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Publication Title:

Meeting the Needs of Significantly Struggling Learners in High School: A Look at Approaches to Tiered Intervention

Publication
Author(s):

Helen Duffy
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[PDF File, 194 Kb]

Alignment with ARRA:

ARRA areas aligning with this product:

  • Data Use
  • Standards/Assessment
  • Teacher Effectiveness
  • Turnaround Schools

A major priority for the use of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds is to use data to inform decisions and improve instruction. This report, which provides a discussion of tiered interventions at the high school level for significantly struggling students, can guide educators and policymakers in effectively using student data to gauge the effectiveness of interventions.

For more details on how ARRA funds can apply to dropout prevention and data systems, please view our ARRA resources on our ARRA Web page.

Publication Key Points:

This report offers an in-depth look at implementation and structural issues related to successfully instituting tiered interventions at the secondary school level. The report defines response to intervention (RTI) models, explores benefits and challenges of implementing RTI at the high school level, includes a snapshot of RTI in a high school, and outlines the resources needed to support this work.

Publication Key Challenges:

When high school students are significantly lagging behind their peers, schools have too often placed these students into special education classes, even if they do not actually have disabilities. A more appropriate and effective way to meet the needs of struggling learners is to adopt targeted instructional strategies-specifically tiered interventions-within the general education setting. This report can help educators and policymakers consider if and how to use tiered interventions in a secondary school setting.

How Audience(s) Can Use This Product to Address Challenges:

This resource is designed to provide educators and policymakers with a background on tiered approaches to meeting the needs of struggling adolescent learners, as well as a context for implementing RTI at the high school level. Some suggested uses for this product are:

  • Distribute to state- and local-level educators and policymakers charged with implementing RTI, tiered intervention, progress monitoring, and/or dropout prevention;
  • Distribute to state Offices for Exceptional Children, offices of special education, and related advisory councils;
  • Share with state-level personnel responsible for dropout prevention, alternative assessments, professional development, and/or high school restructuring;
  • Use to inform the development of a PowerPoint presentation for professional development sessions on tiered intervention;
  • Suggest that state personnel encourage districts to share in newsletters and other correspondences; and
  • Link in e-blast to districts from the state

Production Citation:

Duffy, H. (2007, August). Meeting the needs of significantly struggling learners in high school: A look at approaches to tiered intervention. Washington, DC: National High School Center at the American Institutes for Research.

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