The use of Evidence-based Practices (EBPs) in schools is heavily emphasized in educational research and policy; however, many teachers do not use EBPs for reading instruction and intervention. Previous research on the limited use of EBPs in classrooms has primarily focused on teacher characteristics, such as their attitudes or beliefs toward these…

Literacy researchers have found that using evidence-based intervention strategies with students receiving response to intervention Tier 2 services impacted the support they receive. The problem was that researchers had not examined how elementary reading intervention teachers decided how to use effective evidence-based, culturally responsive…

Millions of children in the United States struggle with reading acquisition, many of whom are identified with developmental dyslexia (DD). Although experimental research indicates that evidence-based reading interventions can bring many of these children to average-range reading skills, such promising outcomes are not commonly achieved within K-12…

Implementation of Tier 2 or supplemental reading intervention for students who struggle with reading in elementary schools is a nearly universal practice in the United States. Resources exist for assisting schools with selecting evidence-based interventions. However, there are many more explicit and implicit decisions that schools make when…

Due to the need of the closing the vocabulary gap between struggling and non-struggling readers, many school districts across the nation are faced with the extensive growing rate of students, falling behind their grade level peers. To meet this goal, administrators and teachers seek word study strategies to incorporate in their small group…

For students with persistent reading difficulties, research suggests one of the most effective ways to intensify interventions is to individualize instruction through use of performance data--a process known as data-based decision making (DBDM). This article reports a synthesis and meta-analysis of studies of reading interventions containing DBDM…

Effective teachers use assessment data to make instructional decisions. One of the most informative techniques to assess young learners' reading progress in the primary grades is the running record. Running records provide concrete evidence of students' skills, reading levels, strategies, and progress as readers. The data gathered help teachers…

The National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER) supports research that contributes to the identification of effective strategies for improving the performance of current teachers and other instructional personnel, and related services providers in ways that increase student learning and achievement, social and behavioral skills, and…

This dissertation is developed around two studies created with the goal of describing and quantifying current educators' knowledge and perceptions of reading assessment and subsequent data-based instructional decision making. Unique to the field, a critical component of this study is an emphasis on educators' development of "data…

The purpose of this problem-based study was to gather data which analyzed the degree of fidelity of implementation of Response to Intervention as reported by building principals in the State of Missouri. The project began when team members, providing professional development for the Response to Intervention process, came to the conclusion there…

School district leaders are faced with numerous decisions in the administration of America's schools. One crucial decision that must be made is the selection of elementary reading or math curricular materials. The curricular materials purchased for classroom use are often influential in determining instructional practices and often guide the…

The second edition of this essential handbook provides a comprehensive, updated overview of the science that informs best practices for the implementation of response to intervention (RTI) processes within Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) to facilitate the academic success of all students. The volume includes insights from leading scholars…