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This study examined the role of fidelity in the reading outcomes within a Tier 2 intervention implemented by Spanish kindergarten and first grade school teachers. For this purpose, differences in reading performance growth were analyzed among at-risk students who received a Tier 2 intervention with high fidelity, at-risk students who received the same intervention with medium fidelity, and an at-risk control group that did not receive a Tier 2 intervention. Implementation fidelity was analyzed using direct observations and self-reports. All students were assessed three times during the academic year. Hierarchical linear modeling analyses were conducted to explore differences in growth rate. The at-risk children in the intervention condition showed a higher growth compared to at-risk children in the control condition, and specifically when the intervention was delivered with a high degree of fidelity.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of second tier intervention at-risk readers within the context of a Response to Intervention approach. The study was conducted in the Canary Islands (Spain), directed by research team ¨Dificultades de Aprendizaje, Psicolingüística y Nuevas Tecnologías¨ (DEA&NT) from University of La Laguna, and supported by the Government of the Canary Islands. A sample of 1.123 Spanish children from fourteen schools districts were given the Spanish adaptation of The Hong Kong Specific Learning Difficulties Behavior Checklist and children who scored at or above the 75th percentile on the test were classified as "at risk" for early reading difficulties. Half of the students were randomly assigned to a project-based intervention condition where they received small group supplementary intervention for 30 minutes daily using the Prevención de las Dificultades Específicas de Aprendizaje (PREDEA) curriculum from mid to late December and continued until mid June. The other half received whatever remedial services were available at their schools. Results indicated that children who received the PREDEA curriculum had higher scores on the Early Grade Reading Assessment Test (EGRA) on initial sound identification, listening comprehension, letter sound knowledge and oral reading fluency compared to the control group.

Until recently, in the United States, the traditional way to identify students with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) was through the discrepancy model where student IQs were compared to their level of achievement. However, educators and researchers alike have questioned this model as a means to define and identify students with SLD. The 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) includes the use of response to intervention (RtI) as possible alternative to the intelligence-achievement discrepancy for identifying SLD. Core components of RtI include high-quality classroom instruction, universal screening, continuous progress monitoring, research-based interventions, and fidelity of instructional interventions. In Spain, the last publication of Ley Orgánica 2/2006, May 3, of Education (LOE) uses the term, Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD), in the chapter on students with specific needs of educational support. Some Autonomous Communities in Spain like the Canary Islands region are regulating SLD identification that adds RtI as an option to use in the eligibility process. Nevertheless, this model it is still at an embryonic stage and many issues are unresolved. While no special issue can cover all of these themes and issues, the contributions included in this monograph examine relevant aspects of this approach. Indeed, this special section is an attempt to introduce in Spain an approach that could be an alternative for identifying and intervening with students who have learning disabilities.