ABSTRACT
In this section, articles are provided that address the key people who influence and make decisions within the Response to Intervention process. For an RTI process to function effectively and efficiently, it is important to engage all stakeholders and utilize their input. The articles in this section address contributions to, and engagement in, the RTI process from the perspective of pre-service teachers; school psychologists and problem-solving teams; administrators; and parents and students. Brownell and her colleagues discuss critical issues to consider as we prepare general and special education teachers to serve as implementers of RTI in their buildings. This chapter addresses evidence-based practices in teacher preparation that should be merged with RTI content and delivered in engaging ways in college courses and field experience. In the second article, Sims and his colleagues discuss effective practices in problem-solving around student data. Specifically, their chapter presents a model for utilizing the problem-solving model as a way to utilize data and make decisions about individual students. The resources in this chapter will be immediately valuable to teacher teams in buildings. In the third chapter, Billingsley and her colleagues address the crucial role of the administrator in the implementation of an RTI model. Drawing from extensive work that she and her colleagues have engaged in, Billingsley provides models and evidence for administrator development of and involvement in an RTI or MTSS system, including capacity building. Finally, Conoyer and her co-authors discuss potential models of parent and student involvement, and review the limited literature in these areas. Next, they describe the results from studies completed by the author team that addressed parent and student involvement in the RTI process. These studies occurred with elementary students and their parents, primarily. Three studies were conducted with parallel methods, but unique samples, and results from these studies are utilized to support effective methods for parent and student involvement.
