingual Speech and Language Evaluation 01/26/2018 Basic interpersonal communication skills (BICS) and cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP) were assessed during this evaluation in a variety of tasks, to determine language dominance and/or preference in a variety of communication domains. BICS are language skills needed in social situations. It is the day-to-day language needed to interact socially with other people. English language learners (ELLs) employ BIC skills when they are on the playground, in the lunch room, on the school bus, at parties, playing sports and talking on the telephone. These language skills usually develop within six months to two years after arrival in the U.S. CALP refers to formal academic learning. This includes listening, speaking, reading, and writing about subject area content material. This usually takes from five to seven years. Consistent with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and NYSED guidelines (updated 2014) for bilingual students and English Language Learners such as Sue, test scores should not be reported for students for whom the normative sample is not representative. In this case, qualitative and descriptive information about Sue’ performance on the tasks covered by said test, should take the place of a score. Numeric scores, including age ranges, should not be used as sole measures to establish need for related services, as they are invalid and inaccurate in determination of service eligibility for children like Sue. Test scores are invalid when testing a student who is not reflected in the normative group for the test's standardization sample, even if the test were administered as instructed in the manual. These are only used because they can provide valuable descriptive information about abilities and limitations, in the language of the test. As such, selected subtests and tasks were used during this assessment solely to elicit speech, language- and reading-based tasks. Test modifications were provided as well, allowing Sue extra time for responses; eliminating items that were deemed culturally inappropriate; and using alternatives to standardized scoring, by providing qualitative descriptions of performance instead of scores. Assessment Tools: -Targeted clinical observation of naturalistic interactions and informed clinical opinion -Structured dynamic assessment, conversational exchanges, and language sample analysis -Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals- 5th Edition (CELF-5, 2015) Selected tasks -Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals- 4th Ed. Spanish (CELF-4, 2006) Selected tasks -Oral Passage Understanding Scale (OPUS, 2017) Selected passages -Comprehensive Spoken Language Assessment 2nd Edition (CASL-2, 2017) Selected tasks -Dynamic Assessment of Narrative & Expository Discourse (Gillam, Peña & Miller, 1999) -School Age Language Assessment Measures (LEADERSProject.org) -Use of Standardized Scores in Individual Evaluations of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse English Language Learners Ages 3 through 21 (NYSED, 2014) -New York State P-12 Common Core Learning Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy -American Speech & Hearing Association: Knowledge and Skills Needed by Speech Language Pathologists and Audiologists to Provide Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services -ASHA: Language-Based Learning Disabilities (Reading, Spelling, and Writing) -ASHA: Roles and Responsibilities of Speech-Language Pathologists with Respect to Reading ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Sue Sylvester (DOB: 11/19/2008- 9;2yo) Bilingual Speech and Language Evaluation 01/26/2018 and Writing in Children and Adolescents -Regulations of the Commissioner of Education (with amendments through April 2015) Clinical Verbal Behavioral Observations & Pragmatic Skills: This evaluation was conducted at Sue’s school, with appropriate lighting and no auditory and/or visual distractions. The conditions for assessment were somewhat optimal and Sue was presented with clean, age-appropriate and culturally adapted assessment materials. Sue transitioned well into the evaluation setting and responded to greetings. She presented as a well-related and friendly student whom exhibited pragmatic skills (social abilities) typical of a student with her profile to maintain engagements, initiate topics of conversation, maintain most topics of conversations, ask questions, and request clarification, without impairments noted. Her eye contact was overall adequate, and she often smiled. She maintained focus and attention on all tasks presented and finished all tasks without need for cues or verbal prompts. Language Assessment: Receptive Language Skills- At the time of this assessment, Sue’s receptive language skills appear to be developing within academic expectations. Receptively, Sue followed all multi-step directives without cues in both Spanish and English. She performed well when instructions contained inclusions/exclusions, locations, sequences, conditions, noun modifiers, and temporal concepts. Sue responded to all WH questions. She labeled items (What); stated quantities (How Many); identified locations (Where); identified subjects (Who); determined possession (Whose); distinguished temporal cues (When); responded to Yes/No questions; and responded to questions involving reasoning (Why); inferencing (What if); sequencing (How); and stating details. She stated items when categories were provided (i.e., foods, animals, shapes); stated the category when the items were provided (i.e., banana, apple, orange); stated object use (i.e., what do we do with soap? What do we do with a bed?) and stated items based on adjectives (i.e., what is a red round toy that bounces) or as related based on semantic features, such as: [running/jumping]: “because they both are things I can do- it’s an action word”; [books/library]: “because you can find books inside the library”; [candle/wax]: “you use wax to make a candle”; [minute/hour]: “an hour is sixty minutes”; [north/west]: “they’re both a direction”/ She provided multiple definitions for a variety of concepts without assistance: [cold]: “freezing- like the opposite of warm- and a sickness” [mouse]: “rat