Many students in schools in the United States today are considered at-risk in their reading ability. The disproportionate number of students making inadequate progress places the fate of students at stake. Response to Intervention (RTI) was created to support student growth in reading while reducing the number of students requiring testing for…

There is a gap in research focusing on how leaders implement complex policies such as Response to Intervention/Multitiered Systems of Support (RTI/MTSS). Response to Intervention/Multitiered Systems of Support (RTI/MTSS). To address this gap, this phenomenological case study examined school leaders' perceptions of their roles as leaders…

Data-based individualization (DBI) is a process of collecting and analyzing data on students' response to intervention and then making intervention adaptations accordingly. Although this process can lead to better student outcomes, very few teachers are trained in the components of DBI, particularly in relation to behavior. Improving practice…

In this dissertation, the researcher examined the effective implementation of Tier I strategies at One Team Central School District within the broader framework of Response to Intervention (RTI) and Multi-tiered System of Support (MTSS), addressing the urgent issue of Tier 1 instructional quality, particularly targeted at economically…

Response to Intervention (RTI) is a multi-tiered system of support designed to provide increasing levels of intervention and enrichment based on student need. Research suggests that although RTI is regularly utilized in elementary schools, secondary school leaders are less likely to implement if due to the unique challenges of a secondary school…

The purpose of this applied research study was to strengthen Tier I instruction within seventh and eighth-grade mathematics classrooms. This applied research study uses three elements; professional learning communities, consistent content-specific professional development, and increased student achievement to strengthen Tier I instruction in…

This study investigated the impact of professional development support structures for enhancing teacher mastery of Response to Intervention (RTI) in an urban elementary school setting. With a focus on effective implementation strategies, the research explored the role of tailored professional development initiatives in equipping educators with the…

This pilot study was an explanatory mixed-methods design to examine whether teachers changed instructional practices after adopting a new curriculum material to support the response to intervention (RTI) framework. In coordination with one rural school district which had implemented instructional intervention practices, the researcher observed…

The COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 resulted in widespread school closures, leading to a rapid transition from traditional face-to-face instruction to distance learning. Educators who used this traditionally face-to-face multi-tiered instructional framework to provide services to students with disabilities faced obstacles with implementation due…

This transcendental phenomenological study, grounded in Bandura's self-efficacy theory (1997), investigates K-4 specialized literacy professionals' (SLPs) experiences and perceptions of implementing Response to Intervention (RTI) within a Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) framework. Data collected from interviews and self-reported journal…

Over the past four years, Skyline Middle School (SMS) has implemented high-quality instructional materials and made numerous attempts to create a school-wide Response to Intervention (RtI) program to support students struggling with classroom mathematics instruction. Despite these efforts, students' mathematics proficiency levels as measured by…

Background/Context: Spurred by changes in federal policy, Response to Intervention (RTI) has witnessed increased adoption across states and districts in the past several decades (Berkeley et al., 2020). Originating in the special education field, RTI involves a shift from a uniform instructional approach to a tiered instructional approach…

The response to intervention (RtI) framework assists schools in identifying students who struggle to close achievement gaps. The problem examined for this study was lack of fidelity in the application of RtI, possibly leading to an increase in special education referrals. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to gain a better…

This research examined how self-efficacy, collective efficacy, and professional development compared between core content and special education middle school teachers working with middle school students in reading comprehension and fluency. Accordingly, no statistically significant difference in teacher self-efficacy between core content and…

Teachers at a public middle school were given a questionnaire assessing the supports for student behavior and emotional needs in their school and district. Results show that teachers at this middle school perceive themselves as highly effective in forming individual relationships with students. Areas of growth include more clearly communicating…