1. The mission of Polk County Public Schools is to ensure rigorous, relevant learning experiences that result in high achievement for our students.

2.  A way to help students who struggle with learning or behavior  Considers how students respond to changes in how they are taught  Focuses on the skills students need to improve  A plan is developed for struggling students  Progress on this plan is monitored  Has three tiers or levels of instruction /intervention

3.  PS-RtI gives extra help to students who work below grade level or have behavior problems  There is no delay to providing extra help  Student progress is monitored closely  Much of this extra help occurs in the general education classroom  More frequent communication between you and the teacher

4.  Tier 1 ◦ Core instruction all students get in the general education class  Tier 2 ◦ Usually small group help given based on results of screenings at Tier 1 ◦ This extra help is in addition to what student gets in general instruction  Tier 3 ◦ Usually individual or very small group help focusing on particular skills and/or behaviors ◦ This is in addition to what is given at Tiers 1 and 2

5. Thinking Inside the Triangle o Tier 1 = Green o Tier 2 = Yellow o Tier 3 = Red Students will flow back and forth between the tiers depending on the level of help needed on a certain skill or behavior.

6.  Help starts as soon as a skill or behavior problem is noticed  A plan for improvement is implemented immediately  Decisions about progress occur every few weeks  If not enough improvement, the plan is changed  Changing behavior usually takes longer than changing academic skills

7.  Tools used to screen ALL students  Results used to review academic or behavior progress of all students  Results help schools find students who may need additional instruction or more support  Examples of screening tools include Discovery (new tool) and Teacher/Grade Level Nomination Process

8.  Instructional or behavioral strategies/ methods that have been proven to be effective in helping children with similar academic or behavior problems  Specific type of instruction/method/strategy for a specific type of problem  Examples include teacher-led small group instruction on learning letter sounds, or using a self-monitoring behavior chart for work completion

9.  A way to show how well instruction or the intervention is working  A way to show if a student is meeting instructional or behavioral goals  A way to determine if the intervention plan needs to be changed  Uses quick tools or measures to determine progress on a regular basis ◦ Examples include 1-minute reading or math probes, or behavior charts

10. Oliver’s Assignment Completion Chart  Behavioral Progress Monitoring

11. Oliver’s Chart – Letter Sounds  Academic Progress Monitoring

12.  PS-RtI is NOT a way to delay referral to special education  It is part of the individual student evaluation process through the observations and progress monitoring data collected on the interventions being implemented  You have a legal right to ASK that your child be evaluated by the school to determine eligibility for special education services. The PS/RtI process will be used for this evaluation  The school has a legal responsibility to provide a response to this request  The School psychologist evaluation will be only a part of the comprehensive evaluation done at your child’s school

13.  Web Resources ◦ www.ld.org www.ld.org ◦ www.rtinetwork.org www.rtinetwork.org ◦ www.ncld.org www.ncld.org  Your school’s guidance counselor or school psychologist ◦ Name, title, phone number