What Is RTI? 

  Response To Intervention

 The word intervention is key to understanding what Response To Intervention is all about.  Response To Intervention isn’t a specific program or type of teaching; it is a form of differentiation designed to target specific skills. RTI is a proactive approach that measures student's skills and using this data to decide which type(s) of interventions can be used to strengthen the area(s) of academic concern. It is generally a 3-tiered system with Tier 1 being the least amount of support required and is usually provided by the classroom teacher. If the student is not making acceptable progress in Tier 1 they are moved into Tier 2 where the student will receive additional small group instruction from the classroom teacher and/or instructional support staff. If the student is not showing acceptable academic growth in Tier 2 then a RTI Committee will review student's data to determine if they  should be placed in Tier 3.The goal of RTI is for the school to intervene, or step in, and start helping students before they develop serious gaps in their learning. The RTI principle applies to any student that requires additional instructional support to be successful in school; it’s not just for children with special needs or a learning disability.

Types of Interventions:

In-Class Instructional Support for Tier 1 and Tier 2 RTI:

This can be provided by the classroom teacher and/or by instructional support staff.

• Classroom Teacher: Teachers already differentiate their lessons to meet the varying ability

• levels in their classrooms so that all students will reach their academic potential. They may do this by reteaching a skill using a different strategy to an individual student or to 3-5 students on a similar ability level in a small group setting.

• Instructional Support Staff: Instructional Support Staff refers to someone who comes into the classroom to help facilitate student learning; this could be a para-professional or an interventionist.  Both can provide either one-on-one student support or conduct additional small group instruction to target a specific skill(s).

 

Additional Instructional Support  for Tier 3 RTI:

The purpose of Response To Intervention is to support struggling students so they continue making academic growth. It is not a one-size-fits-all  instructional approach nor is it determined by on any one assessment. RTI decisions are  based on multiple sources such as assessment data, teacher data, and/or tracking from instructional  support staff. The goal of RTI is to  provide the level of instructional support the student needs to reach their maximum academic potential. If a student is not making  academic growth with in-class instructional support then their current level of intervention will be evaluated to determine if additional small group instruction is required. 

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