Running head: TIE TWO INTERVENTION LITERATURE REVIEW

Tier Two Intervention Literature Review Daniel R. Conn University of Northern Colorado

TIER TWO INTERVENTION LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstract This collection of current research articles focuses on tier two interventions. Tier two interventions are intended to both identify learning disabilities as well as provide support for students considered at risk of falling behind their peers in school, both behaviorally and academically. As indicated in several of these selected articles, tier two intervention is a work in progress but offers profound potential to the education process. Several of the authors of these articles, particularly Sharon Vaughn, continue to develop their own opinions of tier two interventions as more research and evidence is presented. This selection of articles also offers varying opinions of programs, like Reading Recovery, with regard to its effectiveness as an intervention. These articles include some international perspective on tiered intervention systems, especially from Australia. Additionally, the selected articles cover a variety of ages including preschool, elementary, secondary and even older adults. These selections offer insight as to how tier two intervention has been used can be used to improve learning for all students.

TIER TWO INTERVENTION LITERATURE REVIEW

Anderson, C. & Campbell, A. (2008). Enhancing effects of Check-in/Check-out with function based support. Behavioral Disorders , 233-245. This article includes a qualitative look at two students with the Check-In/Check-Out tier two behavioral interventions for two students in rural Oregon. The authors come from the University of Oregon and used thorough related literature, which brought context to their research. The intended audience probably includes Positive Behavior Support and/or Response to Intervention teams. This article particularly provides insight regarding tier two intervention in rural settings. Barth, A., Cirino, P.T., Denton, C., Fletcher, J.M., Francis, D.J., Romain, M.,...& Wexler, J. (2010). Response to Intervention for middle school students with reading difficulties: effects of a primary and secondary intervention. School Psychology Review , 3-21. This is a quantitative article regarding the effects of tier two literacy intervention at the secondary level, 6th-12th grade. The article concludes that outcomes were 0.89 in favor of treatment students over comparison students. Several of these authors appear in other articles within this selection of literature. Sharon Vaughn, a Regents Chair in Human Development at the University of Texas, Austin, is cited in throughout the selected articles. This article offers a promising hypotheses regarding effective ways to remediate this population. This article also compliments some of the findings detailed by Lynn S. Fuchs and her colleagues work in " Rethinking Response to Intervention at the middle and high school". Bishop, J., Filice, H.G., & Reeves, S. (2010). Response to Intervention (RtI) and tier systems: questions remain as educators make challenging decisions. Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin , 30-35. This article summarizes some national questions regarding Response to Intervention and other tiered systems. The authors, professors at the University of Southern Mississippi, have backgrounds in literacy

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and special education. The article was most likely written for school policy makers. Although the depth of research in this article is the broadest of any in this bibliography, the general statements and understanding of RtI from a national perspective provides context to its current role in American education. Borsuk, C., & Vest, B. (2002). Reaching higher: secondary interventions. Leadership , 17-18. This qualitative article examines an intervention for students, particularly gifted and talented, that appear unmotivated or intellectually stagnant in high school. The article recommends these students to a program in which they take college classes for dual credit. One of the authors works as a coordinator through Middle College High School and the San Berardino City Unified School District. The audience of this article could include gifted and talented coordinators or teams, parents, school districts, and community colleges. This article fits into this collection because it offers an intervention strategy for capable students that lack motivation in school. It also examines an intervention strategy for advanced students, which broadens the scope of tier two intervention. Briggs, C., Hobsbaum, A., Schwartz, R.M., & Scull, J. (2009). Reading Recovery and evidenced-based practice: a response to Reynolds and Wheldall (2007). International Journal of Disability: Development and Education , 5-15. This qualitative article responds to criticism presented in the article "The devil is in the detail regarding the efficacy of Reading Recovery: a rejoiner to Schwartz, Hobsbaum, Briggs, and Scull". The article suggests that properly resourcing and funding Reading Recovery programs are the key to its success. These authors represent the Reading Department at the School of Education at Oakland University, the Department of Early Childhood and Primary Education of London (U.K.), and the reading department at the College of Professional Education (Denton, Texas), and the Melbourne Graduate School of Education (Victoria, Australia). The audience of this article could include members of the academic community as

TIER TWO INTERVENTION LITERATURE REVIEW well as Reading Recovery advocates and critics. This article was included in this bibliography because it responded directly to criticism in another article of this section. This article adds context to the debate regarding the value of a Reading Recovery program as a form of intervention. Bryant, B.R., Bryant, D.P., Chavez, M.M., Gersten, R.M., & Scammacca, N.N. (2008). Mathematics intevention for first- and second-grade students with mathmatics difficulties. Remedial and Special Education , 20-32. This quantitative article shows the progress of 126 students that receive 15 minutes of booster lessons over the course of 18 weeks in early mathematics skills and concepts. The authors represent the University of Texas as well a research group in Long Beach, California, and their backgrounds include: special education lecturer, director of a private educational research institute, research associate,

assistant principal, and director of special education. The research in this article was supported through a grant from the Texas Education Agency, and their audience includes schools in search of improving mathematical learning at the elementary level. This article shows both significant growth through tier two interventions at the second grade level and non-significant growth at the first grade level. This article also models fidelity considerations in quantitative research. Bryant, J., Compton, D.L., Davis, G.N., Fuchs, D., & Fuchs, L.S. (2007). Making "secondary intervention" work in a three-tier responsivenes-to-intervention model: findings from the first-grade longitudinal reading study of the National Research Center on Learning Disabilities. Reading and Writing , 413-436. This article attempts to qualify data collected by the National Research Center on Learning Disabilities from two large-scale, field-based, longitudinal, and experimental RtI studies. It focuses only on the data related to literacy, which came from a three year study. The article attempts to answer three questions: Who should participate in RtI? What instruction should be conducted to decrease the prevalence of

TIER TWO INTERVENTION LITERATURE REVIEW reading disabilities? How should responsiveness and non-responsiveness be defined? The authors represent Vanderbilt University, and the both Lynn S. and Donald Fuchs appear in other articles within

this bibliography. The Fuchs' are professors of special education and human development. The audience could include education policy makers, school officials, and Response to Intervention teams. This article offers a national perspective regarding the function of Response to Intervention. Bryant, B.R., Bryant, D.P., Funk, C., Gersten, R.M., Pool, C., Scammacca, N.N., Shih, M.,... & Winter, A. (2008). The effects of tier 2 Intevention On the mathmatics performance or first-grade students who are at risk for mathmatics difficulties. Learning Disability Quarterly , 47-63. This quantitative article measures the effects of progress monitoring for 161 first grade students that received 20-minute booster lessons in mathematics in number and operation skills over the course of 23 weeks. The authors all represent the University of Texas or an independent research group, and the majority of these authors also contributed to another article in this bibliography. The audience could include Response to Intervention teams as well as elementary school math teachers. This article showed evidence of quantitative gains at the first grade level through booster lessons. The previous article in this collection does not find significant gains for first grade students through booster lessons, so variables such as time and skills taught can be contrasted between the two articles. Bustamante-Avellaneda, V., Echenique, M., Eisdorfer, C., Illa, L., Mendez-Mulet, L., Metsch, L.,... & Sanchez-Martinez, M. (2010). Project roadmap: reeducating older adults in maintaining AIDS prevention: a secondary intervention for older HIV-positive adults. AIDS Education and Prevention , 138-147. This is a quantitative article about a tiered two prevention program for older adults living with HIV/AIDS. 300 participants were studied over the course of 12 months. These adults were given tier two education and assessed to see if their sexual patterns were affected from this education. The authors

TIER TWO INTERVENTION LITERATURE REVIEW include faculty from the Univeristy of Miami, Nova Southeastern University, College of Osteopathic

Medicine (Ft. Lauderdale), and Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida. This article would be useful to people in the medical field as well as adult education programs. Although this article may appear out of context with regard to the other cited articles, it offers evidence regarding the use of tier two intervention in adult education. Cheney, D., Flower, A., Hawken, L., Iwaszuk, W., Lynass, L., Mielenz, C., & Waugh, M. (2010). The Check, Connect, and Expect Program: a targeted, tier 2 intervention in a schoolwide Positive Behavior Support model. Preventing School Failure , 152-158. This article examines the Check, Connect, and Expect Program effects for 18 different urban schools over a two year period and concludes this type of intervention can reduce problematic behavior, reduce referral rates to special education, and enhance students' social behavior. The authors include a special education director, a professor from the University of Texas, doctoral students from the University of Washington, and a professor from the University of Utah. The audience could include Positive Behavior Support teams and school systems, particularly urban, in search or systemic behavioral support programs. This article shows examples of using a large sample size over a two year span. Ciancio, D., & Foorman, B.R. (2005). Screening for secondary intervention: concept and context. Journal of Learning Disabilities , 494-499. This quantitative article echoes some concerns regarding accuracy results of early literacy screening. The authors include a professor of pediatrics and director of the Center for Academic and Reading Skills at the University of Texas-Houston Medical Center. Both medical and educational academic communities could benefit from the information found in this article. This article adds a medical perspective to the RtI process and offers analytical voice to the research in this bibliography.

TIER TWO INTERVENTION LITERATURE REVIEW Compton, D.L. (2006). How should "unresponsiveness" to secondary intervention be operationalized? . Journal of Learning Disabilities , 170-173. The qualitative article examines how unresponsiveness to secondary intervention should be

operationalized in an RtI approach to identifying students with learning disabilities. The article suggests that intevntion is often a matter of providing a "nudge" for struggling students. The author appears in several articles throughout this selection, and he is an assistant professor of special education at Peabody College, Vanderbilt University. The audience of this article could include: special education directors, curriculum directors, school administrators, and school policy makers. This article speaks directly to the questions regarding the identification process within Response to Intervention, which compliments some of the articles in this bibliograpy-the final step on the RtI process. Compton, D.L., Fuchs, D., & Fuchs, L.S. (2010). Rethinking Response to Intervention at the middle and high school . School Psychology, Review , 22-28. This article discusses the difficult current situation 6th-12th grade Response to Intervention faces. The article offers recommendations regarding a different approach to secondary tier two interventions, such as less extensive initial screening. The authors have all been involved in different articles in this bibliography. They are also professors of special education at Vanderbilt University. The intended audience could include secondary schools and Response to Intervention teams. This article mentions work by another author in this selection, Sharon Vaugh, and offers solutions to residual issues presented in secondary education tier two intervention. Estraviz, L., & Lukin, C. (2010) The relationship between severe oral language impairment and progress with reading intervention. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy , 126-133.

TIER TWO INTERVENTION LITERATURE REVIEW This qualitative article examines the effects of severe receptive language impairment with regard to reading intervention. The authors represent the Department of Education and Training, in Queensland, Australia. The intended audience could include Response to Invention teams and special education directors. This article points out that within the realm of students that need intevention, physical

characterists, such as hearing impairment, can affect intervention outcomes. Thus, not all students that need intervention have the same needs nor learning capabilities. Fulmer, D., Harty, K.R., & O'Connor, R.E. (2005). Tiers of intervention through third grade. Journal of Learning Disabilities , 532-538. This article is a quantitative comparison of the reading achievement among third grade children who were identified "at risk" in kindergarten. Students that received tiered intervention in decoding, word identification, fluency, and reading comprehension showed moderate to large differences in growth when compared with the control group. The authors include a professor of special education from the University of California at Riverside, an assistant professor in special education at St. Vincent College in Pennsylvania, and a research associate at the University of Pittsburgh. The audience of this article could include Title I teachers, school administrators, curriculum directors, and special education teachers. This article modeled how graphs can be used to highlight key information, particularly with a large sample size of a long span of time. This article also provided a thorough list of related literature regarding tiered intervention. Gray, S., Harmon, M.T., & Koutsoftas, A.D. (2009). The effect of tier 2 intervention for phonemic awareness in low response-to-intervention model in low-income preschool classrooms. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools , 116-130. This article assessed the effectiveness of tier two intervention designed to increase phonemic awareness for low-income preschoolers, and the research concluded the intervention was successful for 71% of the

TIER TWO INTERVENTION LITERATURE REVIEW 10 students studied. The authors all represent Arizona State University. The audience could include preschool directors, BOCES personnel, and Reading First Classrooms. This article provided statistical insight regarding quantitative data as well as graph and organizational modeling. The article also included some interesting appendixes for intervention scripts and probes. Kerins, M.R., Trotter, D., & Schoenbrodt, L. (2010). Effects of a tier 2 intervention on literacy measures: lessons learned. Child Language Teaching and Therapy , 287-302. This article compares the outcomes of two groups of first grade students identified as having below average reading abilities and/or poor phonemic awareness through classroom-based and standard assessments. Although one group received explicit instruction in these deficits on a regular basis and the other group did not, there were no significant differences regarding growth between the two groups. The authors represent Loyola University and Charles County Public Schools. The audience could include school policy makers as well as school administrators. This article offers data contrary to the majority of articles in this bibliography, which is tier two interventions did not help induce academic gains. Lu, L.Y. (2010). Phonics and semiotics for early intervention. International Educational Studies , 17-26. This qualitative article details the experiences of three at-risk first grade students with Clay's Reading Recovery. The article notes a "break through the bottle neck" success in literacy for these students, particularly in the form of engagement. The author represents Valdosta State University. This article appears to be written for an international audience, as evidenced by the name of the publication, International Education Studies, and the author's use of termonology. This article records esentail converations with the tier group and inlcudes expamples of the students' work.

TIER TWO INTERVENTION LITERATURE REVIEW 11 Madelaine, A., Reynolds, M., & Wheldall, K. (2009). The devil is in the detail regarding the efficacy of Reading Recovery: a rejoiner to Schwartz, Hobsbaum, Briggs, and Scull. International Journal of Disability, Development Education , 17-35. This qualitative article provides comment on issues raised in a previous article about the effectiveness of Reading Recovery by Schwartz, Hobsbaum, Briggs, and Scull (2009). The authors represent Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The intended audience could include school policy makers, Reading Recovery schools, Reading Recovery advocates, and Reading Recovery critics. Not only does this article provide international flavor to this collection articles, it also provides an intellectual challenge to a previous article. This article claims to use the same data set as this other article but draws far different conclusions regarding Reading Recovery. This article also challenges the conventional logic behind Reading Recovery and its results. Reschly, D. (2005). Learning disabilities identification: primary intervention, and then what? Journal of Learning Disabilities , 510-515. This qualitative article discusses the identification process of specific learning disabilities through tier one and two interventions. The article points out that teacher ratings of attention/behavior were one of the best predictors of long-term outcomes of interventions for children with learning difficulties. The author is a professor of education and psychology and Chair of the Department of Education at Peabody College, Vanderbilt University. The audience could include special educator directors, school administrators, and Response to Intervention teams. This article discusses the identification process from tier two or three to special education. The article also raises interesting questions regarding how many tiers the RtI model should use.

TIER TWO INTERVENTION LITERATURE REVIEW 12 Roberts, G., & Vaugh, S. (2007). Secondary interventions in reading: providing additional instruction for students at risk. Teaching Exceptional Children , 40-46. The qualitative article examines the role of Response to Intervention and the role of a tiered system. The article notes that as much a 30% of students will require supplemental instruction. One of authors serves as H.E. Hartfelder/Scotland Corporation Regents Chair in Human Development at the University of Texas, Austin and is cited or contributes to several articles in this selection. This article seems directly written for school administrators. This article offers broad conclusions based on a wide range of research, and it applies this research to the roles administrators could take with regard to RtI. Smetana, L. (2010). A view from the middle tier: looking closely at tier 2 intervention. The California Reader , 15-24. This is a qualitative article about teachers in a graduate program and how they see the Response to Intevention process, particularly tier two intervention. The author is an associate professor in the educational philosophy department at California State University, East Bay. The audience appears to include teachers or school officials confused about tier two intervention. This article adds a philosophic as well as a teacher attitude perspective to the literature list. Speece, D. (2005). Hitting the moving target known as reading development: some thoughts on screening children for secondary interventions. Journal of Learning Disabilities , 487-493. This article inlcudes a study of an intervention screening process of 679 first graders. The thesis, "attention to growth may net more accurate screening results than have been apparent in the long history of early identification research", is expanded through the data to conclude a measure of children's growth may add an important dimension to the screening equation. The author is a professor of special education at the University of Maryland and has conducted prior research of children with

TIER TWO INTERVENTION LITERATURE REVIEW 13 learning disabilities. The audience of this article could include special education directors, Response to Intervention teams, and school assessment coordinators. This article offers insight to the screening process and indicates a formative decision making value to the RtI. Vaughn, S., & Wanzek, J. (2008). Response to varying amounts of time in reading intervention for students with low response to intervention. Journal of Learning Disabilities , 126-142. This quantitative article concludes, at least in this study, that intensity of tier two interventions plays a bigger role, in terms of learning achievement, than doubling the amount of time in intervention. The authors of this article include an assistant professor of special education at Florida State University and the H.E. Hartfelder/Scotland Corporation Regents Chair in Human Development at the University of Texas, Austin. The audience of this article could include Response to Intervention teams, special education directors, curriculum directors, and school administrators. This article distinguishes intensity of intervention as a contributing factor in growth.

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