Understanding RTI in Mathematics

Asha K. Jitendra, Ph.D., University of Minnesota, Department of Educational Psychology, 245 Education Sciences Building, 56 East River Road, Minneapolis, MN 55455. Dr. Jitendra received her Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction (special education) from the University of Oregon. She is the Rodney Wallace Professor for Advancement of Teaching and Learning at the University of Minnesota. Her research interests include academic and curricular strategies in mathematics and reading for students with learning disabilities, assessment practices to inform instruction, and instructional design and textbook analysis.

In addition to his work at the Instructional Research Group, Dr. Gersten is also a professor emeritus in the College of Education at the University of Oregon. He is the director of the Math Strand for the Center on Instruction, the director of research for the Regional Educational Laboratory-South West, and the principal investigator for several What Works Clearinghouse projects. As Project Director of the Teacher Quality Distribution and Measurement Study, Dr. Gersten is currently working with a team of researchers from Harvard University to revise a mathematics observation measure that will be used to determine the effect of professional development on teachers' mathematics instruction. He is also a coauthor of a mathematics screening and progress monitoring measure for kindergarten and first-grade students that is in press. His main areas of expertise include evaluation methodology and instructional research on students with learning disabilities, mathematics, and reading comprehension. Dr. Gersten has conducted numerous randomized trials, many of which have been published in major scientific journals in the field. He has either directed or codirected 42 applied research grants addressing a wide array of issues in education and has been a recipient of many federal and nonfederal grants (more than $20 million). He has advised on a variety of reading and mathematics projects using randomized trials in education settings and has written extensively about the importance of randomized trials in special education research.

In 2002, Dr. Gersten received the Distinguished Special Education Researcher Award from the American Educational Research Association's Special Education Research Division. He served as a member of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel, a Presidential committee to develop researchbased policy in mathematics for American schools. Dr. Gersten also chaired the Panel that developed A Practice Guide on Response to Intervention in Mathematics for the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES).

Dr. Newman-Gonchar manages the Math Strand for the Center on Instruction and serves as a co–principal investigator for a randomized field trial of professional development in vocabulary, funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES). She has worked extensively on developing observation systems to assess math and reading instruction for four major IES-funded studies and has contributed to several practice guides and intervention reports for the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) in the areas of math, reading, response to intervention, and English language learners. She is also certified to complete experimental and single-case design reviews for the WWC. She has experience in project management, study design and implementation, and quantitative and qualitative analysis.

Sharon Vaughn, Ph.D., H.E. Hartfelder/Southland Corp. Regents Chair in Human Development and Executive Director, The Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk, University of Texas at Austin, Sanchez Building, 1912 Speedway, Austin, Texas 78712

Sharon Vaughn is the executive director of The Meadows Center, an organized research unit at the University of Texas at Austin. She is the recipient of the American Education Research Association Special Interest Group Distinguished Researcher Award, the International Reading Association Albert J. Harris Award, the University of Texas Distinguished Faculty Award, and the Jeannette E. Fleischner Award for Outstanding Contributions in the Field of Learning Disabilities from the Council for Exceptional Children. She is the author of more than 35 books and 250 research articles. Vaughn is currently the principal investigator on several research grants from the Institute for Education Sciences, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the U.S. Department of Education.

Joseph A. Dimino, Ph.D., has had experience as a general education teacher, special education teacher, administrator, behavior consultant, and researcher. He has extensive experience working with teachers, parents, administrators, and instructional assistants in the areas of early literacy, reading comprehension and vocabulary instruction, and effective instructional techniques for English language learners. As a senior research associate, Dr. Dimino has been a part of several regional and national research teams investigating topics such as foundational reading skills and vocabulary, reading comprehension, and mathematics instruction. He is a coauthor of books addressing reading comprehension and vocabulary instruction and has published in several peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Dimino has delivered papers at numerous state, national, and international conferences. He consults nationally in the areas of early literacy, reading comprehension, and vocabulary instruction.

Douglas Fuchs, Ph.D., Nicholas Hobbs Professor of Special Education and Human Development, Peabody College, Vanderbilt University, Department of Special Education, 110 Magnolia Circle, Room 417C, Nashville, TN 37203. Dr. Fuchs is a former classroom teacher, special educator, and school psychologist. He directed the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Reading Clinic for 12 years. His current interests include reading and math disabilities, intensive instruction, service delivery options, urban education, and education policy.

Lynn S. Fuchs, Ph.D., Nicholas Hobbs Professor of Special Education and Human Development, Peabody College, Vanderbilt University, Department of Special Education, 110 Magnolia Circle, Room 417C, Nashville, TN 37203. Dr. Fuchs’s research addresses teachers’ use of classroom-based assessment information and instructional practices for improving reading and mathematics performance.