Response to Intervention (RTI)

Fidelity of a Response to Intervention within a Multi-Tiered System of Supports is associated with an infrastructure that supports the effective, efficient and fluid delivery of increasingly intensive supports and services to students within the context of a problem-solving process. Evidence-based academic, social-emotional and behavioral practices are integrated and matched to student need based upon a continuum of reliable and valid data sources. Response to Intervention (RTI) is assessed using a continuum of measures that are sensitive to incremental growth.

Tiers 2 and 3 differ with respect to instructional intensity. Intensity often means increased engaged learning time, greater numbers of opportunity to respond with immediate corrective feedback, smaller teacher to student ratio, and an increasingly targeted instructional focus. Fidelity of implementation of tiered supports and services is evidenced when greater number of students respond ambitiously to intervention (accelerated learning/growth) within and across Tiers 1, 2 and 3.

Within a tiered system, progress-monitoring occurs across all tiers, meaning that there is repeated measurement of academic performance to inform instruction/intervention at the school, grade, classroom level and across all three tiers of support. Progress-monitoring data must be collected, evaluated and used on an ongoing basis and with more frequency in the advanced tiers. Progress-monitoring is a cornerstone of tiered systems because it is used to:

To determine rate of a student(s) progress (is instruction/intervention working?)
To determine rate of progress compared to peers and grade level benchmarks (does the student need more?)
To determine mastery of discrete skills (is the student mastering prerequisite skills needed to meet grade level benchmarks?)
To provide information on the effectiveness of instruction and modify the intervention if necessary
To analyze and interpret gaps between standards and achievement (how long will it take to close the gap?)

Results are then evaluated to determine whether student response to an intervention is adequate or not based upon regular charting, graphing and/or data-analysis. Teams have to also develop decisions rules regarding which students are or are not adequately responding to the instruction/intervention.

What is Progress Monitoring at Tier 1? (General Education/ Core Classroom Instruction)

Assess all students minimally three times per year to monitor student progress (e.g., Universal Screening/Benchmark Assessments, Behavioral Data such as attendance reports, suspension reports, course failures, conduct, etc.) and Social-Emotional Data.
Use the data to determine the effectiveness of core academic, social-emotional and behavioral instruction and then create a more responsive learning environment for all students that includes small group differentiated instruction.
Teachers continue to use formative assessment from Fall to Winter and Winter to Spring.
Decisions determine what percent of students are not progressing adequately based on grade level expectations and how many students will require additional support.

What is Progress Monitoring at Tiers 2 & 3?

Supplemental and increasingly intensive Instruction/Intervention
Assess students minimally on a 3-4 week basis to monitor their response to the intervention as as function of Tier 2 supports and every week as a function of Tier 3 supports.
Assess students more frequently to monitor individual skills being taught and administer diagnostic measures as needed to inform degree of deficiency, root cause and instructional focus.
Fidelity of implementation should be formally assessed, in order to determine the overall effectiveness of advanced tiered support.
Identify individual students who are progressing slower than others in their tiered group or who are significantly below the group’s average who may need to be considered for eligibility determination.

“Response to Intervention (RTI)” Team Discussion Items

Describe how instruction and intervention within tiers 2 and 3 progressively increase in duration, frequency and intensity.
Discuss examples of evidence-based practices methodologies that you have adopted and the instructional focus/purpose of each intervention. Are there any missing? Is your continuum complete?
Discuss the sample fidelity checks that you use that correspond with your evidence-based practices and used within tiers 1, 2 and 3.
Identify how many weeks of intervention occur and/or number of data points collected prior to making a decision about a student’s responsiveness to intervention and research-based guidelines that support tiered-movement decisions.
Describe how practitioners are prepared to deliver evidence-based intervention.

RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION (RTI) QUICK PICKS

MTSS: Integrating Evidence-Based Behavioral Health Practices Across the Tiers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wno2hloI_SY&index=4&list=PLCkBP2csbOsv9KgoCUHsGUA_08nKyq10w

Assisting Students Struggling with Mathematics: Response to Intervention for Elementary and Middle Schools
https://intensiveintervention.org/resource/assisting-students-struggling-mathematics-response-intervention-rti-elementary-and-middle

Mathematics Strategies to Support Intensifying Interventions
https://intensiveintervention.org/intervention-resources/mathematics-strategies-support-intensifying-interventions

MTSS: Determining Response to Intervention (RtI): Customizing Early Reading Goals Through Survey Level Assessment and Use of Growth Data
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kxybj_sBG4g&index=2&list=PLCkBP2csbOsv9KgoCUHsGUA_08nKyq10w

Literacy Strategies to Support Intensifying Interventions
https://intensiveintervention.org/intervention-resources/literacy-strategies

What are Some Lessons Learned from Implementing Intensive Intervention at the Middle or Secondary Level?
https://intensiveintervention.org/resource/what-are-some-lessons-learned-implementing-intensive-intervention-middle-or-secondary

What Considerations Do You Need to Keep In Mind When Determining if a Student Should Move Directly into Tier 3 Supports?
https://intensiveintervention.org/resource/what-considerations-do-you-need-keep-mind-when-determining-if-student-should-move-directly

How Do I Know if an Intervention is Evidence-Based?
https://intensiveintervention.org/resource/how-do-i-know-if-intervention-evidence-based-why-it-important-consider-both-study-quality

What Are Intensive Interventions and Why Are they Important?
https://intensiveintervention.org/resource/what-are-intensive-interventions-and-why-are-they-important

At What Point Should a Team Consider Referring a Student for Special Education Services? What Data Would They Need?
https://intensiveintervention.org/resource/what-point-should-team-consider-referring-student-special-education-services-what-data

Response to Intervention (RTI) Tools & Resources

Essential Components of RTI: A Closer Look at Response to Intervention
https://intensiveintervention.org/resource/essential-components-rti-closer-look-response-intervention

Levels of Intervention and Evidence
https://intensiveintervention.org/tools-charts/levels-intervention-evidence

Academic Intervention
https://charts.intensiveintervention.org/chart/instructional-intervention-tools

Assisting Students Struggling with Reading: Response to Intervention (RTI) and Multi-Tier Intervention in the Primary Grades
https://intensiveintervention.org/resource/assisting-students-struggling-reading-response-intervention-rti-and-multi-tier

Practical Guidelines for the Education of English Language Learners: Research-Based Recommendations for Instruction and Academic Interventions
http://www.centeroninstruction.org/files/ELL1-Interventions.pdf

Effective Practices for Increasing the Achievement of English Learners
https://nysrti.org/files/documents/resources/ell/effective-practices-for-increasing-the-achievement-of-english-learners.pdf

Four Keys to Supporting Intensive Intervention Implementation
https://intensiveintervention.org/voices-from-the-field/Four-Keys-to-Supporting-Intensive-Intervention-Implementation

Using CBM to Determine Response to Intervention
https://intensiveintervention.org/resource/using-cbm-determine-response-intervention

Where do we go from Here? Reflections on Research, Policy, and Practice Themes from the 2015 Summit on Intensive Intervention
https://intensiveintervention.org/resource/where-do-we-go-here-reflections-research-policy-and-practice-themes-2015-summit-intensive

DBI Process Overview
https://intensiveintervention.org/resource/dbi-process-overview

Intensive Intervention and Special Education
https://intensiveintervention.org/intensive-intervention/special-education

Essential Components of RTI Integrity Rubric and Worksheet
https://intensiveintervention.org/resource/essential-components-rti-integrity-rubric-and-worksheet

Fidelity and Implementation Resources
https://intensiveintervention.org/implementation-support/fidelity-resources

Tools to Support Intensive Intervention Data Meetings
https://intensiveintervention.org/implementation-support/tools-support-intensive-intervention-data-meetings

RTI Action Network: RTI-Based SLD Identification Toolkit
http://www.rtinetwork.org/toolkit