Abstract
The purpose of this chapter is to describe tier 3 reading interventions used for primary grade students (in kindergarten through third grade). Within multi-tier response-to-intervention systems, tier 3 is reserved for the very few students with the most persistent reading difficulties, having demonstrated significant difficulties in learning to read even with tier 1 and tier 2 supports. As explained in greater detail, tier 3 may be a last layer of intervention in general education that serves as part of a prereferral process or it may be special education. Following the description of the conceptual framework for the chapter, and the discussion of variability in tier 3 implementation, the literature is reviewed to learn whether it is known what is necessary and sufficient to help students who are struggling to read, including students with reading or mild-to-moderate intellectual disabilities. Implications for research are discussed and directions for future research are identified.
Keywords
- Primary Grade Students
- Brief Experimental Analysis (BEAs)
- Oral Reading Fluency
- Core Reading Program
- English Language Learners (ELLs)
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.
Buying options
References
Adams, M. J., Bereiter, C., Brown, A., Campione, J., Carruthers, I., Case, R., et al. (2000). Open court reading. Columbus: SRA.
Al Otaiba, S., & Torgesen, J. (2007). Effects from intensive standardized kindergarten and first grade interventions for the prevention of reading difficulties. In S. R. Jimerson, M. K. Burns, & A. M. VanDerHeyden (Eds.), The handbook of response to intervention: The science and practice of assessment and intervention (pp. 212–222). New York: Springer.
Al Otaiba, S., Connor, C. M., Folsom, J. S., Wanzek, J., Greulich, L., Schatschneider, C., & Wagner, R. K. (2014). To wait in tier 1 or intervene immediately: A randomized experiment examining first grade response to intervention (RTI) in reading. Exceptional Children, 81 (1) 11–27. doi:10.1177/0014402914532234.
Allor, J. H., & Mathes, P. (2012). Early interventions in reading: Level K. Columbus: SRA/McGraw-Hill.
Allor, J. H., Mathes, P., Roberts, J. K., Cheatham, J. P., & Champlin, T. M. (2010a). Comprehensive reading instruction for students with intellectual disabilities: Finding from the first three years of a longitudinal study. Psychology in the Schools, 47, 445–466.
Allor, J. H., Mathes, P., Roberts, J. K., Jones, F., & Champlin, T. (2010b). Teaching students with moderate intellectual disabilities to read: An Experimental examination of a comprehensive reading intervention. Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities, 45, 3–22.
Allor, J. H., Champlin, T. M., Gifford, D. B., & Mathes, P. G. (2010c). Methods for increasing the intensity of reading instruction for students with intellectual disabilities. Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities, 45, 500–511.
Allor, J. H., Mathes, P., Roberts, K., Cheatham, J. P., & Al Otaiba, S. (2014). Is scientifically-based reading instruction effective for students with Below-Average IQs? Exceptional Children, 80, 289–308. doi:10.1177/0014402914522208.
Berkeley, S., Bender, W. N., Peaster, L., & Saunders, L. (2009). Implementation of response to intervention: A snapshot of progress. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 42, 85–95.
Browder, D. M., Wakeman, S. Y., Spooner, F., Ahlgrim-Delzell, L., & Algozzine, B. (2006). Research on reading instruction for individuals with significant cognitive disabilities. Exceptional Children, 72, 392–408.
Brown, A. L., Palincsar, A. S., & Purcell, L. (1986). The school achievement of minority children: New perspectives (pp. 105–143). Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers. (Poor readers: Teach, don’t label).
Burns, M. K., & Wagner, D. (2008). Determining an effective intervention within a brief experimental analysis for reading: A meta-analytic review. School Psychology Review, 37, 126–136.
Burns, M. K., Appleton, J. J., & Stehouwer, J. D. (2005). Meta-analytic review of responsiveness-to-intervention research: Examining field-based and research-implemented models. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 23, 381–394.
Compton, D. L., Fuchs, D., Fuchs, L. S., Bouton, B., Gilbert, J. K., Barquero, L. A., Cho, E., & Crouch, R. C. (2010). Selecting at-risk first-grade readers for early intervention: Eliminating false positives and exploring the promise of a two-stage gated screening process. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102, 327–340.
Compton, D. L., Gilbert, J. K., Jenkins, J. R., Fuchs, D., Fuchs, L. S., Cho, E., Barquero, L. A., & Bouton, B. (2012). Accelerating chronically unresponsive children to tier 3 instruction: What level of data is necessary to ensure selection accuracy? Journal of Learning Disabilities, 45, 204–216.
Daggett, W. R. (2012). Achieving reading proficiency for all. http://www.leadered.com/pdf/Reading%20White%20Paper.pdf. Accessed 1 March 2015.
Daly, E. J., III, & Martens, B. K. (1994). A comparison of three interventions for increasing oral reading performance: Application of the instructional hierarchy. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 27, 459–469.
Daly, E. J., III, Witt, J. C., Martens, B. K., & Dool, E. J. (1997). A model for conducting a functional analysis of academic performance problems. School Psychology Review, 26, 554–574.
Daly, E. J., III, Martens, B. K., Dool, E. J., & Hintze, J. M. (1998). Using brief functional analysis to select interventions for oral reading. Journal of Behavioral Education, 8, 203–218.
Daly, E. J., III, Martens, B. K., Hamler, K. R., Dool, E. J., & Eckert, T. L. (1999). A brief experimental analysis for identifying instructional components needed to improve oral reading fluency. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 32, 83–94.
Daly, E. J., III, Andersen, M., Gortmaker, V., & Turner, A. (2006). Using experimental analysis to identify reading fluency interventions: Connecting the dots. The Behavior Analyst, 7(1), 133–150.
Deno, S. L., & Mirkin, P. K. (1977). Data-based program modification: A manual. Reston: Council for Exceptional Children.
Denton, C. A. (2012). Response to Intervention for reading difficulties in the primary grades: Some answers and lingering questions. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 45, 232–243.
Denton, C. A., Fletcher, J. M., Anthony, J. L., & Frances, D. J. (2006). An evaluation of intensive intervention for students with persistent reading difficulties. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 39, 447–466.
Eckert, T. L., Ardoin, S. P., Daly, E. J., III, & Martens, B. K. (2002). Improving oral reading fluency: a brief experimental analysis of combining an antecedent intervention with consequences. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 35, 271–281.
Engelmann, S., & Bruner, E. C. (1995). Reading mastery I I/I fast cycle. Worthington, DC: SRA Macmillan/McGraw-Hill.
Francis, D. J., Shaywitz, S. E., Stuebing, K. K., Shaywitz, B. A., & Fletcher, J. M. (1996). Developmental lag versus deficit models of reading disability: A longitudinal, individual growth curves analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 88, 3–17.
Fuchs, L. S., & Fuchs, D. (1986). Linking assessment to instructional intervention: An overview. School Psychology Review, 15, 318–323.
Fuchs, L. S., & Vaughn, S. (2012). Responsiveness-to-intervention: A decade later. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 45, 195–203.
Fuchs, D., Compton, D. L., Fuchs, L. S., Hamlett, C. L., & Lambert, W. (in press). First-grade cognitive abilities as long-term predictors of reading comprehension and disability status. Journal of Learning Disabilities.
Fuchs, D., Mock, D., Morgan, P. L., & Young, C. L. (2003). Responsiveness-to-intervention: definitions, evidence, and implications for the learning disabilities construct. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 18, 157–171.
Fuchs, D., Fuchs, L. S., & Compton, D. L. (2004). Identifying reading disabilities by responsiveness to instruction: Specifying measures and criteria. Learning Disability Quarterly, 27, 216–228.
Fuchs, D., Fuchs, L. S., & Stecker, P. M. (2010). The “blurring” of special education in a new continuum of general education placements and services. Exceptional Children, 76, 301–323.
Fuchs, D., Fuchs, L. S., & Compton, D. L. (2012). Smart RTI: A next-generation approach to multilevel prevention. Exceptional Children, 78, 263–279.
Gersten, R., Compton, D., Connor, C. M., Dimino, J., Santoro, L., Linan-Thompson, S., & Tilly, W. D. (2008). Assisting students struggling with reading: Response to intervention and multi-tier intervention in the primary grades. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.
Gough, P. B., & Tunmer, W. E. (1986). Decoding, reading, and reading disability. Remedial and Special Education, 7, 6–10.
Harn, B. A., Chard, D. J., Biancarosa, G., & Kame’enui, E. J. (2011). Coordinating instructional supports to accelerate at-risk first-grade readers’ performance. Elementary School Journal, 112, 332–355.
Hoover, J. J., Eppolito, A., Klingner, J. K., & Baca, L. (2012). Collaborative decision-making in multicultural contexts. In J. B. Crockett, B. S. Billingsley, & M. L. Boscardin (Eds.), Handbook of leadership and administration for special education (pp. 191–208). New York: Routledge.
Ihnot, C., Mastoff, J., Gavin, J., & Hendrickson, L. (2001). Read naturally. St. Paul: Read Naturally.
Jenkins, J. R., Schiller, E., Blackorby, J., Kalb Thayer, S., & Tilly, W. D. (2013). Response to intervention in reading: architecture and practices. Learning Disabilities Quarterly, 36(1), 36–46.
Jimerson, S. R., Burns, M. K., & VanDerHeyden, A. M. (2007). Handbook of response to intervention: The science and practice of assessment and intervention. New York: Springer.
Johnston, J. M., & Pennypacker, H. S. (1993). Readings for strategies and tactics of behavioral research (2nd ed.). Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Klingner, J. K., & Harry, B. (2006). The special education referral and decision-making process for english language learners: Child study team meetings and placement conferences. Teachers College Record, 108, 2247–2281.
Lemons, C. J., & Fuchs, D. (2010). Modeling response to reading intervention in children with down syndrome: An examination of predictors of differential growth. Reading Research Quarterly, 45, 134–168.
Lentz, F. E., Jr. (1988). Effective reading interventions in the regular classroom. In J. L. Graden, J. E. Zins, & M L. Curtis (Eds.), Alternative educational delivery systems: Enhancing instructional options for all students (pp. 351–370). Washington, DC: National Association of School Psychologists.
Lonigan, C. J., & Shanahan, T. (2009). Developing early literacy: Report of the national early literacy panel. executive summary. A scientific synthesis of early literacy development and implications for intervention. Washington, DC: National Institute for Literacy.
Maslen, B. L., & Maslen, J. R. (1987). The Bob books. West Linn: Bob Books Publications.
Mathes, P. G., & Torgesen, J. K. (2005). Early interventions in reading, Level 1. Columbus: SRA/McGraw-Hill.
Mathes, P. G., Denton, C. A., Fletcher, J. M., Anthony, J. L., Francis, D. J., & Schatschneider, C. (2005). The effects of theoretically different instruction and student characteristics on the skills of struggling readers. Reading Research Quarterly, 40, 148–182.
McGuiness, C., McGuiness, D., & McGuiness, G. (1996). Phono-Graphix: A new method for remediating reading difficulties. Annals of Dyslexia, 46, 73–96.
Mellard, D. F., McKnight, M., & Woods, K. (2009). Response to intervention screening and progress-monitoring practices in 41 local schools. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 24, 186–195.
Mellard, D., McKnight, M., & Jordan, J. (2010). RtI tier structures and instructional intensity. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 25, 217–225.
Noell, G. H., Gansle, K. A., Witt, J. C., Whitmarsh, E. L., Freeland, J. T., LaFleur, L. H., et al. (1998). Effects of contingent reward and instruction on oral reading performance at differing levels of passage difficulty. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 31, 659–663.
Noell, G. H., Freeland, J. T., Witt, J. C., & Gansle, K. A. (2001). Using brief assessments to identify effective interventions for individual students. Journal of School Psychology, 39, 335–355.
National Reading Panel. (2000). Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction. http://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/nrp/smallbook.htm. Accessed 1 March 2015.
O’Connor, R. E., Harty, K. R., & Fulmer, D. (2005). Tiers of intervention in kindergarten through third grade. [RtI]. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 38, 532–538.
Orosco, M., & Klingner, J. (2010). One school’s implementation of RTI with English language learners: ‘Referring into RTI.’ Journal of Learning Disabilities, 43, 269–288.
Petursdottir, A., McMaster, K., McComas, J. J., Bradfield, T., Braganza, V., Koch-McDonald, J., Rodriguez, R., & Scharf, H. (2009). Brief experimental analysis of early reading interventions. Journal of School Psychology, 47, 215–243.
Share, D. L., & Stanovich, K. E. (1995). Cognitive processes in early reading development: Accommodating individual differences into a model of acquisition. Issues in Education, 1, 1–57.
Sidman, M. (1960). Tactics of scientific research: Evaluating experimental data in psychology. New York: Basic Books.
Snow, C. E. (2002). Reading for understanding: Toward an R & D program for comprehension. Santa Monica: RAND.
Snow, C. E., Burns, S. M., & Griffin, P. (1998). Preventing reading difficulties in young children. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
SRA/McGraw-Hill. (1998). Phonics mini books. Columbus: SRA/McGraw-Hill.
SRI International. (2002). Special education elementary longitudinal study (SEELS) [Data tables and reports]. http://www.seels.net/grindex.html. Accessed 1 March 2015.
Swanson, H. L., Hoskyn, M., & Lee, C. (1999). Interventions for students with learning disabilities: A meta-analysis of treatment outcomes. New York: Guilford Press.
Texas Education Agency. (1998). Texas primary reading inventory (TPRI). Austin: Author.
Torgesen, J. K. (2005). Recent discoveries on remedial interventions for children with dyslexia. Malden: Blackwell.
Torgesen, J. K., & Burgess, S. R. (1998). Consistency of reading-related phonological processes throughout early childhood: Evidence from longitudinal-correlational and instructional studies. In J. Metsala & L. Ehri (Eds.), Word recognition in beginning reading (pp. 161–188). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
Torgesen, J. K., Wagner, R., & Rashotte, C. A. (1999). Test of word reading efficiency. Austin: PRO-ED.
Torgesen, J. K., Alexander, A. W., Wagner, R. K., Rashotte, C. A., Voeller, K. S., & Conway, T. (2001). Intensive remedial instruction for children with severe reading disabilities: Immediate and long-term outcomes from two instructional approaches. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 34, 33–58.
VanDerHeyden, A. M., Witt, J. C., & Gilbertson, D. (2007). A multi-year evaluation of the effects of a response to intervention (RTI) model on identification of children for special education. Journal of School Psychology, 45, 225–256.
Vaughn, S., Linan-Thompson, S., & Hickman, P. (2003). Response to instruction as a means of identifying students with reading/learning disabilities. Exceptional Children, 69, 391–409.
Vaughn, S., Wanzek, J., Linan-Thompson, S., & Murray, C. S. (2007). Monitoring response to supplemental services for students at risk for reading difficulties: High and low responders. In S. R. Jimerson, M. K. Burns, & A. M. VanDerHeyden (Eds.), Handbook of response to intervention: The science and practice of assessment and intervention (pp. 234–243). New York: Springer.
Vaughn, S., Linan-Thompson, S., Woodruff, T., Murray, C., Wanzek, J., Scammaca, N., et al. (2008). Effects of professional development on improving at-risk students’ performance in reading. In C. R. Greenwood, R. R. Kratochwill, & M. Clements (Eds.), Schoolwide prevention models: Lessons learned in elementary schools (pp. 115–142). New York: Guilford Press.
Vaughn, S., Wanzek, J., Murray, C. S., Scammacca, N., Linan-Thompson, S., & Woodruff, A. L. (2009). Response to early reading intervention: Examining higher and lower responders. Exceptional Children, 75, 165–183.
Vellutino, F. R., Scanlon, D. M., Small, S. G., & Fanuele, D. P. (2006). Response to Intervention as a vehicle for distinguishing between reading disabled and non-reading disabled children: Evidence for the role of kindergarten and first grade intervention. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 39, 157–169.
Wanzek, J., & Vaughn, S. (2007). Research-based implications from extensive early reading interventions. School Psychology Review, 36, 541–561.
Wanzek, J., & Vaughn, S. (2008). Response to varying amounts of time in reading intervention for students demonstrating insufficient response to intervention. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 41, 126–142.
Wanzek, J., & Vaughn, S. (2010). Tier 3 interventions for students with significant reading problems. Theory into Practice, 49, 305–314.
Wanzek, J., & Vaughn, S. (2011). Is a three-tier reading intervention model associated with reduced placement in special education? Remedial and Special Education, 32, 167–175.
Wei, X., Blackorby, J., & Schiller, E. (2011). Growth in reading achievement of students with disabilities, ages 7 to 17. Exceptional Children, 78, 89–106.
Werts, M., Lambert, M., & Carpenter, E. (2009). What special education directors say about RTI. Learning Disability Quarterly, 32, 245–254.
Whitehurst, G. J., & Lonigan, C. J. (1998). Child development and emergent literacy. Child Development, 69, 848–872.
Wiederholt, J. L., & Bryant, D. R. (2002). Gray oral reading test (4th ed.). Austin: PRO-ED.
Wigfield, A., & Guthrie, J. T. (1997). Relations of children’s motivation for reading to the amount and breadth of their reading. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89, 420–432.
Witt, J. C., Daly, E. M., & Noell, G. (2000). Functional assessments: A step by step guide to solving academic and behavior problems. Longmont: Sopris West.
Zirkel, P. A., & Thomas, L. B. (2010). State laws and guidelines for implementing RTI. Teaching Exceptional Children, 43(1), 60–73.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Al Otaiba, S., Allor, J., Ortiz, M., Greulich, L., Wanzek, J., Torgesen, J. (2016). Tier 3 Primary Grade Reading Interventions: Can We Distinguish Necessary from Sufficient?. In: Jimerson, S., Burns, M., VanDerHeyden, A. (eds) Handbook of Response to Intervention. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7568-3_23
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7568-3_23
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-7567-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-7568-3
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)