Assistive Technology

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

Response to Intervention and the Future

Megan Smith

EDU:620 Meeting Individual Needs with Assistive Technology

Professor Berger

June 2012





　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

Currently, throughout the United States of America, states school districts are in the process of innovating and implementing the Response-to-Intervention (RTI), a three tiered system of student evaluation and instructional assessments into classroom testing components with hopes to further the successes of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) measures, and support and reinforce the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) already in place through school systems, all in order to improve education outcomes. The goal is to achieve and sustain documented improvements for all students in the nation, by allowing a framework that can operate amongst a wide variety of students and gage different skills and alternative learning methods. The steps towards implementing the RTI begin with educators and schools innovations towards reshaping methods of testing and measuring standards, at least to a level were all students skills and strengths are given chances to shine .

Response to Intervention coincides with the Universal Design for Learning, through the ideas of diversifying measurements and assessments in order to access a wider range of students, and together with assistive technology unraveling and expanding, the theories together can revolutionize our nations education system and swing it to back towards the successful path. In our textbook, Assistive Technology: Access For All Students, the authors state, “ RTI and UDL are both aimed at improving student outcomes by providing educational supports (Strangeman, Hitchcock, Hall, & Meo,2006). The UDL concept, along with the integration of AT, can assist collaborative teams in expanding the interventions for all children to be more successful in accessing the general education curriculum,”(p.28). We are expanding our horizons as educators and as mentors for future students, and interestingly enough, all of these theories, RTI, AT, and UDL, aim towards diversity and exploration of unknown territories of education in order to improve outlooks and prospects for all student without exemptions. The success of each of these processes depend upon one another, and as each is explored and expanded they can bind and support the overall functionality and give the education the boost necessary to keep our future students in alignment with other developed countries. Assistive Technologies will continue to be innovated with modern society and pace that it has evolved to within only a few years. Educators can be more creative having more materials and equipment to work with, and more varieties of activities and assessments can take place.

What does the RTI entail or demand for? Educator and scholars are asking themselves, and many essays and articles discussions discuss what is necessary. Overall, the RTI is necessary for us to identify problem areas in individuals with enough time to adjust methods and lessons to cater to different individual so that they may have equal opportunity to pass annual assessments and equal education. In an article from the publication of Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin, titled Response to Intervention (RTI) and Tier Systems: Questions Remain as Educators Make Challenging Decisions, the writers discuss what first steps must be taken, “RTI advocates propose that when instruction in the classroom is not meeting the needs of certain students, those students must be provided with interventional tutoring. After interventional tutoring, the students either return to the tier at which the class is functioning, move to a more intensive tier, or are referred for an evaluation of eligibility for special education services. Fuchs and colleagues (2008) propose using systematic instructional practices to continuously assess all students who need more intensive instructional interventions,”(Summer 2010). These very specific requirements have been discussed and are at the foundation of the building blocks of the RTI, and educators and school districts must commit to the change and commit to the students, what they have proposed. The next decade will be challenging for the education system, but really only to strengthen it and allow it to persevere.

The ultimate goals for education, in the United States of America, is to integrate all of the testing measures and laws towards a more positive pattern promoting success, success which supports all types of students, and this is through better monitoring and more frequent assessment opportunities, and more individualized and simplified interventions. Opening up the framework gives way for more individuals to have the chance to be reached. In an article titled, Response to Intervention: A Socio-cultural Perspective of the Problems and the Possibilities, by Constance Beecher, she discussions the alternatives being proposed, “Response to Intervention has been described as an alternative approach to identifying and providing instruction to students who do not make progress in the regular education curriculum. Instead of waiting until there is a measurable discrepancy that would qualify a student for specialized services, a teacher can intervene with effective, targeted instruction as soon as a child shows signs of difficulty,”(Journal of Education 2010/2011). Such a strong point is made in this article in regards to jumping over the humps that have us disabled as an education system entirely, and that is the way we react or respond to individual student difficulties, and instead of labeling dysfunction and spending time defining and describing disabilities, we need to spend time innovating ways to make the more confident, engage, and successful. Otherwise, we are stuck in a vicious cycle, and at the same time are falling drastically on the global scale.

In order to repair our damaged education system, we must commit to these changes as mentioned earlier. The commitment to diversifying and altering current measurement methods, and the commitment to each and every student, despite all the array of differences, means we must commit to each student as an individual and we much engage their difference to liberate every element of the education system. An article from Principle Leadership, titled ‘Response to Intervention In Secondary Schools‘, the authors elaborate on the compound and multi faceted elements of the RIT and the process of its implementations, “The full and efficacious implementation of RTI is a complex process. Before adopting this model of service delivery, school administrators must consider the needs of the staff members. This includes an intentional plan for professional development and an assessment of staff members' readiness for change (Curtis et al., 2008],”(April 2012). The authors present the less ideal parts of the education systems revamping, for example, in order to change the system or begin to curve it towards a new and different directions. We need this in order to correct the errors that have caused us to lag so far behind the lead on the global rating in science, math, and reading. We are reaching a crucial turning point in education, and the steps we take next will ripple through to the next generation of young students. The same article continues, “Achieving staff member readiness is particularly important because RTI approaches require not only complex systemic changes but also substantial shifts in the beliefs, attitudes, and practices of individuals (Kratochwill et al, 2007]. Without such shifts, resistance among staff members can present a significant barrier to effective and sustainable systems change and improved outcomes for students (Lohrman et al., 2008].”(April 2012). The other element to consider are financials and the economic condition of the education system, and coming up with the necessary funds to be able to prepare and train educators and school districts the successful methods of integrating the RTI as a new diverse framework and systematic measurement. Funds must be allocated towards these changes, instead of for instance, replacing all computers or desks. It may take a long time and a lot of patience to integrate an entirely new system, especially when some favor the original measurement system, and it may take time and practice before we are able to have clear and concise data to back up the theories of RTI.



Ultimately, by the school systems putting into practice the Response-to-Intervention testing measure, we as educators, can only advance our students by identifying where specific attention is needed early on in the school year, so that all students can receive the attention necessary to achieve better scores in annual testing assessment measurements. This aims to help both gifted and struggling students giving them both equal time and attention. In an article, Meeting the Needs of Gifted Students Within an RtI Framework, authors Mary Ruth Coleman and Claire E Hughes discuss how the RTI would effect talented and gifted students, “The focus of RtI is on early intervention, the early provision of services that build on the child's strengths and address his or her learning needs. Early intervention is critical in order to prevent problems, to mitigate the impact of existing problems, and to ensure that strengths do not diminish. Early intervention generally focuses on remediation to shore- up areas of weakness for the child. For gifted children, however, the early intervention focuses on nurturing potential to support the child's areas of strength,”(Gifted Child Today, Summer 2009). Once problem areas for specific students can be identified early in the curriculum, then there is much more opportunity to apply different types of teaching and learning methods which will allow them to succeed. By helping the student to understand their own strength, and giving them knowledge tools to use their strengths With summative assessments only done annually, and usually all within a day, problem areas can not be determined and therefore cannot be helped or assisted until after scores have gone into place. This is one of the only ways to succeed in our scores and to catch up to the speeds of other developing nations.

Technology has opened a gateway for international education, it has connected countries all around the globe. The world wide web has dispersed knowledge that was never before thought possible. Many intelligent cultures are beginning to come to the speed of technology and the accessibilities and information is traveling back and forth at the speed of light. It is really quite phenomenal to thing that only twenty years ago or less, there was not internet or world wide web communications. With this opportunity at this time in history where we can communication original concepts all around the globe. In an article, ‘Response to Intervention, Collaboration, and Co-Teaching: A Logical Combination for Successful Systemic Change’ the authors discuss the internal conflicts that will arise from RTI upgrades and alternations,“RTI emphasizes the need to find a way to bridge that gap and accepts no excuse for educators who argue that they do not have the time, training, or inclination to use research to inform their teaching practices. However, Lane, Bocian, MacMillan, and Gresham (2004) cautioned that new practices are not likely to be implemented by educators with any fidelity if there are issues related to a lack of sufficient training, or if the suggested intervention is considered by classroom teachers to take an unreasonable amount of time or resources,”(Preventing School Failures, Summer 2009). Teachers are being asked to take on an extra large load of responsibilities without having increased income or more recognition.

Overall, the RTI proposals are to better the success for students all over the spectrum. The idea is to make assessments and measurements diverse and to use better methods to define individuals and creative minds. Once problem areas for specific students can be identified early in the curriculum, then there is much more opportunity to apply different types of teaching and learning methods which will allow them to succeed. With summative assessments only done annually, and usually all within a day, problem areas can not be determined and therefore cannot be helped or assisted until after scores have gone into place. This is one of the only ways to succeed in our scores and to catch up to the speeds of other developing nations. In our textbook, authors state, “RTI and UDL compliment each other because they both relate to the education of all students. RTI is more process-oriented and is used to make decisions about a student who is at risk for school failure. RTI helps to make decisions about what specific interventions best meet the needs of each child so that the child will be successful in accessing the general education curriculum,“ (p. 29). Early detection means more hands on time for the teacher to work directly with students.

Although it is a long and complex process, the UDL, RTI, and AT, are all intelligently designed to coexist, harmonize to revolutionize the current education systems. All students growth and development is the main concern and focus for new assessment strategies, especially within the Reponses to Intervention., If executed c the RTI can directly support and back up the UDL, and both the RTI and the UDL can benefit with more options available with AT. And, so there is a methods to the madness of blending UDL, RTI, and even AT, and in order for us to advance to next level in global education for the future. The future is our grasp, and we must have the bravery to go through changes, we must commit to these changes, and we must put more energy and compassion towards individual students, only then we can secure a better future for students and our current national education system.

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

References

Beard, L.A., Carpenter, L.B., & Johnston, L.B. (2011). Assistive Technology: Access for all Students (2nd ed.). Boston: Pearson.

Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin: Response to Intervention (RtI) and Tier Systems: Questions Remain as Educators Make Challenging Decisions; Stacy Reeves, John Bishop, Hollie Gabler Filce Austin: Summer 2010. Vol. 76, Iss. 4; pg. 30, 6 pgs

Journal of Education: Response to Intervention: A Socio-cultural Perspective of the Problems and the Possibilities. By: Constance Beecher. 2010/2011, Vol. 191 Issue 3,

p1-8. 8p.

Principal Leadership April 2011: Response to Intervention in Secondary Schools.

Laura L Feuerborn, Kathryn Sarin, Ashli D Tyre. Reston: Vol. 11, Iss. 8; pg. 50, 5 pgs

Gifted Child Today Summer 2009; Meeting the Needs of Gifted Students Within an RtI Framework. Mary Ruth Coleman, Claire E Hughes. Thousand Oaks: . Vol. 32, Iss. 3; pg. 14, 4 pgs

Preventing School Failure, Summer 2009: Response to Intervention, Collaboration, and Co-Teaching: A Logical Combination for Successful Systemic Change

Wendy W Murawski, Claire E Hughes Washington. Vol. 53, Iss. 4; pg. 267, 11 pgs