Response to Intervention, known as RTI, is a three-tiered instructional intervention program that addresses the unique needs of all students in the classroom. This model provides a framework to teachers and administrators for assessing and identifying student ability. The information gathered by the framework follows the student from one grade to the next, so student need assessment is not lost, and teachers can review the information gathered from previous years. These features of the RTI system are beneficial to student achievement.
Level 1 RTI refers to every student in the classroom. Level 1 methods are the methods used to teach all students in class, such as reteaching, assessing, and small-group lessons. Level 2 refers to tutoring that takes place in the student’s regular-education classroom with the regular-education teachers. This tutoring may occur one or more days per week for at least six weeks. Records are kept of the tutoring sessions with the tier two students, with results being analyzed at the conclusion of the tutoring period. If the student makes progress, the student may be dismissed from tier 2 tutoring, or the student may remain in tier 2 intervention as the teacher deems necessary. If progress is not made, the student is considered for tier 3 interventions, which include intensive instruction outside the classroom with an instructional specialist. If this intensive intervention does not result in improvement in student ability, the student may be referred for testing and evaluation for further services, such as special education.
This framework is valuable in its ability to provide data and additional instruction in an organized, systematic way. The framework leaves room for the teacher to determine which tutoring materials to use, as well as how many students to place in a small group. The teacher also has the freedom to group students homogeneously or heterogeneously as needed. Students of all ability levels learn from each other in the classroom, and higher achieving students have the opportunity to assist struggling students, benefitting both groups of students. Students who are normally tier 1, but may have missed instruction due to illness or family circumstances, can temporarily join a tier 2 tutoring group to receive temporary support. Students can leave tier 2 instruction once instructional gaps are addressed, if they are on track but have experienced absences from school or periods of emotional upheaval.
One benefit of regular education students being in class with special needs students is that empathy can be developed, and many students can benefit from the multiple teaching methods that are necessary in a diverse classroom. Students who are peer tutors also benefit from teaching the core content to other students in the classroom. Further, teaching assistants who are assigned to classrooms with special needs students can be a support to the teacher in regard to the class as a whole.
Conversely, students receiving RTI tier 3 tutoring may miss a core subject in order to receive tutoring. This can create gaps in a core subject area. The end result of tier 3 tutoring may be accommodations and modifications for the student, to be given by the core subject teacher in the regular education classroom. While this scenario has benefits, it can also create obstacles to be overcome. For example, a common modification to the curriculum is oral administration of text. Often, the student does not accept the opportunity to have text read aloud, because the student does not wish to appear different from peers in the classroom. Also, it can be nearly impossible, with technological aids, for a teacher to provide this accomodation to multiple students during the same class period. Often, students who are not entitled to accommodations will question why they do not receive the same accommodations that they may observe other students receiving. Also, teachers may have to procure the same text at several different levels to meet each student where they are, which may limit the variety of texts used in class.
While heterogeneous grouping and least-restrictive-environment benefits all students in the classroom, the practice does come with challenges for teachers to meet.
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