Drenean M. Francois-Brown
Course: Education 654
Instructor: Dr. Cynthia Elliott
Assignment: Language Arts Writing
In an effort to respond appropriately to the needs of their students, many districts have implemented the Response-to-Intervention approach to provide assistance to struggling students. Response-to-Intervention (RTI or RtI) is a method of academic intervention aimed at providing effective instructional support to students experiencing difficulties in reading, mathematics, and/or behavior. The RTI approach allows students to receive intervention services early on by screening students beginning in kindergarten. The approach is a proactive response to No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Federal laws have directed schools to focus on helping all children learn by addressing problems early on, before the child is so far behind that a referral to special education services is warranted. These laws include the NCLB of 2001 and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) of 2004. Both laws emphasize the importance of providing high quality, scientifically-based instruction and interventions, in addition to holding the schools accountable for the progress of all students in terms of meeting state grade level standards. In this overview, the reader will learn about Response-to-Interventions and the tiers of interventions, the use of a collaborative team, and the benefits of the RTI approach.
Response-to-Intervention is a multi-tiered approach of providing specific interventions to struggling learners at increasing levels of intensity. It is a systematic process focused on providing high quality instruction combined with careful and frequent monitoring of student progress (LDOE, 2010). The data gained from an RTI process is used by school personnel and parents to identify the educational needs of the student and create an instructional plan. Response-to-Intervention is also used as one part of a data-based process of identifying learning disabilities and is a big part of a referral process for student evaluation. RTI seeks to prevent academic failure through early intervention, frequent progress measurement, and increasingly intensive research-based instructional interventions for children who continue to have difficulty. A school-wide or district-wide universal screening of academics and behavior is completed in order to determine which students need closer monitoring or additional interventions.
RTI is a multi-tiered approach to providing intervention. There are multiple tiers of increasingly intense, research-based interventions that are matched to the needs of the student. A commonly used three tiered approach includes: Tier 1-core classroom instruction and differentiated instruction, Tier 2-targeted interventions, and Tier 3- intensive intervention and comprehensive evaluation. In Tier 1, regular education students, who are identified after the approach as “at-risk” receive supplemental instruction, or interventions. The interventions are generally delivered in small groups during the student’s regular school day in the regular classroom for about six to eight weeks with progress monitoring every two weeks. Students who do not make adequate progress in Tier 1 are provided with more additional services and moved to Tier 2 interventions with progress monitoring administered weekly. These services are provided in addition to instruction in the general curriculum and are usually provided in a small group setting. A longer period of time may be required for this tier, but it should generally not exceed a grading period. Students who continue to lack progress at this level of intervention are then considered for more intensive interventions and are placed in Tier 3. Interventions are provided more often for longer periods of time and progress monitoring is typically twice a week. Collaboration, discussion, and decisions regarding each student’s progress are on-going throughout the RTI process. Students who do not respond to these targeted interventions are then considered for review by the RTI team as eligibility for individual evaluation is determine as required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
The use of a collaborative team by school staff for development, implementation, and monitoring of the intervention process is a necessity. Collaboration is at the heart of making the RTI approach successful. Each member’s active participation can ensure students are receiving the appropriate interventions necessary to encourage growth. A typical team should consist of the student, regular education teacher, interventionist or instructional coach if available, parents, principal or principal designee, and student services personnel. The purpose of the RTI team is to facilitate a collaborative approach to problem solving. This team is extremely important to implementing the RTI process. The validity, fidelity and integrity of the intervention are dependent upon the team (Intervention Central, 2011). All members must be able to effectively collaborate and ensure that policies and procedures regarding RTI are followed. One of the most important functions of the RTI team is for the members to gather and use data to develop interventions to target academic and behavioral problems. The team also supports the teacher by providing suggestions for implementing interventions within the classroom, and providing appropriate tools or methods to monitor student progress. The students and parents are best served within the RTI process when an RTI team is in place to make important decisions regarding the student’s educational needs and deficits, tier-to-tier placements, and safeguard the fidelity of implementation.
The most commonly cited benefit of an RTI approach is that it eliminates the “wait to fail” situation because students are identified and receive the help they need early on within the general education setting. Another cited benefit of the RTI approach is its potential to reduce the number of students referred for special education services while increasing the number of students who are successful within regular education. RTI has also been praised for reducing the likelihood that students from diverse racial, cultural or linguistic backgrounds are incorrectly identified as having a disability. Pursuing the noted benefits of the RTI approach takes commitment to the process, fidelity in the implementation, and a collaborative team of individuals focused on student achievement.
In this overview, I have provided information about the Response-to-Intervention approach as it relates to tiers of interventions, the use of a collaborative team, and the benefits of RTI. For additional information about implementing Response-to-Intervention visit any of the links listed below.
IDEA Partnerships (http://www.ideapartnership.org) The IDEA Partnership is dedicated to improving outcomes for students and youth with disabilities.
Intervention Central (http://www.interventioncentral.org) A website created by Jim Wright as a resource guide to implementing academic/behavioral RTI.
National Center on Response-to-Intervention (http://www.rti4success.org ) The National Center on Response to Intervention works in conjunction with researchers from Vanderbilt University and the University of Kansas. It is funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP).
Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) RTI in Louisiana (http://www.doe.state.la.us/lde/uploads/15497.pdf) This pdf document provides details about the RTI process at the state level.
U.S. Department of Education (http://www.idea.ed.gov/explore/view/p/,roo,dynamic,QaCorner) The U.S. Department of Education provides questions and answers regarding RTI and Early Intervening Services.
References
Intervention Central. (2011). The RTI Leadership Team: A District Vehicle for Oversight and Planning. Retrieved July 10, 2011, from http://www.interventioncentral.org/index.php/blog/35-systems-change/216-rti-leadership-team.
Louisiana Department of Education. (2010). RTI in Louisiana. Retrieved July 10, 2011, from http://www.doe.state.la.us/lde/uploads/15497.pdf.
National Association of School Psychologists. (2004). 2004 Learning Disabilities Roundtable. Retrieved July 10, 2011, from http://www.nasponline.org/advocacy/2004LDRoundtableRecsTransmittal.pdf.
National Association of State Directors of Special Education. Response to Intervention: Policy Considerations and Implementation. Retrieved July 15, 2011, from www.nasdse.org.
National Center for Learning Disabilities (www.ld.org).
National Center on Student Progress Monitoring (www.studentprogress.org).
National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities (NJCLD) (www.ldonline.org/njcld)
The National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities. (2005). Responsiveness to Intervention and Learning Disabilities. Retrieved July 18, 2011, from http://www.ldonline.org/pdf/rti_final_august_2005.pdf.
Instructor Comments: In EDUC 654, “Language Arts in the Elementary School”, graduate students are asked to engage in the writing process and submit a piece of writing for publication. Then they are to reflect as one who writes and also reflect as a teacher of writing in elementary schools. Drenean’s submission addresses a timely topic in PK-12 schools as well as highlights her interest in professional development for other educators.
