School Psychologists' Perspectives of Response-To- Intervention: Training, Practices, and Implementation

Abstract

School Psychologist’s Perspectives of Response-To-Intervention: Training, Practices and Implementation by Michelle Y. Nathan Dr. Scott A. Loe, Examination Committee Chair Associate Professor, Department of Educational Psychology & Higher Education University of Nevada, Las Vegas Specific learning disabilities currently account for the 39 percent of the 6.6 million students who receive special education services in a public school setting (Aud, Husser, Planty, Snyder, Bianco, Fox, et al, 2010). The current federal definition of what constitutes a specific learning disability states that school districts are allowed to use either the aptitude-achievement discrepancy model or alternative assessment methods, thereby legitimizing the use of response-to-intervention (RTI) (Dykeman, 2006). The current study provided an investigation into the current training and practices of school psychologists and the barriers they face when implementing RTI within a school setting. The purpose of this study was to determine what assessment model (RTI, ability-achievement discrepancy, combination of models, or alternative models) that school psychologists use to assess for specific learning disabilities, how school psychologists spend their time as it relates to the assessment model, the barriers to implementing RTI, and how they viewed their training experiences. Participants were 140 school psychologists selected at random from the Directory of Nationally Certified School Psychologists (NCSP). The majority of participants utilize an RTI standard protocol assessment model and serve two schools. Significant