Introduction According to the “Response to Intervention (RtI) Implementation Guide” issued in 2008 by the Department of Education, there are six core characteristics of RTI in schools. They are high quality standards- aligned curriculum and instruction, universal screening, shared ownership, data-based decision-making, tiered intervention and service delivery system, and parental engagement. In addition, RTI is used to refer students for behavior issues and identify students with learning disabilities.
High Quality Education The first of the six core characteristics is high quality instruction. The characteristic states, “all students receive high-quality, research-based instruction in the general education standards-aligned” (Zahorchak et al., 2008, p. 9). Every student should have the right to good education. Schools owe it to students to challenge them enough to keep them interested and help them when they get frustrated. One part of this is having the most qualified teachers. According to Hightower et al (2011), this can be difficult because of teacher experience, retention rates, and access to professional development.
Studies have shown that children with the greatest need for high-quality instruction are the most likely to have teachers who are not certified in the subjects they are teaching, who failed certification exams, who come from the least competitive undergraduate institutions, and who performed poorly in prior academic settings. (p. 12)
The goal
As in any research based program there are benefits and challenges. One of the biggest benefits of RTI is it has the ability to transform how we educate all students. When implementing Response to Intervention it helps to treat learning disabilities, identifies students with disabilities, classifies every student’s strengths and targets the specific disability. Perhaps the greatest benefit of an RTI approach is that it eliminates a “wait to fail” situation because students get help promptly within the general education setting. As soon as assessment data indicates a problem area for a student, interventions are put into place to address these concerns. One of the biggest challenges that are occurring is that RTI is still uneven; some districts use it and some do not and because of this it becomes a challenge. There is confusion as to what RTI is and whether schools are required to use. In addition, the evidence based and differentiated instruction is one of the issues in response to education. “Interventions that are research based but not feasible are not likely to be implemented with fidelity, which would undercut the validity of RTI decision making” (Kubiszyn & Borich, 2010,
The intervention model we use in our school is RTI. With Response to Intervention the instruction that as a function of the outcomes of the assessments. RTI drives changes in hopes to see in students succeed, who are identified at some level of risk for not meeting academic expectations. Tiered instruction represents a model in which the instruction delivered to students varies and are related to the nature and severity of the student's difficulties. This model is sub divided by 3 tiers:
Response to Intervention (RTI) is an in school service program designed to guarantee that all students are getting a high quality education. Before students are referred for special education services, it is essential that they receive effective teaching designed to meet their own learning requirements. All students in public schools are required to be included in the RTI program.
Response to Intervention (RTI) is a three-tiered system that provides for increasingly interventions as students move upward through the tiers. The first tier involves all students on a campus. During this tier, all students are provided with effective instruction using research-based teaching and learning strategies. Students are benchmarked at the beginning, middle, and end of each year. About 65%-75% of all students respond to the initial tier of interventions and no further intervention is required. Tier 2 interventions take place in small groups and are in addition to the interventions of Tier 1. The areas of weakness are targeted, and instruction may be provided by the general education teacher or other school personnel. Student progress
Parents play a huge role in the RTI process. The ASCA National Model (2012) tells us that the “parent must feel welcomed at the school and that their voice is valued” (p. 17). The purpose of RTI is to determine what students are struggling academically or behaviorally, and provide intervention. It is the job of the RTI team to determine if the interventions are successfully working (ASCA National Model, 2012, p. 73). Most parents want what’s best for their child, which includes a successful and positive school experience. Parental involvement is essential, because they can provide extra support at home to help their struggling student. For example, I had a student last year who was on the third-tier of the RTI process.
Response to intervention (RTI) is an assessment procedure that consists of a multi-step approach to progressively intensive intervention and monitoring within general education for purposes of improving achievement outcomes and accurately recognizing students with learning disabilities. Components of the RTI process include universal screening, multi-tiered levels of support, evidence-based intervention, and using students' responsiveness to evaluate the status of their progress (Jenkins, Schiller, Blackorby, Thayer, & Tilly, 2013). Universal screening measures for students are not likely to result in definite identification for special education. Before students are placed they must be correctly identified with a precise assessment
Response to Intervention (RtI) is a framework based off the problem solving method that integrates assessment, and targeted instruction, within a multi-tiered intervention system. Implementation of RtI in schools is crucial to identify which students need additional intervention that will help increase their literacy skills, and prevent them from falling behind. RtI is based off multi-leveled tiers that are each categorized by the intensity of the intervention that is being used. The RtI framework is also used as a valued tool in monitoring and improving student behavior in the classroom through a model known as Positive Behavioral Intervention Support (PBIS).
Quality teachers are important in our schools, kids are with a teacher for at least eight hours per day. The different styles and techniques
Response to Intervention (RtI) came about initially in answer to the over-identification of struggling students as special education students. It was developed starting in the late 1970s by numerous researchers seeking a method of identifying learning disabilities that avoids the problems of the discrepancy model. Many educators were concerned that too many students were being identified as having a learning disability, not because they actually had one, “but because they had not been successful in a general education program” (Prasse, 2010). Many were also concerned that students with a true learning disability were not receiving the help they needed quickly enough. Before RtI, the accepted
Therefore, teacher certifications should be loosened. States do need to make it a bit more difficult to receive a teaching certification. Teachers need to be trained in the subject they are going to teach and have some experience with children. They also need to have significant mentoring, continuing assistance and support, and a variety of enticements to keep them in the profession. To address the teacher shortage issue, states need to do more than just produce a higher number of untrained teachers faster. Recruiting more teachers will not solve the teacher shortage issue. Policymakers need to find a way to keep teachers in the field (Ingersoll and Smith 32). They must invest in the teaching profession, provide high standards for teachers, and increase their salaries, and they also should improve working conditions that impact student achievement and teacher success. Our society needs to recognize teaching as an essential profession. “Those who recruit new teachers need to remember that they are not just responsible for the next generation of teachers, but also for the future of our schools” (Tell
The authors’ collaborative research began by exploring the future of education and the teaching profession. Through their research, they swiftly concluded a vast majority of people shared the notion that the most important factor that effects student learning is the quality of the teacher. Andy Hargreaves and Michael Fullan continued to take a closer look at how one can maximize the cumulative effect of many quality teachers over time, and the favorable lasting impact this would have on the education of students for many years to come. The ultimate goal of Professional Capital is to increase human capital or the individual teacher’s talents, skills, and capabilities. However, this human capital needs to be distributed and
Non effective RTI models in middle schools may have to do with poor leadership. Isbell & Szabo (2014) and Little et al (2014) suggests in order for RTI to be successful, leadership at the building level is essential. Johnson et al (2011) further add overcoming implementation challenges cannot happen without strong leadership efforts. Leadership should provide teachers with training sessions for effective RTI implementation in middle schools. This also gives the time to collaborate with other educators in the school. Middle schools have to think about various extra-curricular activities, monthly assemblies, field trips, suspensions, and absences. Being aware of these barriers allows middle schools to devise plans to counter attack them before they arise. Little & Marrs (2014) suggests lack of leadership hinders an effective RTI framework while further indicating leadership that clarifies the particular RTI model being used by the middle school would be beneficial. Albrecht et al. (2015) and Averill et al. (2014) suggests allotting adequate time to record, analyze, and train staff on the RTI model is a barrier. Little et al. (2014) suggests implementing RTI is hard because educators have to find the time in the students schedule to complete the intervention. However, to combat the time constraint, Averill et al. (2014) recommends devising an intervention block as an option to increase the efficiency, effectiveness, and high quality of intervention delivery. Other barriers include the lack of professional development, lack of teacher preparation, a lack of staff to implement the intervention, and questionable, quality interventions are barriers that may hinder implementing an effective RTI model in middle schools. Lack of RTI training is another challenge that hinders effective implementation in middle schools. And more than likely this will lead to
The differences were connected with a teacher’s original preparation for the teaching profession, licensing in the particular subject area to be taught, strength of the educational experience, and the degree of experience in teaching along with the demonstration of abilities through the National Board Certification, in which all of these facets can be addressed through policy (Darling-Hammond, 2010).America has not produced a national method containing supports and reasons to guarantee that teachers’ are adequately prepared and equipped to teach all children effectively when they first enter into the career of teaching. America also does not have a vast collection of methods available that will maintain the evaluation and continuing development of a teacher’s effectiveness in the classroom, or support decisions about entry into the field of teaching and the continuance in the profession of teaching (Darling-Hammond, 2010). n order to reach the belief that all students will be taught and learn to high standards calls for a makeover in the methods our system of education in order to be a magnet for, train, support or uphold, and cultivate effective teachers in more efficient ways. A makeover that is contingent in a certain degree of how the abilities or skills are comprehended (Darling-Hammond, 2010).In the last few years there has been increasing
and to demonstrate content knowledge in the subjects they teach. Proficient and effective teachers, not only know the subject matter in which they teach they have strategies to reach all types of learners in their classroom. These qualified individuals have mastered the skills that they need to be a certification teacher. The law, however, must maintain and establish the governing body that establishes and makes sure that school districts employ only qualified individuals. The importance of state and local control of education is crucial and provides the opportunity for each state to develop their own definition of what qualifications are needed by individuals in order to be considered “highly qualified”. This definition must be reliable with NCLB as well as with the unique needs of the state. The state law requires public school elementary and secondary teachers to meet their state’s definition of highly qualified in the core academic subjects they teach.
When I think about teachers that I have had in the past, several different ones come to my mind. Each of these educators stands out in my mind for a variety of diverse reasons. Whether it is their sense of humor, their tactfulness, their love of the subject matter, their fanatical and sporadic behavior, or their yearning to be childish themselves, I can still remember at least one quality of every teacher I have ever encountered. Every one of these teachers conveyed subject material to their students just as they were educated and employed to do. However, I trust that every professional in the world has an abundance of opportunity for improvement; teachers could discover and improve themselves merely by having