Isaac Jackson Case Study Answers

1. All information about the following characters in the case study were retrieved and/or inferred from A Consequence of Testing ALL Students article.

• Isaac Jackson: Isaac was an African American boy who was referred for testing due to behavioral problems. At 10 years old, he and his siblings, a “younger brother and sister,” lost their father leaving them with their widowed mother who failed “to keep an appointment because of her work.” In 4th grade, Isaac was referred for special education, and in 5th grade, he “was placed in a self-contained class for students with behavior disorders.” He remained in special education since because of the sudden population growth, which resulted in a poor review of his abilities and needs by previous teachers,

administrators, and special educators in charged of his case. Since Isaac did not take the achievement test in 8th grade mandated by the district, he was placed in “a job skills program” rather than a “college preparatory program of study.” Through the job skills program, Isaac would attend “special education classes in the morning and” participate “in job training activities in the afternoon.” As a result, despite having scored a high score on the 11th grade achievement test, Isaac would not receive any academic scholarships because he was in a job skills program rather than a college preparatory program.
• June Howard: June was the head of the Exceptional Education Department at Isaac’s school and was the one to administer both the 11th grade achievement tests to Isaac. She was the one in charged of reviewing Isaac’s records following his unexpected achievement test scores to identify a possible explanation for his performance. Although June was familiar with Isaac’s behavior and academic performance, she did not seem to know him too well. She does not know any more about him other than what was in his records. Had she known more about Isaac, such as the reasons for his behavior or what his home life was like, she would not have been as “baffled” about his test scores.
• Alexis Shuban: Alexis was a high school special education supervisor. Since Isaac attended one of the high schools that she was responsible of overseeing, she was the person June consulted with about Isaac’s unusual performance on the 11th grade achievement test. I assume Alexis will also be the person responsible for contacting the school district about Isaac’s case in order to find a solution that would minimize losses to both sides.