Pearson’s New Website Demystifies “Response to Intervention”

One-Stop-Shop Provides Educators Tools to Set Students of All Abilities on a Path to Academic Success; Assessment, Intervention and Professional Development Offerings from Pearson Align to ARRA, Title I, IDEA and Title III Funding

Boston, November 17, 2009 — Educators now have at their fingertips all of the vital information they need to implement a Response to Intervention (RTI) framework for their school or district: just log on to www.pearsonschool.com/rtisolutions, the new Web resource announced today by the education, technology, and services company Pearson. The Web site integrates RTI informational resources, professional development opportunities, and Pearson’s assessment and curriculum intervention solutions that effectively fit the multi-tiered RTI approach to promote high-quality, standards-based instruction and intervention. These intervention programs align with federal Title I, Title III, and IDEA funding and American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) requirements.

Recent federal laws, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA), pushed schools to focus more directly on helping all children learn by identifying and addressing problems early. In response, most educators have turned to RTI, defined by the National Center on Response to Intervention as a multi-tiered prevention system that identifies students at risk for poor learning outcomes, monitors student progress, provides evidence-based interventions, and adjusts the intensity and nature of those interventions depending on a student’s responsiveness. Pearson’s Web site untangles the complexities of RTI and offers educators: a clear understanding of what RTI is; a chance to learn more about successful RTI program methods — from adapting instruction to using data to identify student progress; webinars on how specific funding sources fit with intervention programs; and links to RTI policy documents, briefings, and tools.

As part of its commitment to ensuring that schools have the tools to help all students succeed, Pearson continues to build an increasingly robust continuum of programs, supported by professional development for educators, to fit within the RTI framework. These educational materials employ assessment to tier students according to need, match instruction to those needs, and closely monitor students’ response to instruction to make necessary and timely adjustments.

“We know RTI programs help bring along at-risk learners and challenge high-achieving students because of the personalization that the framework offers. In accord with our teacher’s efforts to tie assessment to instruction, www.pearsonschool.com/rtisolutions points to resources that make these data-based decisions even easier,” said Peter Cohen, Chief Executive Officer of Curriculum for Pearson K-12. Cohen added, “With Pearson’s new Web site, we want to help educators apply the right RTI action at the right time for each child.”

More information about each of Pearson’s RTI programs, including research that validates the effectiveness of the programs, can be seen at www.pearsonschool.com/rtisolutions.

About Pearson

Pearson (NYSE:PSO), the global leader in education, services, education technology and school solutions, provides innovative print and digital education materials for preK through college, student information systems and learning management systems, teacher professional development, career certification programs, and testing and assessment products that set the standard for the industry. Pearson’s other primary businesses include the Financial Times Group and the Penguin Group. For more information, go to www.pearson.com.

Contact

Stacy Skelly
Pearson
1.800.745.8489