Purposes of RTI
RTI is intended to reduce the incidence of “instructional casualties” by ensuring that students are provided high-quality instruction with fidelity, by using RTI districts can provide interventions to students as soon as the need arises
Core principles of RTI
- The use of all available resources to teach all students
- Using scientific, research-based interventions/instruction
- Monitor classroom performance
- Conduct universal screening/benchmarking
- Use a multitier model of service delivery
- Make data-based decisions
- Monitor progress frequently
4 major issues of the ability-achievement discrepancy model
- Discrepancy models fail to differentiate between children who have LD and those who have academic achievement problems related to poor instruction, lack of experience, or other problems
- Discrepancy models discriminate against students outside of “mainstream” culture and students who are in the upper and lower ranges of IQ
- Discrepancy models do not effectively predict which students will benefit from or respond differentially to instruction
- The use of discrepancy models requires children to fail for a substantial period of time, usually years, before they are far enough behind to exhibit a discrepancy
The Role RTI should play in the diagnosis of learning disabilities
Identifying SLD through RTI shifts the emphasis of the evaluation process from documenting the student’s disability to the student’s instructional needs, RTI emphasizes this shift of focus through documentation of a student’s persistent failure to progress even after receiving intense and sound scientifically research-based interventions in the general education curriculum
The 3 tiers and what happens at each (for assessment and intervention)
Tier 1: Designed to meet the needs of a majority of the school population and has 3 critical elements: Research-based core curriculum, short-cycle assessments for all students at least 3 times a year, sustained professional development to equip teachers with tools
The goal is to prevent failure and optimize learning
Tier 2: For students who are falling behind same-age peers and need additional targeted interventions to meet grade-level expectations, the goal is to accelerate learning for students who need more intensive support, may include small group instruction, targeted interventions, and frequent progress monitoring
Tier 3: For students who still have considerable difficulty in mastering necessary academic and/or behavioral skills, addresses students needs through intensive individualized services, these students undergo a more formal diagnostic evaluation
