Annotated List of Articles Relevant to SRBI at the Secondary Level (R.

Abraitis 6-09)

1. Implementation

“Response to Intervention in Secondary Schools: Is it on your Radar Screen?”, Barbara Ehrens, RTI
Action Network
The author discusses each of the following questions:
 How does the rationale for RTI relate to secondary education?
 What myths have to be dispelled to make RTI viable at secondary levels?
 What opportunities does RTI afford middle, junior and senior high schools?
 What challenges exist with RTI at secondary levels?
What questions should you be asking? (including some things we should be looking for in the
answers!)

“Response-to-Intervention: SLP’s as Linchpins in Secondary Schools” Barbara Ehren, The ASHA

Leader, 14(6), 10-13
This article focuses on how to integrate speech-language pathologists into middle and high school RtI
models. Attention is given to how they can support the staff and students using the Content Literacy
Continuum as a framework.

“RtI Gets Promoted to Secondary Schools”, NCLD Talks, Barbara Ehren and Kathleen Whitmire
This is a script consisting of questions and responses from an online chat on Oct. 22, 2007 discussing
challenges and potential solutions. The questions, from educators and parents, deal with such issues
as student burnout, tracking, role of general educators and scheduling.

2. Multi-Tiered Interventions
Alliance for Excellent Education offers a variety of resources specifically geared to increase student
achievement and attainment for the most at-risk secondary students. Among others, these resources
include:
Literacy Instruction in the Content Areas: Getting to the Core of Middle and High School
Improvement
“Even as their schools help them to catch up in the basics, students also must be taught the
advanced literacy skills that will enable them to succeed in the academic content areas—particularly
the core content areas of math, science, English, and history.”
Writing Next: Effective Strategies to Improve Writing of Adolescents in Middle and High Schools
“This report discusses eleven specific teaching techniques that research suggests will help improve
the writing abilities of the country’s 4th- to 12th-grade students.”

The Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement

Middle-to-High-School Transition: Practical Strategies to Consider (Also available in PDF format)
The May 2009 newsletter draws from several recent reports to discuss the issue of middle-to-high
school transition and provide examples of successful transition practices.
Stuck in the Middle: Strategies to Engage Middle-Level Learners (Also available in PDF format)
The May 2008 newsletter examines strategies to keep middle school students focused and engaged
in the classroom.

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”Response to Intervention and Project CRISS at the Secondary Level”
Project CRISS (CReating Independence through Student-owned Strategies) is a professional
development program designed to help all students read, write, and learn more effectively. This brief
article provides a short overview of RTI at the secondary level and the connection between the CRISS
Strategies and RTI. It incorporates information from the Center for Comprehensive School Reform and
Improvement.

“The Secondary Literacy Instruction and Intervention Guide” from the Stupski Foundation
This extensive (76 page) document s based on the University of Kansas’ Content Literacy Continuum
(CLC) model which outlines five levels of literacy at the secondary level. The guide provides evidence-
based and research-validated literacy resources to meet the differentiated needs of struggling
adolescents.

Center on Instruction provides cutting-edge collection of scientifically based research and information
on K-12 instruction in reading, math, science, special education, and English language learning. It
contains a wealth of information for secondary educators, including the following:
“Effective Instruction for Adolescent Struggling Readers”
There are 9 resources connected with this topic including a meta-analysis of the research that
provides guidance for intervening with adolescent struggling readers and major implications for
practice; a professional development module facilitator’s guide; and a PowerPoint presentation that
specifically details what and how to teach.
“Adolescent Literacy Walk-Throughs for Principals” is designed to help principals monitor and
support adolescent literacy instruction in their schools more effectively. It provides a scaffold to
build principals' understanding of scientifically based reading instruction, aids administrators in
gathering information about the quality of literacy and reading intervention instruction in a school,
and serves as a data collection guide for planning targeted professional development and resource
allocation. It includes examples of what a principal might expect to see in a classroom as well as
templates that states, districts, and schools may use or adapt.
“Practical Guidelines for the Education of English Language Learners: Research-Based
Recommendations for Serving Adolescent Newcomers” provides practical ideas and strategies to
help newcomers master English and grade-level content in a short timeframe.
Improving Literacy Instruction in Middle and High Schools: A Guide for Principals [6-12]
“This ‘quick start’ guide for principals of both middle and high schools identifies three goals for
secondary school literacy initiatives and provides elements of instruction required to meet these
goals. It then outlines the critical elements of a school-level literacy action plan.”

What Works Clearinghouse

“Practice guides provide practical recommendations for educators to help them address the
everyday challenges they face in their classrooms and schools. Developed by a panel of nationally
recognized experts, practice guides consist of actionable recommendations, strategies for
overcoming potential roadblocks, and an indication of the strength of evidence supporting each
recommendation. IES practice guides are subjected to rigorous external peer review.”
The What Works Clearinghouse contains the following practice guides:
 Structuring Out-of-School Time to Improve Academic Achievement
 Assisting Students Struggling with Mathematics: Response to Intervention (RtI) for Elementary
and Middle Schools
 Dropout Prevention
 Improving Adolescent Literacy: Effective Classroom and Intervention Practices
 Turning Around Chronically Low-Performing Schools
 Encouraging Girls in Math and Science

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  Organizing Instruction and Study to Improve Student Learning

3. Assessment
“Assessments to Guide Adolescent Literacy Instruction”, Center on Instruction
“This guide, a companion volume to two other publications from the Center on Instruction, Academic
Literacy Instruction for Adolescents and Improving Literacy Instruction in Middle and High Schools: A
Guide for Principals, provides information about the key elements of a comprehensive assessment plan
to improve literacy instruction for adolescents and provides examples of assessments and assessment
systems currently in use or under development to improve literacy instruction for students in grades 4-
12.”
4. Decision-Making

5. Specific Schools
“High Schools Try Out RTI: Using the Framework with Older Students Poses Challenges, but Shows
Promise”, Christina A. Samuels, Colorado Springs CO.
Palmer High School in Colorado Springs’ District 11 is showcased in this article. Beginning in the 2005-
06 school year, the staff inventoried their current intervention resources and organized them into
tiers. Thus began their implementation of RTI. The school provides a tutoring center that is staffed
during all periods where students receive instruction and reinforcement in specific subjects. A
computerized assessment program aligned to their state standards is used to screen students entering
the high school. They have begun to see promising outcomes for students as a result of these and
other practices and structures. Leadership from teachers as well as administrators has been key.

“Meeting the Needs of Significantly Struggling Learners in High School: A Look at Approaches to Tiered
Intervention” Helen Duffy, American Institutes for Research, National High School Center
This report outlines the implementation and structural issues related to RTI at the secondary level. It
describes challenges and benefits, as well as the standard treatment protocol and problem-solving
approaches. Implementation of RTI at the high-school level in the Long Beach Unified School District in
California is highlighted, as is specific discussion about the implications of RtI for all high schools. A list
of resources is included.

Response to Intervention (RtI) as an Organizing Framework in Colorado

This presentation gives an overview of RTI and how it has been implemented in Colorado Springs, CO.
Slides 30 -61 explore RTI implementation at 2 middle schools and 1 high school in the district, with
specifics about scheduling and interventions.

“Response to Intervention: Possibilities for Service Delivery at the Secondary Level” June 2008
Newsletter from the Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement
After a general introduction to RTI, the article highlights both the challenges and possibilities of its
implementation at the secondary level. Thomas B. Doherty High School in Colorado Springs, CO is
used as a case study, including the challenges they faced in 1999, a pyramid of specific interventions,
assessments and other practices that led to significant improvements on multiple measures of
progress by 2006.
IMPLEMENTING RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION AT THE HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL: EVERY STUDENT, EVERY
DAY! is a PowerPoint presentation about the work at Doherty High.

“ RTI: A Work in Progress”

“This presentation describes the strategies used by Connersville High School in Indiana for
implementing a Response to Intervention approach whereby educators (1) provide evidence-based
instruction to all students, (2) assess progress towards academic success, (3) identify students in need
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of interventions and monitor their response, (4) adjust interventions, and (5) use data at the earliest
opportunity to identify the academic needs of students.” Specific focus is on changes in Algebra and
the use of the Language Arts Lab.