Response to intervention for adolescents: intensive interventions for students at-risk for reading failure

Date
2019
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University of Delaware
Abstract
For this Education Leadership Portfolio (ELP), I investigated, selected, implemented, and evaluated a comprehensive commercial Tier 2 reading intervention for adolescents struggling with reading comprehension at Las Américas ASPIRA Academy (LAAA). LAAA is a K-8 charter school which had no specific Tier 2 reading intervention for adolescent students in grades 6-8. The school had concerns about meeting the needs of students at risk for reading failure within their Response to Intervention (RTI) model, and analysis indicated areas for improvement which included acquiring an evidence-based intervention to address the problem, improving the protocols within the RTI model, evaluating the promise of the intervention for affecting student achievement, evaluating intervention fidelity, and considering the feasibility of the intervention within the school’s RTI context. ☐ To address this purpose, I reviewed literature and interviewed teachers and students to inform my selection of an intervention. The selected intervention addressed the identified needs by providing an increased focus on struggling readers, including programmatic elements customized to the needs of the school, and addressing school-specific constraints that could improve feasibility of the intervention. I then developed a curriculum map and instructional map based on the investigated reading intervention. Last, I implemented the intervention over 12 weeks for 7th and 8th grade students and evaluated intervention feasibility, fidelity, and preliminary student results. ☐ ELP findings supported feasibility of the intervention and in this ELP project. The results suggest that developing standardized protocols for addressing the needs of adolescents placed in a Tier 2 reading intervention at LAAA may have promise for addressing instructional features and contextual factors specific to LAAA. Fidelity results also revealed promise for a standardized intervention approach that incorporates strategies, routines, and protocols that effectively address the needs of at risk adolescents at LAAA. Intervention results revealed favorable outcomes on three built-in intervention assessments (e.g. LevelSet, Activity, and Thought Question scores) and the NWEA Map Growth Reading assessment in the areas of Information: Key Ideas and Details; Language, Craft, & Structure; Vocabulary; and Overall Performance. I evaluated and provided results on implementation and utilized the results of the intervention, fidelity observation protocol, and program review in my final recommendations for LAAA. ☐ Based on feasibility of the intervention, I recommend LAAA adopt a Standardized Intervention Protocol RTI model that incorporates a consistent, team-based approach for placing students in tiers of intervention and delivers a standardized intervention with strategies, routines, and protocols that effectively address the needs of at-risk adolescents.
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