Impact of teacher concerns on response to intervention implementation

Abstract

The purpose of the current research study is to describe the relationships between teacher concerns and level of "Response to Intervention" (RtI) use. Additionally, the study examined the influence demographic variables (gender, age, years of service, and level of degree) have on teacher concerns related to adopting RtI. The Concerns Based Adoption Model (CBAM, Hall & Hord, 1987; 2001) was used as a theoretical framework to conduct the study. The Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SoCQ),developed out of the CBAM, and Level of RtI Use Questionnaire (LRIUQ), developed by the researcher for this study, were used in the non-experimental, cross-sectional survey design to address the research questions. The SoCQ was used to evaluate concerns about innovation adoption by evaluating participant responses on each of seven scales, and the LRIUQ was used to evaluate teacher use of RtI based on a total scale score. Multiple regression analysis was used to evaluate relationships between concerns, RtI use, and teacher demographic characteristics. Overall, the study found that teachers who scored the highest on early stages of concern (0 and 1) scored low on RtI use, which supports Hall and Hord's (1987) concerns theory. In addition, gender status was found to potentially be predictive of teacher concerns. Males in this study were more likely to have Stage 1 and Stage 2 concerns, indicating that they are in early stages of RtI use. The findings from this study may have implications for how teachers are trained, which teachers are hired, how RtI is introduced to teachers and how they can be included in the process to facilitate greater buy-in, and how teachers are coached through professional development