Handbook of Response to Intervention

Education professionals have traditionally relied on a wait-to-fail formula to identify and assist students experiencing academic difficulties. With the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, however, a unique early-identification tool – known as response to intervention (RTI) – now offers professionals the option of implementing a collaborative, problem-solving tool designed to ensure that all students achieve academic success.
Until now, practitioners have had access to very few detailed descriptions of RTI methods and the effective role they can play in special education. The Handbook of Response to Intervention fills this critical information gap. In a single, comprehensive volume, more than 90 expert scholars and practitioners join together to provide a highly usable guide to the essentials of RTI assessment and identification as well as research-based interventions for improving students’ reading, writing, oral, and math skills. Each chapter explores crucial issues, defines key concepts, and answers real-world questions regarding implementation, including such major topics as:

• Psychometric measurement within RTI
• RTI and social behavior skills
• The role of consultation in RTI
• Monitoring response to supplemental services
• Using technology to facilitate RTI
• RTI and transition planning
• Lessons learned from RTI programs around the country

The Handbook of Response to Intervention is a must-have volume for all education practitioners, researchers, and graduate students as well as anyone involved in curriculum reform or resource allocation.

"This handbook provides essential reading for all stakeholders seeking to increase their knowledge base about RTI. It is an excellent and timely resource. I challenge everyone to read it, and then follow-up with actions to ensure that every child benefits from RTI."
-Bill East, Ed.D., Executive Director, National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE)

"The Handbook of Response to Intervention: The Science and Practice of Assessment and Intervention is a comprehensive compilation of research articles and information on RTI. Noted researchers, university instructors, and practitioners have contributed to this handbook, addressing issues related to evidence-based instruction, systems consideration, and implementation. This handbook is an excellent resource for all educators."
-Diane Morrison, Ed.D., Director of Support Services, Northern Suburban Special Education District

"The Handbook of Response to Intervention represents a comprehensive and balanced presentation of the array of professional knowledge essential to understanding this important concept. The scope of the coverage includes theoretical aspects, reviews of important related issues, balanced coverage of controversial aspects, and practical steps towards implementation. Educators, advocates, school psychologists, and anyone interested in this critical innovation for American schools should carefully read this important professional reference."
-W. Alan Coulter, Ph.D., Director, National Center for Special Education Accountability Monitoring, LSU Health Sciences Center

From the reviews:

"Response to intervention (RTI) offers the best opportunity of the past three decades to ensure that every child – no matter how gifted or challenged – will be equally valued in an education system in which the progress of every child is monitored and individualized interventions with appropriate levels of intensity are provided to students as needed. Far too much attention has been focused on the different approaches to RTI by education leaders, researchers, and implementers. It’s time to look to what is common in our work and unite together so this opportunity is not wasted. The most effective science will prove itself over time. But while the field is waiting for the evidence base to grow, RTI must advance in a responsible manner. This handbook provides essential reading for all stakeholders seeking to increase their knowledge base about RTI. It is an excellent and timely resource. I challenge everyone to read it, and then follow-up with actions to ensure that every child benefits from RTI."
-Bill East, Ed.D., Executive Director, National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE)

"The Handbook of Response to Intervention: The Science and Practice of Assessment and Intervention is a comprehensive compilation of research articles and information on RTI. Noted researchers, university instructors, and practitioners have contributed to this handbook, addressing issues related to evidence-based instruction, systems consideration, and implementation. This handbook is an excellent resource for all educators."
-Diane Morrison, Ed.D., Director of Support Services, Northern Suburban Special Education District

"The Handbook of Response to Intervention represents a comprehensive and balanced presentation of the array of professional knowledge essential to understanding this important concept.The scope of the coverage includes theoretical aspects, reviews of important related issues, balanced coverage of controversial aspects, and practical steps towards implementation.Educators, advocates, school psychologists, and anyone interested in this critical innovation for American schools should carefully read this important professional reference."
-W. Alan Coulter, Ph.D., Director, National Center for Special Education Accountability Monitoring, LSU Health Sciences Center

"Handbook of Response to Intervention: The Science and Practice of Assessment and Intervention … provides a solid foundation for K-12 instructors to base their educational interventions on with students. Divided into four sections, this book provides ample coverage of the foundations of response to intervention (RTI) strategies, assessment and measurement, research-based prevention and intervention, and lessons learned. … Response to Intervention is a highly technical, supremely sourced blueprint for an ongoing paradigm shift in education." (Stephen P. Hampe, PsycCRITIQUES, Vol. 53 (22), 2008)

Shane R. Jimerson, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology Program and Associate Professor of Child and Adolescent Development at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Dr. Jimerson is the Editor of and contributor to a special issue of The California School Psychologist journal addressing the topic of response to intervention and problem-solving strategies entitled, Response to Interventions Approaches: Supporting Early and Sustained Success for all Students. He has contributed to more than 100 professional publications and is a co-author of a five-book grief support group curriculum series (The Mourning Child Grief Support Group Curriculum, Taylor and Francis; a co-editor of Best Practices in School Crisis Prevention and Intervention, National Association of School Psychologists) and the lead editor of The Handbook of School Violence and School Safety, Lawrence Earlbaum, Inc.

In addition, Dr. Jimerson serves as the Editor of The California School Psychologist journal, Associate Editor of School Psychology Review, and on the editorial boards of the Journal of School Psychology and School Psychology Quarterly. He has chaired and served on numerous boards and advisory committees at the state, national, and international levels, including chair of the Research Committee of the International School Psychology Association and chair of the Division 16 (School Psychology) conference proceedings for the 2005 American Psychological Association conference. His scholarly publications and presentations have provided insights regarding developmental pathways, the efficacy of early prevention and intervention programs, school psychology internationally, and school crisis prevention and intervention.

The quality and contributions of his scholarship are reflected in the numerous awards and recognition that he has received. Dr. Jimerson received the Best Research Article of the year award from the Society for the Study of School Psychology in 1998 and then again in 2000. He also received the 2001 Outstanding Article of the Year Award from the National Association of School Psychologists’, School Psychology Review. Dr. Jimerson’s scholarly efforts were also recognized by the American Educational Research Association with the 2002 Early Career Award in Human Development. He and his UCSB research team received the 2003 Outstanding Research Award from the California Association of School Psychologists. In addition, during 2003, Dr. Jimerson received the Lightner Witmer Early Career Contributions Award from Division 16 (School Psychology) of the American Psychological Association. His scholarship continues to highlight the importance of early experiences on subsequent development and emphasize the importance of research informing professional practice to promote the social and cognitive competence of children.

Matthew K. Burns, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology with the School Psychology program at the University of Minnesota. He is a Co-Guest Editor of a special issue of Assessment for Effective Intervention addressing responsiveness to intervention and is a contributor to two other special series within different journals on the same topic. He has authored or coauthored more than 50 professional publications and has conducted an equal number of local, state, national, and international presentations. The majority of Dr. Burns’s scholarly work addresses matching instructional demands to student skill with curriculum-based assessment and problem-solving team processes and outcomes. Dr. Burns is an Associate Editor for Assessment for Effective Intervention and is on the editorial board of School Psychology Review and Remedial and Special Education. He currently is serving on a distinguished panel to write the third edition of School Psychology: A Blueprint for Training and Practice.

Amanda M. VanDerHeyden, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at University of California in Santa Barbara. Before joining the university at Santa Barbara, Dr. VanDerHeyden worked as a researcher and consultant in Vail School District in Vail, Arizona, and assisted the district in implementing an RTI model. In Vail School District, identification of children as having Specific Learning Disabilities decreased substantially within two years, test scores increased, and the district was nationally recognized as a success story related to No Child Left Behind by the US Department of Education. Dr. VanDerHeyden has authored more than 25 related articles and book chapters and has worked as a national trainer and consultant to assist districts to implement RTI models. She serves on the editorial boards for School Psychology Review, Journal of Early Intervention, Journal of Behavioral Education, and is currently co-editing a special issue of Assessment for Effective Intervention focusing on Response to Intervention.