Book Description

The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to determine what, if any, differences existed in student achievement in reading for an elementary school employing a Response to Intervention (RTI) process in reading instruction and an elementary school using the school district's regular reading instructional program, and (b) to determine what, if any, differences existed between the two elementary schools related to the proportion of students referred for, and deemed eligible for, special education services. The performance of third-grade students at two elementary schools within the same central Texas school district, Elementary School 1 (employing a locally developed RTI process) and Elementary School 2 (employing the district's standard reading curriculum and standard referral process) was studied. The 2007 Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) third-grade reading scores were obtained from the district's Elementary Curriculum Department. The number of special education referrals and diagnostic decisions for each elementary school were obtained from the district's Instructional Services Office at the completion of the 2006-2007 school year. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, one-way analysis of variance, and Fisher's z Test. Results indicated that the RTI process did not have an effect on student reading achievement, the proportion of students referred to special education, or the proportion of students found eligible for special education services. The failure to find an effect for RTI may be attributed to the limited time and experience that the teachers had in implementing the RTI process, the restricted range of achievement test scores, and the fact that the study was limited to third-grade students.