Why Intensive Interventions Matter

Abstract

We describe findings from a series of longitudinal studies utilizing a response to intervention framework implemented over 3 years with students in Grades 6 through 8 with reading disabilities and poor reading comprehension. Students were identified based on reading comprehension scores in Grade 5 (n = 1,083) and then randomized to treatment or comparison conditions. Beginning in sixth grade, students assigned to intervention were provided treatment for 1, 2, or 3 years based on their response to instruction in each preceding year. Screening procedures, progress monitoring tools, tiers of instruction, and findings from each year of the study are reported. Additional studies investigating reading and behavioral outcomes through multi-level, growth modeling, and studies of the cognitive and neural correlates of inadequate response are also reported.

Mathematics Interventions for Upper Elementary and Secondary Students: A Meta-Analysis of Research

“…The duration of these studies lasted between 5 and 9 months, with many provided in a one-on-one or small group setting. Similarly, Solis and colleagues (2014) reported the findings of several longitudinal studies examining adolescent readers’ response to increasingly intensified levels of intervention; students in Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions received 50 min of daily, small group instruction across one school year (i.e., approximately 160 sessions). There is a need to investigate limited responders’ response to increasingly intensive levels of mathematics intervention (i.e., reducing group size, increasing the duration, frequency, or length of each session, and providing more explicit, systematic instruction).…”

Reading Comprehension and Co-Teaching Practices in Middle School English Language Arts Classrooms

“…It is essential for CATs to integrate these types of literacy instruction using general features of effective instruction (e.g., maximizing opportunities to respond) to provide differentiated and intensive support for SWDs who are commonly included in these classes (Goldman & Snow, 2015; Vaughn, Wanzek, Murray, & Roberts, 2012). SWDs often require more intensive instruction and frequent teacher interaction compared to their peers without disabilities (Solis, Miciak, & Vaughn, 2014). Teachers can provide this support in a variety of ways, such as varying grouping structures (e.g., peer-mediated instruction) to promote more opportunities for students to respond and receive immediate corrective feedback (McKenna, Muething, Flower, Bryant, & Bryant, 2015).…”

The Benchmarking Capacity of a General Outcome Measure of Academic Language in Science and Social Studies

“…Considerably more research is warranted, not only to flesh out what an upper elementary and/or secondary school assessment framework should look like but also what the purposes and functions of the assessment components will be. Research in the areas of secondary school and/or content assessment use (e.g., Barth et al, 2012; Johnson et al, 2013) and intensive interventions for struggling middle and high school students (e.g., Solis, Miciak, Vaughn, & Fletcher, 2014) are developing to inform this inquiry. Researchers in these areas might consider collaborating on large-scale systematic research programs to evaluate the technical adequacy, instructional effectiveness, and logistical feasibility (Deno & Fuchs, 1987) of varying assessment framework profiles.…”