RACHEL HANSEN How Can Special Educators Best Support Response To Intervention Practices within the General Educational Setting?

Response to Intervention Study Not many studies have been conducted. Dexter, Farmer, and Hughes conducted a review of field studies to look at how RTI impacted special education.  They specifically were looking for how it was impacting rural schools, yet found that what they discovered applied to all schools. They found that collaboration was key in implementing RTI.

How the Research was Conducted How were the field studies selected?  Peer Reviewed  Published  Two or more tiers of RTI researched  Quantifiable measures  List of identifiable terms that fit the search  Reference lists were used  The quality of research  Grade level  Number of schools and classrooms involved  Who implemented RTI

What was found? Seven of the eleven studies used a team approach to support the RTI process.  What did this mean?  The interventions used were based on a group decision, not a single teacher.  Who did the team consist of?  General education teacher  Special education teacher  Psychologist and other related school personnel

What was found? It was found that students performed better academically under the RTI model.  Also found that the length of time students spent in the various tiers varied. More importantly there were five components that made RTI successful.  Continual professional development  Support of the administration  Willingness to adjust to new roles  Collaboration  Time for collaboration to take place

The Answer to the Question is… Collaboration is important in the success of RTI and it takes place between team members on all levels of the RTI process.  This means that special education teachers support general education teachers in the RTI process through collaboration.  Why do special educators support? RTI is a general education incentive. Therefore, schools can address this issue through setting up and fostering collaboration.

Why collaboration? (Hoover & Patton) Effective for RTI Each teacher brings skills that are useful What skills does the special education teacher possess that is beneficial for collaboration?  Data driven material  Evidence based interventions  Differentiated Instruction  Socio-emotional and behavior supports

One aspect of collaboration Co-teaching  Why?  Response to Intervention is meant to be implemented in general education classes for the support of all students. If schools address the issue of Response to Intervention through co-teaching, special education teachers are able to bring their expertise of assessments, progress monitoring, and individualization and differentiation of lessons into the general education setting (Hughes & Murawski, 2009). By doing this all the students should be reached in the Response to Intervention model and the school is addressing all the components of Response to Intervention.

Further Benefits of Co-teaching and RTI Provide help and support before the student fails. Opportunity for the students to move in and out of the various tiers throughout their educational career.  This provides for the least amount of disruption of programs and placement. When teachers co-teach with each other schools will find that they are better able to address all the students various needs directly in the general education classroom.

Summary Schools are able to address the issue of how special education teachers can support general education teachers in the RTI process through various forms of collaboration. This provides the opportunity for all students to be educated in the general education classroom.