Minnesota Response to Intervention Center

RTI Implementation: Where do we begin?

2008-02-19T11:41:00.000-08:00

Feb. 19, 2008

Interest in Response to Intervention (RtI) is growing, with many educators gaining knowledge through reading and attending introductory seminars. Many are interested in implementation but don’t know where to begin. A common question is “Does it matter which components we focus on first”? Sometimes only a few people in a building are knowledgeable about RtI, and if this is the case, it is important that time be spent in building consensus among other staff members prior to initiating implementation of the model. Consensus building can include a variety of activities but generally involve providing information to staff so they can be more informed. Methods that are useful include: overview presentations, examples of benefits to students as well as schools, and site visits where successful implementation is occurring. As with any innovation or change in education, the time spent building support for implementation is time well spent and will increase the likelihood of positive outcomes.
Once a majority of staff are interested in implementation, a next step would be to complete a “Readiness for RtI” survey. There are a number of tools available on the web for this purpose, and one can be found on the MN RtI Center website at:
http://www.scred.k12.mn.us/RTI/RTIcontact.htm.
A team of people who are representative of the staff in that building/district complete the survey, and rate areas for priority. This particular tool is focused on assessing readiness for RtI in the area of literacy since this is the charge from the MN Legislature that is funding the Center. Completing a readiness survey should provide quite a bit of information to a school about what components they have in place and which ones they don’t. Many schools have some elements for RtI implementation already in place. So this information is useful in building on those elements, so that RtI is not perceived as something additional or ‘new’. Really, RtI should involve better integration of currently existing elements so that data based instructional decision making is major outcome for staff, resulting in improved achievement for students.
A common result of completing the readiness survey is that schools determine that while they have a number of tests and measures available, they don’t have a way to conduct universal screening and frequent progress monitoring. If this is the case at your school, then this is often the best place to begin. In an RtI model, instructional decisions are based on the screening and progress monitoring data. Without these data, it is difficult, if not impossible, to implement RtI. There are relatively few tools that provide both of these functions. The National Center on Student Progress Monitoring (http://www.studentprogress.org/chart/chart.asp) is an excellent source for information about which tools can be used for these purposes. One caveat in considering sources from this website is that it includes some tools that can be used no more frequently than once per month. In an RtI model, monthly measurement is generally viewed as not frequent enough for students who are struggling to generate enough data points to determine if they are making adequate progress.
Generically, these measurement systems are often referred to as General Outcomes Measures (GOMs) or Curriculum Based Measures (CBMs). One benefit these measures offer that few other measures can is the ability to predict which students are on track to achieve high stakes outcomes such as performance on measures of reading achievement. Those who are not on track have their progress monitored weekly/biweekly to determine if the instruction is improving their trajectory of progress. Using these measures in conjunction with diagnostic measures helps staff plan the best instructional match.

To summarize initiation of an RtI Model:
• Spend time in building consensus among staff members and
• Complete a ‘Readiness for RtI’ survey to determine which components are present or
absent in the current system
• Use a measurement tool that allows staff to screen all students, identify those at risk for
failure, and monitor those students on a frequent basis

Schools Selected for Coaching

2008-01-10T07:21:00.000-08:00

The MN RtI Center is pleased to announce that the following schools/districts have been accepted into cohorts for Coaching for RtI implementation. These schools will receive coaching support from the MN RtI Center through June 2009. The schools represent a nice geographical distribution as well as level of implementation. We are very excited to be working with these schools! Over time we will chronicle some of things we are learning about RtI implementation on this blog. This feature will begin in February.

The schools/districts participating are:
Sibley East, ISD 2310
Moorhead
Albany/Albany Elementary
St. Michael/Albertville Primary
Rochester/Bamber Valley
Becker, ISD 726/Becker Primary
Chatfield/Chatfield Elementary
Duluth/Congdon Park
Brookly Center/Earle Brown
Osseo/ Edinbrook
Mora/Fairview
Houston/Houston Elementary
Keewatin/Keewatin Elementary
St. Cloud, ISD 742/ Kennedy
Kimball/Kimball Elementary
KMS, ISD 775/KMS Elementary
Lakeville/Lakeville Elementary
Lanesboro/Lanesboro Elementary
White Bear Lake/Lincoln
Milaca/Milaca Elementary
ISD 197/Moreland in West St. Paul
Orr, ISD 2142/Orr Elementary
Hutchinson/Park Elementary
Parker's Prairie/Parker's Prairie Elementary
Partnership Academy/charter in Richfield
Sauk Rapids ISD 47/Pleasantview
Princeton/Princeton
Montevideo/Ramsey
Redwood Falls/Reede Gray
Forest Lake/Scandia
Spring Grove/Spring Grove
Staples-Motley ISD 2170/Staples
Greenway ISD 316/VanDyke in Colerain
Burnsville/Vista View
Watertown Mayer/elementary
Bloomington/Westwood
Winona
SCRED/East Central
SCRED/Hinckely-Finlayson
SCRED/Pine City
SCRED/Rush City
SCRED//Chisago Lakes

MN RtI Center - Introductory Seminars

2007-10-09T10:57:00.000-07:00

This is the first post from the MN RtI Center! We plan to use this site to discuss implementation issues for schools that are implementing RtI. We know there will be many questions, concerns, and ideas from readers that will be beneficial to others. While this site is primarily for MN schools, others are free to read and comment.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Response to Intervention here are a few organizing principles: RtI is about preventing student failure by clearly identifying student needs, designing a tiered system of supports that rest on strong core instruction, frequently monitoring the progress of students who are not achieving important benchmarks, and changing interventions when students are not progressing. RtI requires a schedule that allows both core and targeted instruction. Students who are struggling will struggle more if they give up time in core instruction to receive targeted interventions. They need both - quality evidence based instruction in the core and in the interventions. For some schools, this requires a shift in thinking - everybody does not receive the same number of minutes of instruction. Some students require more instruction in order to make progress. Schools, then, need to organize their resources in a way that ensures students get the amount and kind of instruction they need to be successful. RtI is a systems change model focused on both school and student improvement.

The MN RtI Center will be conducting nine introductory sessions throughout the state of Minnesota in November 2007. For information on registration, please go to the following web address to download the flyer and registration form:

www.scred.k12.mn.us/RTI/RTIcontact.htm

All the sessions require advance registration, so if you are interested, please register now as November is right around the corner. Consensus building for RtI implementation is a very important step. A good place to start with consensus building would be to bring a representative team from your MN school to one of the November awareness sessions.

The MN RtI Center was developed as a MN Legislative grant to the St. Croix River Education District to develop statewide introductory trainings, provide technical assistance, and coach individual schools in the application of the RtI model. Schools interested in participating in the coaching model should go to the above website, and download the coaching application, as well as the Readiness for RtI Implementation checklist.

A final charge to the Center is to consult with colleges and universities in Minnesota about including information about RtI in pre-service courses.