Implementation

Fidelity of Implementation

Current research indicates that the most common cause of failed interventions is a lack of fidelity of implementation. Fidelity is the degree of accuracy with which an intervention, program, or curriculum is implemented according to research findings and/or its developers’ specifications (Buffman, Mattos, & Weber, 2009, p.208). In order to assure accuracy, it is important to deliver instruction in the way it was designed to be delivered (Greshman, MacMillan, Beebe-Frankenberger & Bocian, 2000). RtI is a scientific process in which the group is introduced to an intervention. If an intervention is applied systematically, progress is monitored effectively, and decision-making regarding student progress is adjusted to ensure student success, then fidelity will occur.

The National Center on Learning Disabilities (2006) reports, for an RtI component to be successful in addressing current challenges, the component must be implemented with high integrity. Further, they assert, implementing instruction with fidelity satisfies one of IDEA’s legal requirements for appropriate instruction.

Positive student outcomes are directly correlated with the degree of fidelity implemented in the instruction; high fidelity will yield high student success.