By Denyse Doerries, Ph.D., and Louise Smith, M.S.
February/March 2005
The No Child Left Behind legislation (NCLB) and the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) both focus on
the quality of the instruction students receive in the general education
classroom. As mentioned in the previous article, the response-to-intervention
model suggested by IDEIA is intended to change the identification
process, placing it within the context of the student receiving
evidenced-based instructional strategies in the general education
classroom. The literature suggests that in order to address the
diverse needs of students, a tiered system of interventions that
can modify the type and intensity of instruction is needed (Kovaleski,
2003; Vaughn, 2003).
Tiers of intervention refer to the layering of instruction over
time in response to a student’s learning needs. Such a system
has the flexibility of being able to catch students early and intervene
before they fall behind (Vaughan, 2003). A number of researchers
suggest a three- tier model. Typically, in a three-tier model, Tier
1 provides research-based strategies in the general education classroom;
Tier 2 provides more intensive, small-group interventions of up
to 20 weeks; and Tier 3 provides more intensive long-term interventions
(Kovaleski, 2003).
Another approach to providing a continuum of instructional services
is the Strategic Instruction Model (SIM) Content Literacy Continuum
(CLC) developed by the University of Kansas Center for Research
on Learning. This model proposes five levels of a schoolwide literacy
program to address the needs of students. The greater the students’
needs, the more levels of intervention are used. The following describes
the five levels of intervention on the Content Literacy Continuum.
Level 1 addresses all literary levels through
teacher-focused instructional practices known as Content Enhancement
Routines. General education content is organized and presented to
students through strategically designed advanced organizers that
increase students’ ability to organize, understand, remember,
and apply critical content.
Level 2 includes Learning Strategy instruction
within the general education curriculum. Student-focused, Learning
Strategy instruction teaches students skills and strategies to help
them interact and make connections with the general education curriculum
across content areas.
Level 3 addresses the needs of those students
who have difficulty generalizing the Learning Strategy instruction
across the content areas by providing small group, intense direct
instruction, modeling, and practice of Learning Strategies for 15–20
minutes daily delivered by support personnel. This short-term direct
instruction approach may look like after-school programming, direct
small group instruction within the general education classroom,
or pull-out instruction.
Level 4 addresses the needs of those students
who lack fundamental reading skills by providing intensive, diagnostic
reading instruction delivered by a reading specialist, special education
teacher, or a speech/language pathologist. This form of prescriptive
reading instruction is usually delivered in a group of 3–5
students in a resource setting.
Level 5 incorporates metacognitive and/or metalinguistic
clinical instruction for students with diagnosed learning or language
disorders. Special educators and speech/language pathologists are
responsible for this intensive, one-on-one strategy instruction
necessary for acquisition of fundamental reading skills. (The University
of Kansas Center for Research on Learning, 2004)
As school administrators consider ways to meet the challenges of
NCLB and IDEIA, they will have to consider research-based models
that can help create the continuum of services necessary to improve
the academic outcomes for both general and special education students.
References
Kovaleski, J.F. (2003, December). The three tier model for identifying
learning disabilities: Critical program features and system issues.
Paper presented at the National Research Center on Learning Disabilities
Responsiveness-to-Intervention Symposium, Kansas City, MO.
The University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning Institute
for Effective Instruction. Strategic instructional model. Retrieved
December 8, 2004, from http://www.ku-crl.org/iei/sim/clc.html.
Vaughn, S. (2003). 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.
