Purpose: The purpose of this project is to address key measurement issues associated with the response-to-intervention (RTI) process: Who should enter the RTI process? How does one determine whether effective Tier 2 intervention has been conducted? What is a valid and practical method of monitoring responsiveness to Tier 2 instruction? What is a valid definition of 'nonresponsiveness' (i.e., reading disabled [RD])?

Project Activities: The researchers are examining measurement issues related to RTI by conducting a longitudinal screening study to examine three approaches to assessing risk for long-term reading disabilities at the beginning-of-1st-grade and whether each approach should be considered separately or in combination, to determine the criteria for who should enter the RTI process. The study involves a longitudinal correlational design across Grades 1-4 and relies on a two-level individual growth curve analysis to develop the basic prediction models of academic growth.

Products: The expected outcomes from this study include:

1. A set of procedures, screening measures, measurement schedules, scales, and cut-points for identifying 1st grade children at risk of developing reading disabilities,
2. A set of procedures for classifying 'nonresponsiveness (i.e., RD), and
3. An evaluation of how RTI compares to low achievement and discrepancy approaches to classification in terms of RD prevalence, severity, predictive utility, and stability.

Purpose: The purpose of this project is to address key measurement issues associated with the response-to-intervention (RTI) process. This study will address the following questions: (a) who should enter the RTI process; (b) how does one determine whether effective Tier 2 intervention has been conducted; (c) what is a valid and practical method of monitoring responsiveness to Tier 2 instruction; and (d) what is a valid definition of 'nonresponsiveness' (i.e., having a reading disability.

Setting: The elementary schools are located in Tennessee.

Population: Approximately 450 first graders will participate in the research and followed through fourth grade.

Research Design and Methods: This study is a longitudinal correlational screening study, across first through fourth grade, designed to examine three approaches for assessing risk for long-term reading disabilities. This study will also examine whether each approach should be considered separately or in combination with the others in order to determine criteria for who should enter the RTI process.

Key Measures: Students will be administered a battery of language, literacy, and social-behavioral measures from first through fourth grade to determine a set of procedures for identifying first grade students at risk of developing reading disabilities and classifying nonresponsiveness.

Data Analytic Strategy: A combination of statistical techniques will be utilized. Individual growth curve analysis will be used to develop the basic prediction models of academic growth. In addition, logistic regression, classification tree analysis, and artificial neural nets will be used to develop decisions rules for identifying first grade students' risk for reading disabilities. Descriptive and inferential techniques will be used to examine prevalence, severity, predictive utility, and stability within RTI approaches. In addition, estimates of the percentage of students classified as having a reading disability and effect sizes between students with reading disabilities and students without reading disabilities across measures will be examined. Finally, the hit rate, sensitivity, and specificity of classification across years will be calculated for the RTI approaches.

Assessment: Three approaches for assessing risk for long-term reading disabilities will be examined. The approaches involve a battery of language, literacy, and social-behavioral measures. This study will also examine whether each approach should be considered separately or in combination with the others in order to determine criteria for who should enter the RTI process.

Control Condition: Due to the nature of the research design, there is no control condition.

Products and Publications

Journal article, monograph, or newsletter

Cho, C., Compton, D.L., Gilbert, J.K., Steacy, L.M., Collins, A.A., and Lindstrom, E.R. (in press). Development of First-Graders' Word Reading Skills: For Whom Can Dynamic Assessment Tell Us More? Journal of Learning Disabilities. doi:10.1177/0022219415599343

Cho, E., and Compton, D.L. (2015). Construct and Incremental Validity of Dynamic Assessment of Decoding Within and Across Domains. Learning and Individual Differences, 37: 183–196. doi:10.1016/j.lindif.2014.10.004

Cho, E., Compton, D.L., Fuchs, D., Fuchs, L.S., and Bouton, B. (2014). Examining the Predictive Validity of a Dynamic Assessment of Decoding to Forecast Response to Tier 2 Intervention. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 47(5): 409–423. doi:10.1177/0022219412466703

Compton, D.L., Fuchs, D., Fuchs, L.S., Bouton, B., Gilbert, J.K., Barquero, L.A., Cho, E., and Crouch, R.C. (2010). Selecting At-Risk First-Grade Readers for Early Intervention: Eliminating False Positives and Exploring the Promise of a Two-Stage Gated Screening Process. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102(2): 327–340. doi:10.1037/a0018448

Compton, D.L., Gilbert, J.K., Jenkins, J.R., Fuchs, D., Fuchs, L.S., Cho, E., Barquero, L.A., and Bouton, B. (2012). Accelerating Chronically Unresponsive Children to Tier 3 Instruction: What Level of Data Is Necessary to Ensure Selection Accuracy?. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 45(3): 204–216. doi:10.1177/0022219412442151

Davis N., Barquero, L., Compton, D.L., Fuchs, L.S., Fuchs, D., Gore, J.C., and Anderson, A.W. (2011). Functional Correlates of Children's Responsiveness to Intervention. Developmental Neuropsychology, 36: 288–301.

Davis N., Fan, Q., Compton, D.L., Fuchs, D., Fuchs, L.S., Cutting, L.E., Anderson, A.W., and Gore, J.C. (2010). Influences of Neural Pathway Integrity in Children's Response to Reading Instruction. Frontiers of Systems Neuroscience, 4(150): 1–11. doi:10.3389/fnsys.2010.00150 Full text

Elleman, A.M., Compton, D.L., Fuchs, D., Fuchs, L.S., and Bouton, B. (2011). Exploring Dynamic Assessment as a Means of Identifying Children at Risk of Developing Comprehension Difficulties. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 44: 348–357. doi:10.1177/0022219411407865

Fuchs, D., Compton, D.L., Fuchs, L.S., Bouton, B., and Caffrey, E. (2011). The Construct and Predictive Validity of a Dynamic Assessment of Young Children Learning to Read: Implications for RTI Frameworks. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 44(4): 339–347. doi:10.1177/0022219411407864

Fuchs, D., Fuchs, L.S., and Compton, D.L. (2012). Smart RTI: A Next-Generation Approach to Multi-Level Prevention. Exceptional Children, 78(3): 263–279.

Gilbert, J.K., Compton, D.L., Fuchs, D., and Fuchs, L.S. (2012). Early Screening for Risk of Reading Disabilities: Recommendations for a Four-Step Screening System. Assessment for Effective Intervention, 38(1): 6–14. doi:10.1177/1534508412451491

Gilbert, J.K., Compton, D.L., Fuchs, D., Fuchs, L.S., Bouton, B., Barquero, L.A., and Cho, E. (2013). Efficacy of a First-Grade Responsiveness-to-Intervention Prevention Model for Struggling Readers. Reading Research Quarterly, 48(2): 135–154. doi:10.1002/rrq.45

Gilbert, J.K., Goodwin, A.P., Compton, D.L., and Kearns, D.M. (2014). Multisyllabic Word Reading as a Moderator of Morphological Awareness and Reading Comprehension. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 47(1): 34–43. doi:10.1177/0022219413509966

Kearns, D.M., Steacy, L.M., Compton, D.L., Gilbert, J.K., Goodwin, A.P., Cho, E., Lindstrom, E.R., and Collins, A.A. (2016). Modeling Polymorphemic Word Recognition: Exploring Differences Among Children With Early-Emerging and Late-Emerging Word Reading Difficulty. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 49(4): 368–94. doi:10.1177/0022219414554229

Steacy, L.M., Kearns, D.N, Gilbert, J.K., Compton, D.L., Cho, E., Lindstrom, E.R., and Collins, A.A. (2016). Exploring Individual Differences in Irregular Word Recognition Among Children With Early-Emerging and Late-Emerging Word Reading Difficulty. Journal of Educational Psychology. doi:10.1037/edu0000113

Toste, J.R., Compton, D.L., Fuchs, D., Fuchs, L.S., Gilbert, J.K., Cho, E., Barquero, L.A., and Bouton, B. (2014). Understanding Unresponsiveness to Tier 2 Reading Intervention: Exploring the Classification and Profiles of Adequate and Inadequate Responders in First Grade. Learning Disability Quarterly, 37(4): 192–203. doi:10.1177/0731948713518336

Zumeta, R.O., Compton, D.L., and Fuchs, L.S. (2012). Using Word Identification Fluency to Monitor First-Grade Reading Development. Exceptional Children, 78(2): 201–220.