Supporting Effective Interventions within Response to Intervention & Multi-tiered Systems of Support

The purpose of this presentation will be to describe ways to support effective interventions from both a school systems and classroom level. Response to intervention approaches focus specifically on academics, such as reading, whereas Multi-tiered systems of support are broader and include supports not only for academics, but for behavior and social emotional learning. There are several shared core components for RTI and MTSS including evidence-based core instruction, universal screening for risk, evidence-based interventions that increase in intensity, and more frequent formative progress monitoring. At the school level, it is important that data-based decision making has consistent procedures for identifying risk, that explicit and systematic core reading and intervention programs are available, that teachers receive professional development and coaching to support their use of data to guide instruction within their classrooms.
Learning Objectives
• Understand the similarities and differences between RTI and MTSS
• Learn what effect size is and what it tells you about an intervention
• Gain knowledge about MTSS research and features of evidence-informed interventions to understand how implementation contributes to a larger effect size
• Understand considerations for determining if an intervention is effective
• Understand how resilience factors impact reading outcomes for at-risk students
• Discover available resources which promote more effective intervention implementation
Dr. Stephanie Al Otaiba
Stephanie Al Otaiba is the Patsy and Ray Caldwell Centennial Chair in Teaching and Learning at Southern Methodist University. She is also a Faculty Affiliate of the Florida Center for Reading Research, where she previously taught at Florida State University. She received her doctorate in special education from Vanderbilt University. A former special education teacher, her research focuses on early literacy interventions for students with or at-risk for disabilities, response to intervention (RTI), multi-tiered systems of support, and teacher training. She is the author or coauthor of over 140 journal articles and book chapters. She is the editor of the Journal of Learning Disabilities, serves on review boards for many journals in education and psychology, and was an Associate Editor for Education Researcher and Elementary School Journal. She serves on the Board of Directors for the International Dyslexia Association.