HOW MANY TIERS ARE NEEDED FOR RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION TO ACHIEVE ACCEPTABLE PREVENTION OUTCOMES?

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HOW MANY TIERS ARE NEEDED FOR RESPONSE TO
INTERVENTION TO ACHIEVE ACCEPTABLE PREVENTION
OUTCOMES?

• Sharon Vaughn
• The University of Texas at Austin

Responsiveness-to-Intervention Symposium December
4-5, 2003 Kansas City, Missouri The National
Research Center on Learning Disabilities, a
collaborative project of staff at Vanderbilt
University and the University of Kansas,
sponsored this two-day symposium focusing on
responsiveness-to-intervention (RTI) issues. The
symposium was made possible by the support of the
U.S. Department of Education Office of Special
Education Programs. Renee Bradley, Project
Officer. Opinions expressed herein are those of
the authors and do not necessarily represent the
position of the U.S. Department of
Education. When citing materials presented
during the symposium, please use the following
Vaughn, S. (2003, December). How many tiers are
needed for Response to Intervention to achieve
acceptable prevention outcomes? Paper presented
at the National Research Center on Learning
Disabilities Responsiveness-to-Intervention
Symposium, Kansas City, MO.
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WHAT IS A TIER OF INTERVENTION?

• Layers of intervention responding to student
  needs
• Each tier provides more intense intervention
• Aimed at preventing reading difficulties

TIER I
TIER II
TIER III
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TIER I CORE CLASS INSTRUCTION

• Tier I is comprised of three elements
• core reading program
• benchmark testing of students to determine
  instructional needs at least three times per year
  
• ongoing professional development

TIER I
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TIER I CORE CLASS INSTRUCTION (CONTD)
Focus
For all students in K through 3

Scientific-based reading instruction and
curriculum emphasizing the five critical elements
of beginning reading
Program
Grouping
Flexible grouping all grouping formats used
Time
90 minutes per day or more
Benchmark assessment at beginning, middle, and
end of the academic year
Assessment
Interventionist
General education teacher
Setting
General education classroom
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TIER II SUPPLEMENTAL INSTRUCTION

• Tier II is small-group supplemental instruction
  in addition to the time allotted for core reading
  instruction.
• Tier II includes programs, strategies, and
  procedures designed and employed to supplement,
  enhance, and support Tier I.

TIER II
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TIER II SUPPLEMENTAL INSTRUCTION (CONTD)
For students identified with marked reading
difficulties, and who have not responded to Tier
I efforts
Focus

Specialized, scientifically based reading
program(s) emphasizing the five critical
elements of beginning reading
Program
Homogeneous small group instruction (13, 14, or
15)
Grouping
Minimum of 30 minutes per day in small group in
addition to 90 minutes of core reading
instruction
Time
Progress monitoring twice a month on target skill
to ensure adequate progress and learning
Assessment
Personnel determined by the school (e.g., a
classroom teacher, a specialized reading
teacher, an external interventionist)
Interventionist
Setting
Appropriate setting designated by the school may
be within or outside of the classroom
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TIER II SUPPLEMENTAL INSTRUCTION (CONTD)

• When should Tier II instruction start?
• Tier II instruction starts as soon as possible
  after students have been identified through
  benchmark testing.
• How long is a round of Tier II instruction?
• In our research, one round of Tier II
  instruction lasts 10 to 12 weeks (approx. 50
  sessions). After the first 10- to 12-week round
  of Tier II instruction, a decision should be made
  about the students instructional needs. The
  options to be considered include
• exiting Tier II instruction
• another round of Tier II instruction
• entrance to Tier III instruction for intensive
  intervention
• referral for special services (dyslexia, 504,
  etc.)

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TIER II SUPPLEMENTAL INSTRUCTION (CONTD)

• What should Tier II instruction look like?
• Tier II Instruction requires
• systematic and explicit instruction with
  modeling, multiple examples, and feedback to
  students
• pacing to match each students skill level
• providing students with multiple opportunities to
  participate and respond
• providing students with corrective feedback
• Tier II interventionists coordinate with the
  general education classroom teacher so that Tier
  II instruction can be used to pre-teach and
  review skills.

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TIER III INTENSIVE INTERVENTION

• Tier III is intensive, strategic, supplemental
  instruction and often considerably longer in
  duration than the 10-20 weeks of supplemental
  instruction provided in Tier II.
• Tier III is specifically designed and customized
  small-group reading instruction that is extended
  beyond the time allocated for Tier I and Tier II.

TIER III
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TIER III INTENSIVE INTERVENTION (CONTD)
For students with marked difficulties in reading
or reading disabilities and who have not
responded adequately to Tier I and Tier II
efforts
Focus

Sustained, intensive, scientifically based
reading program(s) emphasizing the critical
elements of reading for students with reading
difficulties/disabilities
Program
Grouping
Homogeneous small group instruction (13)
Minimum of two 30-minute sessions per day in
small group in addition to 90 minutes of core
reading instruction.
Time
Progress monitoring twice a month on target skill
to ensure adequate progress and learning
Assessment
Personnel determined by the school (e.g., a
classroom teacher, a specialized reading
teacher, an external interventionist)
Interventionist
Setting
Appropriate setting designated by the school
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TIER III INTENSIVE INTERVENTION (CONTD)

• How are students selected for Tier III
  instruction?
• There are three ways
• If a student has participated in two rounds of
  Tier II instruction and has not made sufficient
  progress even after adjustments to instruction.
• If after receiving only one round of Tier II
  instruction because the student shows a marked
  lack of progress and further Tier II instruction
  is deemed insufficient to put him/her back on
  track.
• A student who has received previous Tier III
  instruction and has exited may re-enter Tier III
  as needed.

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TIER III INTENSIVE INTERVENTION (CONTD)

• When do students exit Tier III?
• As a general guideline, a student is ready to
  exit the intervention when he or she has reached
  benchmark on the targeted skills.
• Can students re-enter Tier III intervention?
• If an exited student again fails to meet
  benchmarks, he or she may re-enter Tier III
  intervention and exit as needed.

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HOW DO TIER II AND TIER III DIFFER?
Tier II instruction Tier III instruction
Daily instruction Minimum of 30 minutes ( Tier I) Minimum of 30 minutes twice a day ( Tier I)
Duration 10 - 12 weeks (1 or 2 rounds) Possibly months or years
Group size 1 3 to 5 13
Ongoing progress monitoring every 2 weeks every 2 weeks
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Tier I Intervention
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RESEARCH IN PROGRESS

• Two studies designed to better understand the
  extent to which a three-tiered system is
  associated with reduced numbers of students
• At-risk for reading problems
• Referred for special education
• Not meeting grade level benchmarks in reading
• Three cohorts of students K-3 representing all
  students in one district (6 elementary schools)

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STUDY 1

• How do we know the relative value of Tier I and
  Tier II interventions in Kindergarten?

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STUDY 1 (CONTD)

• Examined
• Two levels of support
• Tier I Professional development for all
  Kindergarten teachers (n23)
• Tier II 47-55 small group supplemental
  intervention sessions (25-30 minutes per session)
• Three Cohorts
• Cohort I Historical control group (n107)
• At-risk Kindergarten students in teachers
  classes the year before Tier I and Tier II
  support were provided.
• Cohort II Tier I and II (n56)
• At-risk students in classes participating in Tier
  I and who were randomly assigned to Tier II
• Cohort III Received Tier I only (n62)
• At-risk students in classes participating in Tier
  I

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STUDY I- RESEARCH QUESTIONS

• What are the effects for kindergarten students
  at-risk for reading problems when their teachers
  participate in professional development designed
  to enhance instruction and progress monitoring in
  reading (Tier I) when compared with outcomes for
  at-risk students the previous year when teachers
  were not provided professional development
  (Historical Control)?

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STUDY I- RESEARCH QUESTIONS (contd)

• What are the effects for kindergarten students
  at-risk for reading problems when their teachers
  participate in Tier I intervention and their
  at-risk students are provided approx. 50 sessions
  (25-30 min. each) of supplemental instruction
  (Tier II) when compared with outcomes for at-risk
  students the previous year when Tier I and Tier
  II intervention were not provided (Historical
  Control)?

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STUDY I- RESEARCH QUESTIONS (contd)

• How do at-risk kindergarten students whose
  teachers received professional development (Tier
  I) compare with at-risk kindergarteners whose
  teachers received professional development and
  the students received supplemental intervention
  (Tier I plus Tier II)?

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STUDY 1 - PARTICIPANTS

• 6 Title I elementary schools in one near-urban
  district in the Southwest
• 23 kindergarten teachers participated over a
  2-year period
• Year 1- 436 kindergarten students served as a
  historical control group (at-risk students
  identified using same criteria as Year 2)
• Year 2 - 450 kindergarten students who benefited
  from Tier I
• Year 2 - 142 students at-risk kindergarten
  students were randomly assigned to Tier II or
  control condition

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STUDY 1 - MEASURES
Measures January (K) May (K) September (1st)
DIBELS Letter Naming Fluency X X X
DIBELS Phoneme Segmentation Fluency X X X
DIBELS Nonsense Word Fluency X X
WRMT-R Word ID and Word Attack X X X
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MEAN SCORES FOR DIBELS LETTER NAMING FLUENCY
(LNF)
January (K) May (K) September (1st)
Cohort I (Historical Control) 12.67 (6.14) 25.24 (11.76) 26.07 (12.23)
Cohort II (Tier I and II) 13.30 (5.47) 31.46 (11.93) 29.86 (11.48)
Cohort III (Tier I only) 12.44 (5.63) 28.35 (11.11) 26.44 (10.73)
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LNF MEANS OVER TIME AND ACROSS GROUPS
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MEAN SCORES FOR DIBELS PHONEME SEGMENTATION
FLUENCY (PSF)
January (K) May (K) September (1st)
Cohort I (Historical Control) 8.03 (9.38) 15.42 (13.93) 21.82 (17.70)
Cohort II (Tier I and II) 5.82 (7.49) 33.09 (16.65) 31.29 (14.15)
Cohort III (Tier I only) 5.53 (6.44) 27.79 (14.79) 26.94 (12.37)
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PSF MEANS OVER TIME AND ACROSS GROUPS
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MEAN SCORES FOR DIBELS NONSENSE WORD FLUENCY
(NWF)
January (K) May (K) September (1st)
Cohort I (Historical Control) N/A 13.21 (10.66) 14.10 (10.54)
Cohort II (Tier I and II) N/A 21.14 (10.14) 19.53 (11.34)
Cohort III (Tier I only) N/A 16.15 (9.65) 16.58 (9.46)
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NWF MEANS IN MAY AND SEPTEMBER ACROSS GROUPS
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SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
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STUDY 2

• How do we know how much supplemental instruction
  (Tier II) is required for second grade students
  to respond to intervention?

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STUDY 2 (contd)

• Second-grade students were assigned to
  supplemental reading instruction in group size of
  13
• Duration of their reading instruction varied
  based on students response to treatment

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DURATION OF INSTRUCTION AND RESPONSE TO TREATMENT

• This research study was designed to determine
• the number of students at-risk for reading
  problems who would not meet exit criteria after
  each 10-week segment of supplemental reading
  instruction,
• the extent to which students who were provided
  intervention and responded positively (released
  from supplemental treatment) would thrive
  without supplemental instruction in the general
  education classroom, and
• the expected amount of supplemental intervention
  needed to distinguish response groups.

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PARTICIPANTS

• Forty-five 2nd-grade students (25 females, 20
  males) were identified as at-risk for reading
  disabilities using a two-tiered identification
  process.
• Nominated by teachers in the lowest percentile of
  their class and having reading difficulties.
• Failed 2nd grade TPRI screen.

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CRITERIA FOR EXIT FROM THE INTERVENTION WERE
ESTABLISHED A PRIORI AS

• obtaining a passing score on the screening
  portion of the TPRI
• median-score performance on the TORF above 55
  CWPM on a second-grade level passage, with fewer
  than five errors and
• a score of 50 CWPM on second-grade fluency
  progress monitoring measures for at least three
  consecutive weeks.
• Students unable to meet these criteria were
  reassigned to groups of three and continued
  receiving supplemental instruction for 10 more
  weeks.

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HOW WAS THE TUTORING CONDUCTED?

• Intervention provided by 4 trained, experienced
  tutors.
• Students were tutored in groups of 3.
• Instruction was 35 minutes every day
• Instruction was supplemental to core-reading
  instruction.
• Eight intervention validity checks were provided
  on each tutor.

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HOW MANY STRUGGLING READERS EXITED AT EACH OF THE
THREE TESTING PERIODS?
early exit (10 weeks) ? n 10 6 boys, 4
girls
9 Hispanic/Latino
and 1 African-American
mid-term exit (20 weeks) ? n 14 5 boys,
9 girls 10 Hispanic/Latino, 2 African
American, 2 White
late exit (30 weeks) ? n 10 5 boys, 5
girls 9 Hispanic/Latino, 1 White
no exit (never met criteria) ? n 11 4 boys,
7 girls 7 Hispanic/Latino, 1 African American,
3 White
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WHAT NUMBER OF STUDENTS WHO MET EXIT CRITERIA
AFTER 10 AND 20 WEEKS OF SUPPLEMENTAL READING
INSTRUCTION CONTINUED TO MEET CRITERIA?

• 23 of 24 students who met exit criteria after 10
  and 20 weeks continued to make gains without
  supplemental reading instruction.
• All of the students who exited after 10 weeks of
  supplemental reading continued to make gains.

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HOW MANY OF THE STUDENTS WHO MET EXIT CRITERIA
AFTER 10 AND 20 WEEKS OF SUPPLEMENTAL READING
INSTRUCTION MADE MINIMAL PROGRESS IN THE
CLASSROOM-- DEFINED AS AVERAGING 1 CORRECT WORD
PER WEEK ON THE TORF?

• Early Exit All continued to make progress for
  the next 10 weeks for the subsequent 10 weeks,
  only 7 of the 10 continued to make progress
• Mid Exit Only 9 of 15 continued to make progress
  for the next 10 weeks.

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MEANS FOR TORF FLUENCY
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AUSTINS AND EDUARDOS PROGRESS ON THE 2ND GRADE
PASSAGES OF THE TORF OVER TIME (EXITED AFTER 10
WEEKS OF SUPPLEMENTAL INSTRUCTION)
Note Dotted vertical line is where each student
met exit criteria and supplemental reading
instruction was terminated.
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ARMANDOS AND PATRICIAS PROGRESS ON THE 2ND
GRADE PASSAGES OF THE TORF OVER TIME (EXITED
AFTER 20 WEEKS OF SUPPLEMENTAL INSTRUCTION)
Note Dotted vertical line is where each student
met exit criteria and supplemental reading
instruction was terminated.
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COMPARISON BETWEEN TWO STUDENTS WHO FAILED TO
THRIVE IN THE CLASROOM AND THOSE WHO THRIVED
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GENERAL FINDINGS

• More girls than boys were identified as not
  meeting exit criteria, 4 boys 7 girls.
• 23 out of 24 students maintained or improved
  fluency scores after exit.
• However, only 16 of 24 met criteria for
  thriving without intervention (thrive 1 word
  or greater per week in fluency).
• All 4 groups made greatest gains in fluency the
  1st 10 weeks.

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LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY AND EXIT
Spanish
English
66.1
82.3
Early
87.4
76
Mid
88.3
68.6
Late
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HOW DID STUDENTS DO BY GENDER?

• Exited after 10 weeks
• - 6 males 4 females
• Exited after 20 weeks
• - 5 males 9 females
• Exited after 30 weeks
• - 5 males 5 females
• Did not meet exit criteria
• - 4 males 7 females

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SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

• All English language learners (ELL) met exit
  criteria during the intervention
• 75 (n 9) of ELLs continued to thrive without
  supplemental instruction
• 54 (n 6) of the males continued to thrive
• 85 (n 11) of the females continued to thrive
• Students who did not meet exit criteria were
  distinct from the other 3 groups who eventually
  met exit criteria on pretest scores of
• Rapid Automatic Naming (RAN)
• Fluency
• Comprehension

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SUMMARY OF FINDINGS (CONTD)

• Most students identified early as at-risk for
  reading problems (2nd grade and younger) should
  be provided with at least 20 weeks of
  intervention prior to determining they are
  inadequate responders.
• Core reading instruction (Tier I) may influence
  the amount of intervention for Tier II required.
• For students who have highly effective Tier I
  instruction, less Tier II may be required before
  determining low response.
• For students who have little or no effective Tier
  I instruction, greater amounts of Tier II may be
  required before determining low response.