Students with co-occurring reading difficulties and inattention tend to respond to reading interventions less favorably than those with reading difficulties without inattention. However, there is limited research on how to increase student engagement during reading instruction for these students. To support the engagement of students with…

Individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) remain underrepresented in many core classes such as mathematics and science due to common characteristics that affect social interactions, behaviors, learning abilities, and communication. According to the DSM-5-TR (2013), a deficit in social communication, social reciprocity, and…

Although tremendous advances have been made in the development of evidence-based services and strategies to prevent and treat emotional and behavioral disorders (EBDs) in children, often such programs may be necessary but not sufficient to address the circumstances and needs of a specific student. The purpose of this introductory article and this…

As school psychologists we are well trained with using and interpreting a variety of psychometric instruments, yet there are several studies that indicate that school psychologist's interpretive practices veer off the intended path. The application of assessment to the process of identification of specific learning disabilities (SLD) has been…

Despite repeated findings that within-year growth in oral reading rate is nonlinear for many students, existing decision-making frameworks to evaluate response to intervention assume that growth is linear across an entire school year. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the consequences of failing to account for nonlinear growth among…

Data from a randomized control trial of a multi-component intensive reading intervention were analyzed to determine the proportion of students nonresponsive to intervention and to identify predictors of nonresponse. Participants included 216 first-grade students identified as at-risk for reading difficulties. Response to intervention was…

The present study investigated responsiveness to intervention in children with an earlier versus later diagnosis of dyslexia. We examined differences between second (n=122; early diagnosis) and third (n=158; late diagnosis) graders with dyslexia on reading and spelling abilities before, during and after a dyslexia intervention as well as in…

Tier 2 social behavioral interventions are designed to support up to 15% of the school population; as such, they must be efficient and effective. The purpose of this article is to propose an adaptive, responsive approach to the implementation of social behavioral Tier 2 interventions, considering both core components and malleable features to…

This article outlines The Social Justice Leadership for Implicit Bias Impact Reduction Framework, a novel conceptualization of understanding implicit bias interventions for school-wide, leadership-driven change through the social justice leadership. The delineation between social justice and injustice paired with current research on how to reduce…

This paper provides an analysis of one state's Response to Intervention (RTI) model, bringing to light two predicaments that plague efforts to address disproportionality and support learning: (1) That RTI may continue to perpetuate disproportionality, both in the model's tiers of support as well as in the placement of students in special…

RtI refers to a specific set of interventions to support students who struggle to make progress in the general education settings. Fuchs and Deshler emphasized that teachers need to understand the conditions and contextual factors of RtI within a school district that may influence its implementation. Implementing these reforms requires ongoing…

Responsiveness to intervention has been an important change in models of service delivery within school systems in the recent past. However, there are a significant number of challenges to implementing the paradigm shift that these changes entail (Reschly 2008). Therefore, implementation of RTI varies among states, districts, and schools and some…

For approximately three years, the Chicago Public School (CPS) district has been undergoing a process of creating protocols, structures, and tools that will assist schools with the implementation of multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS). An on-going area of development for the district as well as for my school is developing teachers' abilities to…

This study focuses on a problem of practice at George County Middle School, a 6-8 middle school located in central Kentucky. The achievement gap between English Language learners and non-english language learners continues to grow wider as students' progress through their educational career. As a result, English learners are being…

The implementation of Response to Intervention (RTI) has increased over the years and provided students with the support needed to close the learning gap and succeed in school. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the perceptions of the effectiveness of the RTI framework in a rural school district in Tennessee. The study included kindergarten…