Podcast: Professor Scott McConnell talks about CRTiEC (6:46)
The mission of the Center for Response to Intervention in Early Childhood (CRtIEC) is to reduce the number of children with reading problems by increasing the number of children entering school with knowledge and skill in early literacy and language.
- We know that children who read well in the early elementary grades are more likely to be academically successful and thrive in later life – and we know that children who acquire early literacy and language skills before kindergarten entry are more likely to read well in the early grades.
- While much is known about early literacy and language and how to promote their development, for too many children, identification of literacy and language delays is coming too late—resulting in life-long reading problems.
- We need evidence-based approaches for early identification and intervention of literacy and language problems that can be implemented by early education professionals.
Through a Five-Year Cooperative Agreement with the National Center for Special Education Research, Institute of Education Sciences in the U.S. Department of Education, we will:
- Carry out Research on Interventions for children not making progress in the general literacy and language curriculum in preschool.
- Carry out Research on Progress Monitoring Measures linked to literacy and language development and interventions.
- Disseminate Findings to practitioners, policymakers and researchers.
- Provide National Leadership on implementation of RtI for young children in literacy and language.
The University of Minnesota CRTIEC team has validated the IGDI 2.0 screening measures to identify students who may be appropriate candidates for Tier 2 and Tier 3 intervention. During the 2012-2013 academic year, CRTIEC is working to develop and validate supporting procedures including a decision making framework to increase the sensitivity of selecting students who are appropriate candidates for intervention and to validate the IGDI 2.0 measures in a progress monitoring capacity.
How Is CEED Involved?
Work in Minnesota focuses primarily on improvement and refinement of assessment practices, building on our past work on Individual Growth and Development Indicators (IGDIs) and related tools:
- Early Childhood Research Institute on Measuring Growth and Development (ECRI)
- Get It, Got It, Go!
- Early Learning Labs / MyIGDIs
Additional Resources
- Wackerle-Hollman, A., Bradfield, T., McConnell, S., & Spencer, T. (2012, October). Measuring a response to intervention model in early childhood: Examining assessments for identification, decision making and progress monitoring. Poster presentation at the annual meetings of the Division for Early Childhood (DEC), Council on Exceptional Children, Minneapolis, MN.
- Monitoring Progress on Progress Monitoring: Recent Innovations in the Design and Evaluation of Individual Growth and Development Indicators. A panel presentation to the Conference on Research Innovations in Early Intervention (CRIEI) by Scott McConnell, Kristen Missall, Michael Rodriguez, and Alisha Wackerle-Hollman. San Diego, CA, February 25-27, 2010.
- Individual Growth and Development Indicators: Their Role in the CRtIEC Measurement Architecture. A panel presentation to the Conference on Research Innovations in Early Intervention (CRIEI) by Tracy Bradfield. San Diego, CA, February 25-27, 2010.
- Myths About Response to Intervention in Early Childhood, Rubric for Professionals (5 pages)
- School Readiness for Response to Intervention Implementation Checklist (8 pages)
- CRtIEC was featured in Education Research News, which reports on the Institute of Education Sciences of the U.S. Department of Education. Read the article.
- Print an information sheet
- Visit the national CRTiEC web site
Project Staff
University of Minnesota Staff
Scott McConnell, Principal Investigator
Research Coordinators
Tracy Bradfield
Alisha Wackerle-Hollman
Methodological and Statistical Analyst: Michael Rodriguez
Collaborators
- Charles Greenwood and Judith Carta (Co-Principal Investigators) Juniper Gardens Children’s Project, University of Kansas
- Howard Goldstein, The Ohio State University
- Ruth Kaminski, Dynamic Measurement Group
- Division of Early Childhood of the Council on Exceptional Children, who will collaborate in the planning and evaluation of a National Training Institute on Early Childhood RtI
- A cadre of 20 nationally recognized consultants and Head Start and Pre-Kindergarten program partners from 5 states
Funding
National Center for Special Education Research, Institute of Education Sciences in the U.S. Department of Education