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Response to Intervention
RtI is an individualized, comprehensive
assessment and intervention process, utilizing a problem-solving
framework to identify and address student academic difficulties
using effective, efficient, research-based instruction. The RtI
process is a multi-step approach to providing services and
interventions to students who struggle with learning at increasing
levels of intensity. The progress students make at each stage of
intervention is closely monitored. Results of this monitoring are
used to make decisions about the need for further research-based
instruction and/or intervention in general education, in special
education or both. NEA supports the concept of early intervening
services (EIS) and RtI, i.e., providing supports for students as
soon as they need them. NEA argued throughout Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act’s reauthorization that additional funds
should be available to implement EIS & RtI. NEA feels a carve-out of
IDEA funds dilutes already scarce funds.
Why RtI?
A growing body of research suggests that the
“ability-achievement discrepancy” method of identifying students as
eligible for special education services requires students to fail or
fall behind for a substantial period of time before they are
eligible for help. This requirement for an “accumulation of failure”
acts as a barrier to early help. The RtI process has the potential
to limit the amount of academic failure that any student experiences
and to increase the accuracy of special education evaluations. It is
designed to reduce the number of children who are mistakenly
identified as having learning disabilities when their learning
problems are actually due to cultural differences or lack of
adequate instruction. Information and data gathered by an RtI
process can lead to earlier identification of children who have true
disabilities and are in need of special education services.
http://www.ld.org
How RtI Is Used to
Identify a Student as Having LD
In an RtI process, students who show signs of learning
difficulties are provided with a series of increasingly intensive,
individualized interventions. These interventions are designed and
delivered by general education staff in collaboration with other
experts such as special educators and school psychologists and are
based on reliable research. The intervention process includes
systematic monitoring of the student’s progress. Students who do not
show improvement, or a “response,” to this series of interventions
are considered to be learning disabled and in need of special
education services in order to receive educational benefit from
instruction.
http://www.schwablearning.org/aRtIcles.aspx?r=840
Response to Intervention applies to both
Academic Issues and Behavioral Issues. A standard illustration of
RtI is a pyramid format.
http://www.tstaweb.net/mail/T&L/RtI-TieredSystems.pdf
 George
Sugai, Ph.D is the Professor & Carole J. Neag Endowed Chair in the
Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut. Dr. Sugai
prefers a continuum model instead of the standard pyramid model,
which provides specific barriers between levels of intervention (see
below). The slide presentation is available for your perusal at the
Technical Assistance Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions &
Supports website:
http://www.pbis.org/files/gsRtIkeynote1207.ppt
A Clearinghouse of RtI
Information:
Jim Wright, a school psychologist from central New York, created
a website called Intervention Central. This site offers free tools
and resources to help school staff and parents to promote positive
classroom behaviors and foster effective learning for all children
and youth. The site was created by.
The site offers links to help teachers
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Understand the Model
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Use Teams to
Problem-Solve
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Select the Right
Intervention
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Monitor Student
Progress
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Graph Data for Visual
Analysis
Mr. Wright’s site is a good tool for
teachers who want to begin implementing Response to Intervention in
their building.
http://www.jimwrightonline.com/php/RtI/RtI_wire.php
TSTA Action on
Response to Intervention
TSTA attended National Center on RtI Summit in
Alexandria, Virginia. In addition, Texas was represented by the
Texas Education Agency, the Texas Association of School
Administrators, the Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors
Association and the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory.
After two-and-a-half days of discussion, the group completed an
initial draft of TEA RtI suggestions.
That draft can be found on the Teaching
and Learning page of the TSTA website at
http://www.tsta.org/teaching/current/index.shtml. The
final version of the website will be interactive and will provide
numerous suggestions for successful interventions. The next meeting
will take place at the Texas Education Agency during the month of
January. What Are Other
States Doing in Relation to RTI?
The National Center on Response to Intervention has a new RTI State
Database at
http://state.rti4success.org. NEA
is an active partner of the Center. This new website section
provides resources on a number of topics related to response to
intervention. The resources, which range from policy documents and
briefs to trainings and tools, were developed by states, districts,
or territories in the U.S. They are available in an easy-to-use
database that allows the user to conduct a number of different
searches.
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