Response to Intervention: Multi-Tiered Systems for Student Success

Janet Graden, PhDUniversity of Cincinnati

October, 2011

RtI/MTSS

• MTSS is term in ESEA reauthorization proposed language

• Think “bigger” than RtI – is about success for ALL students– School-wide system of support for ALL– Growth for ALL

RtI is NOT

• Not just interventions (think INSTRUCTION and INTERVENTION – for ALL)

• Not about a different way to refer or to consider eligibility (think support for progress for ALL, when they need it)

MTSS requires:

• A district-wide approach to support implementation, with these components:– Leadership teams (district and building)– Multi-tiered system of instruction and intervention– Strong core of curriculum and instruction and

supplemental intervention– Assessment and data-based decision making– Collaborative problem solving– Positive School Climate

Leadership Teams and System Processes

• Functioning district-level and building-level teams to guide implementation and problem solve; leadership from administration

• Vision and commitment to multi-tiered systems of support (support for implementation)

• Teams at all levels review student performance data for decision making (district, building, grade-level or teaching teams)

Building

Data Indicates Need: Where is your response targeted?

• District Level• Building Level• Grade Level• Classroom Level• Small Group Level• Individual Student Level

Building

Grade Level

Classroom

Small Group

Student

District

Multi-Tiered System of Instruction and Intervention

• High quality and standards-aligned curriculum and instruction and safe, supportive learning environments– Three-tiered system for academics and behavior

• Grade-level (or teaching) teams – Comprised of classroom teachers, interventionists,

support staff– Responsible for instruction and instructional

decision making

Multi-Tiered System of Instruction and Intervention

• Supplemental and intensive grouping of students is linked to intensity of student needs– More intense: smaller group size, more time,

highly trained educator• Flexible staffing – Meet needs of students based on student data

Assessment and Data-based Decision Making

• Comprehensive assessment system– Universal screening – Diagnostic/functional behavior assessment– Progress monitoring– Reliable and valid– Measure all essential components of academics

and behavior

Assessment and Data-based Decision Making

• Data management system– Reports for decision making, considering:• Ease of use• Clear communication and decision making• Graphical representation of student performance and

progress

Assessment and Data-Based Decision Making

• System capacity– Universal screening 3x/year– Discipline referrals– Use of documented decision rules– Progress monitoring data across the tiers

• Decision rules are documented and clear– Access to supports– Changing supports– Intensifying supports– Exiting supports

Curriculum and Instruction

• Aligned with student needs, state standards and are research-based

• Formal curriculum for teaching essential components of academic and behavior across tiers

• Staff is trained to deliver the academic and behavior core, supplemental, and intensive instructional materials

• Implemented with fidelity

Instruction and Intervention

• Instructional practices are scientifically-based (federal requirement for reading and math)

• Implemented with fidelity and supported with coaching• Include differentiation for ALL and incorporate

principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL)• Flexible instructional practices to match to student

needs based on data• Interventions are automatic; delivered within tiered

system, not referral-based or “wait to fail”

Collaborative Problem Solving

• Collaborative problem-solving all teaming levels– Define problem using data– Analyze problem situations– Develop plan– Implement plan– Evaluate effectiveness

Collaborative Problem Solving

• Staff have understanding of data analysis and instructional decision making

• Problem solving process is used for continuous improvement at all levels

Problem Solving Framework

1. Problem Identification- What’s the problem?

2. Problem Analysis-Why is it occurring?

3. Intervention Design/Implementation-

What are we going to do about it?

4. Response to Intervention- Is it working?

Tier I

Tier II

Tier III

Positive School Climate

• Positive behavior supports visible at all levels• Practice address the needs of all students (including

students with disabilities and students with advanced proficiency needs)

• Learning supports are customized to make content relevant and responsive to all types of student diversity

• Commitment to partnership to families and community to improve student academic and behavioral outcomes

National Implementation of RtI(from Spectrum K12, 2011)

• 68% of districts in full or partial district-wide implementation (was 25% in 2007)

• 94% of districts in some stage of implementation

• 24% of districts report full implementation• 80% report full implementation at elementary

levels (reading most common domain)

National Implementation of RtI(from Spectrum K12, 2011)

• 56% have district implementation plan• Majority report RtI implementation shared

across GE and SE• Of those with data (about half of districts),

80% report significant reductions in SE referral• 62T of districts using RtI for personalized

instruction for ALL students (up from 49% in 2010)

What is the Purpose of RtI: The “Why”

• Purpose: to identify student with special education label as an end point – to get the child services, RtI then test for eligibility?

• Purpose: to focus on success and positive outcomes for all students – to prevent learning problems, early intervention for all who need it, when they need it, of appropriate intensity, “special” education for those who need it, same attention to outcomes for special education?

Germann, 2010

• “There is no right way to do the wrong thing. What a shame it will be, and what an opportunity lost, if RtI becomes just another way to define SLD or is defined as a prereferral intervention strategy! RtI is a new paradigm for educational problem solving, not a new way to identify SLD!”

Germann, 2010, cont.

• “RtI requires that all school resources be aligned and allocated to provide effective and efficient interventions for the purpose of improving child outcomes. The provision of instructional and behavioral interventions is not limited to those who have a disability…all students are served on the basis of their need, without regard to causality, just as medicine does not make treatment to patients with cancer, available, or not available, based on whether the cancer is primarily caused by genetic or environmental reasons.

Final Thoughts on the “Why”

• “If the water in the aquarium is dirty, it makes little sense to spend our time diagnosing individual fish” (Illinois RtI website)

What is your team’s purpose, your “why” for MTSS/RtI

Resources

• www.rtinetwork.org (RtI Action Network website)

• UC Center for Student Success website (implementation tool and resources; www.cech.uc.cech/student_success/

• US DOE implementation guides, reading and math across tiers (http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/practiceguides)