Impact Evaluation of Response to Intervention Strategies
Contractors: MDRC
Key Staff:
Fred Doolittle (MDRC)
Alison Black (MDRC)
Ellen Schiller (SRI International)
Research Questions:
- What are the impacts on student outcomes of training school staff in student progress monitoring and related Response to Intervention strategies?
- Do the impacts of RtI strategies on student outcomes differ according to the type of training school staff members receive?
- Do the impacts of RtI strategies differ for different groups of students?
Design: Response to Intervention (RtI) is a multi-step approach to providing early and more intensive intervention and monitoring within the general education setting. In principle, RtI begins with research-based instruction and behavioral support provided to students in the general education classroom, followed by screening of all students to identify those who may need systematic progress monitoring, intervention, or support. Students who are not responding to the general education curriculum and instruction are provided with increasingly intense interventions through a "tiered" system, and they are frequently monitored to assess their progress and inform the choice of future interventions, including possibly special education for students determined to have a disability. IDEA 2004 (P.L. 108-446) permits some Part B special education funds to be used for "early intervening services" such as RtI, and also permit districts to use RtI to inform decisions regarding a child's eligibility for special education.
This evaluation, occurring under the National Assessment of IDEA 2004, will rely on the random assignment of schools to receive training in RtI strategies for monitoring student progress and providing research-based instruction in Grade 1 and 2 reading, or a counterfactual condition representing "business as usual" for the schools in question. About 150 elementary schools will be recruited and randomly assigned between the end of the 2008-2009 school year and the end of the 2009-2010 school year. Data collection will occur on RtI implementation and on student outcomes including reading achievement, grade promotion, and identification for special education. A final report is scheduled to be completed by the spring of 2013.
Duration: 60 months (March 26, 2008, to March 25, 2013)
Reports: The final report on this study will be announced on http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/.
Current Status: (August 2008) As of July 2008, the contractor has met with IES to discuss the evaluation, has identified members of a Technical Working Group, and has drafted materials related to the recruitment of districts and schools for the study. A TWG meeting is planned for late August 2008.