Pros and Cons Educational Changes Regarding Discrepancy Model and Response to Intervention - Research Paper Example

Pros and Cons Rti and Discrepancy Model A learning disability occurs when a has difficulty or fails to process and understand certain information. This causes the student to lack progression in their studies therefore falling behind their classmates. In order for the assessment officers to term one as having a learning disability they have to see that, the student is underachieving because the brain cannot cope with some types of information. This underachievement has to be in relation to brain functions not lack of instructions or laziness. The officers assessing the students do so using two models. The first model is the discrepancy model whereby disability has to be primarily determined through the testing of academic performance and cognitive accomplishment. This model is not accurate in determining the level of disability in a student. The other method is the response to intervention (RTI) which is newer and commonly chosen over the discrepancy model. This method determines the disability of a student by their ability to respond to certain interventions. It is immediate and cognitive accomplishment is not under use in determining whether a student has a disability. Both methods have major loopholes in accurately determining the level of disability in a student. The only method to determine is by combining the two models and applying professional judgment. Introduction Special education is the education provided by a school for those students that are not mentally of the same capability with their colleagues. The federal government is in charge of special education therefore it stipulates the rules that govern it. These rules determine whether a child’s special needs are serious enough to warrant more resource allocation to their education by the school. The discrepancy model of education is what determines the special needs of a child. In case a child has special learning needs, the discrepancy model determines how special a child is. This model is the one that determines whether an individualized education program (IEP) for the child under evaluation is necessary. In simpler words, the discrepancy model determines how far the child under evaluation has fallen behind others in the same class. This then forces the child to be fall back for a year or two depending on his IQ whereby the federal government will then start disbursing funds for them. In order for the federal government to send a student special education funds, they have to be behind by a year or two under the discrepancy model. Due to the problems associated with the discrepancy model, the federal government came up with another plan that would identify and help a special child without falling behind in classes. This method aims at helping the students with their classroom difficulties immediately. This method is response to intervention (RTI), under which the teacher collects data on what intervention method helps a child to understand. These intervention methods last between nine to twelve weeks with regular data collection, which determines whether the child is responding to the intervention. A support team whose main role is to support the intervening team suggests the mode of intervention. During the cause of intervention if a child is under suspicion to have a learning disability, they are subject s for case study evaluation. A child has a special learning disability if the rate at which they are progressing is slower than that of their peers or the rate of progressing is acceptable but the intensity of the intervention is too high. The child is also has a learning disability if their performance is significantly below that of their peers even after intervention. If the child has significantly different needs to those of their peers in type or intensity, they also have a learning disability. Pros of discrepancy model The discrepancy model is under replacement due to its many cons compared to the RTI model. It is correct to claim that there is no accurate method of determining the extent of learning disability. The discrepancy model therefore has several pros. The model is easy to understand and its objectives are easier to apply; this is because this model deals with waiting. Another pro is that the discrepancy model establishes a predictable learning disability population size by use of statistical properties. It also allows the evaluation of processing skills and learning style by examiners during tests (Dreeben-Irimia 2010). Cons of the discrepancy model Although the model has several pros, the cons outweigh the pros. The first con is that this model is never practical no accurate for young minds. It is also time wasting because students have to reach a certain level of failure before the federal government can identify them as disabled. This model does not have the effectiveness of differentiating lazy non-disabled students; therefore, it identifies some normal children as learning disable while failing to identify others. It is time consuming for both the examiner and student and mostly the evaluation is inaccurate (Steege 2010). Pros of the RTI This model has been gaining popularity in majority schools since its enactment in 2004. Its pros are stronger than those of the discrepancy model are in that it is applicable to students of any age. A student does not have to fail for a long time for identification, immediately the student starts failing there is intervention by the tutors. It requires very little educational disruption for testing since it is a continuous process. This method forces the schools to be completely active in providing mainstream intervention to poor students. There is no chance of accidental misevaluation with this model unlike the discrepancy model. This is because through intervention those failing due to laziness are under constant encouragement to work hard by those intervening and the support group (Burns 2010). Cons of RTI model As stated before there is no accurate method of determining learning disability students. The first con of this model is that there is interference by the parents and the teachers or any other parties who want a certain student’s identification in order to receive the federal funds. This model also classifies all underachievers as learning disability students in one class with no distinctive barrier during the early stages of intervention. Unlike the discrepancy model, this model does not have any method of cognitive evaluation integrated within the model. It is therefore true to conclude that both models have their shortcomings some severe than others. The main thing to take under consideration with these models while assessing is that; each model has its own pitfalls, and the professional judgment should be the core principle in determining whether a student has a learning disability. Most effective method should be to combine both methods for the best outcome to the students (Burns 2010). References Brown-Chidsey, R., & Steege, M. W. (2010). Response to intervention: Principles and strategies for effective practice. New York: Guilford Press. Dreeben-Irimia, O. (2010). Patient education in rehabilitation. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. VanDerHeyden, A. M., & Burns, M. K. (2010). Essentials of response to intervention. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley. Read More