Using RTI Data to Inform Eligibility Dr. Evelyn Johnson Boise State University

What is the National Center on RTI? The National Center on RTI is a 5 year Technical Assistance (TA) Center funded through a cooperative agreement with the Office of Special Education Program (OSEP)’s Research to Practice Division and is part of OSEP’s National Technical Assistance and Dissemination Network This presentation is sponsored in part by the National Center on Response to Intervention. The National Center on RTI is a 5 year TA Center funded by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and is part of the national Technical Assistance and Dissemination Network. The National Center on RTI is based at the American Institutes for Research in Washington, DC in partnership with the Fuchs at Vanderbilt and Don Deshler and Daryl Mellard at the University of Kansas. Nancy Safer is the director of the National Center on RTI.

The website has a variety of resources on RTI related topics, including reviews of screening and progress monitoring tools. On the website, you can sign up for the RTI Responder, a monthly electronic newsletter. Once you are signed up for the RTI Responder, you will also receive email blasts alerting you to new products and resources as they are posted. Posted on the website is contact information (both an email address and a toll-free number) for the National Center on RTI; please send an email or call with any questions you may have regarding the implementation of RTI.

NCRTI Mission To build state capacity and support for implementing RTI in local districts and schools by serving as a central source of knowledge, expertise, and research-based information for educators, administrators, and parents. The mission of the National Center on RTI is to build state capacity and support for implementing RTI in local districts and schools by serving as a central source of knowledge, expertise, and research-based information for educators, administrators, and parents. Their strategies for accomplishing this mission include identifying and evaluating RTI components for identifying and serving students with or at risk for a learning disability identification; providing ongoing technical assistance to states to support the implementation of RTI in classrooms, schools, and local districts nationally; and to disseminate information about proven and promising RTI models to interested stakeholders across the country. The website at www.rti4success.org is one way that they disseminate information about RTI.

Defining RTI Response to intervention (RTI) integrates assessment and intervention within a multi‑level prevention system to maximize student achievement and reduce behavioral problems. (National Center on Response to Intervention)

Genesis of RTI – Public Health Model

Purposes of RTI School reform framework Early identification and prevention Disability determination

What are we trying to prevent? Instructional casualties – Working to ensure that students receive effective instruction to prevent learning difficulties that later become intractable.

Federal Definition of SLD A specific learning disability means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations, including conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. Specific learning disability does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, of mental retardation, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage. (34 CFR Sec. 300.8 (c)(10))

One State’s Approach to Operationalizing the SLD Definition Characteristic Criteria Method Not due to other factors Appropriate instruction Evidence that team considered external factors RTI data Screening data Imperfect ability to learn Low achievement (adverse impact) Academic Assessment Basic disorder in psychological process Pattern of strengths and weaknesses Comprehensive Evaluation One State’s Approach to Operationalizing the SLD Definition

What is RTI Data? Screening to initially identify students at-risk and establish effective core PM data to determine response and establish interventions are effective Outcome data to establish instructional program efficacy School-wide, Multi-level Instructional System for Preventing School Failure Primary Secondary Tertiary Screening Progress Monitoring Data-Based Decision Making for: Instruction Movement within the multi-level system Disability identification (in accordance with state law)

Standards for Data Screening Progress Monitoring Outcome Reliability Alternate forms have high reliability Minimal Measurement Error Validity Does screening predict outcome? Does growth predict outcome? Does measure represent construct? Fidelity Is core delivered as intended? Are interventions effective? Is instructional program effective?

A Case Study: Cedric This data helps establish that the core instructional program is generally effective for most students.

A Case Study: Cedric This data describes the intensity, frequency and duration of the Tier 2 intervention.

Progress Monitoring Reviewing the collective progress of the group of students who receive intervention demonstrates that many of the students are benefitting from Tier 2 intervention.

Individual Data Shows a Lack of Response

What RTI Data Tells Us About Cedric Has not achieved grade level performance standards Core instruction is generally effective Was not responsive to an intervention Requires further assessment to determine the nature, extent and underlying causes Informs individualized instructional planning

Questions? National Center on Response to Intervention www.rti4success.org Evelyn Johnson, Ed.D. evelynjohnson@boisestate.edu