RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION IN ELEMENTARY
READING REQUIRES COMPASSIONATE CLASSROOM
COMMUNITIES
Valerie L. Zelenka, Ph.D.
erhaps you might think that administering
universal screening assessment, regrouping
students in tiered groups, and creating a tutorial
period are all of the components necessary when
implementing Response to Intervention….think
again. Often disregarded and sometimes
underestimated is the impact that classroom
environments have on at-risk struggling readers.
―Our days are pressured and we push children
aside in order to get on with the lesson. The
more I know a child, the more I can expect of
him. When a student perceives my face as one
with intelligent expectation, we have a
challenging classroom. My face and my voice
carry a tone that says, You know things and I can’t
wait to find out what they are‖ (Graves, 2006).
More than an approach to teaching and learning,
the creation and sustentation of nurturing
classroom communities is one of the most
ignored and essentia