Style Over Substance Reconsidered: Intrusive Intervention and At-Risk Students with Learning Disabilities

Abstract

In two recent publications, we reported that the academic intervention process, not the specific intervention content, was responsible for a short-and long-term influx in at-risk student performance (grade-point average) and persistence (retention). All at-risk students who participated in the most intrusive of three interventions had higher cumulative grade-point averages and retention rates than those who received less intrusive interventions. In this post hoc analysis, we looked at probationary students with learning disabilities and found that they are only responsive to the individual attention and personalized accommodation provided under a highly intrusive model, and the impact is temporary.