Response to Intervention: Implementation of a Statewide System

The 2004 Reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires that a State permit the use of a process for identification of students with a specific learning disability that is based on the child's response to scientific research-based intervention. In spring of 2005 the West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE) began discussion of this opportunity. That discussion ultimately led to a timeline that would move the process into elementary schools by July 2009 and into middle and high schools by June 2010 and June 2011 respectively. Among other considerations, this aggressive timeline was driven by the State's commitment to early intervention and agreement that there were likely many students inappropriately identified as disabled within the State's 16% identification rate. By spring 2008 all major activities of the timeline to date had been accomplished, including the establishment of pilot schools, expansion to a broader range of demonstration schools, scaling up into all elementary schools, major federal grant funding, eight new regional positions to provide technical assistance, introduction of Literacy Teams into middle and high schools, significant professional development at the elementary level, and changes to State policy and regulations.