The Failure of Fidelity

In today’s podcast, Episode 4 of Season 2, I challenge the RTI concept of fidelity. Should it be in your intervention systems? Has it failed? What is the evidence? Here’s what we know:

• Fidelity is often perceived as micromanagement.
• There are 4 possible reasons that “fidelity of instruction” causes poor employee performance (see the research here at PsycNET).
• Illiteracy remains a major problem in this decade with 1 out of 5 adults reading at less than a 5th-grade level.
• Fidelity focuses on inputs, not outputs. Outputs = impact on learning.

What to do about it?

• Start A/B Testing.
• Use multi-layered reading interventions.
• Use multi-gate screeners.

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PS – In 2017, I was fortunate to be a part of a case study involving over 2000 classrooms that resulted in 7 months of reading growth within 3 months of time. You can peruse the results and the 5 findings here.