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Analyzing the role of fidelity of RTI Tier 2 reading intervention in Spanish kindergarten and first grade students

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Abstract

This study examined the role of fidelity in the reading outcomes within a Tier 2 intervention implemented by Spanish kindergarten and first grade school teachers. For this purpose, differences in reading performance growth were analyzed among at-risk students who received a Tier 2 intervention with high fidelity, at-risk students who received the same intervention with medium fidelity, and an at-risk control group that did not receive a Tier 2 intervention. Implementation fidelity was analyzed using direct observations and self-reports. All students were assessed three times during the academic year. Hierarchical linear modeling analyses were conducted to explore differences in growth rate. The at-risk children in the intervention condition showed a higher growth compared to at-risk children in the control condition, and specifically when the intervention was delivered with a high degree of fidelity.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the members of the Learning Disabilities, Psycholinguistic and Information and Communication Technologies (DEAP&NT) research team from Universidad de La Laguna for their help with tool design and data collection, and to all the participant schools, teachers, students, and families. Also, the authors would like to thank Valeria M. Rigobon for proofreading the manuscript.

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Funding

This study was supported by the Plan Nacional I+D+I (R+D+i National Research Plan of the Spanish Ministry of Economics and Competitiveness), project ref.: PSI2009-11662 and project ref.: EDU2012-35098, with the first author as IP; the Canary Islands Agency of Research, Innovation and Society of Information (ACIISI), ref.: TESIS2015010173, with the second author as beneficiary; Minister of Education (FPU), ref.: FPU13/03940, with the third author as beneficiary; and by the Department of Education and Universities of the Canary Islands Government and the Canary Islands Agency for University Quality and Educational Evaluation.

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  1. Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Speech Therapy, Universidad de La Laguna, Campus Guajara s/n, La Laguna, 38200, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain

    Juan E. Jiménez & Sara C. de León

  2. Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA

    Nuria Gutiérrez

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  1. Juan E. Jiménez
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Correspondence to Juan E. Jiménez.

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Appendices

Appendix 1

Table 5 Fidelity of the assessment scale: self-report
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Appendix 2

Table 6 Fidelity of the intervention scale: self-report
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Jiménez, J.E., Gutiérrez, N. & de León, S.C. Analyzing the role of fidelity of RTI Tier 2 reading intervention in Spanish kindergarten and first grade students. Ann. of Dyslexia 71, 28–49 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11881-021-00221-5

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