Ask the Expert

Author(s): Marjorie Y. Lipson

Source: The Reading Teacher, Vol. 64, No. 5 (FEBRUARY 2011), p. 373
Published by: Wiley on behalf of the International Reading Association
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Ask the Expert

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Lipsonrepliestoquestions
posed via Facebookon thetopic
ofResponsetoIntervention.

Collaboration
inRTIfocuseson
usingdata to makedecisionsabout
individuals
and generatesolutionsto
'JLl Whathappenswithcollaborarecurrent
RTIcalls for
problems.
tioninan RTIsetting?
Whatcan
studentstoreceiveadditional(suppleschool leadersdo to makeRTIwork?
intervention
whentheyare not
- LigayaDayanghirangHonofre, mental)
to
first
instruction.
responding good
Bislig,Surigaodel Sur,Philippines Thisworksbestwheninterventionists
r'l RTIstartswithgood instruction. and classroomteacherscoordinate
instructional
efforts.
Schools should buildcollaborative
systemsthatsupportteachersin the
'JL Insteadofputtingall children
classroomand helpstudentsto be
throughall stepsofan intervention,
successfulthere.Notall administrashouldn'twe choose interventions
torsneed thesame understanding
or
based on a child'sneeds? Wouldn't
engagement,butall mustcommitto
targetedintervention
keep many
and
responsiveinstruction
childrenout ofspecial education?
intervention.
- KathleenMarshall,Reno,Nevada
Twoinitiatives
are keytoeffective
bothrequiresupport
collaboration;
AT Yes! The RTI legislationanticifromschool leaders.First,
teachers
pated thatthe numberofstudents
need uninterrupted
blocksofliteracy
eligibleforspecial educationservices
instructional
time(90 to 120minutes,
could be reduced ifgood first
instruction
dependingon studentage and grade)
(oftencalled TierI)
inordertodifferentiate
instruction
for
followedbytargetedintervention
studentsand tovarythe
particular
(TierIf) wereavailable.
compositionand typeofsmallgroups
Readingspecialistsand classroom
duringtheyear.The blockalso creates teachersshould lead in planningand
a "home"forintervention
work:
providingdifferentiated
reading
Studentscan receivein-classsupport
instruction
forstudents.Although
some schools use thesame intervenor,whennecessary,be pulledoutfora
tionforall studentsidentified
portionoftheblockformoretailored
through
instruction.
screening,thisis notrequiredand
Second, facultybenefitfrom
maynotbe desirable.In fact,thelaw
invitesschools and districts
to create
meetingin professionallearning
communities.
time
to
meet
for
their
contexts.
Arranging
systems
unique
can be difficult,
butresearchsuggests
LikeLindaDornand hercolleagues,
thatthesecollaborativecommunities I workwithschools tocreatea
can positively
affectstudentachieveofinterventions"
"portfolio
putintoplay
mentand improveteachingpractice.
once students'"profiles
ofneed" are

Keep an eye on Facebook forupcoming Ask the Experttopics

and post yourquestions there.We also welcome questions on
anytopic, whichcan be e-mailed to RT@reading.org.

The Reading Teacher, 64(5), p. 373

DOI:10.1598/RT.64.5.10

identified
I
throughassessment.The
numberofstudentsidentified
as

"readingneedy"has fallensignificantly.;
w* - Arethecommercial"boxed
sets"forintervention
helpful,given
thatchildrenare at different
stages
withdifferent
needs?
- Allison,Rebecca, and Amy,
in discussionon Facebook

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'"*"X
, Boxed setsare seductivebecause
theypromiseto "takecare of"the
j
readers
j
challengesfacingstruggling
and theteacherschargedwiththeir
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instruction.
Some have more"evi|
i
dence" ofefficacy
thanothers.But
!
regardlessofpersonalpreferences
about thesematerials,
theguiding
'
I
principlesfromIRAsCommissionon
RTI(see www.reading.org/Libraries/!
Resources/RTIJbrochure_web.sflb |
'
.ashx) assert,"Teacherexpertiseis
centralto instructional
improvement," j
"Thegreatertheliteracydifficulty,
the
j
greatertheneed forexpertisein
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and
literacy
teachingand learning,"
j
"Instruction
mustbe providedbya

teacherwho understandstheintentof !
theresearch-basedpracticebeing
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used and has theprofessional
'
to plan
expertiseand responsibility
|
instruction
and adapt programsand
'
materialsas needed."
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Whenstudentsstruggle,
teacher
'
'
expertiseaboutassessment,instrucand collaboration j
tion,differentiation,
is critical.Teachingwithan arrayof
|
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approachesand materialsto meetthe
needs ofvariedpopulationsis noteasy, j
Butitis necessary.
j
The good news is thatthereare
'
teachersand schools thathave
!
improvedstudents'literacyachievej
ment.The solutionsare notsimple,
j
buttheyare worthattempting.
!

201 1 InternationalReading Association

ISSN: 0034-0561 print/ 1936-2714 online

This content downloaded from 152.15.113.9 on Thu, 19 Feb 2015 18:17:06 PM

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