The Role of Response to Intervention (RTI) in the Determination of Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD)

Audio Introduction
Summary
Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) are neurological disorders that impacts how the brain manipulates information and accounts for the largest percentage of school-age disability diagnoses. Response to Intervention (RTI) is a multi-tiered preventive system designed to ensure that all students are receiving appropriate instruction to maximize academic achievement and minimize problem behaviors. RTI includes screening of students to identify students at risk, ongoing progress monitoring, and data collection to determine students’ responsiveness to intervention. To help determine eligibility of SLD the Individual with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) encourages models that implement RTI frameworks to most effectively target students’ needs, provide quantifiable and quantitative data, and overall reduce the number of SLD cases. However, this is heated controversy. The RTI frameworks are still being developed and can be easily influenced by external factors. Yet, IDEA states that RTI is just one component of evaluation and that the benefits ultimately outweigh the cons. 

Specific Learning Disability
IDEA Federal Defintion of Specific Learning Disability (34 CFR 300.8 Child with a Disability)  
(i) General. Specific learning disability (SLD) means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in the 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”.


(ii)Disorders not included. The term 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.


Types of Disorders Included
Causes and Symptoms 
There is no known cause of Specific Learning Disabilities but it is thought to be linked to:
- Heredity
- Pre-natal and Birth Injuries
- Serious Illness or Head Injury 
- Exposure to Toxins or Other Environmental Factors During Infancy and Early Childhood


Symptoms vary on a case-to-case basis. If your child is struggling to listen, think, read, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations and you suspect a LD, check out these resources to research common symptoms of specific disabilities and consult with your child's teacher. 
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Flow Chart of Possible LD Symptoms
Impact on Learning 

Students with SLD's account for the largest percentage of disabilities and have the lowest graduation rate
SLD Can Impact
  • Memory
  • Organization
  • Task Completion
  • Coordination
  • Impulsivity
  • Communication 
  • Following Directions
  • Self-Advocacy Skills

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LD Teaching Strategies in the Classroom

  • Text Decoding and Comprehension
  • Fluency
  • Math Problem Solving and Calculation
  • Oral Expression
Interventions and Resources
From National Center for Learning Disabilities 
  • sequencing 
  • drill-repetition-practice segmentation 
  • directed questioning and responses
  • control of task difficulty
  • use of technology 
  • teacher-modeled problem solving
  • small-group instruction
  • strategy cues 
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Cognitive Strategy Instruction
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Links to Resources about Research, Advocacy, Strategies, and Professional Organizations
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Interventions for Students with Learning Disabilities
ld_fact_sheet.pdf
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Response to Intervention
National Council on Response to Intervention Definition of RTI:
"Response to intervention integrates assessment and intervention within a multi-level prevention system to maximize student achievement and to reduce behavioral problems. With RTI, schools use data to identify students at risk for poor learning outcomes, monitor student progress, provide evidence-based interventions and adjust the intensity and nature of those interventions depending on a student’s responsiveness, and identify students with learning disabilities or other disabilities."

 
Three Tier Model

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Click to learn more about RTI's Multi-Tiered Prevention System
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RTI Tier 1, 2, and 3 Strategies for Teachers
Behavior 
What are Positive Behavior Interventions & Supports (PBIS)?
  • Looks at external factors at the root of problem behavior as opposed to labeling the student as inherently "bad"
  • Evidence-based behavioral intervention designed for school personnel to foster community and to "enhance academic and social behavior"
  • Establishes school-wide behavioral expectations that are continually referenced by staff and students
  • Emphasizes the use of logical consequences rather than punitive measures
  • Encourages individual and school-wide rewards to "acknowledge appropriate behavior"
  • The Social Side of RTI: Ensures all students receive the appropriate social instruction and supports necessary to succeed in school
This study examines the impact of PBIS on Organizational Health ( resource influence, staff affiliation, academic emphasis, collegial leadership, and institutional integrity) of Elementary Schools. It was found that schools that had implemented PBIS had a overall stronger, "friendly and collboraitve" community for students and staff and increased resource influence. 


Resources 

what_is_rti_2010_07_14_placemat-2.pdf
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A Close Look at Progress Monitoring
rtiessentialcomponents_042710.pdf
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Eligibility and Determination of SLD

In This Summary:
  • Sections of IDEA that directly address the implementation of RTI will be highlighted and clarified
  • The fundamentals components of RTI will be connected to reducing the number of SLD cases
  • The RTI controversy will be examined
  • Additional resources will be posted to continue research and exploration
300.307
1. Add procedures for identifying children with specific learning disabilities.

A State must adopt, consistent with 34 CFR 300.309, criteria for determining whether a child has a specific learning disability as defined in 34 CFR 300.8(c)(10). In addition, the criteria adopted by the State:

  • Must not require the use of a severe discrepancy between intellectual ability and achievement for determining whether a child has a specific learning disability, as defined
    in 34 CFR 300.8(c)(10);

  • Must permit the use of a process based on the child’s response to scientific, research- based intervention; and

  • May permit the use of other alternative research-based procedures for determining whether a child has a specific learning disability, as defined in 34 CFR 300.8(c)(10). 
This Means:
  • IDEA does not specifically support one model, but strongly encourages models that incorporate the elements of RTI
  • RTI is a research-based and evidence based intervention that includes three fundamental components to "deliver a system of instructional interventions of increasing intensity" to enhance the educational outcomes for students
3. Add criteria for determining the existence of a specific learning disability.

The group described in 34 CFR 300.306 may determine that a child has a specific learning disability, as defined in 34 CFR 300.8(c)(10), if:

The child does not make sufficient progress to meet age or State-approved grade-level standards in one or more of the areas identified in 34 CFR 300.309(a)(1) when using a process based on the child’s response to scientific, research-based intervention; or the child exhibits a pattern of strengths and weaknesses in performance, achievement, or both, relative to age, State-approved grade-level standards, or intellectual development, that is determined by the group to be relevant to the identification of a specific learning disability, using appropriate assessments, consistent with 34 CFR 300.304 and 300.305; and the group determines that its findings under 34 CFR 300.309(a)(1) and (2) are not primarily the result of:

o A visual, hearing, or motor disability; o Mental retardation;
o Emotional disturbance;
o Cultural factors;
o Environmental or economic disadvantage; or o Limited English proficiency. 
To ensure that underachievement in a child suspected of having a specific learning disability is not due to lack of appropriate instruction in reading or math, the group must consider, as part of the evaluation described in 34 CFR 300.304 through 300.306:

  • Data that demonstrate that prior to, or as a part of, the referral process, the child was provided appropriate instruction in regular education settings, delivered by qualified personnel; and

  • Data-based documentation of repeated assessments of achievement at reasonable intervals, reflecting formal assessment of student progress during instruction, which was provided to the child’s parents. 

This Means: 
  • RTI is part of a comprehensive evaluation; age, grade-level standards, and intellectual development must also be considered
  • RTI can play a pivotal role in providing appropriate instruction for children at risk
  • Furthermore, the ongoing progress monitoring, data collection, and assessments provide substantial data for determining SLD's
  • Parents must be referred if their child is being referred for evaluation or is receiving RTI
4. Describe the required observation.
The public agency must ensure that the child is observed in the child’s learning environment (including the regular classroom setting) to document the child’s academic performance and behavior in the areas of difficulty.

The group described in 34 CFR 300.306(a)(1), in determining whether a child has a specific learning disability, must decide to:
  • Use information from an observation in routine classroom instruction and monitoring of the child’s performance that was done before the child was referred for an evaluation; or
  • Have at least one member of the group described in 34 CFR 300.306(a)(1) conduct an observation of the child’s academic performance in the regular classroom after the child has been referred for an evaluation and parental consent, consistent with 34 CFR 300.300(a), is obtained. 
This Means:
  • Data from RTI can be used for student before referral for evaluation and can be used for comparison if the team decides to conduct an observation during the evaluation process
Controversy
Sourced From: 
Adavantages:
  • Provides instructional assistance in a timely fashion 
  • Helps ensure a student’s poor academic performance is not due to poor instruction or inappropriate curriculum 
  • Informs teacher and improves instruction because assessment data are collected and closely linked to interventions 
Concerns:
  • Current “wait to fail” model- Waiting for students to "fail" before receiving help; this does not usually emerge until later grades
  • Misidentification- Fear that students will be inaccurately diagnosed as SLD
  • Disproportionality (Gender, Age, Race)
Response(s) to Concerns:

  • There should be alternate ways to identify individuals with SLD
                 Including: achievement testing, history, and observations of the child
  • Response to quality intervention is the most promising method of alternate identification and can both promote effective practices in schools and help to close the gap between identification and treatment. 
  • Any effort to scale up response to intervention should be based on problem solving models that use progress monitoring to gauge the intensity of intervention in relation to the student’s response to intervention. 
  • Problem solving models have been shown to be effective in public school settings and in research.

However:
  • As cited by the research articles below the RTI frameworks are still being developed. While there are numerous supports for reading, math is only in the beginning stages of being addressed. 
  • The RTI frameworks has good intentions but can be easily influenced by external factors 

                Including: Trained Professionals, Degree of Implementation, and           
                Availability of Resources, and Familial Involvement 


On the right hand side is a case study looking at two instances where RTI was implemented to enhance educational outcomes and evaluate its level of success. Below it are three research articles that supports and opposes RTI- one examines referral rates of RTI and SLD and the other is an overall critique of the role of RTI in the SLD identification process. The third looks at RTI as a boost to CA low-performing schools. 

 
In Opposition of:
The Effects of Response to Intervention on Referral Rates for Special Education Services
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RESPONSIVENESS TO INTERVENTION AND THE IDENTIFICATION OF SPECIFIC LEARNING DISABILITY: A CRITIQUEAND ALTERNATIVE PROPOSAL
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In Support of:
65067446-2.pdf
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Case Studies and Resources
Click on photo to read more about each student 
and their experience with RTI
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MA DOE SLD Eligibility Requirements and Forms