Qualitative Investigation of RtI Coaches Roles,Responsibilities, and Experiences Supporting Schools Participating in a State Level RtI Implementation Project

ABSTRACT

Systems coaching is a professional development approach focusing on the implementation fidelity of evidence-based practices and whole school reform efforts such as Response to Intervention (RtI). However, the roles, responsibilities, and supports required by systems coaches, and how the work of those tasked with facilitating capacity for RtI implementation manifests within complex and multifaceted school environments remains unclear. The purpose of the current exploratory study was to investigate coaches’ perspectives and experiences related to RtI implementation to illustrate systems coaching in context. Ten coaches providing job-embedded support for RtI implementation across 34 schools in one state participated in semi-structured interviews. A constant-comparative and matrix analysis approach was used to generate codes and themes. Results indicated systems coaches experience a number of systemic and contextually dependent facilitators and barriers to their work, providing implications for RtI coaches’ preparation, ongoing support, and current practices, as well as directions for future research.     

Fidelity of implementation framework: A critical need for response to intervention models

Response to Intervention (RtI) has gained increased attention with the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act. Since RtI was introduced at the policy level as a mechanism for use in the learning disability identification process, much of the implementation work has focused on this application. School‐based implementation of RtI has occurred quickly in response to federal legislation, with little focus on fidelity. Regular and consistent monitoring of implementation fidelity can provide the data required to improve implementation and student performance. This discussion will include a brief review of the literature regarding implementation fidelity and then provide a framework for designing a fidelity system for RtI models. Further systematic research in this area is needed to support the RtI implementation that is currently under way in schools across the country. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The Urban Bridge is a symbol

Response to Intervention (RtI) is a general education initiative that takes place prior to evaluation for placement in special education. Essentially, the first two tiers of RtI require general education teachers to use research-based instruction with all students and then to evaluate the effectiveness of that instruction. Given that the use of RtI as an assessment tool begins in the general education classroom, the following question remains: Are general educators aware of the development and implementation of RtI as a process for assessing and, eventually, possibly placing students into special education? The purpose of this study was to review the literature to answer the following two questions:

1. To what extent is RtI evident in the professional literature of educator groups (teachers, administrators, and teacher educators) who will be responsible for implementing these school practices?

2. What is the nature of the published literature (concept papers, assessment practices, instructional practices, and research) on RtI?

     

Special Education in a 4‐Year Response to Intervention (RtI) Environment: Characteristics of Students with Learning Disability and Grade of Identification

This 4‐year longitudinal research was designed to study special education determinations of students who participated in Tier 2 intervention in a Response to Intervention (RtI) model focused on reading across Grades 1–4. We compared identification rates for learning disabilities (LD) and student characteristics of 381 students the year prior to implementation with 377 students in the RtI environment. Across schools, 38–60 percent of students were English language learners (ELL). Key outcomes by Grade 4 for students with LD who had participated in a model of RtI were relatively greater reading impairment with effect sizes ranging from 0.64 to 0.82, and more equitable representation across ELL and native English speakers than in the cohort prior to RtI implementation. Notably, one‐third of the students identified for special services as LD in these schools were not identified until 4th grade.     

Peer Review in Education: Promoting Collaboration, Written Expression, Critical Thinking, and Professional Responsibility

This article discusses the application of the peer review process as a pedagogical instrument for the promotion of written expression, collaborative work, critical thinking, and professional responsibility among Informatics and Engineering majors. The approach is introduced with a motivation, followed by a discussion about common principles of current learning paradigms and the peer review process. This work is being conducted in Brazil, where we intend to promote a learning paradigm shift through the application of peer review in education. A framework for this application is outlined, together with an account of results from experiences and a discussion about the skills that this approach exercises, especially with regard to widely accepted curricula and codes of ethics and professional conduct. Further research and development efforts are conjectured.     

A Key To the Understanding of the History of France

The purpose of this article is to define and clarify the process of instructional problem-solving using assessment data within action research (AR) and Response to Intervention (RtI). Similarities between AR and RtI are defined and compared. Lastly, specific resources and examples of the instructional problem-solving process of AR within classrooms and schools to implement RtI are provided.     

Monsters,magic and Mr Psycho: a biocultural approach to rough and tumble play in the early years of primary school

This paper focuses upon the developmental role of rough and tumble (R&T) play with particular attention to the narratives that children use to underpin such activities. A review of the literature suggests that current early years research and practice pays scant attention to children's outdoor free play activities. A piece of original research is described in which playtime activities were ethnographically observed over an 18‐month period. A biocultural approach was used in the analysis of data, in an attempt to encompass the roles of biology, evolution and culture in human development. Findings indicate that the narratives underpinning R&T play were socially complex and highly gendered, and it is suggested that much developmental learning may occur within such free play activities.     

The Effects of COVID-19 on Early Childhood Education and Care: Research and Resources for Children,Families, Teachers,and Teacher Educators

The COVID-19 world health crisis has profound implications for the care and education of young children in homes and schools, the lives of preservice and inservice teachers, and the work of college/university faculty. This article begins by discussing the implications of a world health pandemic for education and the challenges of conducting a literature review on such a rapidly evolving topic. The next four sections categorize the COVID-19 literature into themes: (1) threats to quality of life (QoL) and wellness, (2) pressure on families and intensification of inequities, (3) changes in teaching methods and reliance on technology, and (4) restructuring of higher education and scholarship interrupted. Each of the four themes is introduced with a narrative that highlights the current context, followed by the literature review. Next is a compilation of high-quality, online resources developed by leading professional organizations to support children, families, and educators dealing with the COVID crisis. The article concludes with changes that hold the greatest potential to advance the field of early childhood education and care.

     

Examining the changing landscape of school psychology practice: A survey of school‐based practitioners regarding Response to Intervention

As Response to Intervention (RtI) approaches become more common in educational systems throughout the country, it is increasingly important to identify how practitioners perceive these changes and how they obtain the skills necessary to face emergent roles and responsibilities. In this exploratory study, a national sample of 557 school psychologists were surveyed regarding their training, involvement, and perceptions of RtI. The results indicate that practitioners engage in multiple training experiences via a variety of modalities. Nearly half of respondents reported employment at sites implementing RtI. Practitioners at RtI‐implementing sites reported a greater proportion of their time spent in academic intervention and conducted fewer psychoeducational assessments relative to their peers at non‐RtI‐implementing sites. Although many reported that RtI had positive effects on academic performance, a sizeable proportion of practitioners observed no effect on school culture and climate. Implications for school psychology training and practice are discussed. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Training for Generalization and Maintenance in RtI Implementation: Front‐Loading for Sustainability

Response to Intervention (RtI) is being implemented as a new initiative in PK‐12 schools with increasing frequency. However, the model must be sustained at the school level, which is potentially difficult due to a number of challenges brought about by systems change. This article applied the Stokes and Baer (1977) framework for programming for generalization and maintenance of behavior change to suggest specific activities in which schools could engage to better ensure RtI sustainability. We specifically discussed ways to (1) introduce to natural maintaining contingencies, (2) train with sufficient exemplars, (3) train loosely, (4) program common stimuli, (5) mediate generalization, and (6) train to generalize. Directions for future research are included.     

Measurement,development, and stimulation of computational estimation abilities in kindergarten and primary education: A systematic literature review

For several decades computational estimation is seen as an important topic in primary mathematics education. While previous narrative literature reviews on computational estimation summarized the available research on computational estimation abilities in students and adults, the present systematic literature review focuses on the measurement, development, and stimulation of computational estimation abilities in kindergartners and primary school children. Reviewing 28 studies revealed that these abilities were mostly investigated from 8-years old onwards by using a variety of measures. Age-related improvements in estimation performance and strategy use were observed in most studies. Only very few studies addressed the targeted stimulation of computational estimation abilities. The current review identified several gaps in the research literature, such as the absence of studies investigating the relationship between computational estimation performance and other basic numerical and mathematical abilities in children, and the paucity of longitudinal studies on the development of computational estimation ability.     

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN ONGOING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATORS’ PERCEIVED SKILLS RELATIVE TO RtI

Widespread adoption of Response to Intervention (RtI) requires large numbers of educators to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to implement the model with fidelity. This study examined relationships between large‐scale professional development on RtI and educators’ perceived skills. Elementary educators (n = 4,283) from 34 pilot and 27 comparison schools in a southeastern state participated. Leadership teams composed of subsets of educators from pilot schools who were responsible for leading RtI implementation participated in 13 days of training across a 3‐year period. Additionally, job‐embedded coaching was provided to pilot school instructional educators. Results from multilevel models indicated that leadership team membership related to increases in educators’ perceptions of RtI skills applied to academics (π = .05; SE = .02; t[6,726] = 2.60; p < .05) and of data display skills (π = .07; SE = .03; t[6,678] = 2.45, p < .05). Educator participation at pilot schools that received job‐embedded coaching related to increases in perceptions of RtI skills applied to academics (β = .07; SE = .02; t[6,726] = 2.77, p < .05). Implications for future research on RtI implementation and the practice of providing large‐scale professional development focused on RtI are discussed.     

A Review of the Literature on Mathematics and Science Teacher Quality

A large body of literature exists that examines teacher quality characteristics and the relationship of indicators of those characteristics to teacher effectiveness. This existing research literature broadly views teacher quality research without illuminating specific areas of teacher quality, such as mathematics and science. In an effort to focus the literature base for researchers and policymakers more narrowly, this review specifically examines teacher quality as it relates to mathematics and science teaching and learning. The review highlights key policy and practitioner perspectives, provides a focused synthesis on current research findings on mathematics and science teacher quality, and suggests areas of research that are limited in the literature.     

Identification of gifted students with learning disabilities in a Response‐to‐Intervention era

The identification of children who are twice‐exceptional—those who are gifted and have concomitant learning disabilities (LDs)—has historically posed a number of challenges for school psychologists and other school personnel. With the reauthorization of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act and the shift to the use of a Response‐to‐Intervention (RtI) model to identify students with LDs, the task of identifying those who are twice exceptional is even more daunting. This article proposes an integrated model for the identification of gifted children with LDs that blends standardized assessment methods with practices consistent with RtI. This balanced approach brings together the best of both worlds to more accurately identify twice‐exceptional students and better meet their educational needs. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Longitudinal effects of RtI implementation on reading achievement outcomes

Because several studies have investigated student outcomes in schools implementing Response to Intervention (RtI), relatively little research has investigated the impact of implementation on students’ long‐term achievement outcomes (i.e., several years after exposure). The purpose of this study was to describe one elementary school's RtI implementation process and to examine students’ long‐term reading comprehension outcomes following their exposure to various phases of implementation. Four cohorts of students who experienced different implementation phases (i.e., a baseline condition or Phases I, II, or III of implementation) during Grade 2 were subsequently followed across Grades 3, 4, and 5 to examine their outcomes on two reading comprehension measures. Results indicated that students who experienced the early phases of RtI implementation (i.e., Phases I and II) during Grade 2 generally had higher mean comprehension scores in Grades 4 and 5 than students in the baseline condition. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.     

Lifelong learning and the absence of gender

This paper identifies that (with very few exceptions) in most of current literature on lifelong learning, gender issues are ignored or overlooked. An extensive review of the literature demonstrates this neglect. Some reasons are given for this, including the fact that most analyses of lifelong learning tend to stress the individual learning against the social construct of learning; individual learning paths are sought rather than gendered patterns. But within the discourse of lifelong learning there are elements such as identity, the reflective practitioner and critical reflection which could open the door to a more socially transformative approach to lifelong learning. More research and debate are needed.     

Consultants and Coteachers Affecting Student Outcomes with Numbered Heads Together: Keeping All Engaged

General education teachers, special education teachers, social workers, psychologists, and a myriad of specialists are responsible for delivering content to all students within inclusive environments. These educational teams continue to search for strategies that can be recommended or used in an inclusive environment. Researchers have discovered that an instructional strategy such as Numbered Heads Together (NHT) increases both academic and behavioral outcomes for students with and without disabilities. This article provides consultants, Response to Intervention (RtI) team members, and coteaching teams with a specific strategy of NHT that can be used by two or more professionals to develop lessons or deliver instruction using a coteaching or consultant approach with both professionals (consultant and general education teacher) assessing learner outcomes after the completion of the activity.     

The power of open: benefits,barriers, and strategies for integration of open educational resources

ABSTRACT

Open Educational Resources (OER) are becoming a significant, mission-driven trend within educational literature. To help address rising costs, instructors and designers are looking to OER to effectively replace traditional instructional content, which requires more than just identify and replace. Drawing from 51 OER studies conducted in countries across the five continents, this systematic literature review explored the empirical themes evident in the current research on a global scale. This review found (1) discoverability, sustainability, and remixing are significant barriers that stand in the way of OER disrupting traditional textbook models; (2) there is no significant difference in learning outcomes when instructors incorporate OER; and (3) implementation of OER as instructional strategies is challenging but can be effective in supporting positive learning outcomes when properly designed. The paper concludes with a discussion of gaps in the literature, considerations for implementation and further directions for future research.