Research question(s): Since I have not worked with RtI before this year, nor know much about it, I would like to study how the use of technology might affect student intervention outcomes. This year is our school's first year in the implementation of RtI, so we have had much training in the implementation process (administering probes, etc) but very little training and/or experience with regard to the actual interventions.
Setting: There are two elementary schools located in this particular community. One of the elementary schools houses grades pk-2. Our school houses grades 3-5. Our school consists of (8) third grade classes, (7) fourth grade classes, and (7) fifth grade classes. The school building itself is quite large due to the fact that our building at one time housed a high school, so we are not yet busting at the seams. However, plans are in the works to add two new classrooms, by reconfiguring an old auditorium within the school in anticipation of a growing population. Because our school is rural, its student population is mainly caucasian. Of our AYP subgroups, the black and EC subgroups are the most notable. Our school has a relatively large EC subgroup, compared to other schools. Our hispanic population is relatively low. Most of the adults in our community are skilled laborers, depending on industries that have or soon will be closing their doors. Most have at least a high school diploma, but many adults in the community did not graduate from high school nor have a GED. There is a small, but growing number of adults who are college educated. I suspect they have moved to the community from the large city east of our community.
Participants: For my project, I plan to interview and work with 5 or 6 students, who have previously been identified for RtI from their previous EOG scores as working below grade level in reading and math. I have been working with this group of students in a small group setting 2-3 days per weeks since November, 2008. This group of students consists of 4 boys and 2 girls. All 4 boys and one girl are working below grade level in both reading and math. One girl works on grade level in reading, but not in math. The students had been making good progress before Christmas, as their grades had risen to around 80% from the high 60's to low 70's. After Christmas, it seems that progress has flattened out as grade averages have fallen 2-10 points. I am currently considering moving some of these students to Tier 2, which means I am required to implement more intensive interventions. I feel that the use of technology could possibly be a solution to both the implementation and the increasing time required for management of the interventions and results.
Comments (9)
What is Rtl? You might want to identify this in your question as Stringer suggests. I am not familiar with that terminology being from a different program.
Posted by Heather Greene | January 31, 2009 11:05 PM
Posted on January 31, 2009 23:05
I am not sure what Rtl is either, apparently something aimed at below level students. Your topic sounds good and it will be interesting to see if you moving them to level 2 and using more intensive interventions and including technology causes them to increase their efforts or to fall even further. Good luck.
Posted by Craig Cavender | February 1, 2009 7:56 AM
Posted on February 1, 2009 07:56
Like Heather and Craig, I'm not too clear on what Rtl is (or a lot of your other terminology, but it probably doesn't help that I'm not a teacher), so you may want to find a way to re-word your research question to eliminate some jargon for your proposal.
Regardless, I think your research is going to prove very useful for your school (and others, maybe!). With new technologies and methods, it's often hard to predict what results they will actually bring about. Since your school is so new to Rtl, I think it will probably be easier to analyze how it affects outcomes. It's also good to assess its usefulness early so that your school will know if Rtl implementation is worthwhile.
Posted by Tara Smith | February 1, 2009 7:49 PM
Posted on February 1, 2009 19:49
I agree that you may have to reword your question, or include some more description of the program. I do think that the more research you are able to do on the program the better, this program surely has research to support it or your school would never have used it. The interesting thing will be to see how your research on your own school compares to the information that was presented to help "sell" the program. Do you see a similar increase in performance with a corresponding use of the technology. Hopefully the program will prove to be worth the time, money and effort invested by your school.
Posted by Jeff Kitchen | February 1, 2009 8:49 PM
Posted on February 1, 2009 20:49
Sorry guys -
RtI stands for Response to Intervention. RtI has actually been around for decades, just not around here. There are a few elementary schools in Gaston County that are now using this model. RtI is another model that schools can use to determine eligibility for EC services, besides the discrepancy model. There are four tiers,and students progress through the tiers when they do not show adequate progression within a tier. When a student doesn't make adequate progress through the first three tiers, the fourth tier is EC. So theoretically, a student can be placed in EC without the usual testing, but they may still be tested.
Part of the RtI process is universal testing. Students were tested several years ago to determine some norms for the universal screening. Universal screening is the process of conducting brief screenings of all students within the entire school. This helps teachers determine, besides EOG scores and grades, students who need interventions. They can screened in all areas of reading, and math. Teachers also have premade probes that are short assessments to determine if students are making adequate progress. There is still mounds of paperwork, for anyone who has ever referred a student for services, and parent contact every 3 weeks is necessary. Also, teachers are expected to document progression or lack of progression by graphing results. So that is the nuts and bolts of it. With the group I have been working with since November, I began seeing improvements using the interventions in the classroom. I was able to document some of their grades increasing to around 80%, then after Christmas most of them began to slide back to about 76-78%. I am increasingly concerned about this. So I would like to explore the possibility that technology can help students progress.
Posted by Barbara Cloninger | February 1, 2009 10:46 PM
Posted on February 1, 2009 22:46
After having reread the material, I have decided to word my research question this way: How does technology affect student intervention outcomes?
Posted by Barbara Cloninger | February 3, 2009 11:08 PM
Posted on February 3, 2009 23:08
I like the rewording of you research question.
Also, the description of your setting is very good. I expect you'll go into a bit more detail about the participants later.
Finally, I agree with your colleagues that you'll need to spend time in your proposal and final report describing some of the language. Thanks for clarifying RtI. You'll need to describe the tiers also. Are you using previous RtI research to shape your literature review?
Posted by Alecia Jackson | February 4, 2009 11:06 AM
Posted on February 4, 2009 11:06
Hey, i know, How technology affects RtI outcomes (RES 5040: Teacher as Researcher (spring 09)) can be better than this? I can't stop reading about How technology affects RtI outcomes (RES 5040: Teacher as Researcher (spring 09)).
Posted by RTL gemist | October 6, 2011 3:35 AM
Posted on October 6, 2011 03:35
Bargain jiffy bags are very popular envelopes for postal in addition to courier shipments. cheap bag.
Posted by gerardgomez1214 | October 10, 2011 10:52 PM
Posted on October 10, 2011 22:52