Focusing on the Academic Growth of Neurodivergent Students at Hill Learning Center: Addressing Patterns in Yearly Benchmark Assessment & Faculty Perception Data

Abstract

The primary focus of this capstone project, conducted in partnership with Hill Learning Center over a 10-month period, was the investigation of the academic achievement and growth of neurodivergent students through a five-year analysis of Woodcock-Johnson IV (WJ IV) Tests of Achievement (ACH) scores. A secondary focus was the examination of Hill faculty perceptions of the WJ IV ACH, including the alignment of its results with student academic performance seen in the classroom and the implications those results may have for teacher instruction. Hill Learning Center is a nonprofit educational learning center that supports students with learning differences and difficulties. Hill’s Lower School program permits students in grades 1 through 8 to attend the Center for three daily classes in reading, writing, math on a half-day model, allowing these students to get the individualized attention they may need to strengthen their academic skills and self-confidence. Guided by a conceptual framework grounded in four key factors extant literature and learning theories have shown support student school progress—individual learning needs, cognitive development, environmental influence, and instructional adaptability—a convergent mixed-methods project design was employed to collect and analyze the WJ IV ACH score data and faculty perception data needed to help Hill uncover patterns and trends to serve as actionable evidence for adapting pedagogical strategies, especially for specific groups of students. Findings revealed consistent underperformance in reading across grade levels, strength in applied problem-solving but weakness in math calculation and fluency, even writing performance through all grades 1 to 8 despite struggles in spelling, and inconsistencies in progress for students with ADHD and other learning disabilities. Additional findings revealed moderate faculty familiarity with the WJ IV ACH but limited use of its data for instructional planning and belief in the assessment’s effectiveness in adequately measuring student ability. Final project deliverables included a dashboard and clean database of WJ IV ACH scores and student groupings, a dashboard of faculty perception data and feedback, and a consistent coding system for labeling learning disability diagnoses. Recommendations included maintaining a uniform and centralized student data system, implementing targeted professional development, and tailoring instruction to the needs of Hill students. The work provided meaningful results meant to support data-driven decision-making for students in differentiated learning environments.