Top 10 Response to Intervention for Teachers

• Response to Intervention (RTI) is a multi-tier approach to the early identification and support of students with learning and behavior needs. The RTI process begins with high-quality instruction and universal screening of all children in the general education classroom.
• When a child moves from a tier 1 general education (class wide intervention) to a tier 2 (more targeted small group interventions), parents should be informed about what is happening and their rights. Parents should be advised that their child is not making expected academic progress, the services that will be provided and strategies used to increase their child's progress, and other options that are available to them.
•  How to collect data and implement it to help better your students. The data generated from assessments and progress monitoring should be used collaboratively by teachers, reading specialists, school psychologists, and parents to develop more intensive intervention strategies.  
• Progress of students receiving intervention instruction is monitored. RTI requires that progress-monitoring data are continuously collected as students receive interventions.  This should address the skills that are being targeted for intervention. Also, the assessments should be administered repeatedly (weekly or biweekly).
• Individualized instruction: Students who continue to struggle despite receiving initial intervention instruction will require more intense, targeted interventions. This may require additional assessments to clarify the nature of the difficulty. 
•  Develop and implement a plan:  Set a goal that describes the expected improvement in learning. Select the instruction and/or intervention(s) that will address the problem, Identify how progress will be monitored, and carry out the instructional changes and/or interventions and check to make sure they are being done correctly (with fidelity).
• Tier 1 is CORE instruction that all students receive in the general education classroom with their general education teacher. Teachers differentiate instruction by proactively planning and implementing a variety of instructional methods matched to varying student skill needs within the classroom. At Tier 2, interventions are provided with an increased level of intensity in addition to core instruction for small groups of students who show some risk of not meeting grade level standards. With fewer students in a group, an individual student has more opportunities to respond, and the teacher has more opportunities to give immediate and appropriate feedback to each student.
• Tier 2 interventions usually involve additional practice and skill building. There are many different kinds of interventions and instruction that can happen in the classroom or outside the classroom in small groups.
• At Tier 3, interventions are provided at a higher level of intensity in comparison to Tier 2 and are also provided in addition to core instruction. Tier 3 interventions are typically provided to a small group of two to three students or to an individual student by a staff member. Interventions are tailored specifically to meet the needs of each student. 
• At Tier 1, data is collected as often as three times during the school year and is used for screening and benchmarking of all students in important areas such as reading, math, writing, and behavior. At Tier 2, data are collected as frequently as twice a month to determine whether the extra instruction and interventions are making a difference and whether a change in instruction and/or intervention is needed.  At Tier 3, data is collected for the same reasons as Tier 2 but is collected more often (e.g., weekly) so that decisions and changes to the student’s instruction can be made sooner.

Top 10 Response to Intervention for Parents

• Response to Intervention (RTI) is a multi-tier approach to the early identification and support of students with learning and behavior needs. The RTI process begins with high-quality instruction and universal screening of all children in the general education classroom. Struggling learners are provided with interventions (small group or one or one support) at increasing levels of intensity to accelerate their rate of learning.
• When a child is participating in an RTI model, the parent must be notified of the instructional strategies used, performance data collected, and the general education services that will be provided.
• There are three levels to RTI. Tier 1 involves all students learning on the same level and receiving the same evidence based instruction. Tier 2 interventions are provided with an increased level of intensity in addition to core instruction for small groups of students who show some risk of not meeting grade level standards. With fewer students in a group, an individual student has more opportunities to respond, and the teacher has more opportunities to give immediate and appropriate feedback to each student. Tier 2 interventions usually involve additional practice and skill building. At Tier 3, interventions are provided at a higher level of intensity in comparison to Tier 2 and are also provided in addition to core instruction. Tier 3 interventions are typically provided to a small group of two to three students or to an individual student by a staff member. Interventions are tailored specifically to meet the needs of each student.  Tier 3 is provided when students continue to struggle or make little growth after receiving  tier 2 instruction.  
• All students are screened at the beginning , middle and end of the of the school year in reading and math (students are not singled out or labeled). At Tier 1, data are collected as often as three times during the school year and are used for screening and benchmarking of all students in important areas such as reading, math, writing, and behavior. This means that schools use the information to measure where all students are performing compared to grade level benchmarks and how much progress the students are making. The data also help schools determine if their core instructional practices are effective for most students.  At Tier 2, data are collected as frequently as twice a month to determine whether the extra instruction and interventions are making a difference and whether a change in instruction and/or intervention is needed.  At Tier 3, data are collected for the same reasons as Tier 2 but are collected more often (e.g., weekly) so that decisions and changes to the student’s instruction can be made sooner.
•  Does NOT mean a child has a learning disability.
• Students are assessed multiple times through progress monitoring.  This allows teachers to see if the interventions have been working. If student has not shown adequate growth interventions may be increased in duration and skill.  Students may move fluidly among the tiers as a result of their response to the interventions they receive. For example, if data show progress, a student can move from Tier I to Tier II and back to Tier I within a short period of time. Accordingly, movement across the tiers is not necessarily sequential. For example, a student with significant gaps in performance may immediately require intensive Tier 3 interventions and would, therefore, not receive Tier 2 interventions prior to Tier 3.
• A decision-making process to determine eligibility for special education services occurs when necessary. A team of school-based professionals as well as the student’s parents review all data to determine whether the student is eligible for special education services. Special services may be indicated when the student has not responded to interventions that have been well implemented for a sufficient period of time.
• If you believe that your child is in need of special education services, you have the legal right to ask the school to evaluate your child to determine whether he or she has a disability and is eligible to receive special education services (at any time). You can ask the school to evaluate your child at any time, regardless of where your child is in the RtI process. 
•  Ask the school what formal guidelines they are using for progress monitoring.  The school will provide you with regular progress monitoring reports. If your child is getting more individualized Tier 3 interventions, attend meetings (the school must contact you regarding your child's plan) with the problem solving team.

References

Illinois State Board of Education. (2009). Educational rights and responsibilities: understanding special education in illinois. Springfield, IL. Retrieved July 10, 2009, from http://www.isbe.net/speced/html/parent_rights.htm 

Klotz, M.B. & Cantor, A. (2007). Response to intervention (RTI): A primer for parents. Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists. Retrieved July 10, 2009, from  http://www.nasponline.org/resources/factsheets/rtiprimer.aspx