Our Research

• Project I (Classification) focuses on alternatives for identifying students as learning disabled. A series of studies over a 5-year period will examine response to instruction (RTI) as a framework for making sound decisions about the instructional needs of students and for delivering appropriate levels of intervention in response to those needs. A particular focus will be on developing reliable and efficient tools for measuring student progress reliably and efficiently and for identifying the subset of students whose educational outcomes will benefit from alternative instructional settings, such as special education.
• Project II (Early Intervention) focuses on the instructional aspects of RTI, specifically on the effect of moderately intense levels of instructional intervention on student reading achievement. Two cohorts of students will participate in first grade and will be followed through grade 2 or 3. Students identified as being at risk will receive increasingly intense levels of reading instruction as a means of preventing the development of reading difficulties. Their progress will be regularly monitored, and their reading outcomes will be compared with those of students not identified as being at risk.
• The focus of Project III (Remediation), like Project II, is effective instruction. In this case, however, the effect of interventions of differing intensity on the reading achievement of middle school struggling readers is of primary interest. Unlike Project II, Project III will address the instructional needs of students in grades 6–8. The findings of the study will identify instructional features that are effective with middle-school-aged students with a history of reading difficulties.
• Project IV (Magnetic Source Imaging, MSI) focuses on the neural correlates of reading in children at risk for reading problems or who display reading disabilities. Specifically, Project IV will investigate the brain activation patterns of students in Projects II and III who continue not to respond well to even very intense reading interventions, and compare them to the patterns of students who are typically developing readers. By potentially identifying differences in the neurological processes of these two groups of students, this project may provide additional information to be considered in the LD identification process as well as external evidence to support the LD classifications determined through Project I.

Results of TCLD research should address the gap in knowledge of:

• Reliable and valid classifications of LD, with direct implications for identification of students with significant reading disabilities, including models that incorporate response to intervention.
• Effective interventions and response to intervention for students at risk for or experiencing serious reading difficulties.
• The neural correlates of reading disabilities in children and adolescents.

Project activities and results will provide educators with information about effectively intervening with students with a range of reading difficulties, including students with learning disabilities and those at risk for these disabilities. In addition, screening and diagnostic procedures for identifying struggling readers in middle school will be developed. The project will integrate information from multiple perspectives, including assessment, identification, and measurement, intervention, and the neural correlates of reading.