RtI Musings

RtI - Response to Intervention....most definately a buzzword in education these days. RtI is a component of our campus that I am constantly tweaking. And I mean constantly. I took over a campus that already had a simple RtI program in place. Being new in the district and campus, I didn't want to change too much the first year. As school started, I managed to streamline the RtI process and put some definitive structure to the loosely organized program. I did some simple, training with the staff and provide opportunities for the teachers to see samples of real, verifiable data.

That was all I could put into place at that time. I did not want to overwhelm the staff and end up shutting them down. Now it's been a semester, so it's time to tweak. Ok - maybe we need to do more than just a little tweaking.

First, our parent contact documentation is lacking. This week I re-employed a form I used at my previous campus. It's much more specific and requires the teacher to have detailed documentation of what was communicated to the parent. In addition, we will be sending home letters after each RtI meeting to parents detailing information about the interventions their child is recieving. Why change forms you ask? It's not really changing forms, it was adding a piece of accountability for the teachers. I can't tell you how many times we'd get into an RtI meeting and we'd ask if the parent was supportive and the teacher would admit that she hadn't called the parent. (Note: At our campus, we require one parent conference per Tier) Without a form to complete and add to the RtI folder, the teachers were not being held accountable for their actions. I am happy to report that three teachers already used the new communcicaton forms and brought them to RtI today. Woo hoo!

Second, our knowledge as a campus is lacking. I've worked with RtI models for over 5 years. I've read tons of books, heard speakers, and tried lots of things. Sometimes I forget that my peers do not have the same knowledge base as I do. As the instructional leader on campus it is my duty and responsibility to increase their learning and abilities to do their jobs. How did I remedy this? Well, I've created an RtI PLC team and our first task is to complete a book study on Tileston's book Closing the RtI Gap Why Poverty and Culture Count. Bring it on!

Third, our paperwork is too cumbersome. You. Have. No. Idea. Now, some of this is district driven so I just have to figure out how to deal with it. But, there has to be a way to make it more streamlined for my ladies. It just has to be simpler. I know it can be based on previous experiences. My favorite set of RtI forms is from ESC Region 4...the book is titled Hallways and Blackboards. Well worth your money spent.

Fourth, we must learn what true interventions are. Interventions must be research based and scientifically proven. I'm pretty sure most of what I see on our Interventin Log sheets is not research based. I'm not saying we're doing it all wrong by any means. I'm just saying we need to take a close look at what we're doing with our students in these small groups. Generic tutoring will not get it done.

So, with a renewed passion and interest I'm ready to continue down the path of continuous improvement. I know this won't be my last stop in the journey for a strong RtI program, but I know I'll be giving it my best shot. After all, that's what the kids need.