Online ISSN: 2325-7466
2006
Triannual
National Association of Special Education Teachers (NASET)
United States

Articles

Designing Appropriate Small Group Intensive Instruction within an MTSS for Students with Low Incidence Disabilities

  • Timothy E. Morse, Ed.D. (Author) University of West Florida image/svg+xml
    Dr. Timothy E. Morse is an Assistant Professor in the School of Education at the University of West Florida, where he teaches undergraduate and graduate special education courses. His current research interests include examinations of the efficacy and efficiency of systematic trial-based instructional procedures, and the varied implementations of multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS), particularly as they address the needs of students with autism. During the past 40 years Dr. Morse has fulfilled a variety of roles within the field of special education, including work as a university professor, district-level special education administrator, and special education teacher. While at the University of Southern Mississippi he founded and directed an Autism Demonstration School for the Mississippi Department of Education. He has written three books - Response to Intervention: Refining Instruction to Meet Student Needs, Small Group instruction: A Forum for Teaching Students With Learning Challenges, and Fundamental Strategies for Presenting Remedial Instruction – and authored of over 75 articles that have appeared in peer-reviewed journals and other professional publications.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.64546/jaasep.522
Abstract
Currently many schools engage in a systematic process, called a Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS), that simultaneously accounts for every student’s academic progress and instructional needs. A central tenet of an MTSS framework is providing remedial, increasingly intensive, small group instruction to students who are not demonstrating grade-level progress after receiving scientifically-based instruction in a general education classroom. Data indicate that a small percentage of students will need to receive this remedial instruction, and that an even smaller percentage, such as students with low incidence disabilities, may warrant a somewhat different approach. Yet, little has been written about it. Consequently, this paper explains how one clearly-articulated approach to remedial MTSS instruction can be repurposed for students with low incidence disabilities. This repurposing allows for school personnel to begin discussing intensive, small group instruction for students with low incidence disabilities who are not expected to realize grade-level progress via an MTSS.
Keywords
Alignment (Education), Evidence Based Practice, Incidence, Individualized Instruction, Intervention, Multi Tiered Systems of Support
References

Archer, A. L., & Hughes, C. A. (2011). Explicit instruction: Effective and efficient teaching. The Guilford Press.

Collins, B. C., Gast, D. L., Jones, M. A., & Wolery, M. (1991). Small group instruction: Guidelines for teachers of students with moderate to severe handicaps. Education & Training in Mental Retardation, 26(1), 1-18.

Cook, B. G., Tankersley, M., & Landrum T. J. (2009). Determining evidence-based practices in special education. Exceptional Children, 75(3), 365-383. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/001440290907500306

Dymon, S. K., & Russell, D. L. (2004). Impact of grade and disability on the instructional context of inclusive classrooms. Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities, 39, 127-140.

Fuchs, D., & Fuchs, L. S. (2006). Introduction to response-to-intervention: What, why, and how valid is it? Reading Research Quarterly, 41(1), 93-99. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1598/RRQ.41.1.4

Fuchs, L. S., Fuchs, D., & Malone, A. S. (2017). The taxonomy of intervention intensity. TeachingExceptional Children, 50(1), 35-43. https://doi.org/10.1177/0040059917703962 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0040059917703962

Hestenes, L. L., & Carroll, D. E. (2000). The play interactions of young children with and without disabilities: Individual and environmental influences. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 15, 229-246. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0885-2006(00)00052-1

Jimenez, B., & Saunders, A. (2019). Increasing efficiency in mathematics: Teaching subitizing to students with moderate intellectual disability. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, 31(1), 23-37. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-018-9624-y DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-018-9624-y

Kamps, D. M., Walker, D., Dugan, E. P., Leonard, B. R., Thibadeu, K. M., Grossnickle, L., & Boland, B. (1991). Small group instruction for school-aged students with autism and developmental disabilities. Focus on Autistic Behavior, 6(4), 1-18. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/108835769100600401

Keel, M. C., & Gast, D. L. (1992). Small group instruction for students with learning disabilities: Observational and incidental learning. Exceptional Children, 58(4), 357-368. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/001440299205800408

Ledford, J. R., Lane, J. D., Elam, K. L., & Wolery, M. (2012). Using response-prompting procedures during small-group instruction: Outcomes and procedural variations. American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 117(5), 413-434. https://doi.org/10.1352/1944-7558-117.5.413 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1352/1944-7558-117.5.413

Lemons, C. J., Allor, J. H., Al Otaiba, S., & LeJeune, L. M. (2016). 10 Research-based tips for enhancing literacy instruction for students with intellectual disability. Teaching Exceptional Children, 50(4), 220-232. https://doi.org/10.1177/0040059918758162 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0040059918758162

Magiera, K., & Zigmond, N. (2005). Co-teaching in middle school classrooms under routine conditions: Does the instructional experience differ for students with disabilities in co-taught and solo-taught classes? Learning Disabilities Research, 20, 79-85. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5826.2005.00123.x

Morse, T. E. (2020a). Response to intervention: Refining instruction to meet student needs. Rowman & Littlefield.

Morse, T. E. (2020b). Small group instruction: A forum for teaching students with learning challenges. Rowman & Littlefield.

National Autism Center. (2009). Findings and conclusions: National standards project, Phase 1. Randolph, MA: Author.

National Center on Intensive Intervention. (2013). Data-based individualization: A framework for intensive intervention. Washington, DC: Office of Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education.

Odom, S. L., Hume, K., Boyd, B., & Stabel, A. (2012). Moving beyond the intensive behavior treatment versus eclectic dichotomy: Evidence-based and individualized programs for learners with ASD. Behavior Modification, 36(3), 270-297. https://doi.org/0.1177/0145445512444595 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0145445512444595

Polloway, E. A., Cronin, M. E., & Patton, J. R. (1986). The efficacy of group versus one-to-one instruction: A review. Remedial and Special Education, 7(1), 22-30. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/074193258600700106

Ruppar, A. L. (2013). Authentic literacy and communication in inclusive settings for students with significant disabilities. Teaching Exceptional Children, 46(2), 44-50. https://doi.org/10.1177/004005991304600205 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/004005991304600205

Ryndak, D. L., & Alper, S. (1996). Curriculum content for students with moderate and severe disabilities in inclusive settings. Allyn and Bacon.

Spooner, F., Root, J. R., Saunders, A. F., & Browder, D. M. (2019). An updated evidence-based practice review on teaching mathematics to students with moderate and severe developmental disabilities. Remedial and Special Education, 40(3), 150-165. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741932517751055 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0741932517751055

Stahmer, A. C., Collings, N. M., & Palinkas, L. A. (2005). Early intervention practices for children with autism: Descriptions for community providers. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 20, 66-79. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/10883576050200020301

The IRIS Center. (2006). RTI (part 3): Reading instruction. Retrieved from https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/rti03-reading/

Westling, D. L., & Fox, L. (2009). Teaching students with severe disabilities. Pearson.

Wolery, M., Bailey, D. B., Jr., & Sugai, G. (1988). Effective teaching: Principles and procedures of applied behavior analysis with exceptional students. Allyn and Bacon, Inc.

Wolery, M., Jones, M. A., & Doyle, P. M. (1992). Teaching students with moderate to severe disabilities: Use of response prompting strategies. Longman.

Wong, C., Odom, S. L., Hume, K., Cox, A. W., Fettig, A., Kucharczyk, S., Brock, M. E., Plavnick, J. B., Fleury, V. P., & Schultz, T. R. (2014). Evidence-based practices for children, youth, and young adults with autism spectrum disorder. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, Autism Evidence-Based Practice Review Group. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-014-2351-z

There are 28 references in total.
How to Cite
Morse, T. E. (2023). Designing Appropriate Small Group Intensive Instruction within an MTSS for Students with Low Incidence Disabilities. Journal of the American Academy of Special Education Professionals, 18(2), 89-101. https://doi.org/10.64546/jaasep.522
View Spring/Summer 2023

Spring/Summer 2023

Article Information

  • Article Type Articles
  • Submitted May 17, 2023
  • Published June 15, 2023
  • Issue Spring/Summer 2023
  • Section Articles
  • File Downloads 0
  • Abstract Views 139
  • Altmetrics
  • Share
Download data is not yet available.