Help for Struggling Students

“RTI” stands for “Responsiveness to Instruction” Tier 1: Core instruction, sufficient for 80-90% of students

“RTI” stands for “Responsiveness to Instruction” Tier 2: Focused, research-based intervention, needed for 5-10% of students

“RTI” stands for “Responsiveness to Instruction” Tier 3: intensive, individualized research-based intervention, needed for 1-5% of students

What happens in Tier 2? The classroom teacher schedules a “Kid Talk” meeting with the grade-level team The team develops a plan for intervention and progress monitoring Parents receive a PEP document, which outlines the plan

More about “Kid Talk…” Kid Talk involves the grade-level team and support staff Support staff may include intervention teachers, special education teachers, a school counselor or psychologist, etc. Meetings take place each week

More about interventions… Interventions involve direct instruction, provided in addition to the common core They are based on practices that have been supported by research They specify who will deliver the instruction, how often, and for what period of time

More about progress monitoring… First, the student’s baseline is established. For example, “Suzy is currently able to identify 5 letters of the alphabet.” Next, short and long term goal s are created. For example, “A long term goal would that Suzy will be able to identify all 26 alphabet letters.” A short term goal is typically set for 4-6 weeks from the beginning of the intervention. Calculations are done to determine the number of weeks of instruction and then based on this, how many letters would be expected to be learned by the review date. During follow-up meetings, the classroom teacher brings data that reflects student progress.

What happens in Tier 3? The team reviews the data to discuss where a child started, what interventions have been tried, and how much progress has been made The team determines whether the intervention needs to be adjusted/intensified/replaced If the data shows that the student hasn’t responded to instruction (or has responded only inconsistently), the team may consider referral to the special education team

The Special Education Referral Process An IEP meeting is scheduled (“IEP” = “Individualized Education Program”) The IEP team reviews the child’s strengths and the ongoing concerns The parent may be asked to give written permission for an evaluation to take place

The Special Education Referral Process The evaluation process is completed within a 90-day timeline A follow-up IEP meeting is held to discuss whether the child is eligible for special education services based on the evaluation If not, regular education interventions will resume, with the evaluation results in mind

Questions?