Response to Intervention
Edward Daly & Todd Glover
University of NebraskaLincoln
The Need for Change
•
President’s Commission on Special
Education report (2002)
– “The Commission could not identify firm
practical or scientific reasons supporting
the current classification of disabilities in
IDEA.”
– “The IQ discrepancy model provides an
arbitrary subdivision of the reading IQ
distribution that is fraught with statistical
and other interpretive problems.”
The Need for Change
•
President’s Commission on Special
Education report (2002)
– RECOMMENDATION: “Implement models
during the identification and assessment
process that are based on response to
intervention and progress monitoring. Use data
from these processes to assess progress in
children who receive special education
services.”
IDEA 2004 states,
“In determining whether a child has a
specific learning disability, a local
educational agency may use a
process which determines if a child
responds to scientific, research-based
intervention.”
Is This Really Something New?
•
No!
•
Previous versions of IDEA have required…
– “Prereferral” intervention
– The need to rule out lack of instruction in
reading or math or limited English proficiency
– Gathering relevant functional and
developmental information and information
related to enabling the child to be involved in
and progress in the general curriculum…
So, What is New?
•
Intervention data can now be used to
make eligibility decisions
– Includes data-based problem solving
– Functional assessments
– Curriculum-Based Measurement
What RTI Is and What It Is Not
•
RTI is…
– An initiative that
supports general
education school
improvement goals
– Intended to help as
many students as
possible meet
proficiency
standards without
special education
•
RTI Is NOT…
– A stand alone
special education
initiative!
– A means for just
getting more
students into
special education
Dr. Michael Bossard,
Special Education Director,
Lincoln Public Schools
What RTI Is and What It Is Not
•
RTI is…
– A method to unify
general and special
education in order
to benefit students
through greater
continuity of
services
– Focused primarily
on effective
instruction to
enhance student
growth
•
RTI Is NOT…
– A method for just
increasing or
decreasing special
education numbers
– Focused primarily
on disability
determination and
documented
through a checklist
RTI is also…
•
•
First about effective instruction and
interventions and only secondarily about
entitlement and eligibility!
A fundamental shift in how student
difficulties and disabilities are viewed!
– No longer focusing on presumed within-child
deficits
– Grounded in age based comparisons and rate
of learning
– Focuses attention on how much and what types
of instruction the learner needs and
accountability for child learning
The Logic of RTI: Data-based
Problem Solving
•
Problem Identification
– “Is there a discrepancy between current and expected
performance?”
•
Problem Analysis
– “Where is the instructional mismatch?”
•
Goal Setting
– “By how much should the student grow over the next 8
weeks?”
•
Plan Implementation
– “What will be done to resolve the problem?”
•
Plan Evaluation
– “Did it work? What do we do next?”
Correct Read Words and
Errors Per Minute
What Does It Look Like?
Direct Assessments
of Academic
Performance in
Important Curricular
Outcomes
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1
2
Time
3
Correct Read Words and
Errors Per Minute
Identifying a Problem
Typical Peer
Performance
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Target Child
1
2
Time
3
Correct Read Words and
Errors Per Minute
Identifying a Problem
A discrepancy
between current
and expected
performance
exists
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1
2
Time
3
The Logic of RTI: Data-based
Problem Solving
•
Problem Identification
– “Is there a discrepancy between current and
expected performance?”
•
Problem Analysis
– “Where is the instructional mismatch?”
•
Goal Setting
– “By how much should the student grow?”
•
Plan Implementation
– “What will be done to resolve the problem?”
•
Plan Evaluation
– “Did it work? What do we do next?”
Correct Read Words and
Errors Per Minute
Data-Based Goal Setting
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Baseline
Goal Line
Aim Line
1
3
5
7
9
11
13
Time
15
17
19
The Logic of RTI: Data-based
Problem Solving
•
Problem Identification
– “Is there a discrepancy between current and expected
performance?”
•
Problem Analysis
– “Where is the instructional mismatch?”
•
Goal Setting
– “By how much should the student grow over the next 8
weeks?”
•
Plan Implementation
– “What will be done to resolve the problem?”
•
Plan Evaluation
– “Did it work? What do we do next?”
Correct Read Words and
Errors Per Minute
Plan Implementation & Evaluation
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Baseline
Planned Intervention
Ongoing
Progress
Monitoring
1
3
5
7
9
Time
11
13
15
17
19
Correct Read Words and
Errors Per Minute
Program Continuity and
Accountability: Intensifying
Intervention
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Baseline
1
3
Planned Intervention 1
5
7
9
11
Time
13
Intervention 2
15
17
19
Structuring Your RTI Program
•
Regular Evaluation
– Universal screening
– Progress monitoring
•
Strategically Selected/Provided Interventions
–
–
–
–
•
Scientifically-supported
Based on student’s instructional need
Increase in intensity
Structured in their delivery
Criteria for Decision Making
– Data-based decision rules for intervention/service
delivery
– LD eligibility criteria
Intensity of Intervention
Model for Evaluation, DecisionMaking, & Intervention Provision
Intensive
Intervention
Supplementary
Intervention
General Instruction
Decision rules
Decision rules
RTI Implementation Prerequisites
•
•
•
Organized professional development
A well-developed infrastructure for
data-based decision making and
intervention delivery for at-risk
students
Integrated participation among
system stakeholders
LD Categorization
•
•
Need a framework and decision rules
Example for Dual Discrepancy Model (LPS)
– Discrepancy in level
• Age based comparison
• For example, < 12th %ile after 2 planned intervention
periods of 8 weeks each
– Discrepancy in rate of learning
• Individual improvement in response to intensified,
research based instruction examined with progress
monitoring
• For example, expected to improve by 16 correct read
words per min in 8 weeks
What Can You Do?
1.
2.
3.
Realize that there is a developmental
progression that schools must go through before
full implementation can be achieved.
For those with progress monitoring and
intervention skills, talk to others in your school(s)
about it.
Make sure the fundamentals are in place.
– Data-based problem solving
– Progress monitoring
– Scientific support for instruction/interventions
What Can You Do?
4.
5.
Make sure the necessary systemic changes are
in place.
– A coordinated school wide system for
monitoring progress and providing
interventions
– A school wide screening system
– Resources to deliver interventions
Choose a model for evaluation and decision
making.
– A system for determining intervention
placement/service delivery