Reading Intervention in the Primary Grades ― A Common-sense Guide to Rti

Heidi Anne E. Mesmer, PhD, is Associate Professor of Literacy in the School of Education at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. A former third-grade teacher, she has held tenure-track positions at Virginia Commonwealth University and Oklahoma State University. Since 1999, Dr. Mesmer has studied beginning reading materials and text difficulty. She has worked extensively with schools and teachers in Virginia and Oklahoma, serving as co-principal investigator on a number of funded projects, and has published articles in a range of journals.

Eric Mesmer, PhD, NCSP, is Associate Professor of Psychology and the coordinator of the school psychology program at Radford University in Radford, Virginia. He has served as an RTI consultant to local school districts and worked as a practicing school psychologist for several years. His research interests include the application of behavioral generalization principles to the academic responding of students with behavioral and learning difficulties, school psychologists' involvement in RTI, and teacher interpretation and use of progress monitoring data. Dr. Mesmer served as co-principal investigator of a teacher training grant providing professional development in data-driven reading assessment and intervention practices.

Jennifer Jones, EdD, is Associate Professor of Literacy Education in the School of Teacher Education and Leadership at Radford University. She is an award-winning teacher educator and scholar whose research foci include RTI and core comprehension instruction in the elementary grades, and who works with teachers through ongoing, research-based professional development. A former classroom teacher, Dr. Jones has served in leadership roles in state and national literacy organizations, and her research has been published in research and practitioner journals.