| With the changes made to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (Public Law 108--446), educational leadership is now able to use the Response to Intervention (RtI) process for Specific Learning Disability (SLD) determination rather than the long-standing discrepancy model (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004). Response to Intervention (RtI) is a tiered method of reading remediation through the use of scientifically-based interventions. This qualitative instrumental case study used document analysis to examine the application process for gaining state approval to use RtI for SLD determination. The goal of the study was to aid educational administrators as they prepare their school applications by identifying considerations in the areas of leadership and the RtI Process. Copies of three approved and three non-approved applications were examined across Pennsylvania's nine key indicators of successful RtI implementation along with the coinciding rubric. Transformational leadership characteristics emerged that were in alignment to the factors associated with the full range model (Avolio, 2005; Bass, 1985; Bass & Avolio, 1994). Strengths and obstacles were also identified across the applications. The conclusions were as follows:;1. Transformational Leadership works best for the all-encompassing change that RtI requires within an educational organization, both for implementation and long-lasting sustainability. 2. The state presents high expectations for the RtI framework and processes and is accepting only full compliance with given expectations in the application. |
