Response to Intervention with Older Students with Reading Difficulties
Lexile reader measures from administration of the Texas state-mandated reading assessment will be used to develop progress monitoring tools. The purpose of the progress-monitoring system is to establish the Lexile level at which a child maintains adequate comprehension at different fluency rates.
Addressing the literacy needs of secondary school students involves efforts to raise the achievement levels of all students and to address specifically the needs of struggling readers. One approach to this problem is to consider the application of a Response to Intervention (RTI) model with older students. We describe an approach to enhanced literacy instruction for middle school students that includes the essential components of any RTI model: universal screening, progress monitoring, and multi-tiered instructional service delivery. We use screening and progress-monitoring tools specifically tied to state accountability tests and a multitiered instructional framework that addresses the literacy needs of all middle school students, including struggling readers. Presently a large-scale, multi-site randomized trial is under way to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of this RTI model for middle school students.
Citation
Vaughn, S., Fletcherb, J. M., Francisb, D. J., Dentonc, C. A., Wanzekd, J., Wexlera, J., Cirinob, P. T., Barthb, A. E., & Romain, M. A. (2008). Response to intervention with older students with reading difficulties. Learning and Individual Differences, 18 (3), 338-345.