Week 4 RTI

RTI or Response to Intervention is the most recent method used to identify students with learning disabilities. RTI is a departure from the historically used approach of comparing student IQ to performance levels to determine learning disabilities.  This change in approach was prompted by the special education law, the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA).    

The reasoning behind RTI is, in my opinion, educationally and ethically sound.  RTI requires educators to know student abilities well and early on by using close observation and assessment.  This is something all teachers should do and know how to do.  RTI also requires that educators match instruction to student needs/levels using research based instructional methods; This is a hallmark of effective teaching.  RTI requires educators to closely monitor student response to instruction, curriculum, and intervention, and to make decisions based on this data.  For these reasons, RTI  reflects many of the qualities of good teaching that I believe in. Furthermore, RTI assists students immediately, rather than waiting to establish a problem, and wasting valuable time.  Another aspect of RTI that I find compelling is that it assesses and assists students in the very natural and authentic learning context of the classroom.  I think this is important to accurately and effectively determining any kind of learning issue.  

RTI is broken down into tiers and each tier reflects a level of intervention, starting with the most simple, and increasing in severity.  Tier 1 interventions are classroom based interventions, made by the teacher (classroom or additional resource teacher), in response to teacher evaluations of student performance.  Tier 2 interventions are more targeted and focused interventions put into place based on student needs as determined by teacher observations and assessments.  Tier 2 interventions include small group instruction inside and outside of the classroom, and are given to children who are not making sufficient progress with Tier 1 instruction only.  Tier 3 interventions are those that are administered to students who do not show sufficient progress with Tier 1 and 2 interventions. Tier 3 interventions can be one-on-one interventions or increased small group work.  Tier 3 can also be a path to a formal evaluation to determine possible special education requirements or a diagnosed learning disability.  Under RTI all students receive Tier 1, and only some students receive Tiers 2 and 3.  The number of students receiving higher level tiers gets smaller.  The idea is to decrease the number of students referred for special education by intervening more in the classroom.  However, the intention is not to keep children from receiving special education services if that is what is needed.  

It seems to me that RTI is administered in different ways across schools, and that the way it is administered depends a great deal on support, funding, staff, student body, and the quality of instruction.  I like that RTI emphasizes student performance in the classroom and response to intervention.  I also like that it reflects the belief in instruction based on ongoing assessment.  However, RTI also requires a lot of additional work for classroom teachers who are not always given the extra support, time, and resources necessary to do it.  In the videos we watched this week I saw a lot of resource teachers in classrooms helping out with tiers of RTI.  I know that organizing this kind of work takes not only the staff, but also the time to effectively plan and implement the intervention.  I believe that RTI is the right approach, and far better than any deficit model, yet at times it feels that it is something that we are being told we have to do, but not being given what we really need to do it.  Classroom teachers are completely overloaded with responsibilities and I believe need more support with implementing this process.