Transcript Slide 1

RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION
Margaret D. Anderson
SUNY Cortland, April, 2010
WHY IS RTI NOW BEING ADOPTED BY SCHOOLS?
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Federal legislation provides the guidelines that
schools must follow when identifying children for
special education services.
Based on the changes in IDEIA 2004, the US
Department of Education (USDE) updated its
regulations to state education departments. The
new USDE regulations:
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Explicitly ALLOW states to use RTI to identify LD
FORBID states from forcing schools to use a
‘discrepancy model’ to identify LD
LEARNING DISABILITIES: TEST
DISCREPANCY MODEL
“Traditionally, disability is viewed as a
deficit that resides within the individual,
the severity of which might be influenced,
but not created, by contextual variables.”
(Vaughn & Fuchs, 2003)
TEST-SCORE DISCREPANCY MODEL
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Prior to RTI, many states used a ‘Test-Score Discrepancy
Model’ to identify Learning Disabilities.
A student with significant
academic delays would be
administered a battery of
tests, including an
intelligence test and
academic achievement test(s).
If the student was found to
have a substantial gap between a higher IQ score and
lower achievement scores, a formula was used to
determine if that gap was statistically significant and
‘severe’.
If the student had a ‘severe discrepancy’ [gap] between IQ
and achievement, he or she would be diagnosed with a
Learning Disability.
LIMITATIONS TO THE ‘TEST-SCORE
DISCREPANCY MODEL’ (GRESHAM, 2001):
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Requires chronic school failure BEFORE remedial/special
education supports can be given.
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Fails to consider that outside factors such as poor or
inconsistent instruction may contribute to a child's learning
delay.
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A ‘severe discrepancy’ between test scores provides no useful
information about WHY the student is doing poorly
academically.
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Different states (and even school districts within the same
state) often used different formulas to diagnose LD, resulting
in a lack of uniformity in identifying children for special
education support.
WHAT IS RTI?
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'Response to Intervention' is an emerging
approach to the diagnosis of Learning Disabilities
that holds considerable promise. In the RTI model:
A student with academic delays is given one or
more research-validated interventions.
The student's academic progress is monitored
frequently to see if those interventions are
sufficient to help the student to catch up with his
or her peers.
If the student fails to show significantly improved
academic skills despite several well-designed and
implemented interventions, this failure to 'respond
to intervention' can be viewed as evidence of an
underlying Learning Disability.
THE STEPS OF RTI FOR AN INDIVIDUAL CASE…
Under RTI, if a student is found to be performing well
below peers, the school will:
1. Estimate the academic skill gap between the
student and typically-performing peers
2. Determine the likely reason(s) for the student’s
depressed academic performance
3. Select a scientifically-based intervention likely to
improve the student's academic functioning
4. Monitor academic progress frequently to evaluate
the impact of the intervention
5. If the student fails to respond to several wellimplemented interventions, consider a referral to
Special Education
1. DETERMINE DISCREPANCY IN PERFORMANCE
Three general methods for estimating the
‘typical’ level of academic performance at a
grade level:
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Local Norms: A sample of students at a school is
screened in an academic skill to create grade norms
(Shinn, 1989)
Research Norms: Norms for ‘typical’ growth are derived
from a research sample, published, and applied by
schools to their own student populations (e.g., Shapiro,
1996)
Criterion-Referenced Benchmarks: A minimum level, or
threshold, of competence is determined for a skill. The
benchmark is usually defined as a level of proficiency
needed for later school success (Fuchs, 2003)
RESEARCH NORMS: EXAMPLE
Norms for ‘typical’ growth are derived from a research sample,
published, and applied by schools to their own student
populations
Estimates of ‘Typical’ [‘Instructional’] Reading Fluency Level Ranges
By Grade Based on a Research Sample (from Shapiro, 1996)
Grade
Correctly Read Words Per Min
Reading Errors
1
40-60
Fewer than 5
2
40-60
Fewer than 5
3
4
70-100
70-100
Fewer than 7
Fewer than 7
5
6
70-100
70-100
Fewer than 7
Fewer than 7
CRITERION-REFERENCED BENCHMARKS: EXAMPLE
The benchmark represents a level of proficiency needed
for later school success. A good example of a commonly
used set of benchmarks for reading are those that were
developed for use with the DIBELS [Dynamic Indicators of
Basic Early Literacy Skills].
Using the DIBELS benchmarks, for example, 3rd-grade
students are at ‘low risk’ for reading problems if they reach
these reading-fluency goals:
 Start of School Year: 77 Correctly Read Words Per Min
 Middle of School Year: 92 Correctly Read Words Per Min
 End of School Year: 110 Correctly Read Words Per Min
2. DETERMINE THE LIKELY REASON(S) FOR THE
STUDENT’S DEPRESSED ACADEMIC
PERFORMANCE:
Possible underlying causes of poor academic
performance.
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Skill Deficit: The student lacks the necessary skills to
perform the academic task.
‘Fragile’ Skills: The student possesses the necessary
skills but is not yet fluent and automatic in those skills.
Performance (Motivation) Deficit: The student has the
necessary skills but lacks the motivation to complete the
academic task.
3.
SELECT A SCIENTIFICALLY-BASED
INTERVENTION BASED ON CAUSE OF
DEPRESSED PERFORMANCE:
Any intervention chosen for the student should
be backed by scientific research (e.g., research
articles in peer-reviewed professional journals)
demonstrating that the intervention is effective
in addressing the student’s underlying reason(s)
for academic failure.
4.
MONITOR ACADEMIC PROGRESS FREQUENTLY TO
EVALUATE THE IMPACT OF THE INTERVENTION:
Under RTI, interventions are monitored frequently
(e.g., weekly) using valid and reliable measures
that are sensitive to short-term gains in student
performance:
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Measures for Basic Academic Skills: Curriculum-Based Measurement
(CBM) probes are short, timed assessments that have been developed
to measure phonemic awareness, oral reading fluency, math
computation, writing, and spelling skills (Shinn, 1989).
Measures for Classroom Academic and General Behaviors:
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Daily Behavior Report Cards (DBRCs): These customized teacher
rating forms allow the instructor to evaluate the student’s behaviors
each day (Chafouleas et al. 2005).
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Direct Observation: An external observer visits the classroom to
observe the student’s rates of on-task and academically engaged
behaviors. (Shapiro, 1996)
5.
IF THE STUDENT FAILS TO RESPOND TO A SERIES
OF WELL-IMPLEMENTED INTERVENTIONS,
CONSIDER A REFERRAL TO SPECIAL EDUCATION.
In the RTI model, the student would be
referred for a special education evaluation if:
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A series of research-based interventions have been
attempted
There is documentation that the interventions were
carried out as designed (treatment/intervention
integrity)
Progress-monitoring data shows that the student
failed to meet the goal set for his or her
improvement (that is, the student shows a
‘discrepancy in rate of learning’ relative to gradepeers).
RTI: SCHOOL-WIDE THREE-TIER
FRAMEWORK (KOVALESKI, 2003; VAUGHN, 2003)
Tier I
Tier II
Tier III
‘School-Wide
Screening & Group
Intervention’
‘Non-Responders’ to
Tier I Are Identified &
Given ‘Individually
Tailored’ Interventions
(e.g., peer
tutoring/fluency)
‘Long-Term
Programming for
Students Who Fail to
Respond to Tier II
Interventions’ (e.g.,
Special Education)
ADVANTAGES OF RTI
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One advantage of RTI in the diagnosis of
educational disabilities is that it allows schools to
intervene early to meet the needs of struggling
learners.
Another advantage is that RTI maps those specific
instructional strategies found to benefit a
particular student.
EXAMPLE OF ASSESSMENTS
-- AIMSweb – assessment system (home)
-- DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early
Literacy Skills) (home site)