1. What principles relating to learning disabilities and the use of RTI to identify them were established by the Office of Special Education Programs in 2001? In August of 2001, the Office of Special Education Programs brought together leading researchers to make a consensus on identifying learning disabilities and the use of RTI. The team concluded that learning disabilities are a valid construct and span the lifetime of the identified …show more content…
What are the benefits of progress monitoring? How am I currently using progress monitoring in my classroom? As described by the text, “Progress monitoring involves frequent and ongoing measurement of student knowledge and skills and the examination of student data to evaluate instruction”, (Sharon Vaughn, 2015, p. 54). The benefits of progress monitoring is that it allows for all stakeholders to determine the rate of growth students are achieving. Progress monitoring also provides key information into whether or not the intervention strategies are proving to be effective and if additional intervention is needed. The textbook list several other benefits to progress monitoring, such as, “Improved accountability. Better communication about student progress with family and other professionals. Higher expectations for low-achieving students. Fewer special education referrals”, (Sharon Vaughn, 2015, p. 55). I currently use to types of progress monitoring programs in my Kindergarten classroom. One program is a universal screening program, DIBELS that provides feedback on student knowledge and progress throughout the school year. Currently, using the DIBELS program, we screen our students three times a year to check for student progress and achievement. I also use a teacher generated progress monitoring program that checks for student progress every two weeks. I record the data from the progress monitoring onto graphs that provide a visual of the students’ progress. I …show more content…
What are the benefits you’ve noticed from universal screening? The textbook describes universal screening as an essential component for the RTI Tier I level. The textbook gives this description for the universal screening process. “This process involves administering a brief test to all students to determine who is likely to be at risk for academic difficulties”, (Sharon Vaughn, 2015, p. 54). The first benefit that I have observed from the universal screening of students, is just that, the screening of ALL students. Prior to using the RTI method, I believe that many students lost the opportunity for early interventions and strategies. Another benefit of universal screening that I have observed, is that the screening is a research based screening, and the screening is administered by the classroom teacher. Although the screening process does add more to the classroom teacher’s “plate”, I believe that it is vital that the screening is done by the classroom teacher, rather than an unfamiliar person. On numerous occasions I have observed students, especially young children that did not do as well on screenings and tests, simply because the child was unfamiliar with the administrator of the