Interpretive Exercise Michael,a Nine Year-Old Fourth Grader,has Been Referred for Special Education

question 69

Essay

Interpretive Exercise
Michael,a nine year-old fourth grader,has been referred for special education testing.According to his teacher,Michael has difficulty following directions in class and seldom completes his assignments on time.Michael's parents,who speak only Spanish at home,request that Michael be tested in Spanish.The psychologist,however,says that testing should be done in English because that is the language spoken in school.When the tests reveal that Michael is significantly behind the national norm for 4th graders in cognitive and academic development,school personnel recommend a special education placement.Michael's parents are perplexed.At home,Michael seems like any other nine year-old.He makes friends easily and can be trusted to operate the cash register in the small grocery store that his grandparents own.
-Suggest a strategy that school personnel could have used in Michael's case to distinguish between cultural diversity and exceptionality.

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Definitions:

Sample Proportions

Statistics used to estimate the fraction or percentage of a population that exhibits a particular characteristic, based on a sample.

Population Proportions

The fraction or percentage of members in a population that exhibit a particular characteristic.

P-value

A measure in statistical hypothesis testing representing the probability of observing test results at least as extreme as the results actually observed, under the assumption that the null hypothesis is correct.

OSHA

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, a U.S. government agency responsible for enforcing workplace safety and health regulations.