CHAPTER THREE

1. CHAPTER THREE RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION

2. Chapter Overview In this chapter, you will learn more about RTI (Response to Intervention) and how you might facilitate implementation in your school.

3. Response to Intervention • RTI is the most current model for screening students and using their response to intervention as a data source to facilitate identifying students who need special education services. (Burns, Griffiths, Parson, Tilly, & VanDerHayden, 2007; Glover & Vaughn, 2010)

4. IDEIA 2004Reauthorization [614(b)(6)(A)-(B)] • As a result of the recommended use of RTI, eligibility and identification criteria for learning disability are described as follows. When determining whether a child has a specific learning disability: • The LEA [local education agency] is not required to consider a severe discrepancy between achievement and intellectual ability. • The LEA may use a process that determines if a student responds to scientific, research-based intervention as part of the evaluation.

5. Challenges with Definition and Identification Procedures • PAST/TRADITIONAL • An increase in more than 200% since the category was established. • Questionable procedures for determining learning disabilities through emphasis on IQ-achievement discrepancy and processing disorders. • Students identified using a “wait to fail” model rather than a prevention-early intervention model. • Subjectivity in student referral for services with teachers’ and others’ perceptions sometimes weighing too heavily in the process.

6. Past Challenges(continued) • Students’ opportunities to learn not adequately considered during the referral and identification process. • Considerable variation from state to state concerning identification procedures and prevalence rates for learning disabilities. • An identification process that provides little information to guide instruction decision-making. • Problematic assessment practices, particularly for culturally and linguistically diverse students. • Disproportionate numbers of culturally and linguistically diverse students inappropriately identified for and served in special education.

7. These challenges to the traditional model for identifying students with learning disabilities illustrate the importance of adopting the RTI model. RTI provides an early and ongoing screening of students with early intervention and uses data to facilitate decision making for identification.

8. Challenges to Implementing an RTI Approach • Questions about who provides the more intensive secondary and tertiary interventions and the extent to which validated instructional practices exist in academic areas other than reading, such as math or writing. • Defining “response to intervention” so that school districts are able to determine • Responders from non-responders • The necessary professional development for practicing professionals • The role of families.

9. Other Issues and Perceived Barriers to Implementation of RTI • Personnel may not be adequately trained to implement RTI. • High-quality instruction in early reading is well understood, however, research based practices for implementing instruction in other domains (e.g., math, writing) are less well delineated. • Leaders at the school, district, and state levels are inadequately prepared to implement RTI practices.

10. Other Issues and Perceived Barriers to Implementation of RTI(continued) • Many folks perceive RTI as a special education initiative rather than a combined general and special education initiative. • Inadequate local and state level policies and resources may compromise effective implementation of RTI. • Effective practices models for implementing RTI at the secondary level are less well developed making it difficult for middle and high school personnel to implement RTI models.

11. Initiatives Influencing RTI • Over the past decade, three contemporary major initiatives set the stage for changes in how we think about students with disabilities and RTI. • Office of Special Education Programs • President’s Commission on Excellence in Special Education • National Research Council

12. IDEIA 2004 • Based on these initiatives, Congress passed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA 2004). The new law promoted RTI as a means for preventing learning difficulties and furthering accurate identification of students with learning disabilities.

13. Critical Elements of RTI • Screening and progress monitoring • Implementation of effective classroom instructional practices so that all students have an opportunity to learn (Tier 1) • Provision of secondary intervention (Tier 2) when students fall behind • Provision of a more intensive individualized intervention for students for whom secondary intervention is inadequate (Tier 3)

14. 4 Key Components of RTI Models • They implement high-quality, research-based instruction matched to the needs of students. • They provide universal screening to identify students at risk and monitor students’ learning over time to determine their level and rate of performance (for ongoing decision making) • They provide interventions of increasing intensity when students continue to struggle. • They make important educational decisions based on data.

15. Screening and Progress Monitoring • Screening involves providing a reliable and valid measure that can be easily and quickly administered to large numbers of students to determine whether these students have academic difficulties. • Progress monitoring involves frequent and ongoing measurement of student knowledge and skills and the examination of student data to evaluate instruction.

16. Using Progress Monitoring in the Classroom • Why use progress monitoring? • To keep track of student learning • To identify students who need additional help • To assist in arranging small-group instruction • To design instruction that meets individual student needs • To refer and identify students for special education based on data gathered during progress monitoring

17. Progress Monitoring(continued) • How do I monitor student progress? • Assess all students at the beginning of the year in the critical areas for their grade level. • Use assessments to identify students who need extra help and to create goals for learning. Once you determine which students require extra help, you can plan small-group instruction. • Monitor the progress of students in small groups more frequently (weekly or monthly) in the specific skill or area being worked on.

18. Progress Monitoring(continued) • How do I monitor student progress? (continued) • Assess progress by comparing learning goals with actual student progress. Students who are making adequate progress should still be assessed approximately three times a year to ensure that they are learning and continue to achieve at grade level.

19. Three Tiers of Intervention • RTI models often discuss instruction or intervention in terms of “tiers.” • As students move through the tiers, the intensity of the interventions they receive increases. • Some RTI models include 3 tiers, and others include a 4th tier.

20. Primary Instruction – Tier 1 • Tier 1 involves all students in the classroom with an intention of providing them with the most effective instruction or behavior supports. • General education teachers provide evidence-based instruction to all students in the class.

21. Secondary Instruction – Tier 2 • Secondary intervention, or Tier 2, is provided for those students who are not making adequate progress in Tier 1 – in other words, those who are not responding to intervention. • Tier 2 interventions supplement rather than supplant the core curriculum taught in Tier 1 general education classrooms and are intended to reinforce the concepts and skills taught there. Yet the support that students receive in Tier 2 is still under the domain of general education. It is not special education.

22. Tertiary Instruction – Tier 3 • Tertiary intervention, or Tier 3, is provided to those students who continue to experience difficulties and show minimal progress during secondary or Tier 2 interventions. • Depending on the number of Tiers in the RTI model, this tier may or not be special education.

23. Implementing Interventions • Standard treatment protocol • Used for all students with similar problems • Evidence based interventions • Instructional decisions follow a standard protocol • Problem-solving method • More individualized or personalized approach

24. Implementing InterventionsProblem-Solving Method(Continued) • Problem solving team: • Classroom teacher • School psychologist • Special education teacher • Other key educational stakeholders (e.g., parent, speech and language therapist)

25. Implementing Interventions:Problem-Solving Method(Continued) • Process: • Define the problem. • Analyze the problem. • Develop a plan. • Implement a plan. • Evaluate the plan.

26. Decision-Making Teams • Should include members with relevant expertise • One team member must have expertise in learning disabilities. • Another should be an expert in the targeted area of concern (e.g., reading, math, behavior) • Another should have expertise in language acquisition, and if relevant, bilingual education (for English language learners).

27. How Team Members Facilitate RTI • Reviewing progress monitoring data of students in interventions and for grade levels and the school as a whole. • Observing classroom instruction to ensure that research-based instruction is occurring. • Providing professional development to teachers and other key educators. • Assisting with data collection and monitoring. • Facilitating instructional decision making. • Organizing intervention groups and monitoring their effectiveness. • Communicating with parents and professionals.

28. Responders and Nonresponders to Intervention • Responders or high responders – students who respond well to interventions • Nonresponders – students who make minimal or no gains after being taught with high-quality validated interventions

29. Identifying Why Students Do Not Respond to Instruction • Before concluding that a student is a nonresponder who needs more intensive services, consider that there are many reasons the student may not be responding to instruction, such as: • The method is not an effective one with this student, and a different approach would yield better results. • The level of instruction might not be a good match for the student. • The environment might not be conducive to learning.

30. RTI for Students Who are Culturally and Linguistically Diverse • ELLs benefit from teachers who are highly interested in ensuring that their students make adequate progress in reading and that they themselves have the knowledge and skills to provide appropriate instruction.

31. RTI for Students Who are Culturally and Linguistically Diverse(continued) • ELLs will be better served if teachers and school personnel do not expect or accept low performance and if they do not view students as undeserving of effective interventions. • ELLs who exhibit learning disabilities may be underidentified and undertreated because school personnel may not have the knowledge and skills needed to identify and treat these students.

32. Working With Families • Family involvement is required in all aspects of identifying students with disabilities. • If schools are using RTI models, families must be informed and involved in the process. • Families can request a formal evaluation for a disability at any time. • The Council for Exceptional Children suggests that schools let families know about their child’s participation in the RTI process at least by Tier 2.

33. Universal Screening • Universal screening in reading, and sometimes in math, is an essential component of RTI models at the Tier 1 level. • It involves administering same test to all students to determine who is likely to be at risk for academic difficulties. • In many schools, screening is carried out 3 times a year. • Screening instruments usually have few items and are short in duration. • Screening is used to determine whether additional testing is needed.

34. Progress Monitoring • Whereas screening is used to assess all students to determine who might need additional support, progress monitoring is applied with individual students to assess their response to interventions. • Quick to administer; administered frequently • Focus on targeted skills in the core curriculum

35. Role of Teachers • Identify students who need intervention. • Provide evidence-based interventions. • Monitor the effects of the intervention. • Make decisions, in consultation with other key professionals, about the need for more or less intensive intervention. • Meet regularly with interested stakeholders (parents, other teachers, school psychologist). **The teacher plays the most important roles in implementing an RTI model.

36. Role of Special Education Teacher • Once a student has been identified as needing additional assistance, the special education teacher may be consulted. The special education teacher plays several important roles in a multitiered RTI model. (See next slide.)

37. Role of Special Education Teacher(continued) • Collaborating with general education teachers and providing consultation services. • Helping to identify children with disabilities. • Offering intensive interventions to Tier 3 students. • Helping Tier 3 students access the general education curriculum. **Special educators may work with struggling students who have not been labeled as having disabilities.

38. Using RTI Data to Identify Students with Disabilities • You are likely to work in a school or district that uses data from screening, progress monitoring, and other records related to students’ progress in primary and secondary interventions to influence decision making about identifying students with learning disabilities.