Mar 30 2009
Response to Intervention: Identification of LD students
Buffalo St. leads child-learning study
Business First of Buffalo – by Allissa Kline
Buffalo State College has been selected by the New York State Education Department to act as lead agency in the development of an early-intervention program for children who show signs of academic struggle.
The college was awarded a five-year, $1.5 million contract in November to help create a Response to Intervention Technical Assistance Center. RTI programs are intended to identify students who may have learning disabilities before those students lag academically behind their peers.
As lead agency, Buffalo State will work with five other institutions — Rochester Institute of Technology, Syracuse University, New York University, Mount Saint Mary College and the College of St. Rose — to create a model RTI program to be implemented at 14 schools around the state, said Theresa Janczak, an assistant professor of exceptional education at Buffalo State who will serve as project director. Amy Piper of Fredonia State College will be a consultant to the project, Janczak added.
Part of the project involves creating an RTI Web site and conducting regional training. Other tasks include disseminating information and providing guidance to the 14 model schools.
RTI programs are gaining momentum across the country, including New York State where RTI programs focusing on literacy will become mandatory for children in kindergarten through fourth grade as of July 2012.
“It’s an up-and-coming new initiative in general education,” Janczak said. “The idea with RTI is to catch (students) early on in their academic careers. If they struggle academically, RTI helps remediate the gap and gives them the added push and services that they need before they’re possibly referred to special education.”
Under the contract, Buffalo State will hire a full-time assistant project director and a graduate student assistant to help Janczak manage and organize the project. The model program will be implemented at 14 schools that will be identified this spring through a grant competition. Any school in the state can apply; selected schools will receive up to $150,000 in grant money to pay for the cost of putting the program in place, Janczak said.
Getting the programs in place will be hard work for the schools, she said.
“It’s certainly going to take a lot of work on the part of each and every school,” Janczak said. “Roles will be redefined for general education teachers, special education teachers, reading specialists and support staff. It’s really about looking at data and how we use that data to make good decisions about what’s best for the kids. It has to be embedded instruction that’s defined as ‘best practice’ based on rigorous research.”
The center at Buffalo State will be located in Room 210 in Ketchum Hall.
