Implementing RTI in Two Rural Elementary Schools: Encouraging Beginnings and Challenges for the Future

Response to Intervention (RTI) models are currently being implemented in many school districts nationwide. However, at a time when interest in RTI is high, the extent to which it is being implemented effectively in rural schools is largely unknown. Teachers and administrators in two rural elementary schools in the Southeastern United States who were part of a state-wide RTI pilot project participated in this study. Interviews were conducted along with field observations of classroom instruction and team problem-solving meetings. Using a multi-step process for data analysis, various implementation themes emerged related to tiered instruction, data-based decision making, support for model implementation, and collaboration. Findings in these areas support issues raised in the literature regarding factors in rural schools that may impede or enhance fidelity of model implementation. Implications for practice and future research are discussed

Meeting the Needs of Struggling Readers in High School: What are Rural Schools Doing?

Implementing effective reading programs to meet the demans of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) represents an immense challenge for all high schools, but the challenges for rural high schools may be particularly acute. Rural schools have large concentrations of children living in poverty, greater per-pupil costs and low fiscal capacity, all of which can make meeting the demands of NCLB difficult. The purpose of this article is to report the results of research that examined the question of what rural high schools are doing to meet the needs of their struggling readers. The results of focus groups from a rural high school in the southeastern United States and a state-wide survey of rural high schools also in the southeastern United States are reported. The implications of these findings for future practice in rural high schools are discussed

Residential retrofitting: creating a sustainable future for suburbia

In the last several years, the issue of residential retrofitting our existing suburban residential neighborhoods has become relatively prominent. During the past century we have developed a pattern of suburban sprawl that is built upon consumption of natural resources, which has increasingly become less sustainable. Our goal of this paper is to identify policies or programs that could aid in encouraging the retrofitting of suburban residential neighborhoods. For the sake of this report, we will be looking at two sides of retrofitting. The first is the sustainability side. This deals with the insatiable consumption that goes along with our current development policies. There are many facets within the sustainability segment of the argument such as the environmental side. For instance, the emission of greenhouse gases from the auto-centric commuter patterns, pollution created by coal power plants used to provide energy to large tracts of single-family houses, or the large amounts of discarded buildings materials being dumped in landfills from our largely disposable developments. Current development patterns aren't economically sustainable either. Largely dispersed residential development does not take advantage of economies of scale that more dense urban areas can. Providing public services such as fire and police get more and more expensive per capita the more dispersed a jurisdiction becomes. The same goes for infrastructure like water, sewer, and road networks. The other side of the argument for retrofitting is the livability that could be provided. This has the tendency to be a relatively contentious issue. Many times people take offense when they feel they are being told how their neighborhood should look and function. It is not the intention of this paper to dictate what type of neighborhood or housing dwelling people must live in, but to assess where we are at and how we can provide alternatives to our current system. This addresses livability issues such as providing walkable streets, connectivity, and access to alternative modes of transportation. While the structure of our neighborhoods is beginning to receive more attention that it may have in the past, it is hardly a new issue. We have been developing sprawling suburban neighborhoods for over a hundred years, and for nearly as long, there have been opponents to this type of development. From Jane Jacobs seminal work "The Life and Death of Great American Cities" in the 1960's to current works by Anders Duaney and the New Urbanists or more ecological based works by Richard Register, the theoretical side of planning doesn't lack alternatives to the current development patterns. But due to a high-reward, low risk development environment for the creation of typical suburban communities, little has changed. Currently there appears to be more of a push in the entire industry towards a newer more intelligent growth pattern that uses our resources more responsibly. But what do we do with our current suburban developments that currently consume large amounts of resources and account for nearly seventy five percent of residential development in the United States.Master of City and Regional Plannin

The Relationship Between Social Competence and Achievement in Learning Disabled and Nonhandicapped Children

194 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1982.A significant correlation between academic achievement and peer popularity has long been established in the educational literature. Nonetheless, the role of achievement in mediating social differences between learning disabled children and their nondisabled peers, and differences between high- and low-sociometric status nonhandicapped children, remains unclear. The goal of this research was to clarify the contribution of academic achievement to social behavior and levels of social acceptance in learning disabled and nonhandicapped children.In Study 1, learning disabled third- and fourth-grade boys were compared to nonhandicapped boys in terms of their sociometric status, social knowledge, and social behavior as rated by teachers. The boys were matched on race, classroom, and standardized reading achievement test performance. No significant differences between these two groups were found. This seems to indicate that achievement, not handicap per se, may be responsible for the frequently reported social difficulties of learning disabled children.In Study 2, low-achieving third- and fourth-grade boys of low sociometric status were compared to average- and above-achieving boys also of low sociometric status, and to average- and above-achieving boys of high sociometric status. The measures in this study were social knowledge and social behavior as rated by teachers. The results indicated that with achievement controlled, differences between high- and low-status children were nonsignificant. However, it was also found that children who were low in both achievement and sociometric status were significantly lower in social competence as rated by their teachers.The data from both of these studies suggests that academic achievement mediates differences in children's social behavior and sociometric status. Researchers interested in investigating the social relations of handicapped and nonhandicapped children in school are advised to take into account the influence of achievement.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD

Student Preferences for Adaptations in Classroom Testing

The purpose of the present study was to investigate student preferences for specific adaptations in general education classroom testing. Participants in the study were 158 middle school students, including students with high-incidence disabilities (HID) and general education students with low, average, high, and very high achievement. Students completed an instrument developed for the study, the Student Preferences for Testing Adaptations Questionnaire. Students rated each of 23 specific testing adaptations on a 4-point scale (1 = dislike to 4 = high preference). in two additional questions, students also stated reasons for a single most-liked and a single least-liked adaptation. Most testing adaptations were at least moderately preferred by students. Open-notes and open-book tests were among the adaptations most preferred, and least-preferred adaptations included teacher reading of test questions to students and tests with fewer questions or covering less material. Students with HID and/or students with low achievement indicated significantly higher preference than did students with average or above-average achievement for several adaptations. Students\u27 rationales for their choices of most-liked adaptations included improved test performance as well as the opportunity to work with peers and to receive assistance. On the other hand, students\u27 descriptions of least-liked adaptations included concerns regarding fairness and interference with their own style of working

Recommendations for Homework-Communication Problems: From Parents, Classroom Teachers, and Special-Education Teachers

The purpose of this study was to generate recommendations for improving communication between home and school regarding the homework assigned in mainstream classes. Specifically, the objectives of the study were to identify recommendations for ameliorating homework-communication problems between (A) parents and classroom teachers, (B) parents and special education teachers, and (C) classroom teachers and special education teachers. Subjects for this study were 8 parents of students with mild disabilities, 13 special education teachers of students with mild disabilities, and 11 classroom teachers who taught students with mild disabilities in their classes. Six focus groups were used to generate recommendations. Many recommendations for solving homework-communication problems were identified by parents, classroom teachers, and special education teachers. Five themes emerged from these recommendations: time and opportunity; knowledge; attitudes and abilities; bypass; and other. These results, as well as limitations of the study and future research needs, are discussed