| In 2004, Response to Intervention (RTI) was included as part of the Individuals with Disability Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA). The present study was designed to examine Child Study Teams' (CST) perceived knowledge and actual training in the five components of RTI, outlined by Glover and DiPerna (2007). These components relate to service delivery, which refers to the activities and roles of professionals within a system. The five components studied were: Multi-tier Implementation, Student Assessment and Decision-Making, Evidence-based Intervention Provision, Maintenance of Procedural Integrity, and Development and Sustainability of Systems-Level Capacity. A total of 171 School Psychologists, Learning Disabilities Teacher-Consultants, School Social Workers, and Speech-Language Specialists employed on CST in New Jersey participated in a survey of closed questions formatted on a Likert scale. Descriptive statistics, T-tests, and ANOVA tests with Bonferroni/Dunn post hoc tests were completed to analyze the differences between demographic variables, actual training, and perceived knowledge of the five core components of RTI. Demographic differences were not found between CST members and perceived knowledge. There were demographic differences found between the years of employment, years since professional certification, state of professional certification, years of employment, and membership in a professional organization and actual training in the five components. As a whole, there were no differences between the four CST professionals and overall actual training. Within the five components, differences were found in the Student Assessment and Decision-Making component; with Learning Disability Teacher-Consultants and School Psychologists reporting more training and perceived knowledge than their CST counterparts. Participants were asked to categorize their method of training into informal, professional, or formal training. Significant differences were found between CST members and formal training of RTI. Information on the current knowledge base and the additional training needs of CST members to support the RTI model in New Jersey is discussed. Areas in which each CST professionals can contribute to RTI are also summarized. |
