RTI 2.0

RTI stands for Response to Intervention and is a wonderful system to catch kids early who are struggling in school, provide them with research-based interventions, and chart their progress. It is most frequently used with reading.

Tier 1 is the research-based instruction that all children recieve in their general education classroom in reading.

Tier 2 is for children who struggle a bit and are not meeting benchmark for their grade level. They may recieve extra help in a small group with research-based strategies.

Tier 3 is for children who don't respond to Tier 2 intervention and need a more intense intervention from a highly research-based program. This intervention occurs more frequently, for longer periods of time, and group sizes are often smaller than Tier 2.

I love RTI but it forget someone? What about kids who are far above benchmark when given the CBM 3 times per year? Do they just stay doing the same work as everyone else? Shouldn't they recieve extra challenges? Is it fair that they sit doing grade level work that is basically "busy work" and work they understand easily?

I propose that the RTI model should not be a pyramid but a diamond with two steps above and below grade level to require teachers to challenge all students regardless of ability or disability. This is something many teachers are doing on their own already but some may need to be kindly reminded.