Children with Special Needs (RtI)
Tools and the child with special needs
"Our philosophy is that children with special needs should be learning with - not apart from - their classmates."
The Tools of the Mind approach to instruction closely aligns with Response to Intervention (RtI)—the approach to special education that is now part of the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA 2004) for grades K–12. Tools provides specialized training for classroom teachers and special education staff to facilitate an early childhood program or school district’s implementation of RtI as well as Recognition and Response (the early childhood version of RtI). Tools uses Dynamic Assessment, a technique developed by Vygotskian researchers in the 1930s – and since used by special educators when working with children with special needs.
Scaffolding techniques for learners at different places in their development are at the heart of the Tools approach to instruction. Tools activities are designed to accommodate multiple levels of ability simultaneously, and include specific scaffolds that can support the development of many children in need of intervention.
Tools professional development helps teachers learn how to use Dynamic Assessment to identify which Tools scaffolds are appropriate, and when to remove a scaffold to support a child’s development. Tools activities lend themselves to a collaborative teaching model where the classroom teacher and special education staff work together in classroom-imbedded intervention.
Tools has been implemented successfully with children with speech/language disorders, cognitive, and motor delays, and ASD (autism spectrum disorder) in a number of different types of special education programs, including:
- Inclusion
- Reverse inclusion
- Self-contained special education programs
Success stories of children with special needs