Project Activities
Structured Abstract
Setting
Sample
Research design and methods
Control condition
Key measures
Data analytic strategy
People and institutions involved
IES program contact(s)
Products and publications
Products: Expected products include response to intervention models that can be used in kindergarten through fourth grade. Additional products include reports and presentations on implementing response to intervention beginning in kindergarten as compared to first grade and incidence and types of disabilities identified.
Book chapter
O'Connor, R.E., and Fuchs, L.S. (2013). Responsiveness to Intervention in the Elementary Grades: Implications for Early Childhood Education. In V. Buysee, and E. Peisner-Feinberg (Eds.), Handbook of Response to Intervention in Early Childhood (pp. 41-56). New York: Guilford Press.
O'Connor, R.E., and Sanchez, V. (2011). Issues in Assessment for Intervention in Implementation of Responsiveness to Intervention. In T. Scruggs, and M. Mastropieri (Eds.), Advances in Learning and Behavioral Disabilities: Assessment and Intervention, Vol 24 (pp. 149-170). UK: Emerald Group Publishing.
O'Connor, R.E., and Sanchez, V. (2011). Responsiveness to Intervention Models for Reducing Reading Difficulties and Identifying Learning Disability. In J.M. Kauffman, and D.P. Hallahan (Eds.), Handbook of Special Education (pp. 123-133). Oxford, England: Routledge.
Journal article, monograph, or newsletter
Ayala, S., and O'Connor, R.E. (2013). The Effects of Video Self-Modeling on the Decoding Skills of Children at Risk for Reading Disabilities. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 28(3): 142-154. doi:10.1111/ldrp.12012
Beach, K.D., and O'Connor, R.E. (2014). Developing and strengthening reading fluency and comprehension of poor readers in elementary school: A focused review of research. Perspectives on Language and Literacy: 17-19.
Beach, K.D., and O'Connor, R.E. (2015). Early Response-to-Intervention Measures and Criteria as Predictors of Reading Disability in the Beginning of Third Grade. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 48(2): 196-223. doi:10.1177/0022219413495451
Linklater, D., O'Connor, R.E., and Palardy, G.P. (2009). Kindergarten Literacy Assessment of English Only and English Language Learner Students: An Examination of the Predictive Validity of Three Phonemic Awareness Measures. Journal of School Psychology, 47(6): 369-394. doi:10.1016/j.jsp.2009.08.001
O'Connor, R.E. (in press, 2017). Reading fluency and students with reading disabilities: How fast is fast enough to promote reading comprehension? Journal of Learning Disabilities, doi: 10.1177/0022219417691835
O'Connor, R.E., and Klingner, J.K. (2010). Poor Responders in RTI. Theory into Practice, 49(4): 297-304. doi:10.1080/00405841.2010.510758
O'Connor, R.E., Bocian, K., Beach, K., and Sanchez, T. (2014). Access to a Responsiveness to Intervention Model: Does Beginning Intervention in Kindergarten Matter?. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 47(4): 307-328. doi:10.1177/0022219412459354
O'Connor, R.E., Bocian, K.M., Sanchez, V., Beach, K.D., and Flynn, L.J. (2013). Special Education in a 4-Year Response to Intervention (RtI) Environment: Characteristics of Students With Learning Disability and Grade of Identification. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 28(3): 98-112. doi:10.1111/ldrp.12013
Sanchez, V. and O'Connor, R.E. (2015). Building Tier 3 Intervention for Long-Term Slow Growers in Grades 3-4: A Pilot Study. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 30(4): 171-181. doi:10.1111/ldrp.12085 Full text
Tran, L., Sanchez, T., Arellano, B., and Swanson, H.L. (2011). A Meta-Analysis of the RTI Literature for Children at Risk for Reading Disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 44(3): 283-295. doi:10.1177/0022219410378447
Supplemental information
Funded under the Response to Intervention topic prior to the establishment of the Systemic Interventions and Policies for Special Education topic.
For this project, researchers are developing and investigating the long-term effects of two response to intervention models. The two models will be implemented in kindergarten through fourth grade in elementary schools that serve a significant portion of children from economically disadvantaged and/or culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. The models are a standard treatment variation (Complete Package Intervention) and a problem-solving variation (Tier 2 Targeted Intervention). The purpose of this study is to investigate the potential long-term effects of these two models on reading achievement and special education identification. Additionally, researchers will examine the relationship between the onset of implementation and student outcomes (i.e., whether outcomes are better if children entered the model in kindergarten as compared to first grade).
The Complete Package Intervention includes all important grade-level literacy components and will be implemented by research staff to small groups of two to four students. Students in kindergarten will receive 20-minute intervention sessions three times per week, and students in grades 1 through 4 will receive 30-minute intervention sessions four times per week. Activities in kindergarten will be drawn from the second edition of the Ladders to Literacy program and will focus on segmentation of one-syllable spoken words, alphabet letters and their common sounds, selecting letters to represent sounds in segmented words, and vocabulary development. First-grade activities will be based on the Sound Partners program and will also include spelling and vocabulary-building activities. Second- and third-grade activities will emphasize word analysis, multi-syllable strategies, and comprehension strategies. Fourth-grade activities will be determined and developed in project's second and third years based upon needs of students when they are in second and third grade.
The Tier 2 Targeted Intervention, like the Complete Package Intervention, will be conducted in small groups, delivered in addition to general class instruction, and led by research personnel. It will be delivered at the same levels of frequency and duration as the Complete Package Intervention. While the activities at each grade level will be selected from the Complete Package Intervention, the Tier 2 Targeted Intervention will focus on students' specific areas of weakness. Therefore, intervention content will differ across small groups of students.
Questions about this project?
To answer additional questions about this project or provide feedback, please contact the program officer.
