Response to Intervention (RTI) Panel Discussion

March 31, 2011

RTI Panel Discussion

• Dean Robert Bangert-Drowns, moderator• Panelists:

– Dr. Frank Vellutino, Educational Psychology & Methodology

– Dr. Peter Johnston, Reading– Dr. Kevin Quinn, Special Education– Dr. Stacy Williams, School Psychology– Dr. Donna Scanlon, Reading

Response to Intervention

Brief History

Dr. Frank Vellutino

Definition of Response to Intervention

– RTI is a new approach to determining whether students should be classified as learning disabled. It involves:

• Identifying those students who are not meeting grade level expectations in a targeted academic area (e.g. reading, math, etc.).

• Providing remedial services that are intensified over several tiers of intervention (e.g. three-tier model).

• Assessing and monitoring students’ gains in the targeted academic area to determine whether they have accelerated their progress sufficiently to meet grade level expectations.

– The RTI approach to LD classification is an alternative to traditional psychometric approaches having the IQ-achievement discrepancy as the central defining criterion.

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The Psychometric Approach

• Definition by Exclusion– IQ-Achievement discrepancy.– Sensory, physical, and emotional deficits, frequent

absences from school, and socioeconomic disadvantage used as exclusionary criteria.

– “Neuropsychological” tests of cognitive abilities presumed to underlie an academic skill.

• Estimates of incidence of learning disability range from 10% to 20% using the above criteria.

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• Basic Assumptions of the Psychometric Approach – Learning disabilities are caused by neurodevelopmental

disorders affecting academic learning in otherwise normal children.

– Specific learning disabilities are different from general learning difficulties caused by low IQ, sensory, physical, or emotional deficits, or socioeconomic disadvantage.

– These assumptions were codified by Public law 94-142 (EAHCA, 1975) which led to the widespread use of psychometric definitions of LD having the IQ-achievement discrepancy as the central defining criterion.

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Problems with the Psychometric Approach to LD Classification

• No control for pre-school experiences and instruction• Low diagnostic validity of most tests• Rely primarily on IQ-achievement discrepancy• “Wait to fail” approach to classification• Too many children classified as “disabled learners” (10%-20%)• Low expectations for achievement• No direction for instruction• Little or no attention given to the nature and quality of

instruction

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How did RTI Emerge as a New Approach to Learning Disability Classification?

• Marie Clay’s Reading Recovery: The Prototypical RTI Model• Over two decades of research undermining the use of the IQ-

achievement discrepancy to define learning disabilities.• Well over a decade of intervention research documenting the

utility of using an RTI approach to identifying learning disabilities in lieu of the IQ-achievement discrepancy.

• IDEIA (2004) which allowed and encouraged the use of RTI approaches to LD classification in lieu of traditional psychometric and discrepancy-based approaches.

• Widespread implementation of RTI approaches to LD classification in subsequent years.

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Prevention versus Classification

Dr. Peter Johnston

The language in IDEA 2004 offers two frames for viewing RtI:

A. A measurement problem – a strategy for identifying children who have disabilities. (§ 300.307)

B. An instructional problem – a strategy for ensuring a child has appropriate instruction, thereby reducing the number of children who end up with disabilities. (§ 300.307)

RtI as Identification (a measurement problem)

• Goal: accurately identify individuals with LD.• Measurement priority requires standardization (in timing,

instruction, assessments). • Assessment does not have to be instructionally informative. • Assume that standardized instruction that is effective on

average in one setting will be effective with each new child in any new setting.

• If the standard instruction is not successful even when the intensity is increased, the child is identified as having a disability the instruction remains “scientific, research based.”

RtI as Prevention (an instructional problem)

• Goal: Prevent children becoming LD - state oriented.• Emphasizes optimizing instruction for the individual. The central

concern is providing the means and context for improving teaching (and teacher expertise).

• Assessment must be informative about qualities of learning and teaching, it must be formative.

• Instruction is not appropriate (evidence based) unless the evidence says it’s effective for this child (with this teacher).

Why Choose Prevention (instructional)

• Although there are differences in children’s facility with language processing competencies that make it harder for some children to acquire literacy, given appropriate instruction, children with the most limited competencies have almost all been taught to read on par with their peers.

• And, in the process, their language processing competencies improve (Vellutino & Scanlon)

• By shifting attention to the nature of instruction, 76% of the remaining 1.5% can be brought into the normal range in 26-30 weeks. (Phillips & Smith)

Assessing /Teaching to Increase Student Learning and Reduce Learning Disabilities

• Teaching requires close attention to the child’s literate interactions and engaging the child at critical points in ways that keep the child in control of processing and expand the child’s use of resources.

• The method of documenting learning must focus the teacher’s attention on the child’s processing and provide a history for problem solving.

• Particularly for children experiencing difficulty becoming literate, improving the child’s learning requires examining (through data) and improving the teacher-child interaction and shared meaning-making.

• Literacy must minimally be addressed as a meaning-making problem-solving activity of personal significance. Johnston/Phillips & Smith

School-wide Positive Behavioral Support

Dr. Kevin Quinn

School-wide Positive Behavioral Support is a

Framework for enhancing adoption & implementation of

Continuum of evidence-based interventions to achieve

Academically & behaviorally important outcomes for

All students

Primary Prevention:School-/Classroom-Wide Systems for

All Students,Staff, & Settings

Secondary Prevention:Specialized Group

Systems for Students with At-Risk Behavior

Tertiary Prevention:Specialized

IndividualizedSystems for Students with

High-Risk Behavior

~80% of Students

~15%

~5%

CONTINUUM OFSCHOOL-WIDE

INSTRUCTIONAL & POSITIVE BEHAVIOR

SUPPORT

ALL

SOME

FEW

1-5% 1-5%

5-10% 5-10%

80-90% 80-90%

Intensive, Individual Interventions• Individual Students• Assessment-based

• High Intensity

Intensive, Individual Interventions• Individual Students• Assessment-based

• Intense, durable proceduresTargeted Group Interventions• Some students (at-risk)

• High efficiency• Rapid response

Targeted Group Interventions• Some students (at-risk)

• High efficiency• Rapid response

Universal Interventions• All students

• Preventive, proactive

Universal Interventions• All settings, all students• Preventive, proactive

Responsiveness to Intervention

Academic Systems Behavioral Systems

Integrated Functions Across All Tiers of Support

Team approach

Progress monitoring

Data-based decisions

Evidence-based practices

Beha

vior

Sup

port Reading Support

Universal Screening

SYST

EMS

PRACTICES

DATASupportingStaff Behavior

SupportingStudent Behavior

OUTCOMES

Supporting Social Competence &Academic Achievement

SupportingDecisionMaking

IntegratedElements

~80% of Students

~15%

~5%

ESTABLISHING CONTINUUM of SWPBS

SECONDARY PREVENTION• Check in/out• Targeted social skills

instruction• Peer-based supports• Social skills club•

TERTIARY PREVENTION• Function-based support• Wraparound• Person-centered planning• •

PRIMARY PREVENTION• Teach SW expectations• Proactive SW discipline• Positive reinforcement• Effective instruction• Parent engagement•

SECONDARY PREVENTION• • • • •

TERTIARY PREVENTION• • • • •

PRIMARY PREVENTION• • • • • •

Universal

Targeted

Intensive

RTIContinuum of

Support for ALL

Dec 7, 2007

Social Behavior

Soc Studies

Reading

Math

Soc skills

Basketball

Spanish

Label behavior…not people

Practices of Behavior and Reading Supports

Reading Supports

Behavior Supports Integrated Behavior and Reading

Supports

Independent Behavior and Academic Supports

Meeting The RTI Challenge

Dr. Stacy Williams

Meeting The RTI Challenge• open to change—change in how students are identified for

intervention; how interventions are selected, designed, and implemented; how student performance is measured and evaluated; how evaluations are conducted; and how decisions are made;

• open to professional development—training (as needed) in evidence-based intervention approaches, progress monitoring methods, evaluation of instructional and program outcomes, and contextually based assessment procedures, and the implications for both pre-service and in-service training;

• willing to adapt a more systemic approach to serving schools, including a workload that reflects less traditional service delivery (i.e., SLPs, SPs, etc) and more consultation and collaboration in general education classrooms;

PD for Teachers of Students with Learning Disabilities

• understand and apply pedagogy related to cognition, learning theory, language development, behavior management and applied behavioral analysis,

• possess a substantial base of knowledge about criteria for identifying scientific research-based methodology, instructional programs/methodology available for use with students with Learning Disabilities and individualization of instruction,

• be proficient in providing direct skill instruction in reading, writing, spelling, math, listening and learning strategies,

• be able to adjust instruction and learning supports based on student progress, observation and clinical judgment,

General Educators

• The general education teacher has a crucial role in ensuring that the RtI process is implemented with integrity.– Collection of data– Implementation of

interventions– Tier 1 Instruction

Professional Development

• Differentiating instruction for a diverse classroom,

• Ongoing curriculum-based data collection and analysis,

• Evidence-based intervention strategies for both academics and behaviors,

• Progress monitoring processes and procedures,

• Problem-solving methods to facilitate data-based instructional decision-making, and

• Professional collaboration skills.

Obstacles to Effective Professional Development

Scheduling/Time

OrganizationAttitudes

Interventionist

The Role of Instruction in Preventing and Remediating Reading Difficulties

Dr. Donna Scanlon

Prevention – the best part of…

the most promising practice of…the logical focus of…

RtI

Priorities for Planning/Implementing Instruction in an RTI context

Knowledgeable teachers• Studies demonstrate that children’s learning is more

dependent on what teachers do than on the programs they use. – Bond & Dykstra, 1967– Duffy & Hoffman, 1999– Nye, Konstantopoulos, & Hedges, 2004– Scanlon, Gelzheiser, Vellutino, Schatschneider, & Sweeney,

2008– Tivnan & Hemphill, 2005

Priorities for Planning/Implementing Instruction in an RTI context

• Ensure that instruction across the tiers is:– Responsive– Coherent– Collaborative– Comprehensive

Comprehension & Knowledge

Experience in World

Vocabulary& Language

Experience withBooks & Print

Alphabetics: Print Concepts Phonological Awareness Letter Names Letter Sounds The Alphabet Principle & Alphabetic Code Larger Orthographic Units

Word Identificationand Word Learning

High Frequency

WordsStrategic Word Learning

Motivation & Engagement

Priorities for Planning/Implementing Instruction in an RTI context

• Begin as early as potential difficulties are apparent and before the children have come to identify themselves as less able. – Scanlon, Vellutino, Small, Fanuele, & Sweeney

(2005) found that small group intervention in kindergarten:

• Reduced the number of children who qualified for more intensive forms of intervention in first grade

• Substantially reduced the proportion of at risk children who continued to experience serious reading difficulties at the end of first grade.

Areas of Concern in RTI Implementation &

Practices not Supported by Research – Frequent progress monitoring of isolated skills

• No evidence that it contributes to improved outcomes for children– Implementation of distinct programs at different tiers of

instruction• Apt to confuse the children

– Too much emphasis on fidelity of implementation • May result in lack of teacher responsiveness and failure to match

instruction to the students’ current abilities. – Too much emphasis on isolated skills

• May limit the amount of reading children do• May confuse children about the purposes of reading

– Too much emphasis on fluency • May lead some children to be inattentive to meaning-making.