Response to Intervention: Basic Information

Historically, schools operated under a wait to fail process. In other words, a student had to fail before he or she could be eligible to receive any type of support services. Once the student failed consistently and significantly enough, he or she was tested for inclusion in special education. The questions that decided instructional fate were often: “Is this student functioning two years below grade level” and “Is there a severe discrepancy between performance and potential?”

Should testing reveal that the student needed support, he or she then qualified to receive an Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) and the support of the school’s special education department/teacher.

Response to Intervention (RTI) provides early assistance to all students who are in need. The educational system now has a mechanism to identify and make changes before the student fails. RTI is the practice of increasing focus on providing high-quality instruction and interventions. The instruction and intervention are matched to a student’s needs, and then learning progress is monitored frequently to make data-driven decisions about what changes or whether changes are needed in instruction.

Did you know?

School-wide intervention programs that teach social skills can positively enhance the school’s learning environment, evidenced by increased prosocial behavior, more positive behavioral choices, and reduced disruptive behaviors (Kampe, 2010; Kilian, Fish, & Maniago, 2007).

Teaching social skills also helps improve academic achievement (Brigman, Webb, & Campbell, 2007).

A class-wide intervention is required when many students are exhibiting behaviors detrimental to effective instruction (Witt, VanDerHeyden, and Gilbertson, 2007).

“Every child can learn, just not on the same day or the same way.”

—George Evans

The information below is based on ideas in the PLS online course Response to Intervention™ Online, which will be available summer 2011. Click here for more information.

Read on for a brief overview of Universal Screening and Interventions

Universal Screening is the administration of an assessment to all students in the classroom. The purpose of this assessment is to determine which students are on level as well as which may be struggling with skills or may be achieving well beyond the expected level. There are three considerations for Universal Screening: frequency, selection of the measurement/tool, and criteria used to determine which students are in need of an intervention.

• Frequency: The screening may be administered between one and three times per year. If the screening is conducted once, it should be administered at the beginning of the year. Otherwise, the screening should be administered three times a year: fall, winter, and spring. Depending upon which grade level(s) you teach, you may need to be in touch with other teachers and/or parents to determine when and how best to screen.
• Measurement/Tool: A number of assessments can be used for the purpose of universal screening. The particular details may be determined at the district/local or state level. Assessments that may be used for screening include one minute reading assessments such as DIBELS, AIMSweb, and/or Dolch sight word lists. When selecting a universal screening tool, it is critical to keep in mind that the measure should be culturally valid for all students.
• Criteria: These are the standards that will be used to identify students who may be struggling, on level, or performing above level. The major consideration in establishing the criteria is to ensure that the cutoff is neither too high nor too low. A cutoff that is too high will identify students for interventions who may not need them and strain the school’s resources. Setting the cutoff too low may prevent those students who need interventions from receiving them.

An intervention is a written plan based on an individual student problem. It includes the following basic components:

• A clear statement of the problem.
• A problem analysis that uses data to confirm the initial concern.
• Identification of a specific research-based intervention based on the problem analysis.
• Baseline data reflecting the targeted issue and collected prior to implementing the intervention.
• Identification of who, what, where, when, and how:Who are the persons responsible for the intervention implementation?
• What is the progress monitoring schedule to determine growth?
• Where will it take place?
• When will it take place (the schedule and duration of the intervention)?
• How will the effectiveness of the intervention be determined or documented?

Taking It Further

Dr. Judy Elliott shares the RTI Action Network’s perspective on leadership and systemic approaches to RTI in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pwvnl-eCaaU

Visit the National Center on Response to Intervention: http://www.rti4success.org/

References

Brigman, G. A., Webb, L. D., & Campbell, C. (2007). Building skills for school success: Improving the academic and social competence of students. Professional School Counseling, 10, 279–288.

Kampe, D. (2010). Social skills instruction and generalization strategies. In B. Algozzine, A. P. Daunic, & S. W. Smith (Eds.), Preventing problem behaviors: Schoolwide programs and classroom practices (2nd ed., pp. 71–112). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Kilian, J. M., Fish, M. C., & Maniago, E. B. (2007). Making schools safe: A system-wide school intervention to increase student prosocial behaviors and enhance school climate. Journal of Applied School Psychology, 23(1), 1–30.

Witt, J., VanDerHeyden, A., & Gilbertson, D. (2007). Instruction and classroom management. In R. Rutherford, M. Quinn, & S. R. Mathur (Eds.), Handbook of research in emotional and behavioral disorders (pp. 426–445), New York: Guilford.