Data Collection and Analysis in Response-to-Intervention: a Survey of School Psychologists

Abstract

Response-to-intervention (RtI) is a multi-tiered framework designed to prevent academic difficulties by facilitating robust, research-based instruction and providing targeted or individualized short-term interventions for students at-risk per periodic screening and progress monitoring data. The cornerstone of RtI is data-based decision-making to guide system-wide practices as well as ensure appropriate student-level academic supports and accurate decisions. However, a 2010 survey of administrators representing over 1000 districts suggest that most schools do not use data-based decisions and research-based interventions. As such, the extent to which RtI generally and data-driven best practices, specifically, occur in schools is unknown. To that end, we surveyed school psychologists to evaluate the extent to which RtI and data-driven practices are implemented. Further, we asked about related training. Findings suggest that although screening data is collected frequently, academic progress monitoring is not and, overall, using data to make instructional or intervention decisions is not part of regular practice.