Just Imagine: The Promise of RTI

By Dr. Patti Ralabate
NEA Senior Policy Analyst on Special and Gifted Education

Imagine this: You are a fifth-grade general-education classroom teacher with 25 students. On a weekly basis, you are able to determine how every student is progressing, which ones need additional instructional time and support, and which ones are ready to move ahead. You meet regularly with school colleagues to discuss alternative strategies that you can use in your classroom to meet the needs of every student. Special-education teachers and specialists are available to work with small groups in your classroom and individualized instruction is provided to those students in your class who have identified disabilities.

Does this situation already exist in your school? If so, maybe it's because your district or school has implemented a well-defined and effective Response to Intervention (RTI) process.

This is the promise of RTI when it is implemented with proactive leadership, professional development support, and resources. Well-known physical therapist Athena Oden of Texas is experiencing what RTI can offer. Working side-by-side with classroom teachers, she's providing activities to enhance the motor skills of the whole class, including those students who have identified disabilities. An effective RTI process has allowed Athena to broaden her impact.
 
But we have to be realistic. We don't have the resources in most schools to provide school-wide physical therapy, motor skill support, behavioral interventions, or intensive reading instruction without some dramatic changes in how we think about supports and interventions. Not all students need them. How do we decide when to intervene? Unless we plan to individually evaluate every student, how do we design programs that meet everyone's needs in the diverse classrooms that exist today?
 
The answer: We don't "test" everyone. but we do systematically and thoughtfully "screen" everyone.
 
Informal screening is something that educators do all the time in order to identify those students who need additional support. Universal screening, a critical step, is far too often skipped when implementing RTI. The National Center on RTI recommends school-wide universal screening to identify students who may be at risk for school failure. In combination with student progress monitoring, universal screening tools help identify students who need "preventative" intervention.
 
Universal screening tools vary based on age and grade level, but one thing is constant -- they are administered to all students. That's why they're called "universal." They are different from the formal assessments or evaluations conducted to determine if individual students need special-education services. Universal screening does not require as much time and is less comprehensive than special-education evaluations.  And using universal screening tools, educators can be more reflective about their own practice.

What universal screening tools do you use? Are they valid and reliable? Are they evidence-based? Here are some key elements of universal screening to keep in mind:

1. They should be quick to administer.
2. They should be low-cost.
3. They should allow for repeated administrations.
4. They should assess age-appropriate critical skills or behaviors.

Now, as the new school year begins, is a very good time to re-think how we keep track of how students are progressing and how we determine who needs additional support. This one step -- using well-defined universal screening tools -- can start a transformational journey toward implementing RTI effectively.
 
To learn more about universal screening and RTI, visit the National Center on RTI, RTI Action Network, or NCLD Talks. You can also check out CEC's resources on RTI and register for CEC's upcoming RTI webinar series, which will provide a basic introduction to RTI, discuss implementation at the school level, and explore its use with culturally and linguistically diverse students.

Have a great school year!

Comments

[Lauren]

I can see the promise of RTI if it is done properly. My school has taken some steps to develop RTI but is not doing this at the present time. There are some teachers who believe that our school is doing RTI. We do short cycle assessments and then provide interventions to those scoring within the third tier. This is not RTI as I understand it.

My school uses Aimsweb with our students on IEPs only. But once again I don't see this as RTI because we have not been trained to use the data to provide interventions. We just use it by testing students three times a year. It provides us with data for IEPs and for parents. I believe we could use this in a more effective manner.

I also see the role of the special education and general education teachers changing. I think the general education teacehrs will be providing more services to the IEP students. The special education teachers will be providing interventions for the lowest of the students.

[Megan]

I have found this blog entry particularly interesting and extremely helpful! I currently work in a school system where RTI is not very well-defined. I can see through discussions with educators from different school systems that properly implemented RTI programs really are successful. I feel that my school system is headed in the right direction but it's educators could use some more professional training in order to be more effective. I had never heard of universal screening before and find it to be something that I am going to bring up in my next schools faculty meeting. The only word we ever hear is testing, testing testing. Screening seems like a very productive process.

[Allison]

As a special educator in high school, I don't see a lot of RTI taking place. I do see more and more students coming into the high school who have been labeled with a disability. So I'm not really sure how well these RTIs are working. It does concern me also that if RTIs are being used and if they are becoming more successful, will there eventually not be a special education anymore? I mean, it sounds crazy, but what will happen to the population of special education if RTI is enough to help and support a majority of our special education students? Job security??? Not so sure anymore!:(