discussion

WEEK THREE INSTRUCTOR GUIDANCE

Welcome to Week Three!! This week we focus on meeting student needs through the use of Response to Intervention (RTI) strategies and a team approach to assessment and evaluation.  By the end of this week you will be able to explain (a) the purpose of using Response to Intervention (RTI) as a pre-assessment and evaluative tool and (b) the multidisciplinary nature of the assessment and evaluation process in special education. You will also have an opportunity to further explore and analyze the social and cultural influences that may impact the assessment and evaluation process and results. As you recall, RTI is an alternative to what has been called "the discrepancy model" for determining eligibility for special education services (Pierangelo & Giuliani, 2012).  The discrepancy model, among other things, requires that a student have an unexpected discrepancy between achievement and ability when assessed using standardized measures such as the Weschler Intelligence Scales for Children, fourth edition (WISC-4) and the Peabody Individualized Achievement Test, Revised and Re-Normed (PIAT-NU). When, among other factors, there was a larger enough discrepancy between the two scores, i.e., the achievement score was significantly lower than the abilities score, the child was determined to be eligible for special education services.  For a good discussion on the discrepancy model you should read the following article by Restori, Katz and Bee (2009).

A Critique of the IQ / Achievement Discrepancy Model for Identifying Specific Learning Disabilities (Links to an external site.)

Week Three Discussion Guidance Using RTI and a Team Approach in Assessment and Evaluation.  For your discussion this week you will be composing a formal letter to Manuel's parents to explain, among other things, the Response to Intervention (RTI) approach and its purpose as a pre-assessment and evaluative tool.  One of the first things you will need to be able to do is to describe the differences between RTI and the Discrepancy Model.  The article below by LDnfo Publishing (n.d.) has a good chart showing the differences between both and can provide you with useful information. RTI vs the Discrepancy Model (Links to an external site.).  You will also describe how the use of RTI can reduce the likelihood of cultural bias in the assessment and evaluation process.  Resnik (2009) states that the use of RTI can provide more focus on the use of universal strategies that can be helpful to all children and the ability to work with students and monitor progress without having to begin with formal testing and assessment.  For a more thorough good overview of some of the pros and cons of RTI you can read the article below. What is Response to Intervention? (Links to an external site.) 

As you create your formal letter keep one final fact in mind and consider how you will keep this from happening: while RTI has been able to alleviate some of the injustices that have been committed using the discrepancy model, it may not be used to delay or deny an evaluation for eligibility under IDEA. A memo to that effect was issued by the USDE in 2011 because so many school districts were denying testing for the purposes of providing an IEP until after RTI had been tried (Martin, J., 2011).  Here is a link to the USDE memo. (Links to an external site.)

Please review the discussion board rubric prior to your initial post to ensure you are fully meeting each of the set criteria to earn full credit.  As per the rubric requirements your initial post should include relevant professional, personal, or other real-world experiences in a manner that is rich in thought and provides valuable insight into the topic.

Additionally, all elements of the discussion board prompt should be thoroughly addressed with strong and precise connections to previous and/or current course content, or to real-life situations.  When substantively replying to your peers’ post, be sure to provide a thorough and constructive analysis relating the response to relevant course concepts that incorporates pertinent follow-up thoughts or questions about the topic, and demonstrates respect for the diverse opinions of fellow learners.  In addition, answering questions posed by your peers invites continued learning, meaningful application, and relevant extension of the discussion.

Finally, while it may difficult to do for all the responses to your posts, please make an effort to respond back to those who took the time to respond to your initial posts with at least a simple "Thank you for your response to my posting."  It is the courteous and gracious thing to do, and has the potential to make our classroom community discussions more interesting and rich.  In addition, answering questions posed by your peers invites continued learning, meaningful application, and relevant extension of the discussion.