Dr. Sarah McPherson New York Institute of Technology Adapted from Lora Parks-Recore CEWW Special Education Training and Resource Center SETRC 1 Response to Intervention (RtI) and Literacy

True or False? 2 1. IQ predicts reading ability. 2. Parents’ reading habits determine reading achievement in their children. 3. Reading problems are perceptual problems resulting in seeing print backwards. 4. Dyslexia (reading disability) is more common in boys than girls. 5. Dyslexia is a medical diagnosis. 6. A reading/learning disability is best determined when a child is in 2 nd or 3 rd grade.

Findings… 3  Early language characteristics predict later reading and writing skill.  Dyslexia runs in families; genetic determiners have been identified.  A reading disability is associated with under- activity in the left cerebral hemisphere language centers as well as other functional and structural cerebral differences.

4 5% 20-30% Effortless Relatively easy after any instruction Challenging Formidable challenge Learning to Read 60% %

LD: Essential Elements of Current Definition 5 Significant discrepancy between IQ and achievement  Lack of history of adequate opportunity to learn  Absence of other factors that might account for learning difficulties

The IQ Discrepancy Model 6 Waiting for the discrepancy to get large enough to qualify a child can cost valuable time Reading difficulties (and other types of academic difficulties) are easier to remediate when the gap is smaller Numerous intervention studies suggest MANY more children are identified as LD in reading than should be

Proposed New Definition 7 A child may be identified as Learning Disabled when scientific, research-based interventions have been tried and failed to improve the child’s performance level relative to same grade peers.

8 Provide Small Group Classroom Instruction for lowest 30% Accelerated Growth Slow Growth or No Growth Provide Very Small Group Specialized Instruction Slow Growth or No Growth Accelerated Growth Regular Classroom Instruction Provide One-to-One Specialized Instruction Accelerated Growth Slow Growth or No Growth LD – provide continued instruction Possible RTI Approach to LD Classification Adapted from: (Scanlon, D 10/22/2005)

Response to Intervention Model 9 Tier 1. Primary intervention – High quality instructional and behavioral supports for all children Tier 2. Secondary intervention – Targeted intensive prevention or intervention services for students whose performance and rate of progress lag behind the norm for their grade and educational setting Tier 3. Tertiary intervention –Targeted intensive 1:1 instruction for those students who do not make progress in the secondary intervention stage. Derived from the National Research Center on Learning Disabilities (NRCLD)

How Do We Implement Response to Intervention? 10 Start Early when the gaps are small (pre K-K) Small group settings for a substantial amount of time (e.g. daily for min. for several months). If gap continues then consider more intervention by specialist (or specially trained) teacher.

RTI Features 11 : High quality classroom instruction Research-based instruction Classroom performance assessment Universal screening Continuous progress monitoring Progress monitoring during intervention Fidelity measures Daryl Mellard, NRCLD

In most cases, reading problems are not attributable to problems in the child. 12 The new legislation calls for a fundamental shift in our thinking about reading difficulties.

Reading Interventions 13 Primary grade and reading teachers need strategies for responding to the needs of children who struggle with early literacy development.

National Research Center on Learning Disabilities (NRCLD) 14

Reflections and Applications S tudent E nvironment T ask T ools Struggling Reader ClassroomReadingTechnology 15