Early identification and intervention to prevent reading failure: A response to intervention (RTI) initiative

Abstract

This article describes a Response to Intervention (RTI) model of early identification and intervention to prevent reading failure. A simple screening system to alert teachers to children who may not have some of the prerequisite skills necessary for reading and a whole class intervention system will be described. The success of these initiatives was measured systematically, and the incidence of reading difficulties was reduced to 1.5% in the children who had English as a first language and in children who had English as an additional language. The article also examines the relative influence of students’ first language on learning to read in English and the benefits of bilingualism.

Keywords::

• early identification
• dyslexia
• EAL (English as an Additional Language)
• intervention
• phonemic awareness

Author note

Some parts of this article appeared in Siegel, L.S. (2018). A case study of successful early screening and intervention. Perspectives on Language and Literacy, 44, 29-32.

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank the children, parents, and teachers of the North Vancouver School District who gave so generously of their time. The author would like to thank the many people who helped make this work a reality.

Financial support

This research was supported by grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Dorothy C. Lam Chair in Special Education.

Conflicts of interest

None.

Ethical standards

The author asserts that all procedures contributing to this work comply with the ethical standards of the relevant national and institutional committees on human experimentation and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008.