Helping Students with Dyslexia and Other Reading Problems: Combining RTI with Knowledge about Reading Profiles
Louise Spear-Swerling
Presentation Overview – May 1, 2015
I. Opening: Two “big ideas”
A. RTI (MTSS) practices, though often challenging for schools to implement well, are currently the best known ways to
prevent or ameliorate reading problems
B. Knowledge about three common, well-researched profiles of reading difficulties is extremely useful as a starting
point for assessment and intervention
C. Both ideas implemented together provide a powerful combination for addressing a wide range of reading difficulties,
including:
--disabilities such as dyslexia
--more experientially based reading problems, such as those common in English learners or children from poverty
backgrounds
II. Key features of and rationale for RTI (MTSS) practices
III. Research on three common profiles of reading difficulties
A. Specific word-recognition difficulties (SWRD) – reading problems specific to word recognition; word reading
difficulties usually involve phonological skills; oral vocabulary and listening comprehension at least average; often
emerge in K-4
B. Specific reading comprehension difficulties (SRCD) – reading problems specific to reading comprehension; word-level
reading skills (including phonological skills) at least average; often accompanied by mild listening comprehension
weaknesses; specific comp weaknesses (e.g., vocabulary, background knowledge, perspective-taking) should be
pinpointed; may emerge later in school (Gr 3/4 onward) in response to increased reading comprehension demands
C. Mixed reading difficulties (MRD) – reading problems involve a combination of word-level reading difficulties and core
comprehension weaknesses; children have comprehension problems even in text they can decode accurately and
fluently or even when information is presented verbally (e.g., in teacher read-alouds)
IV. Intervention and progress monitoring for each profile
V. Underlying causes that may be associated with each profile
VI. More about appropriate diagnosis of dyslexia
VII. More about interventions for dyslexia
VIII. What makes these two ideas – the use of RTI practices and information about poor reader profiles – especially
powerful when implemented in combination?
A. Can greatly improve selection of interventions (example)
B. Can greatly improve Tier I screening and progress monitoring (example)
C. Focuses attention on instructionally relevant questions (example)
D. Without use of RTI practices, information about profiles can be very useful for individual children, but will not
address important systemic problems (example)
IX. How do these ideas help students with disabilities?
A. Provides a better Tier I context for students with disabilities as well as other struggling students
B. Helps address special education eligibility criteria (e.g., in IDEA) so that students are appropriately identified
C. Provides teachers with educationally relevant ways to understand reading problems characteristic of various
disabilities (example)
D. Encourages frequent progress-monitoring and higher expectations (e.g., catch-up goals over time) for students in
special education as well as those in tiered interventions
X. The case of Sophie, a sixth-grader with dyslexia making poor progress despite generally good special education
programming; changes to Sophie’s program; Grade 8 post test data
XI. Conclusions and wrap-up
References
Aaron, P. G., Joshi, M., Gooden, R., & Bentum, K. (2008). Diagnosis and treatment of reading disabilities based on the
component model of reading: An alternative to the discrepancy model of LD. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 41, 6784.
Allington, R. L., & McGill-Franzen, A. (2008). Comprehension difficulties among struggling readers. In S. E. Israel & G. G.
Duffy (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Reading Comprehension (pp. 551-568). New York: Routledge.
Badian, N. (1999). Reading disability defined as a discrepancy between listening and reading comprehension. Journal of
Learning Disabilities, 32, 138-148.
Berninger, V. W., & Wolf, B. J. (2009). Teaching students with dyslexia and dysgraphia: Lessons from teaching and science.
Baltimore, MD: Brookes.
Brown-Chidsey, R., & Steege, M. (2005). Response to intervention: Principles and strategies for effective practice. New York:
Guilford.
Cain, K., & Oakhill, J. (2008). Children’s comprehension problems in oral and written language: A cognitive perspective. New
York: Guilford.
Carnine, D. W., Silbert, J., Kame’enui, E. J., & Tarver, S. G. (2004). Direct instruction reading (4th edition). Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Pearson.
Catts, H.W., Adlof, S.M., & Weismer, S.E. (2006). Language deficits in poor comprehenders: A case for the simple view of
reading. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 49(2), 278-293.
Catts, H.W., Compton, D.L., et al. (2012). Prevalence and nature of late-emerging poor readers. Journal of Educational
Psychology, 104(2), 166-181.
Clarke, P. J., Snowling, M. J., Truelove, E., & Hulme, C. (2010). Ameliorating children’s reading-comprehension difficulties: A
randomized controlled trial. Psychological Science, 21, 1106-1116.
Compton, D.L., Fuchs, L.S., Fuchs, D., Lambert, W., & Hamlett, C. (2012). The cognitive and academic profiles of reading and
mathematics learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 45(1), 79–95.
Cutting, L. E., Clements-Stephens, A., Pugh, K. R., Burns, S., Cao, A., Pekar, J. J., et al. (2013). Not all reading disabilities are
dyslexia: Distinct neurobiology of specific comprehension deficits. Brain Connectivity, 3, 199-211.
Denton, C. A., Fletcher, J. M., Anthony, J. L., and Francis, D. J. (2006). An evaluation of intensive intervention for students
with persistent reading difficulties. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 39, 447-466.
Erickson, K. (2013). Reading and assistive technology: Why the reader’s profile matters. Perspectives on Language and
Literacy, 39, 11-14.Fletcher, J. M., Lyon, G. R., Fuchs, L. S., & Barnes, M. A. (2007). Learning disabilities: From
identification to intervention. New York: Guilford.
Fuchs, D., Fuchs, L. S., & Compton, D. L. (2012). Smart RTI: A next-generation approach to multilevel prevention. Exceptional
Children, 78, 263-279.
Fuchs, D., Fuchs, L. S., & Stecker, P. M. (2010). The “blurring” of special education in a new continuum of general education
placements and services. Exceptional Children, 76, 301-323.
Huemer, S. V., & Mann, V. (2010). A comprehensive profile of decoding and comprehension in autism spectrum disorders.
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 40, 485-493.
Kieffer, M. J. (2010). Socioeconomic status, English proficiency, and late-emerging reading difficulties. Educational
Researcher, 39, 484-486.
Leach, J. M., Scarborough, H. S., & Rescorla, L. (2003). Late-emerging reading disabilities. Journal of Educational
Psychology, 95, 211-224.
Lesaux, N. K., & Kieffer, M. J. (2010). Exploring sources of reading comprehension difficulties among language minority
learners and their classmates in early adolescence. American Educational Research Journal, 47, 596-632.
Nation, K., Clarke, P., Wright, B., & Williams, C. (2006). Patterns of reading ability in children with autism spectrum disorder.
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 36, 911-919.
Norbury, C., & Nation, K. (2011). Understanding variability in reading comprehension in adolescents with autism spectrum
disorders: Interactions with language status and decoding skill. Scientific Studies of Reading, 15, 191-210.
Scarborough, H. S. (2005). Developmental relationships between language and reading: Reconciling a beautiful hypothesis
with some ugly facts. In H. W. Catts & A. Kamhi (Eds.), The connections between language and reading disabilities (pp.
3-24). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Spear-Swerling, L. (2004). Fourth-graders’ performance on a state-mandated assessment involving two different measures
of reading comprehension. Reading Psychology, 25, 121-148.
Spear-Swerling, L. (2015). The power of RTI and reading profiles: A blueprint for solving reading problems. Baltimore, MD:
Brookes.
Valencia, S. W. (2011). Reader profiles and reading disabilities. In In R. Allington & A. McGill-Franzen (Eds.), Handbook of
research on reading disabilities (pp. 25-35). New York: Routledge.