Circleville City Schools

Response to Intervention: An Overview

What is Response to Intervention?

The Response to Intervention (RTI) process is a multi-tiered delivery system aligned with the departments
beliefs and allows for an integrated, seamless problem-solving model that addresses individual student
needs. The framework relies on the premise of high-quality instruction and interventions tailored to
student need where core instructional and intervention decisions are guided by student outcome data.
The education system will be built around a tiered intervention model that spans from general education to
special education.
Why Response to Intervention?
RTI revolves around the question What does this child need? RTI is for all students- it is a process that
addresses all students with learning problems, regardless of reason. For example, a physician treats all
people with cancer, regardless of how it was acquired (smoking, genetics, etc.) RTI does not assume the
problem lies within the child.
RTI provides useful information RTI is data driven! RTI requires the use of data to demonstrate that the
curriculum and instruction are sufficient before ever considering that a child has a disability. At all stages
of the process, RTI should focus on discovering how to make the student more successful rather than
focusing on the students lack of success.
Benefits of RTI
a. Increases the number of students who succeed within the general education setting
b. Reduces the amount of time students wait before receiving instructional assistance
c. Reduces the number of students referred for special education services and increases the accuracy of
special education evaluations
d. Ensures students receive appropriate instruction prior to placement in special education
e. Provides critical information about the instructional needs of the student, which can be used to create
effective educational interventions
f. Limits the amount of unnecessary testing that has little or no instructional relevance
g. Limits the amount of academic failure that any student experiences.

Essential Components of RTI

a. Universal Screening
b. Measureable definition of problem area
c. Baseline data prior to any intervention
d. Written plan for accountability
e. PROGRESS MONITORING
f. Comparison of pre- and post-intervention data
What does the RTI Framework look like?

Tier 1-all students receive research-based, high-quality, general education instruction on

grade level standards that incorporates ongoing universal screenings and ongoing
assessment to inform instruction.
Tier 2- intervention is implemented when assessment indicates that a student is not
making adequate gains from Tier 1 instruction alone. In addition to Tier 1 instruction,
students are provided small group interventions designed to meet their specific needs.

These students are progress monitored every 3 weeks using a tool that is sensitive to
measuring changes in the students individual skills.
Tier 3- More intensive interventions are provided to students who have not made
significant progress in Tier 2. These students are progress monitored weekly or every
other week using a tool that is sensitive to measuring changes in the students individual
skills.
Tier 4-most intensive interventions are provided to students who have not made
significant progress in Tier 2 and Tier 3, who are more than 2 grade levels behind, or who
are below the 10th percentile. These students are referred for special education services
and services are determined by the team.

RTI IS:

Set
of
processes
for
coordinating
high
quality
service delivery in schools
Making instructional decisions
based on data
Providing relevant data for SLD
identification

RTI IS NOT:

Just
a
special
education
initiative
Only for beginning reading
A way of eliminating special
education
This years summer reform or a
short-term
implementation
based on RTI in a box
A way to fix schools with weak
core instruction