In this dissertation, I investigated the impact of the involvement of students with disabilities in the ASPIRE intervention program and examined the relationship between student involvement in the ASPIRE program and academic performance and growth. To do so, first, I outlined how I built my perspective for this study in the areas of transition,…

The Region 15 Comprehensive Center (R15CC) supported the Nevada Department of Education (NDE) in developing an evidence-based menu of more rigorous interventions (MRI) for the state's Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) schools. Under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), schools identified as CSI, including the bottom 5 percent of Title…

Multi-tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) frameworks are designed to directly support students with, and at risk for, disabilities by providing timely, aligned, and coordinated supports, with the goal of preventing or ameliorating the effects of early risk. Yet developing and implementing MTSS in beginning reading is a complex process. Many schools…

The purpose of this report is to provide formative and summative feedback to the Utah State Board of Education (USBE) regarding evidence of implementation and impact for the Interventions for Reading Difficulties Pilot Program. The report, while addressing the effects of the Interventions for Reading Difficulties Pilot Program, is also designed to…

Background: Asthma is a leading chronic childhood disease in the United States and a major contributor to school absenteeism. Evidence suggests that multicomponent, school-based asthma interventions are a strategic way to address asthma among school-aged children. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) encourages the 36 health…

Evidence-based programs will be useful to the extent they produce benefits to individuals on a socially significant scale. It appears the combination of effective programs and effective implementation methods is required to assure consistent uses of programs and reliable benefits to children and families. To date, focus has been placed primarily…

The Idaho State Department of Education (SDE) recently revised its SLD identification policy to include a requirement to document a student's response to intervention coupled with a comprehensive evaluation. To implement this policy, the SDE is using multiple implementation drivers. In this article, we describe how and why the new policy was…

The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) recognizes the current challenges faced by states and schools relative to the provision of high-quality intervener services for children who are deaf-blind. To respond to these challenges, OSEP asked the National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness (NCDB) to conduct an…

The purpose of this study was to determine if differences in elementary reading comprehension achievement existed as a result of statewide implementation of the Alabama Reading Initiative post No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Research supports the premise that targeted instruction in reading comprehension yields increases in reading achievement for…

Multilevel programs--that is, programs with multiple levels of administration, funding, and implementation--present dynamic and challenging environments for the conduct and use of evaluation. The challenges include questions, priorities, audiences, and purposes that vary at each level. This chapter discusses the challenges as well as the…

This brief is intended to provide State Education Agency (SEA) and Local Education Agency (LEA) educators with a brief overview of key components of GraduateFIRST, a Georgia program targeting issues impacting school completion for students with disabilities. Georgia's GraduateFIRST program has redefined the state's approach to raising graduation…

Response to intervention (RTI) is a framework for providing interventions and services at increasing levels of intensity until students succeed. The framework helps teachers and schools provide instruction and interventions matched to student needs, monitor progress frequently to guide decisions about changes in instruction or goals, and apply…

This instrument is designed to help school administrators assess the level of implementation of the essential elements of the Instructional Support Teams (IST) process in Pennsylvania. The instrument is a rating sheet, or checklist, on which the presence and absence of components of the IST process are noted. The number of features in place is…

Outcomes of 1990-91 Arizona At-Risk Pilot Project for grades K-3 and 7-12 are described in this third in a series of annual evaluation reports. The evaluation focuses on effective strategies in the context of the total school environment, examining both implementation processes and outcomes. Following an introduction, chapter 2 describes the…

This document outlines the ideas of the Illinois Department of Aging on the implementation and management of the Elder Abuse and Neglect Intervention Program. These topics are addressed in order to provide a basis for discussion of key elements of the proposed program and serve as a guide in the development of rules, policies, and procedures for…