Teachers’ self-reported knowledge and perceptions of intensive interventions: An initial investigation

Abstract Students with and at-risk for disabilities frequently need interventions to be intensified to increase effectiveness. Intensifying interventions requires teachers to make decisions not only on when to adapt the intervention, but also how to intensify instruction. To assist teachers, Fuchs et al. (2018) developed the Taxonomy of Intervention Intensity which details research-based principles for intensifying interventions. While there is work examining teachers’ knowledge and perceptions of systems of tiered interventions and supports and teacher knowledge and perceptions of intensive interventions, a study has not been conducted to examine teachers’ knowledge and perceptions of different types of instructional intensifications for reading interventions. In this initial investigation, we used an online survey to examine self-reported knowledge and perceptions of feasibility and effectiveness of the methods of intensification included in the taxonomy and also perceived barriers to implementing intensive interventions among a convenience sample of K-12 teachers ( n = 81). We found teachers generally perceived themselves as knowledgeable of the different methods of intensification. Teachers surveyed also perceived the methods as more useful in helping students reach their goals than feasible to implement in practice. A majority of teachers noted a lack of resources (e.g., funding, staff, materials) was a barrier to effective implementation of intensive interventions.