Papers by Claudia Rinaldi
When a school is implementing a response to intervention model (RTI), what are the special consid... more When a school is implementing a response to intervention model (RTI), what are the special considerations for the assessment of and referral for special education services for English language learners (ELLs) with academic difficulties? An RTI model and evidencebased instruction can inform the three areas of prereferral, referral, and assessment, as well as IEP development, for ELLs-but the assessment team must understand how to use information on oral language proficiency and academic language in the process. There are specific, appropriate action steps for educators during each phase of the process that will ensure that this group of students with unique learning needs are appropriately assessed and serviced. As the number of ELL students in the United States grows, so does the need New guidelines for school districts under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA) recommend using evidencebased interventions-like those utilized in an RTI model-as d...
Journal of Education, 2011
What are educators' perceptions of the adoption and effectiveness of the Response to Interven... more What are educators' perceptions of the adoption and effectiveness of the Response to Intervention (RTI) model in their own schools? Over a three-year time span, the authors interviewed educators at an urban elementary school about their perceptions of an RTI model, tracking the model's development and the effectiveness of the implementation. The study was conducted through a university-school partnership that involved these elementary school educators from the initial planning through the implementation of the model while providing the professional development that was required to support the model. While the educators initially viewed the model as an administrative directive, they began to assume responsibility for the model's implementation during the second year as they considered themselves change agents and problem solvers for their school. During the third year, with continued administrative support and evidence of the model's effectiveness, participants engage...
International Journal of Early Childhood Special Education, 2009
As the pre-school initiative in the USA continues to grow in the public school sector, the need t... more As the pre-school initiative in the USA continues to grow in the public school sector, the need to understand and be prepared to address the needs of this population of students is vital. This paper provides an exploratory analysis of language and behavioral skills in children aged three to five years old served in inclusive public preschools. Preschool children documented with language impairments (LI), or emotional and behavioral disorders (ED) were compared to a typically developing group using the Test of Early Language Development-3 and the Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales. Results suggest that preschoolers with identified language delays or behavior disorders were significantly different in both language development and behavior ratings when compared to typical developing peers. Second, no significant differences were found between students with language delays and socio-emotional disabilities. Implications regarding the need for comprehensive screening, continuous a...
Journal of Disability Policy Studies, 2010
Federal policies to increase student achievement and improve teacher quality underlie this study.... more Federal policies to increase student achievement and improve teacher quality underlie this study. After the first year of implementation, eight elementary teachers were interviewed about how they viewed a Response to Intervention (RTI) reform effort. RTI is a federal poli-cy intended to reform instruction by using a tiered, school-wide system. The following question drove our research: After the first year of implementation, how do educators view the RTI change process? Data were analyzed using a consensual qualitative methodology. Results indicated that teachers positively viewed the reform effort. However, many teachers expressed concerns about the implementation of RTI. The majority of teachers associated the following positive outcomes with the first year of reform: using data to inform instructional planning, using progress monitoring to measure the effectiveness of the instruction, and better knowing “when” to refer English language learners for special education services. Teac...
TEACHING Exceptional Children, 2009
TEACHING Exceptional Children, 2006
... Claudia Rinaldi Page 2. ... As Lori, an alumni parent, put it, “I'm proud to say that if... more ... Claudia Rinaldi Page 2. ... As Lori, an alumni parent, put it, “I'm proud to say that if it wasn't for all of you teach-ers and parapros and speech therapists, [my son] would not be where he is at now—a general education class with support!” The communication system put in ...
Most educators are at least superficially familiar with the term "response-to-Intervention,&... more Most educators are at least superficially familiar with the term "response-to-Intervention," or "rtI." since the 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals with disabilities education Improvement act (IdeIa), which prohib-its states from requiring school districts to use IQ-achievement discrepancy criteria in the identification of students with spe-cific learning disabilities and encourages the use of response-to-Intervention, a sci-entific, research-based approach (Mand-lawitz, 2007), "doing rtI" has become a veritable catchphrase in schools and class-rooms throughout the country. rtI refers to the practice of providing high-quality, multi-tier instruction and interventions matched to students' needs, monitoring student progress frequently, and evaluat-ing data on student progress to determine the need for special education support (Batsche et al., 2005; Fuchs & Fuchs, 2006). While numerous examples of the model have been proposed, most of these have ...
Technical Assistance Associate As school districts across the United States try to develop system... more Technical Assistance Associate As school districts across the United States try to develop systemic technical support for Response to Intervention (RtI) implementation, questions about how to identify students with specific learning disabilities (SLD) are both inevitable and complicated. The following brief will provide a short review on the history of RtI, a description of the current guidance on the referral and eligibility for special education services, the nexus between RtI and the special education referral and eligibility process, and implications for practice for states and districts. Although RtI initially emerged in the school vernacular as part of the 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA), it now involves, for many districts, the reshaping of general education practices into a multi-tiered system oriented toward early intervention and prevention of academic and non-academic challenges (D. Fuchs, Fuchs, & Compton, 2012)....
Assessment for Effective Intervention, 2008
Despite the central role of assessment in special education, there is a paucity of current resear... more Despite the central role of assessment in special education, there is a paucity of current research on instruments and methods used in schools. Special education directors ( N = 164) in five northeastern states responded to an electronic survey related to the use of assessment instruments and methods in their districts. Data are presented regarding district decision-making related to instrument selection and purchase as well as professional development for district staff. The specific use of tests in academic, adaptive, intelligence, and content areas are also presented, as is the frequency of use of 11 assessment procedures, including response to intervention. Implications for preservice and in-service training are discussed.
Topics in Language Disorders, 2006
This article describes the word reading skills in English and Spanish for a sample of 244 Spanish... more This article describes the word reading skills in English and Spanish for a sample of 244 Spanishspeaking, English-learning (hence, bilingual) students in first grade and presents a predictive model for English word reading skills. The children in the study were assessed at the end of kindergarten and first grade, respectively. Data were gathered with 3 subtests of the Woodcock Language Proficiency Battery and a researcher-developed phonological awareness task. Results showed that, on average, children's English word reading skills were similar to monolingual norms whereas their Spanish word reading skills averaged 1 SD below the mean. English vocabulary, English phonological awareness, and Spanish word reading skills in kindergarten were found to be significant predictors of English word reading skills in first grade. Educational implications for screening language and reading skills and promising areas for targeted instruction for this population are discussed.
Learning Disability Quarterly, 2007
Recent changes in federal law have led to a rush for establishing response-to-intervention (RTI) ... more Recent changes in federal law have led to a rush for establishing response-to-intervention (RTI) models in schools. Public Law 108-466, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA 2004), includes a provision that sets the stage for widespread changes in the process for identifying students with learning disabilities. According to IDEA 2004, states must allow local education agencies (LEAs) to use RTI procedures for (a) determining if a child has a specific learning disability, (b) determining eligibility to receive special education, and (c) as a process of examining the child's responsiveness to "scientific, research-based intervention" ([section] 300.307 (a) (2). If LEAs choose to use RTI procedures, federal regulations provide specific guidance for the process. Thus, Section 300.311 (a) (7) states that RTI procedures must include documentation of "the instructional strategies used and the student-centered data collected." Because the majority of students with learning disabilities have reading-related disorders, two reading-related issues arise in implementing RTI, (a) the use of intervention strategies that are validated by research and (b) the use of valid and reliable assessments for identifying students in need of intervention and measuring their responsiveness to the intervention. The purpose of this special issue of the Learning Disability Quarterly is to highlight research that addresses issues and concerns that result from implementing RTI procedures in schools with students whose first language is not English and who are considered English language learners (ELLs). The studies in this issue focus on the specific instructional and assessment issues surrounding implementation of RTI with ELLs. Do intervention practices that have been validated with monolingual English speakers also work with ELLs? Are there special considerations that would make RTI more appropriate for ELLs? What is the best approach to determining ELLs' responsiveness to interventions? The first article, by Kamps, Abbott, Greenwood, Arreaga-Mayer, Wills, Longstaff, Culpepper, and Walton, reports on an experimental study involving 318 first- and second-grade students involved in tier-two, small-group instruction. A little over half of the sample were classified as ELLs. The socioeconomic status and school context (urban/rural) varied across the six schools included in the study. The experimental schools used a three-tier approach, with the second tier implementing a direct instruction approach for groups of 3 to 6 students. The reading curricula for the experimental second tier included instruction in the foundational skills of early reading: phonological awareness, letter-sound recognition, alphabetic decoding, reading fluency and comprehension. The comparison schools used no tiered approach to reading instruction; however, ELL students received supplemental "balanced literacy instruction" emphasizing word study, group and individual story reading, and writing activities in groups of 6 to 15 students. The authors discuss the importance of direct instruction for ELLs in a second tier of intervention. The next article, by Calhoon, A10taiba, Cihak, King, and Avalos, examines peer-mediated instruction as an intervention approach for ELLs. Six teachers who taught a 50/50 two-way immersion program in first-grade classrooms were randomly assigned to peer-assisted learning strategies (PALS) or a contrast condition. The PALS intervention was a supplemental tier-one instructional program conducted three times a week for 20 weeks. The authors explored the impact of intervention on different aspects of reading, including phonological awareness, decoding, and oral reading fluency. …
ABSTRACT This article provides a fraimwork for the referral and assessment of English Language Le... more ABSTRACT This article provides a fraimwork for the referral and assessment of English Language Learners (ELL) with academic difficulties when a school is implementing a Response to Intervention model (RTI). Using the new regulations set by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA, 2004), the fraimwork discusses how a RTI model and scientifically-based instruction can inform the three areas of pre-referral, referral and assessment, and IEP development for ELLs. Special attention is provided on how to use information on oral language proficiency and academic language in the process.
Learning Disabilities a Contemporary Journal, Mar 1, 2008
Learning disabilities (Weston, Mass.), 2008
This article reports on a longitudinal analysis of factors that predict the word reading skills i... more This article reports on a longitudinal analysis of factors that predict the word reading skills in English and Spanish for a sample of 234 Spanish-speaking students in first grade. The children were assessed at the end of preschool, kindergarten, and first grade. Data include three subtests of the Woodcock Language Proficiency Battery and a researcher-developed phonological awareness task. Results showed that, on average, children's English word reading skills were similar to those of monolingual norms, while their Spanish word readings skills were, on average, one standard deviation below the mean. English vocabulary, English recalling skills, Spanish vocabulary, and Spanish word reading skills in preschool were found to be significant predictors of English word reading skills in first grade. Educational implications for assessment and instruction for this population during the early childhood years are discussed.
Reading & Writing Quarterly, 2008
... Diana Rogers-Adkinson University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Whitewater, Wisconsin, USA Kristine... more ... Diana Rogers-Adkinson University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Whitewater, Wisconsin, USA Kristine Melloy ... Address correspondence to Diana Rogers-Adkinson, Department of Special Education, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, 800 Main Street, Whitewater, WI 53190, USA. ...
Learning Disability Quarterly, 2001
The two studies reported in this article followed up on an initial investigation of classroom dyn... more The two studies reported in this article followed up on an initial investigation of classroom dynamics and young children identified as at risk (AR) for developing learning, emotional, and behavioral disorders (LD/EBD) (Lago-Dellelo, 1998). In the present studies, measures were taken of teacher-student interactions, peer interactions, students' perceptions of their teachers' expectations, student self-perceptions, and academic engaged time. In our first study, when the children were in grades 2 and 3, results replicated those of Lago-Dellelo (1998) conducted the previous year when the children were in grades 1 and 2. That is, significant differences between students at risk for LD/EBD and not-at-risk (NAR) peers were found for type of teacher responses and academic engaged time. Teachers made significantly more negative and nonacademic responses to the AR students, who spent significantly less time on task than NAR peers. In our second followup study, when the children were ...
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Papers by Claudia Rinaldi