More of the Same: Privileging Narrow Approaches to Literacy in Response to Intervention

• In Event: Moscone Center West Roundtable Session 2
  In Roundtable Session: Beyond Inclusion: Disability Studies and Special Education for Social Justice

Abstract

Response to Intervention (RTI) is touted as an opportunity to interrupt traditional wait-to-fail models for special education evaluation that disadvantage diverse learners. However, few empirical studies explore teachers’ implementation of RTI in schools serving students from historically marginalized social groups. This study uses Cultural-Historical Activity Theory to examine the conditions shaping teachers’ approaches to literacy assessment and intervention at one public, urban elementary school serving a large population of culturally and linguistically diverse students. Findings indicate that while the authority of national literacy reports and district referral guidelines fostered research and data-driven norms for RTI at the school, they also led teachers to privilege decontextualized, monolingual reading skills at the expense of other essential socio-cultural factors that constitute literacy learning.

Author

• Joyce Melissa Gomez-Najarro, California State University - Fullerton