Response to Intervention Blog

Our RtI blog was originally designed to increase your understanding of Response to Intervention (RtI) as well as to provide valuable information on the process.   We hope that you have learned as much as we have in the process of exploring the Maryland Response to Intervention Framework.   Here are some final thoughts that we hope  you take away from this RtI blog for which you can incorporate into you own instructional role.

Top 10 Ideas to Take Away from the Response to Intervention Blog

Response to Intervention (RtI) practices are viewed as an educational reform model that emphasizes the provision of high quality teaching and learning experiences for all students, in all grades, and in all classrooms. RtI is a general education process of providing high-quality, research-based instruction and intervention matched to student need. 

A Response to Intervention process serves as an instructional framework that guides instruction for all students via supports and scientific, research-based interventions that can be embedded within school improvement efforts.  Within a systemic plan it is essential to include a data-driven decision-making process based on the individual child’s need.

Response to Intervention and current instructional research support tiered instructional delivery approaches that address the needs of struggling learners early and often as an effective approach to instruction.

The tiered instructional approach and response to intervention framework were designed to improve the quality of instruction and interventions provided for all learners, especially those who struggle meeting the same standards as their peers.

Each tier within a Response to Intervention framework defines the level, intensity and type of instruction and support required for student progress toward grade level standards and the intervention target goals. The tiered instructional approach in Maryland schools includes three instructional tiers that represent a flexible and fluid process of supplementing instruction with increased or decreased intensity based upon on-going assessment and analysis of student progress through data-based decision-making.

In the RtI process, students may receive multiple tiers of instructional support at any given time. For example, a student may be receiving general education (Tier 1) core instruction in one subject area such as reading while receiving (Tier 2) supplemental instructional support in mathematics.

A Response to Intervention process consists of universal screening of students’ academic achievement, ongoing assessment and analysis of progress toward grade level standards, use of problem-solving teams to make decisions, and implementation of scientific, research based instruction and interventions.

Universal screening within the tiered instructional approach involves administering cost-effective, short, quick, and easy to administer assessments that are aligned to the curriculum and measure specific skills a student has achieved.  Universal screening, administered at regular intervals throughout the year, enables school staff to evaluate a student’s performance relative to his or her peers and the mastery of grade level curriculum expectations. 

In the Response to Intervention framework, assessment is used to inform instructional match. The process includes evidence-based screening tools, diagnostic information, and regular progress monitoring so that students who are having difficulty will be able to achieve grade level standards.

Although other jurisdictions have used RtI to replace the I.Q. discrepancy model for determining the presence of a learning disability, CCPS does not use RtI to identify students for special education services.