A Web-Based System for Training on a Response-to-Intervention (RtI) Model: Early Identification and  Intervention of Learning Disabilities in Writing

This project has received funding from Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad del Plan Nacional I+D+i, ref. PSI2015-65009-R

The main purpose of this project is to design and validate a web-based system for teachers training in a Model of Response-to-Intervention (RtI) applied to the prevention and early instruction of learning disabilities (LD) in writing entitled Trazo. For this purpose progress-monitoring measures (Curriculum Based Measures, CBM) will also be designed in different writing modes: by pen and by keyboard, and standardized norms for the school population because it is necessary when RtI is implemented in the practice. To our knowledge there is no technological resource of these features except the developed by the research team “Learning Disabilities, Psycholinguistics and New Techonologies” (DEAP&NT) (ver https://ejimenez.webs.ull.es)  from ULL for the field of prevention and intervention of LD in reading (see www.programaletra.ull.es) and maths (see primate.ull.es). Both projects were designed and validated measures learning progress IPAL and IPAM for reading and maths respectively. And in this project a new technological resource would be designed for writing, and also to validate measures learning progress IPAE for writing. Also, technological applications developed so far have flown in our country and the Latin American countries have formalized space cooperation agreements with Ministerio de Educación de Guatemala (MINEDUC), la Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, la Secretaría de Educación de San Luis Potosí (México), la Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosi, la Universidad Casa Grande (Guayaquil, Ecuador), la Universidad del Norte (Colombia), la Dirección General de Ordenación e Innovación Educativa de la Consejería de Educación, Universidades y Sostenibilidad del Gobierno de Canarias, y el Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) de la Universidad de Oregon (EEUU). The proposal presented here is also on the line drawn by international institutions like the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to promote the need for education ministries of the member states focus countries curricular attention on the area of writing and have appointed the IP of this project lead the initiative called “Formative Assessment of Writing in Early Grades” (see http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/education-building-blocks/literacy/writing-assessment-in-early-grades-of-primary-school-egwa/). All this previous experience allows facing sufficient guarantees of success the challenge is now proposed with this project. Therefore, the main challenge is focused on the use of information and communication techonology oriented toward teacher training in RtI in the field of prevention and instruction about population “at-risk” of LD in writing. It is therefore a product that could be of great value and profitability for the educational community, for professionals and society in general.