RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION FOCUS OF ISU BLUMBERG CENTER'S OCT. 11 AUDIO CONFERENCE
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Between the pending Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) reauthorization and the initiation of the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), the line between general education and special education is getting fuzzy. But, this educational evolution could be the impetus for change in how support and services are delivered to students who need them, according to Leah Nellis, director of Indiana State Universityıs Blumberg Center for Interdisciplinary Studies in Special Education.
"Response-to-Intervention (RTI) is seen as one way to provide preventative or intervention services to students early in their education in an attempt to support academic growth while also diminishing the potential impact of various learning difficulties," said Nellis, explaining that some pilot RTI sites exist in Indiana. "Benefits of RTI include earlier services, attention to progress over time, and hopefully an increased usage of scientifically-based interventions."
While some are looking to RTI as a possible alternative method for identifying learning disabled students, others see it as a means of improving instruction and overall results for all children. Despite which view you hold, the new IDEA reauthorization language not only allows RTI, but encourages it. As a result, its visibility may only continue to increase over the next several months and years.
In response to this heightened awareness, ISU's Blumberg Center is hosting an audio conference Oct. 11 entitled, "Understanding RTI (Response to Intervention): What it is and why it works," sponsored by LRP Publications.
Joseph Witt, professor emeritus at Louisiana State University and author of numerous papers and books on student assessment and intervention, will be the key presenter for the audio conference. Witt has devoted the last decade to researching, developing and training school personnel on the STEEP process (System to Enhance Educational Performance), a research-based RTI model used in many states.
The 90-minute presentation will address a variety of topics, including, essential elements of RTI, in plain language; critical components of a research-based RTI process; how to determine whether student learning problems are related to core curriculum or potential learning disabilities; and how RTI benefits general education through early detection and remediation, among other topics.
For more information about the conference, contact the Blumberg Center at (812) 237-2830.
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Contact: Leah Nellis, director, Blumberg Center for Interdisciplinary Studies in Special Education, (812) 237-2830 or lnellis@isugw.indstate.edu
Writer: Maria Greninger, associate director, Communications & Marketing, Indiana State University, (812) 237-4357 or m-greninger@indstate.edu
ISU Communications and Marketing: (812) 237-3773 or http://www.indstate.edu/news
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