Response to Intervention (Rti) Program for the Development of Executive Functions in First-Year Elementary School

Abstract

Objectives: To develop a second-tier Response to Intervention (RTI) program for the development of executive functions in first-year elementary school students and to analyze the clinical significance of the program via a pilot study. Method: The work was carried out in two phases: elaboration and application of the RTI program; followed by a clinical significance analysis of the children's performance in pre and post-test situations. Participants: The initial sample comprised 71 children (age from 6 years to 6 years and 11 months, of both sexes) from two public schools (groups GI and GII). These were submitted to a pre-assessment protocol: Attention Screening Test by digit cancellation; Five Digit Test; Digit Span subtest, Track Testing, and Protocol for Early Identification of Reading Problems. Risk for difficulty in executive function was presented by 18/37 of the participants that completed the pre-assessment protocol and these were selected for the intervention program. Results: There was a reliable improvement in the components of executive function inhibition, working memory and alternation, for some children and in rhyme identification tasks, phoneme production, and phonological working memory, although the program does not focus on its development. Conclusion: The program we elaborated demonstrated applicability and can be used by educational speech therapists, school psychologists and educators as a scientific evidence-based intervention tool to support the development of executive functions in second-tier RTI programs.