R&R Research

What do we know about the effectiveness of R&R?

An initial study of the first implementation of the R&R model has been conducted in the area of language and literacy skills. This study evaluated the preliminary effectiveness of the R&R approach in 24 child care, Head Start, and public pre-k classrooms and provides the first evidence of the effectiveness of R&R model for promoting language and literacy skills in pre-k children. Read more on the findings from the first implementation study.

Completed research projects

R&R Pilot Implementation Study (2008-2009)

This multi-site study was designed to evaluate whether teachers find the R&R system useful and can implement it with fidelity. It also evaluated the preliminary effectiveness of R&R.

Teachers in Maryland and Florida implemented R&R in 24 pre-k classrooms that included over 350 4-year-old children. This pilot study focused on early language and literacy and included the following components:

  • Professional development, including weekly classroom consultation, biweekly community of practice meetings, and collaborative problem solving
  • Universal screening for all children and progress monitoring for target children
  • Tier 2 small group language and literacy intervention for some children
  • Research data, including social validation, implementation fidelity, and child and classroom outcomes

This work was funded by the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation.

Current research projects


Recognition & Response: A Response to Intervention (RTI) Model for Early Childhood (2008-2011)

This project is a Goal 2 research study designed to further develop, refine, and evaluate the Recognition & Response (R&R) model for early childhood.  This study focuses on the language and literacy domains, and will take place in public school-based prekindergarten programs in North Carolina. Project activities include: (1) adapting a language and literacy intervention that can be used in Tiers 2 and 3; (2) adapting an assessment measure for use in universal screening and progress monitoring; (3) implementing ongoing professional development to ensure that R&R is implemented with fidelity; (4) developing intervention fidelity measures specific to R&R; (5) gathering data on the social validity and treatment acceptability of the R&R model and its components; (6) evaluating other components of the model, such as the problem-solving component; and (7) collecting pre- and post-test data on children’s language and literacy outcomes.

This study is funded by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), U.S. Department of Education.