(http://www.rainbowreaders.com/carols-research/reading-buddy-program)
A Child’s Response to Intervention Requires a Responsive Teacher of Reading by Mary K. Lose details the importance and requirements for successful Response to Intervention, or RTI, programs. These programs are designed to give early intervention to students who are struggling with reading, before they are labelled as having learning disabilities. It sounds like a great way to catch and take care of a problem early on, before it becomes a more serious problem. While it does sound very proactive, Lose explains how important it is to tackle an RTI program correctly.
To me three main points stand out from Lose's argument. The first point is that RTI programs need to work with children very early on to be the most effective. Young students, usually those around first grade, are the best for the program. If the reading difficulty is caught early it can be taken care of much easier. The second point that stood out to me was student individuality. Lose gives considerable evidence to how important it is to craft RTI programs for individual students. All students are different and learn differently, meaning that a one-size-fits-all approach will not work in dealing with struggling readers, especially those at which the RTI programs are aimed. The third point that stood out to me in the reading is the need for the best and most qualified teachers in RTI programs. Lose explains the need for training and educating teachers so that they can work better with their students, and learn better strategies for identifying and helping struggling readers.
From my experience with children I have never really been around any struggling readers young enough for the RTI approach explained in this article, so it is a little foreign to me. I have worked with older struggling readers however and I do see some parallels, especially for the need of individually crafted plans and highly skilled teachers.
Have you ever had experience with a young struggling reader who would benefit from an individually crafted plan to help him or her? Do you see any ways in which a one-size-fits-all approach would work just as well?
I worked in an after school program at a charter school in Nashville in high school in which I would go tutor a young man each week. He showed marked improvement with the plan that we had in place for him. I don't think we will ever have a total one size fits all approach that will be that effective. Each student is different and will need different things.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I think that children are so vastly different in so many ways, including learning styles, that it is so hard for all children to fall under ONE realm. This is why guided reading groups are a good idea, it allows for children of different levels to help each other.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it is possible to have a one-size-fits-all plan for struggling students. I think each student who struggles to read is unique and requires a unique program to help them. Although I have never personally worked with a struggling student I can see how beneficial it would be to have an experienced teacher there to help them and to develop a unique strategy to help the student!
ReplyDeleteAlong with the others, I don't think a one-size fits all plan could be very effective. I have learned a lot about RTI recently in my SPED class and I love it. I love that that it is implemented early so that it is not a wait to fail model. I also love the students are assessed regularly so teachers may monitor the progress and students can come back down a tier if they are reaching their goals and making progress. I love that each tier provides more specialized instruction for students so they may succeed. I think if implemented consistently in schools then it is very effective!
ReplyDeleteI worked with a third grader who needed an individual plan. The student was part of the lowest reading level guided reading group but he was still at a significantly lower level than the other students. I talked about the issue with the teacher and she said that unfortunately it was difficult to devote that much time to the one student. I think in cases like these there should definitely be intervention programs in addition to regular school hours. The students and teachers would benefit from these programs.
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