Responsiveness-To-Intervention The Context for Reforming General and Special Education

1. Responsiveness-To-InterventionThe Context for Reforming General and Special Education Douglas Fuchs Vanderbilt University

2. Primary Prevention • All children receive the universal, core instructional program. • All children are tested once in the fall. • At-risk students are identified as potentially at-risk for academic failure. • The progress of potentially at-risk students is monitored for 6-8 weeks to (dis)confirm risk and identify students for secondary prevention. Typical RTI Procedure

3. Typical RTI Procedure • Secondary Prevention • For at-risk students, a second level of prevention is implemented using standard research-validated tutoring protocols. • Student progress is monitored throughout intervention, and students are re-tested following intervention. • Growth/performance is dichotomized as responsive or unresponsive. • Students who respond well return to primary prevention, with ongoing progress monitoring.

4. Typical RTI Procedure • Tertiary Intervention • Those who do not respond receive a multidisciplinary team evaluation and are identified for special education (LD, BD, MR). • Tertiary intervention should (needs to) represent a reformed special education where • Individual student goals are set ambitiously. • Ongoing progress monitoring is used formatively and recursively way to develop individualized, effective programs. • Ongoing progress monitoring is also used to identify when students have met benchmarks and need to re-enter secondary or primary prevention

5. Health Care Analogy • High blood pressure (HBP) can lead to heart attacks or strokes • At the annual check-up (primary prevention), HBP screening • If screening suggests HBP, then monitoring over 6-8 weeks occurs to verify HBP • If HBP is verified, secondary prevention occurs with relatively inexpensive diuretics, which are effective for vast majority, and monitoring continues • For patients who fail to respond to secondary prevention (diuretics), then tertiary prevention occurs—experimentation with more expensive medications (e.g., ACE inhibitors, beta blockers), with ongoing monitoring, to determine which drug or combination of drugs is effective

6. Most RTI Conversations • …have been about primary and secondary prevention where the purpose is to reform general education • Fewer conversations about tertiary intervention.Yet it’s as important to get right: Reforming special education

7. RTI as General Education Reform • RTI = early intervention that can: (a) prevent disability (b) mitigate disability (c) eliminate “false positives” (including reducing over-representation of minorities

8. RTI as General Education Reform • 15% of IDEA monies to fund general ed reforms (e.g., professional development to support the tier structure and progress monitoring) to make general ed more accommodating of academic diversity (RTI as REI)

9. RTI as General Education Reform: The New General Ed Continuum of Placements • The traditional continuum of special education services • Some (NASDSE, CASE) are advocating for a serious re-thinking of GE and SE; a new GE continuum of placements and services • General education reformers do not wish RTI to be understood as a more valid method of disability identification because in an ideal RTI World there will be no disability identification

10. RTI as Special Education Reform • Why special education must find its way back to its clinical roots: individualized, data-based, and recursive. • Set ambitious goals • Distinguish the intensity of secondary vs. tertiary prevention • Tertiary prevention is reserved for students who fail to respond to standard forms of instruction (i.e., validated, standard tutoring protocols) and who therefore need a nonstandard (individualized) form of instruction • Use flexible exit/re-entry decisions, based on student progress, to rely on tertiary prevention as needed and to maximize time in primary/secondary prevention as possible (LRE)

11. CBM in RTI at Tertiary Prevention • CBM incoming level/slope is used to set IEP goal. • CBM is administered weekly. • CBM slope is used to assess the effectiveness of varying instructional components for that student and to inductively formulate an effective, individualized program. • CBM slope is used to quantify response. On the basis of slope, decisions are formulated about when to exit tertiary prevention. Goal is to return students to primary or secondary prevention as soon as possible, but weekly CBM continues so that re-entry to tertiary prevention occurs as needed.

12. Finding Level for Reading PM • Determine student reading grade level at year’s end • Administer three passages at this level: • Fewer than 10 correct words, use Word Identification Fluency • Between 10 and 50 words, but less than 85–90% correct, move to next lower level of test and administer three passages at this level • More than 50 correct words, move to highest level of text where student reads 10–50 words • Maintain appropriate level for entire year

13. Tertiary Prevention: Setting IEP Goals • Three options for setting IEP goals: • National norms for end-year levels • Intra-individual framework • National norms for weekly rate of improvement (slope)

14. Tertiary Prevention: Setting Goals With National Norms for End-Year Level • Identify appropriate grade-level end-year level • Mark level on graph with an X at end-year • Draw goal-line from first three CBM scores to X

15. Tertiary Prevention: Setting Goals With National Norms for End-Year Level Note: These figures may change pending additional RTI research.

16. Tertiary Prevention: Setting Goals With National Norms for End-Year Level end-of-year benchmark X goal-line

17. Tertiary Prevention: Setting Goals WithIntra-Individual Framework Identify incoming weekly rate of improvement (slope) using at least 8 data points Multiply slope by 1.5 Multiply by number of weeks until end of year Add to student’s baseline score This is the end-of-year goal.

18. Tertiary Prevention: Setting Goals With Intra-Individual Framework • Identify incoming weekly rate of improvement (slope) using at least 8 data points • slope = 1.0 • 2. Multiply slope by 1.5 to find more ambitious slope • 1.0× 1.5 = 1.5 • 3. Multiply ambitious slope by number of weeks until end of year to find year’s increase • 1.5 × 12 = 18 • 4. Add year’s increase to incoming score to find goal • 18 + 14.65 = 32.65 • 5. Mark goal (32.65 ) on graph with X • 6. Draw goal-line from incoming to X

19. Tertiary Prevention: Setting Goals With Intra-Individual Framework X

20. Tertiary Prevention: Setting Goals With National Norms for Weekly Improvement • Average the student’s first 3 scores (baseline) • Baseline = (12 + 10 + 12) ÷ 3 = 11.33 • 2. Find appropriate norm (weekly rate of increase) • 0.30 • 3. Multiply norm by number of weeks left in year to find year’s increase • 0.30× 17 = 5.1 • 4. Add to baseline to find goal • 5.1 + 11.33 = 16.43 • 5. Mark goal (16.43) on graph with X • 6. Draw goal-line from baseline

21. Tertiary Prevention: Setting Goals With National Norms for Weekly Improvement Note: These figures may change pending additional RTI research.

22. Tertiary Prevention: Setting Goals With National Norms for Weekly Improvement X

23. PM in Tertiary Prevention: Designing Individualized Programs • Monitor adequacy of student progress and inductively design effective, individualized instructional programs • Start with secondary prevention validated tutoring protocol • Increase intensity • Monitor progress • When adequate, maintain program (with increasing goals, as warranted) • When inadequate, experiment with new instructional component (maintain effective components; eliminate ineffective components) • Apply decision rules for graphs: • Based on 4 most recent consecutive scores • Based on trend-line

24. PM in Tertiary Prevention: 4-Point Method most recent 4 points X goal-line

25. PM in Tertiary Prevention: Four-Point Method X goal-line most recent 4 points

26. PM in Tertiary Prevention: Based on Trend trend-line X X X goal-line

27. PM in Tertiary Prevention: Based on Trend X goal-line X X trend-line

28. Exiting Tertiary Prevention (with ongoing PM to return to tertiary prevention as needed) • On the basis of level and slope, decisions are formulated about when to exit tertiary prevention. Goal is to return students to primary or secondary prevention as soon as possible, but weekly CBM continues so that students return to tertiary prevention as frequently and for as long as needed to ensure strong outcomes.

29. Tertiary Prevention: Determining Response in Reading Note: These figures may change pending additional RTI research.

30. Tertiary Prevention: Determining Response in Math Note: These figures may change pending additional RTI research.

31. PM in Tertiary Prevention: Review IEP goals are set. Individualized programs are designed and implemented. Student progress is monitored: • Students with adequate slopes and projected end levels return to primary or secondary prevention, with ongoing PM. • Students with inadequate slopes and projected end levels remain in tertiary prevention, with ongoing PM.

32. For Additional Information Contact: Flora Murray flora.murray@vanderbilt.edu Vanderbilt University 328 Peabody College Department of Special Education Nashville, TN 37203 (615) 343-4782