Project I — Classification

Principal Investigator

Dr. David J. Francis, University of Houston

Additional Investigators

Dr. Jack M. Fletcher, University of Houston

Dr. Carolyn Denton, Children’s Learning Instutute, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

Description of the Project

Project I (Classification) focuses on alternatives for identifying students as having learning disabilities. A series of studies over a 5-year period will examine response to instruction (RTI) as a framework for making sound decisions about the instructional needs of students and for delivering appropriate levels of intervention in response to those needs. A particular focus will be on developing tools for measuring student progress reliably and efficiently and for identifying the subset of students whose educational outcomes will benefit from alternative instructional settings, such as special education.

More information about this project is coming soon.

Population/Participants

Utilizes student data from Projects II and III

Sites

Elementary and middle schools in Houston and Austin

Timeline

2006–2011

Findings/Publications

2008

Barth, A. E., Stuebing, K. S., Anthony, J. A., Denton, C., Fletcher, J. M., & Francis, D. J. (2008). Agreement among response to intervention criteria for identifying responder status. Learning and Individual Differences, 18, 296–307.

Fletcher, J. M. (2008). Identifying learning disabilities in the context of response to intervention: A hybrid classification. National Center on Learning Disabilities. Retrieved from http://www.rtinetwork.org/learn/ld/identifyingld.

2009

Fletcher, J. M. (2009). Dyslexia: The evolution of a scientific concept. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 15, 501–508.

Fletcher, J. M., & Vaughn, S. (2009). Response to intervention: Preventing and remediating academic difficulties. Child Development Perspectives, 3(1), 30–37.

Fletcher, J. M., & Vaughn, S. (2009). RTI models as alternatives to traditional views of learning disabilities: Response to the commentaries. Child Development Perspectives, 3(1), 48–50.

2010

Barth, A. E., Denton, C. A., Stuebing, K. K., Fletcher, J. M., Cirino, P. T., Francis, D. J., & Vaughn, S. (2010). A test of the cerebellar hypothesis of dyslexia in adequate and inadequate responders to reading intervention. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 16, 526–536.

Fletcher, J. M. (2010). Construct validity of reading measures in adults with significant reading difficulties. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 43, 166–168.

Vaughn, S., & Fletcher, J. M. (2010). Thoughts on rethinking response to intervention with secondary students. School Psychology Review, 39(2), 296–299.

Wanzek, J., Wexler, J., Vaughn, S., & Ciullo, S. P. (2010). Reading interventions for struggling readers in the upper elementary grades: A synthesis of 20 years of research. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 23(8), 889–912.

Wexler, J., Vaughn, S., Roberts, G., & Denton, C. A. (2010). The efficacy of repeated reading and wide reading practice for high school students with severe reading disabilities. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice 25(1), 2–10.

2011

Fletcher, J. M., Stuebing, K. K., Barth, A. E., Denton, C. A., Cirino, P. T., Francis, D. J., & Vaughn, S. (2011). Cognitive correlates of inadequate response to intervention. School Psychology Review, 40(1), 2–22.

In Press

Barth, A., Stuebing, K. K., Fletcher, J. M., Cirino, P. T., Francis, D. J., & Vaughn, S. (in press). Reliability and validity of the median score when assessing the oral reading fluency of middle grade readers. Reading Psychology.

Fletcher, J. M., & Morris, R. D. (in press). Reading, laterality, and the brain: Early contributions on reading disabilities by Sara S. Sparrow. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

Reed, D. K., Vaughn, S., & Petscher, Y. (in press). The validation of a holistically scored retell protocol for determining the reading comprehension of middle school students. Learning Disability Quarterly.

Stuebing, K. K., Fletcher, J. M., Branum-Martin, L., & Francis, D. J. (in press). Simulated comparisons of three methods for identifying specific learning disabilities based on cognitive discrepancies. School Psychology Review.

Tolar, T. D., Barth, A. E., Francis, D. J., Fletcher, J. M., Stuebing, K. K., & Vaughn, S. (in press). Psychometric properties of maze tasks in middle school students. Assessment for Effective Instruction.

Vaughn, S., & Fletcher, J. M. (in press). Response to intervention with secondary school students. Journal of Learning Disabilities.

Under Review

Barth, A. E., Barnes, M. A., Denton, C. A., Stuebing, K. K., Fletcher, J. M., & Cirino, P. T. (in review). Language profiles among poor comprehenders who respond adequately and inadequately to reading intervention. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research.

Barth, A. E., Stuebing, K. K., Romain, M. Cirino, P., Vaughn, S., Denton, C., . . . Francis, D. J. (in review). Reliability and validity of one-minute and full passage oral reading fluency for middle grade readers. School Psychology Review.

Barth, A. E., Tolar, T. D., Fletcher, J. M., & Francis, D. J. (in review). Text effects on reading fluency among adolescents. Journal of Educational Psychology.

Cirino, P. C., Romain, M., Barth, A. E., Tolar, T., Fletcher, J. M., & Vaughn, S. (in review). Reading skill components and impairments in middle school struggling readers. Reading and Writing.

Fletcher, J. M., Stuebing, K. K., Barth, A. E., & Denton, C. A. (in review). Agreement and coverage of indicators of response to intervention: A multi-method comparison and simulation.School Psychology Review.

Tolar, T. D., Barth, A. E., Francis, D. J., Fletcher, J. M., & Vaughn, S. (in review). Slopes vs. intercepts as predictors of reading outcomes among adolescents when using the same versus alternate forms over time. Assessment for Effective Intervention.