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professornotes.docxWEEK 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).
Week Three Assignment Guidance
Using RTI to Meet Student Needs. This assignment assesses your ability to analyze social and cultural influences that may impact the assessment process and assessment results. As a special education professional, it is important to be aware of how social and cultural influences can impact the assessment process. Lack of awareness can lead to charges of discrimination and possible litigation (Pierangelo, R. & Giuliani, G. A., 2012). As you will learn this week, when the Tier One Interventions you attempt within your classroom do not work, it is time to implement Tier Two interventions. This is often the time that the Child Study Team becomes involved. Their role, as you will learn from your readings this week, is to support the diagnostic work of the classroom teacher to create Tier Two Interventions for the student. But what exactly do we mean by "Tier Two Interventions?" And what kinds of Tier Two interventions actually work? These are not trivial questions because according to Vaughn, Fletcher, Francis, Denton, Wanzek, Wexler, Cirino, Barth and Romain (2008), many students like Manuel enter middle school with reading challenges and there is a dearth of research into strategies that are effective in bringing their reading abilities to grade level. It is important to ask these questions however, because reading challenges are strongly correlated with school failure (Lipka, Lesaux & Siegel, 2006). The inability to read is also strongly correlated to serving time in prison. As stated in the Nevada Department of Corrections Education Services Newsletter (Spring 2012) for example, at least 70% of all prisoners are functionally illiterate. This is in contrast to the 20% of adults in the general population who are functionally illiterate. The small amount of research that has been conducted suggests that older struggling readers who have challenges in decoding and fluency benefit from a structured, multi-sensory approach to reading that focuses on the basics of word reading. They benefit from opportunities to practice reading for fluency, to read aloud in a non-threatening situation, and to engage in activities of interest that improve reading fluency and comprehension. Wilder and Williams (2001) suggest that older students also benefit from explicit instruction in vocabulary and comprehension strategies. As you are considering your options for Manuel, here is a website that has some middle school resources you can check out. Just click on the link below the picture to get to the website.
Middle School Resources RTI Network (Links to an external site.)
Taking the above information into account along with what you know about Manuel from reading the scenarios, what kind of activities could you think of that Manuel would be interested in reading about? How could you create activities that would increase his vocabulary and comprehension and yet, would not single him out for special and unwanted attention? How could you capitalize on his interests and strengths? As you write your paper this week, consider the answers to these questions. Use the Referral Form to the Child Study Team to summarize the information you have learned about Manuel and his family so far. The information in this document will serve as the basis for a three page report with recommendations for Tier Two RTI interventions that take Manuel's social and cultural background into account. According to the What Works Clearinghouse, one way to ensure that you have captured as much data as possible about Manuel is to go back to the beginning of the course and re-read the scenarios about him. Take notes as you read so that you can fill this form out in enough detail to create some scientifically sound Tier Two interventions for Manuel. What does the information lead you to think might work as a Tier Two intervention and why? What are the signs and indicators that suggest your next strategy? Be sure to include this information in your paper. Make sure to use the Grading Rubric as a self-checklist before submitting the final copy of your assignment to confirm you have met or exceeded each required expectation. The highest level of achievement on the rubric is “distinguished”, which is only earned through exceeding posted expectations at the proficiency level. Please remember you are in a masters-level program. Therefore, your writing, research, and content are held to graduate-level expectations.
Recommendation
The MASE program provides the opportunity for you to create an online portfolio that can be used in your career development and professional practice. Throughout the program you will have various assessments that can be included in this e-portfolio and these will be finalized in the last course of the MASE program, Capstone coure, ESE699. You may select this assignment and subsequent coursework to include as artifacts. Therefore, it is strongly encouraged you save your coursework on a flash-drive (e.g., a USB removable drive) or store in a cloud-based option such as Dropbox, GoogleDrive, or other similar applications.
REFERENCES
LDIfoPublishing (n.d.). Response to intervention (RT) vs the discrepancy model (Links to an external site.). Retrieved from http://www.ldinfo.com/rti.htm#compare Lipka, O., Lesaux, N. K., & Siegel L. (2006). Retrospective analyses of the reading development of grade 4 students with reading disabilities: Risk status and profiles over 5 years. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 39(4), 364–378. Martin, J. (2011). The RTI hurdle. (Links to an external site.) The Wrightslaw Way to Special Education Law and Advocacy (Links to an external site.) . . [Blog Post] Retrieved from http://www.wrightslaw.com/blog/?p=4869 Nevada Department of Corrections (Spring, 2012). Until third grade, a child learns to read. After third grade a child reads to learn (Links to an external site.). Education Services Newsletter, Issue XXI. Retrieved from http://docplayer.net/amp/17048092-Nevada-department-of-corrections.html Pierangelo, R., & Giuliani, G. A. (2012). Assessment in special education: A practical approach. Boston: Pearson. Resnik, B. (2009). What is Response to Intervention? (Links to an external site.) Rush Neurobehavioral Center. Retrieved from http://rnbc.org/2009/10/what-is-response-to-intervention-rti/ Restori, A. F., Katz, G. S., & Lee, H. B. (2009). A critique of the IQ/achievement discrepancy model for identifying specific learning disabilities (Links to an external site.). Europe's Journal of Psychology 5(4), 128-145. Retrieved from http://ejop.psychopen.eu/index.php/ejop/article/view/244 Vaughn, S., Fletcher, J. M., Francis, D. J., Denton, C. A., Wanzek, J., Wexler, et al. (2008). Response to intervention with older students with reading difficulties (Links to an external site.). Learning and Individual Differences,18(3), 338-345. DOI: 10.1016/j.lindif.2008.05.001. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2614270/#R38 Wilder A. & Williams P. (2001). Students with severe learning disabilities can learn higher order comprehension skills. Journal of Educational Psychology, 93. 268–278.
