Teacher Education and Special Education: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children, 2017
Recent national efforts (e.g., National Center for Intensive Intervention; intensiveintervention.... more Recent national efforts (e.g., National Center for Intensive Intervention; intensiveintervention.org) have aimed to improve teachers' individualization of instruction. These efforts have focused primarily on reading and math, with much less attention on writing. Yet, learning to write is critical to students' literacy development (Biancarosa & Snow, 2004; Graham & Hebert, 2010), their overall academic performance in school (Shanahan, 2004), and their future postsecondary and employment opportunities (Graham & Perin, 2007). Students with disabilities are particularly at risk for writing failure; for example, in the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), only 5% of eighth graders with learning disabilities (LD) reached proficiency in writing; 60% were below basic levels (National Center for Education Statistics, 2012). Furthermore, these statistics have not improved since the 2007 NAEP results. To address students' writing development needs, particularly for those who experience significant difficulties, teachers require knowledge, skills, and tools for effective writing instruction and intervention. Yet, there is little evidence that teachers are prepared to deliver effective writing instruction. In a national survey of elementary teachers, more than half cited their teacher education programs as poor to merely adequate in preparing 730112T ESXXX10.
Given the significant literature supporting the use of curriculum-based measurement (CBM) for dat... more Given the significant literature supporting the use of curriculum-based measurement (CBM) for data-based decision making, it is critical that teacher candidates learn about it prior to student teaching and entry into the field as full-time teachers. The authors of this study used a content acquisition podcast (CAP), a multimedia-based instructional tool, to deliver information regarding CBM to teacher candidates. A second set of students received a practitioner-friendly text containing the same content as the CAP. Participants from three universities ( N = 270) were randomly assigned to condition and completed pretest, posttest, and maintenance probes of CBM knowledge and ability to apply skill. In addition, participants completed a measure of motivation during their instruction. Results showed that participants who learned using the CAP scored significantly higher on the knowledge and application measures and reported being more motivated during instruction than peers in the text-o...
The authors report findings from a systematic observational study of middle school educators (Gra... more The authors report findings from a systematic observational study of middle school educators (Grades 6–8) in two states who provided reading interventions within Tier 2 and Tier 3 of a Response to Intervention (RTI) framework. Intervention sessions were coded and analyzed to understand (a) the frequency and type of evidence-based strategies implemented for students with learning disabilities and reading difficulties, and (b) whether observed practices within secondary and tertiary intervention settings align with researcher recommendations regarding middle school reading instruction based on extant research. The findings indicated that more than 12% of time was devoted to logistical and non-academic activities, and evidence-based interventions including explicit instruction, cognitive strategy instruction, content enhancements, and independent practice opportunities were reported infrequently, although instructional differences across sites were demonstrated. Encouraging findings in...
The purpose of this study was to examine the use of three early numeracy measures to monitor the ... more The purpose of this study was to examine the use of three early numeracy measures to monitor the mathematics progress of students across time. One hundred and seven Kindergarten and Grade 1 students were administered Quantity Discrimination, Number Identification, and Missing Number measures once each month for 7 months. Alternate form reliability was adequate for instructional decision-making, while criterion validity coefficients comparing the early numeracy measures to teacher judgment of student proficiency in mathematics and students' performance on a district-administered standardized test were lower than those observed in previous research. We used Hierarchical Linear Modeling at each grade level to examine the technical adequacy of the three measures for modeling growth across time. All measures produced growth rates that were significant across time, for each grade level, with linear growth observed for the Number Identification measure only.
While implementation efforts using a Response to Intervention (RtI) model to increase reading ins... more While implementation efforts using a Response to Intervention (RtI) model to increase reading instruction are becoming widely used, more administrators and teachers are looking to learn effective RtI practices to support learning in mathematics. This article explores some of the key elements of RtI practices in mathematics, including screening for identification of struggling learners and progress monitoring for gauging instructional effectiveness. In addition, several of the pressing needs regarding the importance of mathematics proficiency for all students are discussed. We describe some of the similarities and differences between RtI processes in reading and mathematics. The article addresses the use of diagnostic data and details the importance of "core" instructional practices that reflect the standards included in the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics standards and Common Core Mathematics standards, among others. The article concludes with a discussion of some evidence-based interventions in mathematics, and we provide an implementation checklist to assist educators as they begin to implement RtI in mathematics.
Step 1: Divide the data points into three equal sections by drawing two vertical lines. (If the p... more Step 1: Divide the data points into three equal sections by drawing two vertical lines. (If the points divide unevenly, group them approximately.) Step 2: In the first and third sections, find the median data-point and median instructional week. Locate the place on the graph where the two values intersect and mark with an "X." Step 3: Draw a line through the two Xs, extending to the margins of the graph. This represents the trend-line or line of improvement.
, a professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning in the School of Education at the Univer... more , a professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning in the School of Education at the University of Miami, passed away on May 13 this year. In this tribute to Marjorie, we share with you her achievements and contributions to the field of special education and to the larger Requests for reprints should be sent to Asha K. Jitendra, University of Minnesota. Electronic inquiries should be sent to
Teaching mathematics to diverse learners can be a challenge. The extensive and specialized knowle... more Teaching mathematics to diverse learners can be a challenge. The extensive and specialized knowledge that special education teachers need to possess to be considered high-quality teachers is often lacking in preservice and inservice education, yet is mandated by current teacher reforms and rigorous measures of accountability. To provide direction for supporting teacher growth in these areas, this article highlights four knowledge bases that special education teachers should develop and expand upon as a way to improve their instruction for diverse learners in mathematics. Numerous resources and materials are provided to support the development of teacher expertise in content, characteristics of diverse learners, technology, and pedagogy.
This study examined the technical adequacy of vocabulary-matching curriculum-based measurement (C... more This study examined the technical adequacy of vocabulary-matching curriculum-based measurement (CBM) to identify and monitor the progress of 148 middle school students in social studies. In addition, the effectiveness of a reading comprehension intervention, Collaborative Strategic Reading (Klingner, Vaughn, Dimino, Schumm, & Bryant, 2001), was examined across 8 weeks with 15 low-achieving middle school readers who were monitored with content-area reading passages. Results indicated vocabulary-matching CBMs are valid and reliable indicators of performance in social studies. Significant differences were found for the intervention group on performance on pre to post vocabulary-matching CBM scores. Difference-in-Differences regression models were used to examine differences between groups on pre–post measures. No significant differences were found between groups in weekly change in scores or trend in performance on vocabulary-matching CBM.
The purpose of this best evidence synthesis was to identify promising interventions that align wi... more The purpose of this best evidence synthesis was to identify promising interventions that align with a theoretical model of early writing development, targeting three components of early writing: transcription, text generation, and self-regulation. We determined the extent to which these interventions are effective for children who struggle with early writing skills, by calculating effect sizes for group and single-subject designs, and we examined the overall quality of the research. Twenty-five studies met inclusion criteria. Among group design studies, mean effects (Hedge’s g) ranged from 0.19 to 1.17 for measures of writing quantity and from 0.17 to 0.85 for measures of writing quality. Percentage of all nonoverlapping data for single-subject designs ranged from 83% to 100% for measures of writing quantity. Interventions with the strongest evidence of effects and highest methodological quality are described in detail. Recommendations for research and practice are provided.
In this manuscript, we (a) briefly describe proposed open-science practices to increase transpare... more In this manuscript, we (a) briefly describe proposed open-science practices to increase transparency of research in special education and related disciplines, and (b) provide recommendations for research funders, professional societies, journal editors and publishers, and individual researchers to support awareness, exploration, and adoption of open science.
Researchers and practitioners have questioned whether scoring procedures used with curriculum-bas... more Researchers and practitioners have questioned whether scoring procedures used with curriculum-based measures of writing (CBM-W) capture growth in complexity of writing. We analyzed data from six independent samples to examine two potential scoring metrics for picture word CBM-W (PW), a sentence-level CBM task. Correct word sequences per response (CWSR) and words written per response (WWR) were compared with the current standard metric of correct word sequences (CWS). Linear regression analyses indicated that CWSR predicted scores on standardized norm-referenced criterion measures in more samples than did WWR or CWS. Future studies should explore the capacity of CWSR and WWR to show growth over time, stability, diagnostic accuracy, and utility for instructional decision making.
Teacher Education and Special Education: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children, 2017
Recent national efforts (e.g., National Center for Intensive Intervention; intensiveintervention.... more Recent national efforts (e.g., National Center for Intensive Intervention; intensiveintervention.org) have aimed to improve teachers' individualization of instruction. These efforts have focused primarily on reading and math, with much less attention on writing. Yet, learning to write is critical to students' literacy development (Biancarosa & Snow, 2004; Graham & Hebert, 2010), their overall academic performance in school (Shanahan, 2004), and their future postsecondary and employment opportunities (Graham & Perin, 2007). Students with disabilities are particularly at risk for writing failure; for example, in the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), only 5% of eighth graders with learning disabilities (LD) reached proficiency in writing; 60% were below basic levels (National Center for Education Statistics, 2012). Furthermore, these statistics have not improved since the 2007 NAEP results. To address students' writing development needs, particularly for those who experience significant difficulties, teachers require knowledge, skills, and tools for effective writing instruction and intervention. Yet, there is little evidence that teachers are prepared to deliver effective writing instruction. In a national survey of elementary teachers, more than half cited their teacher education programs as poor to merely adequate in preparing 730112T ESXXX10.
Given the significant literature supporting the use of curriculum-based measurement (CBM) for dat... more Given the significant literature supporting the use of curriculum-based measurement (CBM) for data-based decision making, it is critical that teacher candidates learn about it prior to student teaching and entry into the field as full-time teachers. The authors of this study used a content acquisition podcast (CAP), a multimedia-based instructional tool, to deliver information regarding CBM to teacher candidates. A second set of students received a practitioner-friendly text containing the same content as the CAP. Participants from three universities ( N = 270) were randomly assigned to condition and completed pretest, posttest, and maintenance probes of CBM knowledge and ability to apply skill. In addition, participants completed a measure of motivation during their instruction. Results showed that participants who learned using the CAP scored significantly higher on the knowledge and application measures and reported being more motivated during instruction than peers in the text-o...
The authors report findings from a systematic observational study of middle school educators (Gra... more The authors report findings from a systematic observational study of middle school educators (Grades 6–8) in two states who provided reading interventions within Tier 2 and Tier 3 of a Response to Intervention (RTI) framework. Intervention sessions were coded and analyzed to understand (a) the frequency and type of evidence-based strategies implemented for students with learning disabilities and reading difficulties, and (b) whether observed practices within secondary and tertiary intervention settings align with researcher recommendations regarding middle school reading instruction based on extant research. The findings indicated that more than 12% of time was devoted to logistical and non-academic activities, and evidence-based interventions including explicit instruction, cognitive strategy instruction, content enhancements, and independent practice opportunities were reported infrequently, although instructional differences across sites were demonstrated. Encouraging findings in...
The purpose of this study was to examine the use of three early numeracy measures to monitor the ... more The purpose of this study was to examine the use of three early numeracy measures to monitor the mathematics progress of students across time. One hundred and seven Kindergarten and Grade 1 students were administered Quantity Discrimination, Number Identification, and Missing Number measures once each month for 7 months. Alternate form reliability was adequate for instructional decision-making, while criterion validity coefficients comparing the early numeracy measures to teacher judgment of student proficiency in mathematics and students' performance on a district-administered standardized test were lower than those observed in previous research. We used Hierarchical Linear Modeling at each grade level to examine the technical adequacy of the three measures for modeling growth across time. All measures produced growth rates that were significant across time, for each grade level, with linear growth observed for the Number Identification measure only.
While implementation efforts using a Response to Intervention (RtI) model to increase reading ins... more While implementation efforts using a Response to Intervention (RtI) model to increase reading instruction are becoming widely used, more administrators and teachers are looking to learn effective RtI practices to support learning in mathematics. This article explores some of the key elements of RtI practices in mathematics, including screening for identification of struggling learners and progress monitoring for gauging instructional effectiveness. In addition, several of the pressing needs regarding the importance of mathematics proficiency for all students are discussed. We describe some of the similarities and differences between RtI processes in reading and mathematics. The article addresses the use of diagnostic data and details the importance of "core" instructional practices that reflect the standards included in the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics standards and Common Core Mathematics standards, among others. The article concludes with a discussion of some evidence-based interventions in mathematics, and we provide an implementation checklist to assist educators as they begin to implement RtI in mathematics.
Step 1: Divide the data points into three equal sections by drawing two vertical lines. (If the p... more Step 1: Divide the data points into three equal sections by drawing two vertical lines. (If the points divide unevenly, group them approximately.) Step 2: In the first and third sections, find the median data-point and median instructional week. Locate the place on the graph where the two values intersect and mark with an "X." Step 3: Draw a line through the two Xs, extending to the margins of the graph. This represents the trend-line or line of improvement.
, a professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning in the School of Education at the Univer... more , a professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning in the School of Education at the University of Miami, passed away on May 13 this year. In this tribute to Marjorie, we share with you her achievements and contributions to the field of special education and to the larger Requests for reprints should be sent to Asha K. Jitendra, University of Minnesota. Electronic inquiries should be sent to
Teaching mathematics to diverse learners can be a challenge. The extensive and specialized knowle... more Teaching mathematics to diverse learners can be a challenge. The extensive and specialized knowledge that special education teachers need to possess to be considered high-quality teachers is often lacking in preservice and inservice education, yet is mandated by current teacher reforms and rigorous measures of accountability. To provide direction for supporting teacher growth in these areas, this article highlights four knowledge bases that special education teachers should develop and expand upon as a way to improve their instruction for diverse learners in mathematics. Numerous resources and materials are provided to support the development of teacher expertise in content, characteristics of diverse learners, technology, and pedagogy.
This study examined the technical adequacy of vocabulary-matching curriculum-based measurement (C... more This study examined the technical adequacy of vocabulary-matching curriculum-based measurement (CBM) to identify and monitor the progress of 148 middle school students in social studies. In addition, the effectiveness of a reading comprehension intervention, Collaborative Strategic Reading (Klingner, Vaughn, Dimino, Schumm, & Bryant, 2001), was examined across 8 weeks with 15 low-achieving middle school readers who were monitored with content-area reading passages. Results indicated vocabulary-matching CBMs are valid and reliable indicators of performance in social studies. Significant differences were found for the intervention group on performance on pre to post vocabulary-matching CBM scores. Difference-in-Differences regression models were used to examine differences between groups on pre–post measures. No significant differences were found between groups in weekly change in scores or trend in performance on vocabulary-matching CBM.
The purpose of this best evidence synthesis was to identify promising interventions that align wi... more The purpose of this best evidence synthesis was to identify promising interventions that align with a theoretical model of early writing development, targeting three components of early writing: transcription, text generation, and self-regulation. We determined the extent to which these interventions are effective for children who struggle with early writing skills, by calculating effect sizes for group and single-subject designs, and we examined the overall quality of the research. Twenty-five studies met inclusion criteria. Among group design studies, mean effects (Hedge’s g) ranged from 0.19 to 1.17 for measures of writing quantity and from 0.17 to 0.85 for measures of writing quality. Percentage of all nonoverlapping data for single-subject designs ranged from 83% to 100% for measures of writing quantity. Interventions with the strongest evidence of effects and highest methodological quality are described in detail. Recommendations for research and practice are provided.
In this manuscript, we (a) briefly describe proposed open-science practices to increase transpare... more In this manuscript, we (a) briefly describe proposed open-science practices to increase transparency of research in special education and related disciplines, and (b) provide recommendations for research funders, professional societies, journal editors and publishers, and individual researchers to support awareness, exploration, and adoption of open science.
Researchers and practitioners have questioned whether scoring procedures used with curriculum-bas... more Researchers and practitioners have questioned whether scoring procedures used with curriculum-based measures of writing (CBM-W) capture growth in complexity of writing. We analyzed data from six independent samples to examine two potential scoring metrics for picture word CBM-W (PW), a sentence-level CBM task. Correct word sequences per response (CWSR) and words written per response (WWR) were compared with the current standard metric of correct word sequences (CWS). Linear regression analyses indicated that CWSR predicted scores on standardized norm-referenced criterion measures in more samples than did WWR or CWS. Future studies should explore the capacity of CWSR and WWR to show growth over time, stability, diagnostic accuracy, and utility for instructional decision making.
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