As efforts to better understand how to implement an effective RTI program escalates, I thought it would be helpful to provide a one-stop-shopping list of websites that can give you current information, tips, and trends.

http://www.fcrr.org/
To conduct basic research on reading, reading growth, reading assessment, and reading instruction that will contribute to the scientific knowledge of reading and benefit students in Florida and throughout the nation.

http://www.ncld.org/
Our Mission: To ensure success for all individuals with learning disabilities in school, at work and in life. Check out their Parents Guide to Response to Intervention and Tiers without Tears documents.

http://www.casecec.org/
CASE is an international professional educational organization which is affiliated with the Council for Exceptional Children whose members are dedicated to the enhancement of the worth, dignity, potential, and uniqueness of each individual in society. Under the resource section of the website, you will find downloadable PDF Response to Intervention Blueprints for Implementation documents, case studies, and PowerPoint presentations.

https://dibels.uoregon.edu/
The University of Oregon is the heart of DIBELS. The use of data in setting education goals for students is the primary mission of this research and support website.

http://www.readinghorizons.com/rti/index.aspx?rti
Happy Tiers: Response to Intervention, a Three-Tiered-Model
View a special documentary highlighting Iron Springs Elementary and their implementation of Discover Intensive Phonics in all three tiers of the RTI model.


Other recommended RTI websites include:

National Center on Response to Intervention

Intervention Central: Your Site for Response to Intervention Resources

RTI Action Network

Today’s educators are constantly bombarded with higher expectations, less say about what to teach students, and fewer resources. Never before has the task of an educator been so challenging. Consider progress monitoring, RTI, AYP proficiency, Race to the Top, and other government mandates.

Recently eSchool News asked its readers: “What are the qualities of an effective 21st-century educator?”

Listed below is a summary of results.

1. Anticipates the future.
“Good 21st-century educators are always pushing the envelope to ensure that their students are not left behind in the wake of progress; in particular, he/she is one advocating constantly for change in educational thinking and planning to ensure that a district’s sub-group kids (minority and/or students at the poverty level) are not being left behind for lack of access to proper resources to allow them to compete with their suburban counterparts. Lastly, good 21st-century teachers are not teachers in a vacuum; they are progressive in pushing for systemic change via curriculum sequencing, prioritization of dollars, and prudent, strategic scrutiny of decision-making to ensure that the preparation of today’s children is always focused on preparing them for the world(s) in which they will live and work—not the current world in which the teachers have to navigate and dwell.” —Amy Baldridge, secondary curriculum supervisor, Xenia Community Schools

“The 21st-century educator must be a fluid thinker, ready to look at situations with fresh, creative eyes. He/she must go beyond the obvious to see the underlying patterns and core issues of a given circumstance. And—most importantly—an understanding of chaos theory is essential: The butterfly flaps its wings and 3000 miles away the weather changes.” —Donn K. Harris, executive director, artistic director, Oakland School for the Arts, Oakland, Calif.

2. Is a lifelong learner.
“A great … educator will embrace not only technology, but be willing to learn from colleagues and students.” —David Brandvold

“I believe that a good 21st-century educator should be able to pose open-ended questions to students without having to know one exact answer. This educator fosters students so that they become the captains of their own learning.  Learning becomes purposeful and meaningful for students as they work through real-world activities.” —Jonna Wallis, 6-12 Language Arts academic coach, Professional Development Center, Scottsdale, Ariz.

3. Fosters peer relationships.
“In this technology-driven era, it is more critical than ever that we foster relationships with and between our students. We must model and demand courtesy, we must model and demand communication, and we must model and demand respect and cooperation—our students need us to show them how to treat each other. They may have 500 friends on Facebook, but do they know how to be a friend? Technology can foster isolation, therefore interpersonal relationship skills must be taught in our classrooms so that our students can go on to be effective in the workplace and fulfilled in their lives. Helping students learn life’s lessons is becoming increasingly more important—interpersonal relationships, letting students know teachers genuinely care for them—and will help students be more successful in life.” —Julia C. Bernath, District 7 board member, Fulton County Board of Education

4. Can teach and assess all levels of learners.
“To be an effective 21st-century teacher, a teacher must first possess the very same 21st-century skills that their students are expected to have. And, in addition to those skills, they must be able to help all of their students obtain and develop 21st-century skills.” —Mamzelle Adolphine

5. Is able to discern effective vs. non-effective technology.
“School-age children are by far the fastest adopters of communications and information technologies. The education system doesn’t need to teach them how to use these technologies, but it should recognize that technologies can help students learn more and faster. Classroom technologies can also make more efficient use of a teacher’s time, whether it’s with tools for lesson preparation, lesson presentation, lesson feedback, grading homework assignments, assessments, or grading. The effective 21st-century teacher will need to be adept in judging the educative and non-educative use of technologies made available to them and to their students at school and at home. The potential downside of technologies is their potential for non-productive use—wasting time and resources. The upside though, is significant if used properly.” —Doug Hatch, president & CEO, Core Learning

Our addition? Reading Horizons company president, Tyson Smith, said it best, “Technology should augment what students are learning through teacher instruction and allow students to move at an appropriate, individualized speed. [Reading] software that is created solely for student practice and that is not tied to teacher instruction produces questionable results.”   

To learn more, sign up for a free, no-obligation online workshop for teachers and educators.

It’s that time of year when educators and administrators begin the search for the best curriculum, software, technology, and teacher materials available for the money.

When it comes to the most basic, required programs for K-3, reading has to jump to the top of the list for most educators. And because we know that the educational careers of 25 to 40 percent of American children are imperiled because they don't read well enough, quickly enough, or easily enough, we can’t help but wonder where we are missing the mark?

Based on research and experience this is what we know results in a supplemental reading program that is right on target for struggling readers:

• The reading program must be designed using an explicit, solid, and sequential framework of phonics.

• The most beneficial outcome for students occurs if the program uses direct instruction, logical sequencing, and multisensory techniques so that students can learn in incremental steps while receiving continuous, positive reinforcement.

• The program should include phonemic awareness assessments and progress assessments so that teachers can customize the experience for each child, even those that have learning disabilities.

• A superior reading program ought to give students keys to decoding, like a unique marking system that will help them recognize letter and vowel sounds, likely and unlikely sequences, and the structure of syllabication.

• Finally, an exceptional reading program should be guaranteed to improve students reading by up to three grade levels in a matter of months.

Learn how Reading Horizons helps teachers simply and practically deliver reading instruction that fits research-based best practices! ›

Excerpts from Myths About Response to Intervention (RTI) Implementation by Bill East, Executive Director, National Association of State Directors of Special Education

1) Myth: The major focus of RTI should be identifying students with Specific Learning Disabilities (LD). RTI can be used to “get rid of” those students who are not really LD, but who were simply not achieving for other reasons.

If the primary focus of RTI is simply eliminating students who are not deserving of special education, there is a risk of missing the huge benefit RTI provides in prevention of disability. IDEA 2004 is clear in indicating that no single criterion can be used for special education eligibility, and most definitions of LD view response to appropriate instruction as necessary, but not sufficient.

Data collected during RTI implementation can be used as one source of information when making eligibility decisions, but identification is an end product of RTI, not the primary purpose.

2) Myth: RTI is only pre-referral.

RTI is more than pre-referral services; it is a comprehensive service delivery system that requires significant changes in how a school serves all students. When thought of as a pre-referral system, it remains the province of special education and the desired integration of general education and special education services around the goal of enhanced outcomes for all students will not be achieved.

3) Myth: Tier 3 (or the last tier in a tiered model) is only special education.

Tier 3 is the most intense level of intervention provided to students in general education. A student who does not respond to these intense interventions MAY qualify for special education services when it has been demonstrated that either the intensity or type of intervention required to improve student performance either exceeds the resources in general education or are not available in general education settings.

Tier 3 in the conceptual model advocated by NASDSE and many other professionals is INTENSIVE INSTRUCTION, which may or may not include special education services. If Tier 3 is defined exclusively as special education, it is possible that additional intensive instructional programs would be set up OUTSIDE of the triangle model, which defeats the purpose of having the model for delivering services to all students.

4) Myth: The research base for RTI is limited to beginning reading.

There are no research studies comparing RTI to traditional special education services. A substantial body of research exists to demonstrate the impact of an RTI model on the current system (e.g., referral rates, risk indices) as well as student variables (e.g., achievement). Fewer studies exist on the long-term outcomes for students from both “models.” Regardless, there will probably never be research comparing different ways of reforming service delivery systems in schools because the question is not of great interest.

The research base on beginning reading is substantial, but the research base on the use of problem solving models for students at risk for or with behavior problems is just as substantial.

5) Myth: Tier 2 is short-term, not the 10-30 weeks that exists in many RTI models.

There is no formula for how long any intervention should last, especially if the student is making progress. The idea that the problem must be significantly impacted in 4-6 weeks, or special education is the route to go, implies that current implementations of special education are associated with improved outcomes, which may not be correct.

Reading Horizons is the perfect RTI resource for helping emerging and remedial reading students. Learn how Iron Springs Elementary successfully implemented Reading Horizons in all three RTI tiers. 

Response to Intervention is designed as an early student intercession to prevent long-term academic failure. In order to be constructive, instruction and interventions must be matched to meet students' needs.

RTI is generally depicted as a three-tiered model. Each tier provides increasingly individualized instruction, continuous monitoring of progress to calculate gains, and criteria for changing interventions. In general, the tiers include:

Tier 1 – High-quality instruction and behavioral supports provided in general education classrooms.

Tier 2 – Small group instruction – intensive, specialized interventions provided with consistency by highly trained teachers.

Tier 3 – More individualized intervention and/or referral for special education.

This post will focus on students classified as Tier II - those who did not respond to Tier 1 instruction and will need to receive more focused researched-based instruction in small groups.

Since students at this level are considered at-risk, they will require intensive, systematic instruction on up to three foundational reading skills. To achieve this objective, it is recommended that these groups meet three to five times a week, for 20 to 40 minutes.

The over-reaching goal of reading instruction in Tier II is for the students to be able to understand and apply the following reading skills:

• Letter name identification and sounds

• Phonemic awareness

• Proficiency with basic phonics skills

• Word reading

• Reading fluency (high frequency words)

• Listening comprehension

• Vocabulary development

Helping students reach these goals sounds good on paper. However, reading specialists need an effective reading program that can play a major role in each of the three RTI tiers. Using the right online reading system can reinforce and strengthen students' skills since students in Tiers II and III will receive the same method and use the same materials as students receiving universal instruction.

Does your reading program offer:
A fully narrated lessons so that students can work independently?

Concepts that are presented in a multisensory way?

A system that allows students to learn at their own pace and practice the skills as much as is necessary?

Or assessments and mastery interim tests to ensure that students learn and retain the skills that are being taught?

Having the proper online reading system is the difference between the continuous status quo or 2-3 grade levels of reading improvement in only months.

The school year is nearly over. How will you help your students graduate from Tier II and improve their reading?