Schools will get the benefit of in-person author workshops for a fraction of the cost with this comprehensive professional development resource. Teachers will be introduced to proven, practical classroom strategies for meeting the needs of gifted learners, whether they work in a mixed-ability classroom, cluster classroom, gifted-education…

The Kentucky System of Interventions (KSI) framework emphasizes optimizing instruction through targeted accelerated learning, development of teacher expertise and responsiveness to the needs of all learners. This approach to Response to Intervention (RtI) provides the structures needed for closing achievement gaps, ensuring readiness to learn and…

The 2004 Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) and subsequent regulations published in 2006 have significantly changed the identification process for students suspected of having specific learning disabilities. Rather than using a discrepancy model contrasting intellectual and achievement test results, assessment…

Video self-modeling (VSM) has been used for decades to effectively improve individuals' behaviors and skills. The purpose of this review is to locate and analyze published studies that used VSM for typical school-based academic skills to determine the effect of VSM interventions on students' academic performance. Only eight studies were located…

Models of response to intervention (RTI) have been widely developed and implemented and have expanded to include integrated academic/behavior RTI models. Until recently, evaluation of model effectiveness has focused primarily on student-level data, but additional measures of treatment integrity within these multi-tiered models are emerging to…

Many schools are working toward improving their overall social and behavioral climate. This endeavor is undertaken for its own sake, and in the anticipation that it will improve academic performance for students. There appear to be at least three predominant school-wide approaches to frame improving school climate: (1) positive behavior…

This study investigated four widely-used early literacy skills indicators in reflecting growth toward first-grade text reading skills. Examining the progress of 101 students across kindergarten and first grade, Letter Naming Fluency (LNF) and Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF) were more accurate than Initial Sounds Fluency and Phoneme Segmentation…

In this review, we explore the extent to which researchers evaluating the efficacy of Tier 2 elementary reading interventions within the framework of Response to Intervention reported on fidelity of implementation and alignment of instruction between tiers. A literature search identified 22 empirical studies from which conclusions were drawn.…

Progress monitoring provides teachers with frequent, reliable data on student improvement in academic skills. However, valid and reliable progress monitoring probes are primarily available just for reading fluency, comprehension, spelling, and math. Because the instruction of students with disabilities in science occurs primarily in general…

Curriculum-Based Measurement of Oral Reading (CBM-R) is used to collect time series data, estimate the rate of student achievement, and evaluate program effectiveness. A series of 5 studies were carried out to evaluate the validity, reliability, precision, and diagnostic accuracy of progress monitoring across a variety of progress monitoring…

Response to Intervention (RTI) models are currently being implemented in many school districts nationwide. However, at a time when interest in RTI is high, the extent to which it is being implemented effectively in rural schools is largely unknown. Teachers and administrators in two rural elementary schools in the Southeastern United States who…

The article by Dixon, Eusebio, Turton, Wright, and Hale is entitled "Forest Grove School District v. T.A. Supreme Court Case: Implications for School Psychology Practice." Its implications are that a "comprehensive evaluation" under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires assessment of the child's…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine whether kindergarten-reading achievement could be increased by implementing Response to Intervention (RtI) strategies. Kindergarten children (N = 290) who were identified as at-risk for reading difficulties were assigned to receive intervention through a) small reading groups (SRG), b)…

The mixed methods correlational study examined the problem that AYP of Pennsylvania gifted middle school students who have met state-mandated proficiency requirements under No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has been reliant upon minimum proficiency tests. The purpose of the mixed methods study was to examine the correlations between the current measure…

Many schools are adopting a Response to Intervention (RTI) model to support and evaluate learning (Fuchs & Fuchs, 2006). Universal screening and progress monitoring are two essential components of RTI that generally support improved student outcomes (Shinn, 2007). In many schools, teachers collect and use a tool called oral reading fluency for…