1. Erin Brown
Learning Disabilities 15.293.522

2. Overview of Reading
Growth
Concerns
Latest
Research
Critique
of
Current
Methods
Development of RTI’s

3. •SLD is the #1 disability within the Special Education
Population
•LD students grew from 1.2 million to 2.8 million in less than
20 years
•50% of Special Education students are classified LD
•That’s 5% of the school age population!

4. Growth Concerns
Explanations for Growth The Concern
 More socially accepted  More expensive to
term educate
 Identification of the  Special Ed.=$12,000
academic and social  Regular Ed.=$6,500
problems linked to LD  Cost fuels research and
 Real world literacy change
demands

5. Focuses on IQ achievement discrepancy method
Points out the false assumptions made by using the IQ
discrepancy method

6. Latest Research: RTI’s
 1982 National Research Council (Heller, Holtzman
and Messick) developed criteria for the validity of
Special Education Classification
 First two focus on “instructional quality”
 Third focuses on the assessment process

7. L.S. Fuchs Framework
• Rate of growth for all students is tracked
Phase I • Purpose is to determine if the overall rate of responsiveness is
the Reg.Ed. Setting is adequate
• Assessment for individuals who demonstrate low performance
Phase II compared to classroom peers
• Purpose is to identify a “subset of children at risk”
• Classroom modifications in place; use systematic testing to
investigate individual response
Phase III • Purpose is to determine if the Reg.Ed setting can be modified
to become a productive learning environment for an at-risk
student

8. L.S.Fuchs Framework
 Had an additional 4th Phase but was later dropped
from the Identification model
 Relies heavily on the use of Curriculum Based
Measurement

9. CBM demonstrated in
Framework
 Phase I: evaluated classroom instructional quality
 Phase II: “Risk” was defined by dual discrepancy
(CBM level and CBM rate of growth) between
students and peers
 Phase III: CBM index the responsiveness: The goal
was to increase the CBM levels and rate to within
the majority of peers

10. RTI’s support
 LD Initiative ( Sponsored by the US Department of
Education’s Office of Special Education)
 President’s Commission on Excellence in Special
Education
 National Academy of Sciences

11. The Promise of RTI's
Dismisses the “wait to fail” model
• Significantly reduces late identification
• Reduces teacher referral by observation
Closes the gap between identification and intervention
• Assessment measures drives instructional planning and
implementation
Identification based on risk rather than deficit model
• Will benefit all students including those without LD
• Screened for problems in both academic and behavioral domains
• Provides a better mix of services between Reg.Ed and Spec.Ed.

12. Promise cont’d
Uses CBM
• Replicates academic growth
• Can distinguish between ineffective teaching and unacceptable performance
Identification as early as Kindergarten
• Won’t slip through the radar
• Can produces some false positives but all students still benefit
Reduction of Identification Bias
• Reduced “teacher-referral” process
• Reduces the variability between states and local agencies
Strong Focus on Student Outcomes
• Connects identification assessment with instruction
• Ongoing
• Effective core academic instruction

13. The Pitfalls of RTI’s
 Is LD Real?
 Do we have validated intervention models and
measures to assures instruction validity?
 Is RTI the final step before classification?
 How intensive should instruction be in all phases?
 How do we train our teachers?
 When is the process of RTI really over?

14. Pitfalls
Is LD Real? Do we have Is this the final How intensive Are there When is the
• Definition of a validated step in should enough trained process over?
disability methods? identification? instruction be? teachers? • If due process is
• Assumed to be • Tools in some • If a student fails in • How do we • Teachers need a too early, then it
permanent areas but not all the “at risk” determine the variety of can disrupt the
• RTI’s manipulate • More focus on environment is duration and knowledge and process and
the environment primary grades he/she intensity of a skill in prolong the
disproving any then older grades automatically program? administering identification
presence of deemed LD? assessments, process
• Focus on reading
cognitive/ • LD comorbid with interpreting the • Too early can
neurological other disorders: results and save a student
deficits What eliminates developing the from
the presence of most effective Reg.Ed/Spec.Ed.
other factors program for limbo
contributing to the success for
disability? students

15. Real Life Examples and
Resources
• Pre-Referral Intervention Manual (PRIM)-Third
Edition
Stephen B. McCarney,Ed.D., Kathy Cummins
Wunderlich, M.Ed., Edited by Samm N. House
• PRIM contains over 4,000 intervention strategies for
the 219 most common learning and behavior
problems.

16. Examples
 Currently used Documentation Methods in NJ I&RS
 NJ I&RS: http://www.nj.gov/education/students/irs/
for manual

17. Fuchs, L.S., & Vaughn, Sharon. (2003). Redefining Learning
Disabilities as Inadequate Response to Instruction:
the Promise and Pitfalls. Learning Disabilities
Research and Practice.18(3),137-146.