There are still many unanswered questions regarding the application of response to intervention (RTI) to making eligibility decisions for specific learning disabilities (SLD). Both U.S. federal regulations and research support that students identified with SLD using RTI should be deficient in both level of academic functioning and rate of growth…

In Tanzania, many people are not aware of the concept of learning disabilities. Parents and teachers often do not realise that children who do poorly in school and do not have visible disabilities, could still have a disability that is causing their poor school performance. This paper presents the results of a research and service project to…

The authors examined three instructional approaches for improving teachers' curriculum-based measurement (CBM) graph comprehension, each differing in the extent to which reading the data, interpreting the data, and linking the data to instruction were emphasized. Participants were 164 elementary school teachers who were randomly assigned to one of…

The purpose of this study was to determine to what extent two major specific learning disability (SLD) criteria, including a student's level of academic achievement and rate of improvement (ROI), predict multidisciplinary evaluation teams' decision-making regarding referral for special education evaluation and special education eligibility.…

This article explains a process for improving specific learning disabilities (SLD) eligibility guidelines in a special education cooperative in Nebraska. The Central Nebraska Support Services Program (CNSSP) is a special education cooperative that serves four public school districts and seven parochial schools in central Nebraska. Children birth…

The purpose of this paper is to describe how Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) for beginning writers might be used within a Response to Intervention (RTI) framework. First, we describe CBM, and review research on CBM for beginning writers. Next, we discuss how CBM for beginning writers might fit within RTI, including use for universal screening…

General outcome measurement, a specific type of formative evaluation, can be used to assess progress toward long-term academic goals. Curriculum-based measurement is a widely used type of general outcome measurement. When used to develop local norms, curriculum-based measurement data are helpful in making individual student and systems-level…

The results from a year-long study to investigate the technical features of easyCBM mathematics screening measures for first grade are presented. Measures were designed based on the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Curriculum Focal Point standards, which for Grade 1 include (a) Number and Operations and Algebra, (b) Number and…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1997 (IDEA 1997) and Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA 2004) define specific learning disabilities in a similar manner. "The term "specific learning disability" means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in…

A major commitment of the National Research Center on Learning Disabilities (NRCLD) has been to work with school sites that are implementing RTI. The work with these schools began in November 2002 after the U.S. Department of Education requested that NRCLD identify, describe, and evaluate the implementation of responsiveness to intervention (RTI)…

Response-to-intervention (RtI) models utilize a proactive, prevention approach that requires the implementation of a sophisticated, multi-tiered problem-solving process in the regular education environment. Effective and sustainable implementation of these models will necessitate a mechanism to support professional development, treatment fidelity,…

The purpose of this article is to provide the reader with a conceptual understanding of the key elements in a three tiered Response to Intervention (RTI) model. The three tiered model is discussed in terms of how it would be applied in implementing an intervention program to promote the development of reading. The characteristics of interventions,…

Considerable variation exists across response-to-intervention (RTI) approaches. There is currently insufficient research on outcomes associated with these different RTI approaches to inform decision-making. However, school psychologists who are asked to work within an RTI model need guidance to select an approach that has a high likelihood of…

Responsiveness-to-intervention (RTI) is the front-running candidate to replace current practice in diagnosing learning disabilities, but researchers have identified several questions about implementation. Specific questions include: Are there validated intervention models? Are there adequately trained personnel? What leadership is needed? When…