January/February 2007
Early childhood researchers and advocates have
begun to adapt Response to Intervention (RtI) to the prekindergarten
years. Known as Recognition
& Response (R&R), the model is being developed in four
states, with the expectation that it will be up and running at two
sites this fall.
R&R “emphasizes early support, rather
than the early identification [of learning disabilities],”
says Mary Ruth Coleman, one of the lead scientists working on the
new model at the University of North Carolina’s Frank
Porter Graham Child Development Institute. Although it follows
a three-tiered model similar to RtI, the tiers are more fluidly
defined. “Young children have more developmental differences
and exhibit greater variability because their abilities haven’t
crystallized yet,” she notes.
The term “recognition” is used instead
of “intervention” because intervention is a word used
often in special education. R&R is meant to augment, not replace,
existing services for special education, Coleman adds.
James Wendorf, executive director of the National
Center for Learning Disabilities, says that R&R also de-emphasizes
formal testing of preschoolers in favor of collaborative problem-solving
among teachers, parents, and specialists. For example, a teacher
might see that students are struggling with rhyming and decide to
do more small-group rhyming activities.
As part of the model, Coleman and her colleagues
are developing a “learner passport” to record each preschool
student’s strengths and needs. These passports can be passed
along electronically to kindergarten teachers. As kindergarten becomes
“much more academically centered,” a smooth transition
from preschool to elementary school is essential, says Coleman,
a former kindergarten teacher. “If we can provide early support,
and if that information moves with that child into the kindergarten
setting, it can be very helpful.”
“Recognition & Response: Pathways to
School Success for Young Children.” www.recognitionandresponse.org.
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