Components of RtI²

RtI² begins with a tiered approach to quality research-based instruction and interventions implemented schoolwide. A unified approach to teaching the RtI² process requires general educators and special educators, as well as other school personnel, to provide research-based interventions and differentiated instruction to those students who are performing below expected levels of achievement. The RtI² approach to intervention requires school staff members to collaborate as a team to analyze data and target instruction based on student need.

An RtI² approach, with its focus on student outcomes and quality instruction, increases accountability for all learners. Systemic change at the district, site, and classroom levels that impacts instruction, intervention, and identification is necessary due to the focus of RtI² on prevention that begins in the general education classroom. A system implementing RtI² promotes collaboration and shared responsibility for the learning of all students across all personnel and programs located in a given school (general education, teachers of English language learners, Title 1, special educators/related services providers, administrators, and parents).

Components of Organizational Change

Changing a school involves changes at the district level and the school site level.

District Leadership

Administrative support should accompany the implementation of an RtI² approach. This support and commitment should be articulated to the staff along with financial resources necessary to provide:

•   Training

•   Data collection tools

•   Materials

•   Time for collaboration

Administrators should build awareness and understanding of the RtI² process in their schools as well as ensure training that defines the RtI² process, best practices for implementation, and the change in school culture necessary for success. Staff will understand how RtI² relates to the mandates of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 2004 (IDEA).

Administrators should ensure frequent progress monitoring of student learning and behavior, which is central to a well-designed RtI² process. Thus, it is essential to have a cost-effective and efficient data collection procedure that everyone can understand, access, and effectively use.

Administrators responsible for curriculum at the district level are ideally suited to work with staff members on the selection of research-based materials that need to be in place across all instructional programs. The California Department of Education (CDE) has a list of, scientific, research-based curricula adopted by the California State Board of Education (SBE) in the area of reading. Districts are mandated to use one or some of these published materials in their general education classrooms. Most, if not all, of these published reading programs have supplemental materials that may be used with students who are in need of additional support.

The district superintendent and school site administrators should provide guidance, adequate time, and support necessary to allow for ongoing collaborative teaming. This may involve a review of the caseload responsibilities for counselors, reading specialists, speech-language pathologists, psychologists, special educators, and paraeducators to accommodate their changing roles from individual instruction and evaluation to additional professional roles in collaboration, consultation, and modeling. Teams of educators and support staff (within and across grade levels) are responsible for reviewing student progress data and making recommendations for instructional practice.

School Site Leadership

The following core concepts of the RtI² approach should be in place at the school site level in order for implementation to be successful:

•   Implement scientific, research-based instruction and intervention.

•   Conduct ongoing monitoring of progress that increases in frequency as students demonstrate greater educational need.

•   Utilize data derived from multiple sources, including curriculum-based assessment, to inform instruction and intervention.

•   Conduct staff development concerning the implementation of RtI².

•   Provide information to parents about the RtI² process.

School site administrators provide leadership in all levels of the RtI² process. They:

•   Participate in and provide leadership to school site level teams within and across grade levels.

•   Provide for the analysis of schoolwide and grade-level trends.

•   Support the RtI² approach in the school community and with parents.

•   Provide support for assessment and instruction at all levels of intervention.

•   Ensure the fidelity of instructional delivery through monitoring.

School site leadership teams:

•   Examine schoolwide trends in behavior and academics that impact student growth.

•   Develop a combined targeted intervention and problem-solving/decision-making process to address individual student needs.

•   Support ongoing professional development.

•   Provide a collaborative systemic approach for the analysis and use of student data.

•   Provide a collaborative systemic approach to using scientific, research-based interventions found to be effective with students in the school.

Classroom teachers and support personnel will be part of grade-level teams that analyze:

•   Progress-monitoring data to adjust instruction

•   Instructional targets in the instructional planning process

•   Data from shared assessments

•   The fidelity of instructional implementation

•   Individual student instructional needs, such as the need for more intensive instruction

All members of the school staff come together in an instructional delivery approach that uses data-based decision making through a problem-solving process involving school professionals and parents. This process involves supports for struggling students in the general education classroom first and careful analysis and communication of the data by the school site teams (within and across grade levels). Those teams will use data to make decisions about the application of interventions, including their intensity and duration across multiple tiers of intervention. All decisions are driven by data, including decisions such as effective instructional techniques, behavioral supports, appropriate early intervention services, use of research-based strategies, movement between tiers, and when to refer a student for additional assessment.

An example of a self-assessment tool is provided to assist schools and districts in determining their current status relative to implementation of a tiered RtI² approach. (See Appendix A, Self-Assessment Tool.) This tool addresses the critical RtI² components of student support and may be used to determine next steps in RtI² implementation. It is important not only to gauge the current implementation status of each item, but also to determine its relative priority.

New and Expanding Roles

School personnel will play a number of important roles in using RtI² to provide needed instruction to struggling students as well as assist in identifying students with learning disabilities. These new and expanding roles will require some fundamental changes in the way all educators engage in assessment and intervention activities. Titles may remain the same, but some roles will change in this unified system. Emerging roles may include data managers, team leaders, data specialists, diagnosticians, and intervention specialists. (Please see Appendix B for a more detailed description of the expanded roles.)

Administrators

It is essential to recognize the importance of leadership in effectively implementing the system changes that an RtI² process requires. Administrators will have a critical role in the planning, implementation, and successful use of the RtI² process. School site administrators will need to determine the necessary roles and competencies, existing skill levels, and professional development requirements at their sites in order to provide relevant and ongoing training activities and effectively implement RtI².

Additionally, administrators will have to conduct a systematic assessment of the fidelity and integrity with which instruction and interventions are being provided. Working with educators, administrators will develop and utilize protocols for the assessment of fidelity and integrity of instruction and programs for individual students. Administrators will take responsibility for supporting ongoing professional development. The school site administrator assumes an active leadership role on the school site teams that review individual student progress and determine effective interventions. The administrator will ensure that adequate time is allocated for the planning, implementation, and review of the RtI² process.

At the district level, superintendents and school boards should be supportive of the changes necessary to implement an RtI² process. Effective RtI² implementation will require financial and human resources that will support the professional development and staffing necessary for successful implementation.

Curriculum administrators at the district level can assist with the selection of scientific research-based instructional and intervention materials; develop district-level training for principals, educators, and support providers; and ensure the fidelity and integrity of instruction in the classroom.