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A CASE STUDY OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION AND ITS IMPACT ON TEACHER EFFICACY TRACEY I. MACCIA

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INTRODUCTION An achievement gaps exists in our nations schools Research suggests that early identification and intervention is the most effective method for helping academically struggling students Reauthorized IDEA of 2004 introduced Response to Intervention (RTI) as a model requiring general educators to be more responsive to academically struggling students

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Statement of Problem Nationally, an upward trends exists for students who are being identified with a specific learning disability RTI has been implemented as state wide/local educational agency initiatives in several states yet it still remains unclear to what extent it has had on the effect of teachers efficacy This study takes place in an urban northern New Jersey school district where over 20% of student population are identified as having a disability in comparison to the state average of 14%

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Problem-cont. District Policy: (1) Wait and See toward struggling readers (2) Refer struggling readers for special education services School district was being monitored for special education services due to a high percentage of students with disabilities placed in separate public and private settings

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What is RTI?

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PURPOSE OF STUDY Understand both general and special education teachers experiences and perception of RTI implementation Teacher efficacy as it relates to implementation of RTI

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RESEARCH QUESTIONS 1. How do teachers perceive that RTI enhanced their efficacy in understanding and meeting the needs of their academically struggling students? 2. How do teachers perceive that RTI had an impact on their efficacy in the collaboration between general and special education teachers? 3. How do teachers perceive that RTI had influenced the school climate in a way that promoted or impeded teacher efficacy in meeting the needs of academically struggling students?

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THEORIES IMPLEMENTERS AS LEARNERS Review of literature reveals that well-planned professional development programs address learning transfer. After professional development, it is imperative to create opportunities for teachers to utilize an intervention and test out the change in practices and share knowledge with their colleagues SOCIAL INVENTION The concept that there are real disabilities, and they are part of the nature of things, is depicted as a discovery narrative. This narrative may be a social invention narrative, where truth is only seen in terms of what people find useful. The problem with categorization is that it cements in place these unproductive qualities to our students rather than responding to our students in authentic and respectful ways CRITICAL CULTURAL CONSCIOUSNESS When implementing RTI in an urban school district, it is imperative to become a culturally responsive educator. When differences are no longer viewed as deficits, teachers develop an affirming attitude toward students from lower socio-economic status

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LITERATURE REVIEW RTI and Prevention-Wanzek and Vaughn (2009) conducted a research study on a school based model to prevent reading disabilities Six elementary schools were more than 80% minority students and more than 80% received free and reduced lunch A comparison of control and experimental groups indicated that the three tier model improved reading outcomes of students participating The value of brief intervention is of considerable importance to teachers in determining success compared to special education services

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LITERATURE REVIEW RTI and Problem Solving-Minneapolis Public School (1992) study and the Heartland Area Education study (1990). Conclusion: problem solving methods to improve assessment and decision making regarding eligibility for special education Askew et al (2002) found that provision of instructional interventions at tier one level can change educational outcomes and reduce the number of students requiring special education services

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LITERATURE REVIEW RTI AND Referral Rate-Tilly (2003) conducted a study over a four year time-span on 120 schools in Iowa who were using a tiered problem solving program. Tillys studied acknowledged RTI as having the demonstrated ability to reduce the number of special education referrals and placements for participating students Tillys study recorded a decrease in the number of special education referrals by: 39% for kindergartners, 32% for first graders, 21% for second graders and 19% for third graders

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LITERATURE REVIEW RTI AND Efficacy-Greenfield, Rinaldi, Proctor & Cardarelli examined teachers perceptions of RTI in their school at an urban elementary school in the Northeast serving 310 students The overall findings suggest two general outcomes: student data showed progress monitoring was present and teachers reported that student data helped to increase student achievement Francis (2009) conducted research on RTI and teacher efficacy and found that as teachers gained more knowledge about RTI, they also began to believe that the school was more adequately addressing the needs of struggling students

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LITERATURE REVIEW RTI and Efficacy, cont.-Bandura (1993) & Goddar, Hoy, Woolfolk-Hoy (2000) conducted a study on the beliefs of teachers regarding their instructional efficacy Bandura found that the single influence that was attributed to student performance was the belief of the faculty about their collective efficacy to both motivate and educate the students they served Goodard et al (2000) found that collective efficacy was a significant predictor of academic achievement

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LITERATURE REVIEW RTI, Supportive School Environment and Teacher Efficacy Lose (2008) recognized that administrators have a distinct and potent position in implementing a systemic change required in implementing RTI RAND (1970s) studies found that not only is administrative support critical to successful implementation but that active support by district leaders is also crucial to new initiatives

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REFERRAL RATES Research reveals that a tiered system of delivery of instruction like RTI has been found to have a positive effect on lowering the number of students referred for special education services

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TEACHER EFFICACY (AS IT RELATES TO IMPLEMENTATION OF RTI) In schools, educators share the responsibility for the academic performance of students This interdependence is the difference between individual (teacher) and group (collective) efficacy Bandura, 2004, found that the single most influence attributing to student performance was the belief of the faculty about their collective efficacy to both motivate and educate the students they serve

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RTI AND SUPPORT Researchers agree that there is a strong relationship between teacher efficacy, a supportive school climate, and student performance

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RESEARCH DESIGN Thirty of the 75 teachers from the three participating schools were asked to participate in a semi-structured interview process using the strategy of maximum variation sampling The intent in this selection was not to analyze which participants found RTI most successful but rather to select a sample of teachers who teach across content areas Fifteen teachers were interviewed Special education teachers General education teachers Basic skills teachers

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Semi-structured interview protocol Descriptive case study Empirical inquiry investigating RTI implementation and its impact on teacher efficacy Employed a inductive research strategy by building themes from the data

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CONTEXT Study Site: Three elementary schools K-3 in a lower socio-economic status district in northern New Jersey The borough is 2.58 miles and home to 21,000 residents of which 2,900 are students attending the Pre-K-12 school district The district is categorized a B district in the district factor grouping category.

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DEMOGRAPHICS 75% OF STUDENTS ARE AFRICAN AMERICAN 25% OF STUDENTS ARE HISPANIC 5% OF STUDENTS ARE CAUCASIAN 2% OF STUDENTS ARE ASIAN

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DATA & ANALYSIS Data reduction was used to condense pages of works to their importance level 1 st process-read transcript several times to become familiar with its content 2 nd process-coded the interview. Coding is reading the transcript until themes begin to emerge 3 rd process-wrote a summary of the coded data 4 th process-interpreted and tied together the themes to translate what it all means

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ROLE OF RESEARCHER & BIAS All data was passed, interpreted and reported through me My bias is that I have worked for 15 years as a special education administrator and feel strongly about providing early intensive reading intervention to struggling readers instead of referring students for special education services

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RTI & TEACHER EFFICACY Research Question #1: How do urban teacher perceive that RTI enhanced their efficacy in understanding & meeting the needs of their academically struggling students? All interviewees responded in a positive and enthusiastic manner about the effects of RTI enhancing their efficacy in understanding and meeting the needs of their academically struggling readers

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PAST PRACTICES Both general and special education teachers seemed to experience difficulties in understanding students needs prior to implementation of RTI The majority of teachers stated they would search online or conduct their own research because nothing was in place for reading interventions

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EFFECTIVE PRACTICES AFTER RTI RTI implementation changed the general education teaching practices The majority of teachers stated that their practices of teaching struggling readers became more effective after implementing RTI Teachers stated the data from RTI helped identify students strengths and weaknesses

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COLLABORATION AND TEACHER EFFICACY Research Question #2: How do urban teachers perceive RTI has impact on their efficacy in the collaboration between general and special education teachers? The majority of teachers reported that they felt more collaborative after implementing RTI Teachers reported a positive change in instructional practices through collaboration between general and special education teachers

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SCHOOL CLIMATE AND TEACHER EFFICACY Research Question #3: How do urban teachers perceive that RTI had influenced the school climate in a way that promoted or impeded teacher efficacy in meeting the needs of academically struggling students? Teachers reported that RTI had a positive impact on school climate after implementing RTI. Teachers reported that they took a more problem-solving approach to assist struggling readers

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RTI & REFERRAL RATES Problem: High referral rate for special education services in the district under study General education teachers were referring struggling readers for special education services instead of assisting them with reading interventions Referral Data: 2009-2010-96 students were referred for special education services Year of RTI Implementation 2010-2011-61 students were referred for special education services This indicates a 36% decrease in referrals for special education services

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CONCLUSIONS Teacher Efficacy & RTI: A teacher commented, For myself, I think I have more patience with children that are struggling, more tolerance and more willingness to use different program and strategies and more open to different ideas and suggestions(after implementing RTI) All teachers commented that they were more effective in assisting their struggling readers after implementation of RTI A major component of the success of RTI implementation was the professional development component When teachers receive quality training, they have the ability to create an atmosphere where students are successful This conclusion is in agreement with the theory of implementers as learners

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CONCLUSIONS Collaboration & RTI Results are compelling due to the fact that general and special education teachers were working in isolated settings prior to implementation of RTI The RTI initiative weaved together the delivery of instruction in general and special education like a tapestry of art Both general and special education teachers worked collaboratively to problem solve and assist all struggling readers The majority of teachers felt that without collaboration between general and special education teachers, RTI implementation would be impossible to implement

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CONCLUSIONS School Climate & RTI Overall, teachers reported a positive impact on school climate while implementing RTI They developed a sense of trust in their colleagues In general, teachers were more prone to problem solve together while assisting struggling readers

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LIMITATIONS OF STUDY The school district was developing a RTI model during the project. The initiative was in its first year in the district and not followed up. Therefore, the results cannot be generalized to models that are fully developed Because of the small number of teachers in the sample, one cannot assume that results represent all possible perspectives I was a district administrator in the district two years prior to this study. It is possible that teacher responses were affected by the fact that I was a past supervisor

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POLICY IMPLICATIONS A major message for policy makers and school administrators is to provide high-quality professional development in research based intervention strategies prior to implementing RTI Follow-up is equally important for teachers to feel more competent in utilizing an intervention strategy.

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SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH Examine the impact of RTI on literacy achievement especially the achievement of urban students Impact of RTI over time Long term results of RTI Features of Professional Development or successful implementation of RTI

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Thank-You SUGGESTIONS INPUT