Response to Intervention (RtI)
The mission of the District 30 Response to Intervention model is to support the practice of providing high-quality instruction and educational interventions matched to student needs and measured against learning rate over time along with level of performance to make important educational decisions for students so as to facilitate academic and behavioral growth for all District 30 students.
Philosophy
An RtI model is based on the development of an educational system that incorporates the following characteristics in its structure:
- A comprehensive, universal screening process is administered to all students to identify those at risk and guide instructional decisions.
- Responsive, expert-driven instruction in the regular classroom is available to support struggling learners.
- Prescriptive research-based interventions are provided to at-risk students.
- Each student’s response is carefully monitored so instruction can be adjusted accordingly.
- When a student is successful at a given tier, school and parents may determine that the best way to maintain success could be to continue that level of intervention or it could be decided that the intervention would be better delivered at a less intensive level. Student performance may indicate the exit criterion indicated for dismissal from services.
- Students who do not respond to the applied intervention or who demonstrate a continued need may be referred for an evaluation, which is a proactive alternative to approaches done in the past.
What is RtI?
RtI is a framework for using data to establish the nature and degree of assistance a student may need, and then applying educational interventions to target those areas. It’s a carefully drawn, systematic form of data driven decision- making that establishes multiple stages or tiers of interventions for varying degrees of educational difficulties. RtI is generally implemented as a three-tiered approach, and illustrated as a segmented triangle with its broadest slice forming Tier I, which consists of primary interventions that typically address the needs of about 85% of the student population.
Students whose initial screening data indicate a higher level of need or students who are not responsive to Tier I interventions will receive Tier II intervention services. Tier II services are inclusive of all of the supports at Tier I, but are also provided with more targeted small group instruction in addition to the supports available in the regular classroom. Tier II supports are intended for 10- 15% of the student population. A small percentage of students, approximately 1- 5% of the student population, may qualify for Tier III interventions, which will provide a much more intensive level of instructional support with greater intensity and more individualization.
The intent of RtI is to undertake interventions that can be included as a part of general education instructional delivery. Through the use of differentiated instruction, incorporation of educational interventions, and responsive data-driven decision-making, all students will receive the instructional support that they need to be successful.
