What Do Special Education Directors Say About RTI Margaret Gessler Werts, PhD Monica Lambert, EdD

Purpose To determine the perceptions of district special directors about the implementation of Response to Intervention (RtI) for identification of students with LD To examine the correlation of the use of RtI and the continued use of standardized assessment instruments. To examine what resources are in place for the implementation of RtI

Research Questions 1. What practices do administrators report in the implementation of RtI? 2. What do administrators report for the use of standardized assessments—especially those that result in an IQ score?

Research Questions 3. Do administrators report training in RtI? 4. What resources are provided and what resources are needed for successful implementation of RtI?

Procedures Questionnaire development Systematic reviews Rewriting poorly worded questions Adding items Distribution by through SurveyMonkey Initial mailing Reminders sent every two weeks until the end of school year

Data was gathered electronically Some questions required hand entry Entry reliability was above 99% All errors corrected

Return rate A total of 119 addresses Nine were undeliverable Ten persons declined to participate Total return rate of 50.9% Usable return rate of 41.8%

Participants Special education directors from each district in North Carolina 86.4% were female All were in administrative jobs Experience in this job mean = 8.8 years median = 7 years range = 1-30 years

Rural = 73.2% Suburban = 12.2% Urban = 14.6%

What percentage of your student body has a special education label? less than 5 percent 4.9% between 6 and 10 percent 12.2% between 11 and 15 percent 58.5% between 15 and 20 percent 24.4% more than 20 percent 0.0%

What is the size of your student body? less than % 1000 but less than % 2500 but less than % 5000 but less than % more than %

Results District administrators indicated that standardized assessment instruments are still being used Stanford Binet Intelligence Scale47.1% Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children97.3% Wechsler Adult intelligence Scale55.9% Kaufman Intelligence Scale46.9%

…also still use achievement tests Woodcock Johnson94.6% Brigance Comprehensive 72.2% WIAT81.8% KTEA50.0% KeyMath42.4% Woodcock Reading Mastery77.8%

Resources: Have and Need Paired t= p<.001 Eta =.982 Difference in what is perceived as available and what is perceived as necessary They need more than they have

Records and information Asked what was available in student folders …and what was needed to conduct RtI

Information in folders

Resource people We aked they read the item and then pull down the menu indicating have or do not have the resource. Then choose whether they would or would not need the resource or support for an effective program of identification of students with disabilities using RTI.

Support from people

Access to information Have and need newsletters Have and need journals 30.4% of respondents do not have access to University libraries and do not need it. 21.7% had access and needed it

Training The majority of respondents report having training. They report having training from the Department of Public Instruction (DPI). Preferred training are inservices and observations of other school districts.

Meetings

Meetings (Have and need combined)

Extra materials/ Space

Questions on details of implementation

Who should determine a student's responsiveness? special education teacher 92.9% general education teacher 92.9% principal 47.6% school psychologist 88.1% parent 71.4% guidance counselor 52.4% reading teacher 92.9% Other 42.9%

How should evidence based programs be determined? Educational literature 81.0% Teacher evaluation 64.3% Experience 42.9% Evaluated: curriculum committee 76.2% Determined by the state 59.5% Other (please specify) 11.9%

How long should the testing phase (instruction) last? 1 week 12.5% 2 weeks 15.0% 1 month 20.0% 2 months 30.0% Half a school year 0.0% Other 22.5%

How intensive should instruction be in the testing phase? Twice a week 19.5% Once a day 61.0% Every other day 7.3% Once a week 12.2%

How long should sessions in the testing phase last? 30 minute sessions 47.5% 1 hour sessions 20.0% 2 hour sessions 0.0% Half day sessions 0.0% Whole day sessions 0.0% Other (please specify) 32.5%

Which professionals should take the data? Special educators: work with student 80.0% General educators: work with student 85.0% Special educators: NOT work with student 42.5% General educators: NOT work with student 37.5% School psychologists 87.5% Guidance counselors 60.0% Related services personnel 75.0% Administrators 40.0% Other 25.0%

Should the intervention be individualized for the student in the testing phase? Yes 85.4% No 7.3% Other 7.3%

Maybe, maybe not- should be child specific Depends. Not during baseline, but probes should be individualized. Depends on the student and the plan.

Should the discrepancy model be abandoned? Yes 45.0% No 32.5% Other 22.5%

Other responses to dropping the discrepancy model IDEA says that each LEA should decide this. Perhaps the discrepancy could be a supplement to RTI data. Used as supplement not primary indicator Phased out slowly Could be a combo Yes for LD, OHI, EMD, BED, possibly DD When the LEA has the necessary materials/staff/training to implement RTI. I think we should leave it as an option for those who don't feel comfortable with RTI Not sure

Resources Overall, there is a difference between what is perceived as available and what is perceived as necessary Reported more necessary than available

Use of standardized tests Administrators report use of IQ tests Administrators report use of achievement tests Almost 1/5 said they did not have IQ assessment and did not need it

Training There has been a high level of training Primarily through the state department Administrators report they need more training We did not ask if the training was for them or for their teachers They reported having access to written information

Implementation Administrators said teachers should determine responsiveness Opinion of effectiveness determined by research literature closely followed by a curriculum committee Instruction should be once a day, for 30 minutes, and for 2 months

Implementation Instruction should be individualized No clear consensus on whether the discrepancy model should be dropped