Intervention Programming and Assessment Practices That Promote Students’ Skills

A special issue of Education Sciences (ISSN 2227-7102). This special issue belongs to the section "Special and Inclusive Education".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 January 2025) | Viewed by 3567

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Special Education & Literacy, Washington State University Vancouver, Vancouver, WA 98686, USA
Interests: writing strategy interventions; struggling writers; learning disabilities; multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS); inclusion strategies for students with disabilities; general education teachers’ referral criteria and processes for students’ possible special education classification and placement

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Intervention programming and assessment systems in K-12 schools have included the employment of strategy instruction and standardized tests (e.g., IQ , academic achievement) since the 1910s as a method by which to design and monitor programming to help students improve their abilities in reading, writing, math, and life skills. These practices have been known as a wait-to-fail model, in which students are offered the opportunity to learn and demonstrate their grade-level ability. If students demonstrated difficulties by the end of the third grade, standardized tests assessing their IQ and academic achievement would be administered to help determine whether a student had a disability and what type of classroom/instruction should be offered. These tests posed ethical problems, such as asking specific questions about movies and government, as well as the fact that students could receive bonus points for answering rapidly. Delaying this process until the age of eight also posed an ethical problem.

A better alternative is offering an assessment and intervention system as early as kindergarten, with students’ progress being monitored weekly. All of the educators at a school should review the students’ curriculum-based measurement (CBM) scores, design and manage intervention programming, and employ a school team approach to decision making regarding students’ programming and placement; the school team should decide whether special education is warranted in order to determine the next steps. These practices offer a more effective and progressive method with which to help children, and are the key elements of multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS). This Special Issue welcomes empirical and conceptual submissions that focus on intervention programming and assessment systems and practices, how they can be applied in schools, and how this could be a renewed opportunity for educators in schools to collaborate in instruction and assessment-based decision making for possible special education.

Dr. Michael William Dunn
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • student who struggle with reading
  • students who struggle with writing
  • students who struggle with math
  • students who struggle with behavior
  • intervention programming for academics and/or behavior
  • multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS)
  • response to intervention (RTI)

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

23 pages, 289 KiB  
Article
Empowering Young Writers: Enhancing Perspective-Taking and Persuasive Writing Through STOP DARE+ in Social Studies
by A. Angelique Aitken, Kate Van Haren, Dana Patenaude, Madeline Halkowski, Haniyeh Kheirkhah and Sydney Chiat
Educ. Sci. 2025, 15(5), 557; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15050557 - 30 Apr 2025
Viewed by 705
Abstract
Writing proficiency is important for academic and professional success, yet only one-third of US students write at proficient levels. While Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) has shown effectiveness across different populations, few studies have examined its application in elementary social studies contexts. This study [...] Read more.
Writing proficiency is important for academic and professional success, yet only one-third of US students write at proficient levels. While Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) has shown effectiveness across different populations, few studies have examined its application in elementary social studies contexts. This study investigated the implementation of STOP DARE+, an SRSD-based writing intervention incorporating reading from social studies source texts and perspective-taking, in a fourth-grade social studies classroom studying the Underground Railroad. The intervention was delivered across 11 sessions to 12 students with diverse learning needs. Writing quality was assessed using the newly developed Multidimensional Spectrum of Holistic Writing Quality scoring tool, alongside genre elements and text production measures. Social validity was evaluated through the Teacher-Informed Perspectives Snapshot (TIPS), a new repeated-measures tool, combined with interviews and student focus groups. Results showed significant improvements in all writing measures with large effect sizes. Students and teachers reported strong positive perceptions of the intervention’s effectiveness and meaningfulness, with students particularly emphasizing the importance of perspective-taking for both academic and social development. The findings suggest that integrating SRSD-based writing instruction with social studies content can enhance both writing skills and critical thinking while fostering deeper engagement with historical events and social justice themes. Full article
22 pages, 996 KiB  
Article
Effectiveness and Long-Term Effects of SER+ FELIZ(mente): A School-Based Mindfulness Program for Portuguese Elementary Students
by Sofia Magalhães, Carolina Carvalheiras, Catarina Ribeiro, Cátia Francisco, Cristina Mourisco, Teresa Leal and Teresa Limpo
Educ. Sci. 2024, 14(11), 1155; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14111155 - 25 Oct 2024
Viewed by 1076
Abstract
School-based mindfulness programs (SBMPs) have gained global popularity. Yet, there is a need for more rigorous procedures to develop and assess them. This study aimed to address these limitations by examining the effectiveness of a Portuguese SBMP, called SER + FELIZ(mente). The final [...] Read more.
School-based mindfulness programs (SBMPs) have gained global popularity. Yet, there is a need for more rigorous procedures to develop and assess them. This study aimed to address these limitations by examining the effectiveness of a Portuguese SBMP, called SER + FELIZ(mente). The final sample included 190 third and fourth-graders: 99 in the SBMP group and 91 in a wait-list group. Effects on attentional control, emotional regulation and wellbeing were examined in the short term (T2) and 6 months later (T3). We also tested the moderating role of age, gender, and baseline scores. Using a multilevel modeling approach, results showed a clear benefit of SBMP on emotional wellbeing at T2 but not T3. Despite SBMP students surpassing wait-list students in attentional control, cognitive reappraisal, and social wellbeing at T2, these effects were due to a levelling off among SBMP students, coupled with a decline among wait-list students from T1 to T2. These effects were moderated by age at T3. While universal improvements were limited, our SBMP seemed to have acted as a shield against school stressors (i.e., likely, test anxiety at T2). This opens a new avenue for research concerning the role of SBMPs in preventing (rather than repairing) mental-health issues in elementary students. Full article
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17 pages, 1501 KiB  
Article
Online PBPD and Coaching for Teaching SRSD Argumentative Writing in Middle School Classrooms
by Amber B. Ray, Tara E. Mason, Kate E. Connor and Crystal S. Williams
Educ. Sci. 2024, 14(6), 603; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14060603 - 4 Jun 2024
Viewed by 1012
Abstract
Teachers report a need for professional development in order to feel more confident and be more effective in providing writing instruction and intensive intervention to support middle school students. This study investigates the impacts of online practice-based professional development (PBPD) and coaching for [...] Read more.
Teachers report a need for professional development in order to feel more confident and be more effective in providing writing instruction and intensive intervention to support middle school students. This study investigates the impacts of online practice-based professional development (PBPD) and coaching for self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) argumentative writing instruction on teachers’ implementation of the instruction. Using a pre-test–post-test design, the study also examined the effects of the SRSD instruction on students’ argumentative writing from source texts. Five middle school teachers from three regions across the United States participated in the PBPD and implemented SRSD with 55 middle school students with high-incidence disabilities or below-proficient writing skills. Following PBPD, teachers implemented the SRSD argumentative writing instruction with high adherence to dosage, fidelity of implementation, and quality. Student writing was scored for argumentative genre elements, holistic quality, total words written, and transition words. Results demonstrate that students improved on all measures. In addition, students reported feeling confident in their argumentative writing abilities. Teachers and students reported high social validity for the intervention. The benefits found in this research study provide a strong foundation supporting the application of comprehensive online PBPD with follow-up coaching to support teacher implementation of SRSD. Full article
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