The effect of rigorous, targeted, and tiered RTI to overcome the poverty performance achievement gap

ABSTRACT

National, state, and local governmental authorities have researched and reported the impacts of poverty on academic performance for multiple decades, providing guidance, legislation, accountability, equal access initiatives, and continuous monitoring for educators to address the ongoing dilemma. However, poverty performance achievement gaps are still widespread, and in many cases growing, despite the multitude of governmental policies and educational intervention practices. This qualitative research study analyzed the effect of rigorous, targeted, and tiered Response to Intervention (RTI) strategies in overcoming the poverty performance achievement gap in math and English language arts (ELA) on Indiana's ISTEP+ and ILEARN state-mandated assessments for 3rd and 4th-grade students in a Midwest public elementary school. Additionally, the study addressed poverty's impact on academic performance and poverty subgroup performance. The rigorous, targeted, and tiered (RTT) method was found to have statistically significant effects in math performance when controlling for poverty;however, interventions were not significant for ELA performance, even when controlling for poverty. Nevertheless, the study was conducted during the COVID-19 global pandemic. Surprisingly, the academic performance for the poverty and nonpoverty student groups in the treatment cohort was counter to the anticipated negative impact of the pandemic school shutdowns, intervention interruptions, and subsequent virtual learning environments. Academic institutions looking for intervention practices to address the learning needs or learning loss for poverty and nonpoverty students will find merit in the mitigation of learning loss by utilizing the RTT method;however, future research on the components of the RTT method is warranted. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)