RTI: An Overview for Schools Jim Wright

RTI: An Overview for Schools Jim Wright www.interventioncentral.org

RTI Assumption: Struggling Students Are ‘Typical’ Until Proven Otherwise…
RTI logic assumes that: A student who begins to struggle in general education is typical, and that It is general education’s responsibility to find the instructional strategies that will unlock the student’s learning potential Only when the student shows through well-documented interventions that he or she has ‘failed to respond to intervention’ does RTI begin to investigate the possibility that the student may have a learning disability or other special education condition.

Essential Elements of RTI (Fairbanks, Sugai, Guardino, & Lathrop, 2007)
A “continuum of evidence-based services available to all students" that range from universal to highly individualized & intensive “Decision points to determine if students are performing significantly below the level of their peers in academic and social behavior domains" “Ongoing monitoring of student progress" “Employment of more intensive or different interventions when students do not improve in response" to lesser interventions “Evaluation for special education services if students do not respond to intervention instruction" Source: Fairbanks, S., Sugai, G., Guardino, S., & Lathrop, M. (2007). Response to intervention: Examining classroom behavior support in second grade. Exceptional Children, 73, p. 289.

NYSED RTI Guidance Memo: April 2008

“The Regents policy framework for RtI: Defines RtI to minimally include: Appropriate instruction delivered to all students in the general education class by qualified personnel. Appropriate instruction in reading means scientific research-based reading programs that include explicit and systematic instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary development, reading fluency (including oral reading skills) and reading comprehension strategies. Screenings applied to all students in the class to identify those students who are not making academic progress at expected rates.”

“Instruction matched to student need with increasingly intensive levels of targeted intervention and instruction for students who do not make satisfactory progress in their levels of performance and/or in their rate of learning to meet age or grade level standards. Repeated assessments of student achievement which should include curriculum based measures to determine if interventions are resulting in student progress toward age or grade level standards. The application of information about the student’s response to intervention to make educational decisions about changes in goals, instruction and/or services and the decision to make a referral for special education programs and/or services.”

“Written notification to the parents when the student requires an intervention beyond that provided to all students in the general education classroom that provides information about the: -amount and nature of student performance data that will be collected and the general education services that will be provided; -strategies for increasing the student’s rate of learning; and -parents’ right to request an evaluation for special education programs and/or services.”

“The Regents policy framework for RtI: Defines RtI to minimally include: Requires each school district to establish a plan and policies for implementing school-wide approaches and prereferral interventions in order to remediate a student’s performance prior to referral for special education, which may include the RtI process as part of a district’s school-wide approach. The school district must select and define the specific structure and components of its RtI program, including, but not limited to the: -criteria for determining the levels of intervention to be provided to students, -types of interventions, amount and nature of student performance data to be collected, and -manner and frequency for progress monitoring.”

What previous approach to diagnosing Learning Disabilities does RTI replace?
Prior to RTI, many states used a ‘Test-Score Discrepancy Model’ to identify Learning Disabilities. A student with significant academic delays would be administered an battery of tests, including an intelligence test and academic achievement test(s). If the student was found to have a substantial gap between a higher IQ score and lower achievement scores, a formula was used to determine if that gap was statistically significant and ‘severe’. If the student had a ‘severe discrepancy’ [gap] between IQ and achievement, he or she would be diagnosed with a Learning Disability.

Avg Classroom Academic
Performance Level Discrepancy 1: Skill Gap (Current Performance Level) Discrepancy 2: Gap in Rate of Learning (‘Slope of Improvement’) Target Student ‘Dual-Discrepancy’: RTI Model of Learning Disability (Fuchs 2003)

RTI ‘Pyramid of Interventions’
Tier 3: Intensive interventions. Students who are ‘non-responders’ to Tiers 1 & 2 are referred to the RTI Team for more intensive interventions. Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3 Tier 2 Individualized interventions. Subset of students receive interventions targeting specific needs. Tier 1: Universal interventions. Available to all students in a classroom or school. Can consist of whole-group or individual strategies or supports.

Source: New York State Education Department. (October 2010)
Source: New York State Education Department. (October 2010). Response to Intervention: Guidance for New York State School Districts. Retrieved November 10, 2010, from p. 12

Tier 1 Core Instruction Tier I core instruction:
Is universal—available to all students. Can be delivered within classrooms or throughout the school. Is an ongoing process of developing strong classroom instructional practices to reach the largest number of struggling learners. All children have access to Tier 1 instruction/interventions. Teachers have the capability to use those strategies without requiring outside assistance. Tier 1 instruction encompasses: The school’s core curriculum. All published or teacher-made materials used to deliver that curriculum. Teacher use of ‘whole-group’ teaching & management strategies. Tier I instruction addresses this question: Are strong classroom instructional strategies sufficient to help the student to achieve academic success?

Tier I (Classroom) Intervention
Tier 1 intervention: Targets ‘red flag’ students who are not successful with core instruction alone. Uses ‘evidence-based’ strategies to address student academic or behavioral concerns. Must be feasible to implement given the resources available in the classroom. Tier I intervention addresses the question: Does the student make adequate progress when the instructor uses specific academic or behavioral strategies matched to the presenting concern?

The Key Role of Classroom Teachers in RTI: 6 Steps
The teacher defines the student academic or behavioral problem clearly. The teacher decides on the best explanation for why the problem is occurring. The teacher selects ‘evidence-based’ interventions. The teacher documents the student’s Tier 1 intervention plan. The teacher monitors the student’s response (progress) to the intervention plan. The teacher knows what the next steps are when a student fails to make adequate progress with Tier 1 interventions alone.

Scheduling Elementary Tier 2 Interventions
Option 3: ‘Floating RTI’:Gradewide Shared Schedule. Each grade has a scheduled RTI time across classrooms. No two grades share the same RTI time. Advantages are that outside providers can move from grade to grade providing push-in or pull-out services and that students can be grouped by need across different teachers within the grade. Anyplace Elementary School: RTI Daily Schedule Grade K Classroom 1 Classroom 2 Classroom 3 9:00-9:30 Grade 1 Classroom 1 Classroom 2 Classroom 3 9:45-10:15 Grade 2 Classroom 1 Classroom 2 Classroom 3 10:30-11:00 Grade 3 Classroom 1 Classroom 2 Classroom 3 12:30-1:00 Grade 4 Classroom 1 Classroom 2 Classroom 3 1:15-1:45 Grade 5 Classroom 1 Classroom 2 Classroom 3 2:00-2:30 Source: Burns, M. K., & Gibbons, K. A. (2008). Implementing response-to-intervention in elementary and secondary schools: Procedures to assure scientific-based practices. New York: Routledge.

Tier 3: Intensive Individualized Interventions (Problem-Solving Protocol)
Tier 3 interventions are the most intensive offered in a school setting. Students qualify for Tier 3 interventions because: they are found to have a large skill gap when compared to their class or grade peers; and/or They did not respond to interventions provided previously at Tiers 1 & 2. Tier 3 interventions are provided daily for sessions of 30 minutes or more. The student-teacher ratio is flexible but should allow the student to receive intensive, individualized instruction. The reading progress of students in Tier 3 interventions is monitored at least weekly. Source: Burns, M. K., & Gibbons, K. A. (2008). Implementing response-to-intervention in elementary and secondary schools. Routledge: New York.

Team Activity: What Are Your RTI Questions?
At your table: Discuss the content covered so far in today’s RTI presentation. What RTI questions does your group still have?

Good Behavior Game (Barrish, Saunders, & Wold, 1969)

Sample Classroom Management Strategy: Good Behavior Game (Barrish, Saunders, & Wold, 1969)
The Good Behavior Game is a whole-class intervention to improve student attending and academic engagement. It is best used during structured class time: for example, whole-group instruction or periods of independent seatwork Description: The class is divided into two or more student teams. The teacher defines a small set of 2 to 3 negative behaviors. When a student shows a problem behavior, the teacher assigns a negative behavior ‘point’ to that student’s team. At the end of the Game time period, any team whose number of points falls below a ‘cut-off’ set by the teacher earns a daily reward or privilege. Guidelines for using this intervention: The Game is ideal to use with the entire class during academic study or lecture periods to keep students academically engaged The Game is not suitable for less-structured activities such as cooperative learning groups, where students are expected to interact with each other as part of the work assignment.

Good Behavior Game: Steps
The instructor decides when to schedule the Game. (NOTE: Generally, the Good Behavior Game should be used for no more than 45 to 60 minutes per day to maintain its effectiveness.) The instructor defines the 2-3 negative behaviors that will be scored during the Game. Most teachers use these 3 categories: Talking Out: The student talks, calls out, or otherwise verbalizes without teacher permission. Out of Seat: The student’s posterior is not on the seat. Disruptive Behavior: The student engages in any other behavior that the instructor finds distracting or problematic.

The instructor selects a daily reward to be awarded to each member of successful student teams. (HINT: Try to select rewards that are inexpensive or free. For example, student winners might be given a coupon permitting them to skip one homework item that night.) The instructor divides the class into 2 or more teams. The instructor selects a daily cut-off level that represents the maximum number of points that a team is allowed (e.g., 5 points).

When the Game is being played, the instructor teaches in the usual manner. Whenever the instructor observes student misbehavior during the lesson, the instructor silently assigns a point to that student’s team (e.g., as a tally mark on the board) and continues to teach. When the Game period is over, the teacher tallies each team’s points. Here are the rules for deciding the winner(s) of the Game: Any team whose point total is at or below the pre-determined cut-off earns the daily reward. (NOTE: This means that more than one team can win!) If one team’s point total is above the cut-off level, that team does not earn a reward. If ALL teams have point totals that EXCEED the cut-off level for that day, only the team with the LOWEST number of points wins.

Good Behavior Game: Troubleshooting
Here are some tips for using the Good Behavior Game: Avoid the temptation to overuse the Game. Limit its use to no more than 45 minutes to an hour per day. If a student engages in repeated bad behavior to sabotage a team and cause it to lose, you can create an additional ‘team of one’ that has only one member--the misbehaving student. This student can still participate in the Game but is no longer able to spoil the Game for peers! If the Game appears to be losing effectiveness, check to be sure it is being implemented with care and that you are: Assigning points consistently when you observe misbehavior. Not allowing yourself to be pulled into arguments with students when you assign points for misbehavior. Reliably giving rewards to Game winners. Not overusing the Game.

Team 1 Team 2 Good Behavior Game Cut-Off=2 Game Over [Out of Seat]
[Call Out] [Disruptive] Answer: Both teams won the Game, as both teams’ point totals fell BELOW the cut-off of 5 points. Question: Which team won this Game?

Building Reading Fluency

NRP Conclusions Regarding Importance of Oral Reading Fluency:
“An extensive review of the literature indicates that classroom practices that encourage repeated oral reading with feedback and guidance leads to meaningful improvements in reading expertise for students—for good readers as well as those who are experiencing difficulties.”-p. 3-3

Interventions for…Increasing Reading Fluency
Assisted Reading Practice Listening Passage Preview (‘Listening While Reading’) Paired Reading Repeated Reading

The student reads aloud in tandem with an accomplished reader
The student reads aloud in tandem with an accomplished reader. At a student signal, the helping reader stops reading, while the student continues on. When the student commits a reading error, the helping reader resumes reading in tandem. Paired Reading

‘Defensive Behavior Management’: The Power of Teacher Preparation Jim Wright

Defensive Management: A Method to Avoid Power Struggles
‘Defensive management’ (Fields, 2004) is a teacher-friendly six-step approach to avert student-teacher power struggles that emphasizes providing proactive instructional support to the student, elimination of behavioral triggers in the classroom setting, relationship-building, strategic application of defusing techniques when needed, and use of a ‘reconnection’ conference after behavioral incidents to promote student reflection and positive behavior change. Source: Fields, B. (2004). Breaking the cycle of office referrals and suspensions: Defensive management. Educational Psychology in Practice, 20,

Defensive Management: Six Steps
Understanding the Student Problem and Using Proactive Strategies to Prevent ‘Triggers’. The teacher collects information--through direct observation and perhaps other means--about specific instances of student problem behavior and the instructional components and other factors surrounding them. The teacher analyzes this information to discover specific ‘trigger’ events that seem to set off the problem behavior(s) (e.g., lack of skills; failure to understand directions). The instructor then adjusts instruction to provide appropriate student support (e.g., providing the student with additional instruction in a skill; repeating directions and writing them on the board). Source: Fields, B. (2004). Breaking the cycle of office referrals and suspensions: Defensive management. Educational Psychology in Practice, 20,

Promoting Positive Teacher-Student Interactions. Early in each class session, the teacher has at least one positive verbal interaction with the student. Throughout the class period, the teacher continues to interact in positive ways with the student (e.g., brief conversation, smile, thumbs up, praise comment after a student remark in large-group discussion, etc.). In each interaction, the teacher adopts a genuinely accepting, polite, respectful tone. Source: Fields, B. (2004). Breaking the cycle of office referrals and suspensions: Defensive management. Educational Psychology in Practice, 20,

Scanning for Warning Indicators. During the class session, the teacher monitors the target student’s behavior for any behavioral indicators suggesting that the student is becoming frustrated or angry. Examples of behaviors that precede non-compliance or open defiance may include stopping work; muttering or complaining; becoming argumentative; interrupting others; leaving his or her seat; throwing objects, etc.). Source: Fields, B. (2004). Breaking the cycle of office referrals and suspensions: Defensive management. Educational Psychology in Practice, 20,

Exercising Emotional Restraint. Whenever the student begins to display problematic behaviors, the teacher makes an active effort to remain calm. To actively monitor his or her emotional state, the teacher tracks physiological cues such as increased muscle tension and heart rate, as well as fear, annoyance, anger, or other negative emotions. The teacher also adopts calming or relaxation strategies that work for him or her in the face of provocative student behavior, such as taking a deep breath or counting to 10 before responding. Source: Fields, B. (2004). Breaking the cycle of office referrals and suspensions: Defensive management. Educational Psychology in Practice, 20,

Using Defusing Tactics. If the student begins to escalate to non-compliant, defiant, or confrontational behavior (e.g., arguing, threatening, other intentional verbal interruptions), the teacher draws from a range of possible descalating strategies to defuse the situation. Such strategies can include private conversation with the student while maintaining a calm voice, open-ended questions, paraphrasing the student’s concerns, acknowledging the student’s emotions, etc. Source: Fields, B. (2004). Breaking the cycle of office referrals and suspensions: Defensive management. Educational Psychology in Practice, 20,

Conducting a ‘Reconnection’ Conference. Soon after any in-class incident of student non-compliance, defiance, or confrontation, the teacher makes a point to meet with the student to discuss the behavioral incident, identify the triggers in the classroom environment that led to the problem, and brainstorm with the student to create a written plan to prevent the reoccurrence of such an incident. Throughout this conference, the teacher maintains a supportive, positive, polite, and respectful tone. Source: Fields, B. (2004). Breaking the cycle of office referrals and suspensions: Defensive management. Educational Psychology in Practice, 20,

Activity: Defensive Behavior Management
In your teams: Discuss the Defensive Behavior Management framework. How can you use a framework like this as a tool to help you to better manage student behaviors? Defensive Behavior Management: 6 Steps Understanding the Student Problem and Using Proactive Strategies to Prevent ‘Triggers’. Promoting Positive Teacher-Student Interactions. Scanning for Warning Indicators. Exercising Emotional Restraint. Using Defusing Tactics. Conducting a Student ‘Reconnection’ Conference.

Tier 1 Case Example: Collin: Letter Identification

Case Example: Letter Identification
The Concern In a mid-year (Fall) school-wide screening for Letter Naming Fluency, a first-grade student new to the school, Collin, was found have moderate delays when compared to peers. In his school, Collin fell at the 15th percentile compared with peers (using local norms). Screening results, therefore, suggested that Collin has problems with Letter Identification. However, more information is needed to better understand this student academic delay.

Instructional Assessment Collin’s teacher, Ms. Tessia, sat with him and checked his letter knowledge. She discovered that, at baselline, Collin knew 17 lower-case letters and 19 upper-case letters. (Ms. Tessia defined ‘knows a letter” as: “When shown the letter, the student can correctly give the name of the letter within 2 seconds.”) Based on her findings, Ms. Tessia decided that Collin was just acquiring this letter identification skill. He needed direct-teaching activities to learn to identify all of the letters.

Intervention Ms. Tessia decided to use ‘incremental rehearsal’ (Burns, 2005) as an intervention for Collin. This intervention benefits students who are still acquiring their math facts, sight words, or letters. Students start by reviewing a series of ‘known’ cards. Then the instructor adds ‘unknown’ items to the card pile one at a time, so that the student has a high ratio of known to unknown items. This strategy promotes near-errorless learning. Collin received this intervention daily, for 10 minutes. NOTE: A paraprofessional, adult volunteer, or other non-instructional personnel can be trained to deliver this intervention. Source: Burns, M. K. (2005). Using incremental rehearsal to increase fluency of single-digit multiplication facts with children identified as learning disabled in mathematics computation. Education and Treatment of Children, 28,

East Carolina University Evidence-Based Intervention Project Incremental Rehearsal Guidelines

Goal-Setting and Data Collection Ms. Tessia set the goals that, within 4 instructional weeks, Collin would: identify all upper-case and lower-case letters. move above the 25th percentile in Letter Naming Fluency when compared to grade-level peers. The teacher collected two sources of data on the intervention: At the end of each tutoring session, the tutor logged any additional formerly unknown letters that were now ‘known’ (that the student could now accurately identify within 2 seconds). Each week, the teacher administered a one-minute timed Letter Naming Fluency probe and charted the number of correctly identified letters.

Outcome Ms. Tessia discovered that Collin attained the first goal (‘able to identify all upper-case and lower-case letters’) within 2 weeks. Collin attained the second goal (‘move above the 25th percentile in Letter Naming Fluency when compared to grade-level peers’) within the expected four instructional weeks.

RTI: An Overview for Schools Jim Wright

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