Implementing Response to Intervention: Challenges of Diversity and System Change in a High-Stakes Environment

2016 ◽  
Vol 118 (5) ◽  
pp. 1-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy Cavendish ◽  
Beth Harry ◽  
Ana Maria Menda ◽  
Anabel Espinosa ◽  
Margarette Mahotiere
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Response To Intervention ◽  
Urban Schools ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Implementation Process ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Grounded Theory Research ◽  
Change Factors ◽  
Rti Implementation

Background The Response to Intervention (RTI) approach involves the use of a dynamic model built around the systematic documentation of students’ response to research-based instructional interventions. Although there has been widespread implementation of RTI models for early intervention and in some cases, as a means to identify students with learning disabilities (LD), little has been published on teacher implementation of RTI in naturalistic school settings. Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine the RTI implementation process in two culturally diverse, urban schools. The authors describe the process of large-scale RTI implementation through the lens of Systems Change Theory. Research Design This study of RTI in a naturalistic setting used grounded theory research methods to provide an in-depth description and qualitative analysis of challenges and successes experienced by RTI teams and teachers in schools required by state mandate to implement RTI. Data collection included semi-structured interviews and observations with 30 participants in two urban schools. Transcripts of interviews and field notes of direct observations were analyzed inductively through a four-tiered interpretive coding process that moved from the most concrete to more abstract levels of interpretation. Conclusions The present study highlights challenges related to changes in procedures for monitoring student responsiveness in an RTI system used for special education identification. The emergence of themes from observation and interview data revealed how professional development gaps, school personnel's assumptions about culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) learners and families, and external pressures from district and state accountability systems affected RTI implementation across two schools. Our observations revealed confusion over the components for practice in RTI as well as a lack of understanding related to the purpose of RTI to potentially improve outcomes and reduce referrals to special education for CLD youth. The issues that emerged as barriers to implementation serve to identify the systemic change factors needed to support large-scale RTI implementation.

scholarly journals Leadership assumptions on implementation of patient involvement methods

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathrine Håland Jeppesen ◽  
Kirsten Frederiksen ◽  
Marianne Johansson Joergensen ◽  
Kirsten Beedholm
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Organizational Learning ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Patient Involvement ◽  
Hospital Setting ◽  
Implementation Process ◽  
University Hospital ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Implementation Processes

Abstract Background From 2014 to 17, a large-scale project, ‘The User-involving Hospital’, was implemented at a Danish university hospital. Research highlights leadership as crucial for the outcome of change processes in general and for implementation processes in particular. According to the theory on organizational learning by Agyris and Schön, successful change requires organizational learning. Argyris and Schön consider that the assumptions of involved participants play an important role in organizational learning and processes. The purpose was to explore leaders’ assumptions concerning implementation of patient involvement methods in a hospital setting. Methods Qualitative explorative interview study with the six top leaders in the implementation project. The semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed in accordance with Kvale and Brinkmanns’ seven stages of interview research. Result The main leadership assumptions on what is needed in the implementation process are in line with the perceived elements in organizational learning according to the theory of Argyris and Schön. Hence, they argued that implementation of patient involvement requires a culture change among health care professionals. Two aspects on how to obtain success in the implementation process were identified based on leadership assumptions: “The health care professionals’ roles in the implementation process” and “The leaders’ own roles in the implementation process”. Conclusion The top leaders considered implementation of patient involvement a change process that necessitates a change in culture with health care professionals as crucial actors. Furthermore, the top leaders considered themselves important facilitators of this implementation process.

When the Achievement Gap Becomes High Stakes for Special Education Teachers: Facing a Dilemma with Integrity

2017 ◽  
Vol 119 (9) ◽  
pp. 1-39
Author(s):  
Heinrich Mintrop ◽  
Robin Zane
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
No Child Left Behind ◽  
Achievement Gap ◽  
Standardized Testing ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Special Education Teachers ◽  
Wide Spectrum ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Accountability System

Context A fundamental assumption behind a high stakes accountability system is that standardized testing, proficiency goal setting for demographic student subgroups, and sanctions would motivate teachers to focus on students whose performance had heretofore lagged. Students with disabilities became one such subgroup under the No Child Left Behind system. Special education teachers faced a novel pressure: to radically narrow the achievement gap between their students with disabilities towards proficiency or incur sanctions and corrective action for their schools and districts. Purpose The study uses the concept of “integrity” to analyze public service workers’ agency in situations of strain or crisis. Integrity consists of four overlapping domains of judgment: obligations of office, personal integrity, client needs, and prudence. Research Design The study is an in-depth multiple case study of seven teachers; 21 structured interviews, and 17 observations, augmented by a number of informal contact that included invitations to observe teacher meetings and conversations with school administrators. Findings The study found that the special education teachers faced a true dilemma. Teachers adopted contradictory solutions — some embraced the new demands, some rejected them. Both seemed equally untenable. The study reveals salient dimensions of this dilemma: how teachers related to the external moral obligation to equalize, what they chose to ‘see’ when they viewed the achievement gap; how they explained, or explained away, their agency in narrowing the gap; how they strategized and muddled through with instructional maneuvers to make the gap go away; and what they regarded, and guarded, as fields of professional responsibility and autonomous decision making. Implications What kind of accountability system would enable a collective dialogue among special education teachers in which high expectations, keen diagnosis, instructional expertise, internal responsibility for individualized learning gains, openness to external challenge, and attention to results would be the poles of the discussion? At the core, such an accountability system would validate the professionalism of the most expert teachers and avoid activating their defensiveness and demoralization. It would guard against middling expectations by making the performance of a wide spectrum of high and low performing schools or special education departments transparent. It would stay away from high pressure attached to unrealistic goals in order to discourage teachers from developing blind spots about their students, or acting with mere compliance and expediency. It would motivate a dynamic of student-centered continuous improvement in reference to a common standard, but also to low-stakes metrics that may guide iterative improvement.

scholarly journals Response to Intervention (RTI) and Changes in Special Education Categorization

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-71
Author(s):  
Kasandra Raben ◽  
Justin Brogan ◽  
Mardis Dunham ◽  
Susana Bloomdahl
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
School District ◽  
Response To Intervention ◽  
School Districts ◽  
The United States ◽  
Similar Proportion ◽  
Special Education Eligibility ◽  
Special Education Referral ◽  
Treatment Providers ◽  
Rti Implementation

Response to intervention (RTI) is used as a prerequisite to referring children for special education eligibility for learning disabilities (LD). RTI provides schools with a framework for helping students with learning challenges. In the United States, while the number of students receiving services through RTI has remained consistent, the overall number of students receiving some educational intervention through an alternate path has increased. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence that the RTI model had upon eligibility numbers in a large special education co-operative spanning 21 rural school districts in southern Illinois that represented 15,128 students. Each of the school districts maintained its own policies and procedures governing RTI implementation, special education referral, and special education eligibility. The study revealed that while the number of students with LD dropped significantly over the past decade, the numbers of children eligible for other disability categories increased in a similar proportion. This changing trend may be the result of several factors including changes in school district policy, parent advocates pressing for quicker paths to treatment, treatment providers shifting categories for a wide variety of reasons, or some yet unknown factor. These possible explanations suggest that family issues, time, finances, and procedural dynamics may play a role in the changing categorizations and should be better understood. Future studies should focus on the inclusion of more culturally and economically diverse students, within and outside the Unites States. Last, school district policies and RTI implementation procedures should be investigated to better uncover any potential relationship to this shifting data trend.

scholarly journals Special Education Leadership and the Implementation of Response to Intervention

2020 ◽  
pp. 121-142
Author(s):  
Derek Cooley ◽  
Elizabeth Whitten
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Response To Intervention ◽  
General Education ◽  
Procedural Knowledge ◽  
Special Education Administrators ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Special Education Leadership ◽  
Idea 2004 ◽  
Effective Leaders ◽  
Education Administrators

Special education administrators provide leadership to guide the identification of learners with exceptionalities and ensure that staff working with special education students delivers instructional best practice. In order to execute these responsibilities, special education administrators must be effective leaders who collaborate with a variety of stakeholder including. Contrary to their general education counterparts, special education administrators must possess a specific body of procedural knowledge to identify low-performing groups of students. These procedures are often referred to Response to Intervention (RTI) or Multi-Tier Systems of Support (MTSS). Under IDEA (2004), students with and without disabilities can benefit from the same system of interventions and supports. This intersection has necessitated coordination of RTI models by both general and special education administrators. Special education and general education leaders will be challenged to blend models of leadership to address the high-stakes environment in our K-12 schools.

scholarly journals Special Education Leadership and the Implementation of Response to Intervention

2017 ◽  
pp. 265-286
Author(s):  
Derek Cooley ◽  
Elizabeth Whitten
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Response To Intervention ◽  
General Education ◽  
Procedural Knowledge ◽  
Special Education Administrators ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Special Education Leadership ◽  
Idea 2004 ◽  
Effective Leaders ◽  
Education Administrators

Special education administrators provide leadership to guide the identification of learners with exceptionalities and ensure that staff working with special education students delivers instructional best practice. In order to execute these responsibilities, special education administrators must be effective leaders who collaborate with a variety of stakeholder including. Contrary to their general education counterparts, special education administrators must possess a specific body of procedural knowledge to identify low-performing groups of students. These procedures are often referred to Response to Intervention (RTI) or Multi-Tier Systems of Support (MTSS). Under IDEA (2004), students with and without disabilities can benefit from the same system of interventions and supports. This intersection has necessitated coordination of RTI models by both general and special education administrators. Special education and general education leaders will be challenged to blend models of leadership to address the high-stakes environment in our K-12 schools.

An Empty Seat at the Table: Examining General and Special Education Teacher Collaboration in Response to Intervention

2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-126
Author(s):  
Joyce Gomez-Najarro
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Response To Intervention ◽  
General Education ◽  
Teacher Collaboration ◽  
Large Population ◽  
Diverse Learners ◽  
Rti Implementation ◽  
Context Specific ◽  
K 12 ◽  
The Way

Response to Intervention (RTI) may create an opportunity for equitable approaches to special education evaluation, in part, through collaboration among general and special education teachers, who can combine their areas of expertise to better understand how to serve students’ unique academic needs, particularly in underresourced schools serving diverse learners. Historically ineffective attempts to improve collaboration between general and special education, however, may pose challenges to effective RTI implementation. In this study, the author uses Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) to examine how RTI implementation and the intersection of other context-specific conditions impact the way general and special educators work together at one public elementary school serving a large population of diverse learners. Findings indicate that, outside of referral meetings, RTI implementation was primarily a general education endeavor. The results hold implications for the way teacher education programs prepare general and special candidates to foster collaborative approaches to RTI in unique K-12 contexts.

Response to Intervention and Current Implementation

2008 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 116-121
Author(s):  
Janet L. Proly
Keyword(s):  
Response To Intervention ◽  
Federal Regulations ◽  
Speech Language Pathologist ◽  
Current Implementation ◽  
Rti Implementation ◽  
Level Of Understanding

Abstract Response to Intervention (RTI) implementation is becoming more widespread due to the references of RTI components in the Federal Regulations. But everyone is not at the same level of understanding about RTI and its implementation. This article will answer several questions. What is RTI? Why are we hearing more and more about RTI? How are states implementing RTI components? How can the speech-language pathologist help in RTI implementation in the presence or absence of a specific RTI infrastructure? How is Florida Proceeding with RTI implementation? Are there any new resources available for principals and other educators who might want to learn more about RTI?

Corporate Social Responsibility Implementation - Lessons from Uganda

10.33117/512 ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-69
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Stakeholder Involvement ◽  
Implementation Process ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Implementation Success ◽  
Success Model ◽  
Strategic Csr ◽  
Corporate Social

Purpose: This paper presents aspects of a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Implementation Success Model to guide CSR engagements. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative case methodology is used to investigate two CSR companies in Uganda. Semi-structured interviews with managers and stakeholders are conducted. Data triangulation includes reviewing CSR reports and documents, and visiting communities and CSR activities/projects mentioned in the case companies’ reports. Grounded theory guides the data analysis and aggregation. Findings: The findings culminate into a “CSR Implementation Success Model. ” Key aspects of CSR implementation success are identified as: (i) involvement of stakeholders and management (i.e., co-production) at the start and during every stage of CSR implementation; (ii) management of challenges and conflicts arising within/outside of the company itself; and (iii) feedback management or performance assessment—i.e., accountability via CSR communications and reporting. Stakeholder involvement and feedback management (accountability) are pivotal, though all three must be considered equally. Research limitations: The studied companies were large and well-established mature companies, so it is unclear whether newer companies and small and medium-sized enterprises would produce similar findings. Practical implications: Successful CSR implementation starts with a common but strategic understanding of what CSR means to the company. However, CSR implementation should (i) yield benefits that are tangible, and (ii) have a sustainable development impact because these two aspects form implementation benchmarks. Additionally, top management should be involved in CSR implementation, but with clear reasons and means. Originality/value: This paper unearths a CSR Implementation Success Model that amplifies views of “creating shared value” for sustainable development. It guides organizations towards strategic CSR, as opposed to the responsive CSR (returning profits to society) that largely dominates in developing countries. Additionally, it explains how to add value to the resource envelope lubricating the entire CSR implementation process

The Integration of ERM and Strategy: Implications for Corporate Governance

2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 69-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Therese R. Viscelli ◽  
Dana R. Hermanson ◽  
Mark S. Beasley
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Boards Of Directors ◽  
Implementation Process ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Executive Management ◽  
Strategic Direction ◽  
Strategic Value ◽  
Enterprise Risk ◽  
Leadership Structure ◽  
Risk Oversight

SYNOPSIS Since the early 2000s, expectations have increased for organizations to strengthen corporate governance with enterprise risk management (ERM) processes, with the accounting profession playing a major role in these efforts. The ultimate goal of an effective ERM process is to help boards and senior executives to manage risks in the context of strategy so that the organization is more likely to achieve its key objectives. We conduct semi-structured interviews of 15 ERM champions to provide insights about whether the ERM process is integrated with the strategic-planning and execution processes of the firm. We find that while the decision to launch ERM often is based on a desire for ERM to provide strategic value, the integration of ERM with strategy typically is limited. We then examine the ERM implementation process to identify possible ERM implementation practices limiting ERM's integration with strategy. We find that organizations' (1) culture and approach to preparing for ERM's launch, (2) ERM leadership structure, and (3) management of key risks appear to limit the intersection of ERM and strategy. Our summary of key findings highlights important considerations for boards of directors, executive management, and auditors as they assess the effectiveness of their risk oversight efforts in overseeing the strategic direction of the enterprise.

scholarly journals Regulation EU 2017/745 on medical devices – implementation analysis in Portugal by the distributors

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
H Vilaça
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Medical Devices ◽  
Stakeholder Involvement ◽  
Implementation Process ◽  
Regulatory Framework ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Public Health Action ◽  
Study Implementation ◽  
Implementation Analysis

Abstract The Regulation responds to legislation failures in the European regulatory framework on medical devices (MD), which in turn led to public health issues. Two media scandals triggered the final actions on the elaboration of this EU Regulation, which was already being thought off in a context of fast MD development, and on the commitment of member-states to harmonize legislation in order to better manage resources. This Regulation is expected to address detected gaps, and contribute to the protection of European citizens' health by ensuring high quality and safety of MD, through advocating for more transparency, vigilance, and traceability. A technique to evaluate policies is the implementation analysis, as it links theory and practice. By understanding it, it is possible to ascertain if, in fact, the Regulation will contribute, as proposed, to improve public health. The implementation analysis framework I developed can be used in other countries affected by this Regulation, and may even be extrapolated to other scenarios. Entry into force 25/05/17.Full application 05/20. This qualitative study uses document analysis and semi-structured interviews to collect data, and literature review to frame the situation and to study implementation analysis. The questions are: identify the facilitators and resistance points of the implementation; explore perceptions of the Portuguese MD distributors; understand the policy implementation pathway; and have a picture of the implementation status in Portugal. The results can be summarized as: implementers are interested in complying with the Regulation; there is stakeholder involvement in policy making and throughout the implementation process; the main points of resistance, difficulties and the facilitators are identified; and the Regulation is being implemented according to the timelines. The public health action brought by the policy is that each economic operator is an active actor on vigilance and patient safety across MD lifecycle. Key messages If we are interested in the extent to which a particular polity is able to solve the problems with which it is confronted, we need to study the way in which the law is executed in practice. Focus on the effective implementation of the new regulatory framework on medical devices to protect patients and ensure it addresses new and emerging challenges.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document