History


 * __Looking Back- How did RtI Come Into Play?:__**

Response to Intervention (RtI) is a system of identifying lowing performing students in the classroom (Edyburn, 2009). It is a result of the No Child Left Behind Act, which was initiated by the 2001 Bush administration in an attempt to hold schools more accountable for student achievement and progress. The goal of No Child Left Behind was to have all schools reach a 100% proficiency level for all of their students in mathematics and reading, which is found by state testing. Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) is a measurement that determines whether or not students are making proper growth in the duration of the school year. In 2011, was reported that 38% of schools in the country failed to meet AYP levels, and this level is said to grow if the government fails to reevaluate their current method (Adequate Yearly Progress, 2011). Consequently, there have been many additional benchmarks enacted within our schools to assist in measuring the level of achievement of our students, including annual testing, tracking of academic progress, school report cards, and raised teacher qualifications to make sure that students are receiving all of the proper supports in the classroom (No Child Left Behind, 2012).

In the meantime, Response to Intervention was designed and implemented to identify both academic and behavioral performance issues that students demonstrate in the classroom (Safer & Gray, 2008). Take a look at the following video for an explanation of what RtI is designed to do (Atlasinitiative, 2008):

media type="youtube" key="nkK1bT8ls0M" height="346" width="616" align="left" Response to Intervention is a three tiered approach to helping all students succeed in the classroom. At tier 1, interventions are given at the classroom level to all students in the classroom. These are mainly preventative measures that can be used to ensure that students are understanding the main concepts that the teacher is trying to share. At tier 2, the interventions are more specialized to help students succeed. The main point of the interventions is to help students succeed; it's not to push students ahead, but rather to help students make sense of the material, no matter what point they are at in their understandings. Tier 3 services are a lot more specialized, and it is at this point that students may be referred for special services if the need is still present. Universal screeners are given as a type of identifier of those students who struggle with the material. When teachers design a screener, they set a certain standard that all students need to meet. Those students not meeting the standard will be moved to tier two, and so on. Response to Intervention is helpful in the process of identifying the need for special services at an early point of the school year as Individualized Education Programs (IEP’s) can be implemented when necessary for students that continue to struggle in the midst of receiving numerous interventions. Click here to return home or continue to implications.