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Impact Evaluation of Response to Intervention (RtI) Strategies

SRI International, in partnership with Manpower Development Research Corporation (MDRC), was awarded a 5-year contract to evaluate the impact of Response to Intervention (RtI) Strategies in reading to improve academic outcomes for first- and second-grade students who struggle to learn to read.

This evaluation is part of the National Assessment of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA 2004) being conducted by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES). IDEA 2004 requires the National Assessment to evaluate "the implementation of programs assisted under this title and the impact of such programs on...improving the academic achievement of children with disabilities to enable the children to reach...challenging State academic content standards based on State academic assessments."

RtI involves screening all students in the general education classroom, providing interventions of varying intensity based on a child's initial performance and progress, and frequent progress monitoring to inform decisions about changing the interventions each child receives. Although several RtI models exist, this evaluation will focus on three-tiered models of RtI as defined below:

• Tier I is the core, general education curriculum combined with benchmark assessments administered three times a year and explicit decision rules for moving children to and from tiers.
• Tier II includes interventions for students not progressing adequately in Tier I. These interventions may include targeted small-group reading interventions that are appropriate for the developmental ages of first- and second-grade children, along with applying progress monitoring data to explicit decision rules for implementing interventions. Students in Tier II continue to receive Tier I core reading instruction and frequent progress monitoring in addition to Tier II interventions.
• Tier III includes intensive, individualized interventions to address each struggling student's unique needs, and may lead to determining the child's eligibility for special education.

The study will address the following evaluation questions:

1. What are the impacts on student outcomes of training school staff in student progress monitoring and related RtI strategies for first- and second-grade reading after 1 year of implementation? After 2 years of implementation?
2. Do the impacts of RtI strategies on student outcomes differ according to the version of monitoring student progress and related RtI strategies school staff received through training?
3. Do the impacts of RtI strategies differ for different groups of students?

(U.S. Dept. of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, 2008-2013)

Key Staff

Principal Investigator: Ellen Schiller

Staff: Jose Blackorby, Camille Marder