With the increasing demands by the state and federal government for school districts to have a prevention model in place, Response to Intervention integrates assessment and intervention within a multi-level prevention system to maximize student achievement and to reduce behavior problems. With RtI, schools identify students at risk for poor learning outcomes, monitor student progress, provide evidence-based interventions and adjust the intensity and nature of those interventions depending on a student’s responsiveness. The DW team has developed services designed to assist districts with the implementation of their own RtI processes, as well as the opportunity for in-district support through an RtI Coordinator. The RtI Coordinator is a certified administrator that works closely with district personnel and administrations to not only meet the mandates, but to provide a preventative framework that will allow all students to achieve. If interested in our service please contact Jeremy Dodds at 433-2217.
Phase 1: Awareness
During the Awareness phase of the implementation process there will be training for all district level administrators, building level administrators, teachers, school psychologists and support staff. Surveys will be conducted to appropriate staff to determine district culture, capacity and commitment to RtI. There will also be several one to one interviews with appropriate staff as follow up to survey questions. Also during this phase of the plan the administrative team will be asked to fill out an RtI checklist for their particular buildings. As follow up to the checklist, there may be other key players that are asked to fill out the RtI check list. Lastly during this phase a multi year RtI implementation plan will be created based on district individual need. This plan will be shared with the administrative team prior to publication. This phase will take up to 4 months to complete.
Phase 2: Implementation
During the Implementation phase there will be additional training for teachers and administrators. Depending on a district needs appropriate software training will be provided to all teachers and administrators in the computer application package. Also during this phase, building level teams will receive specific training to support RtI in their buildings. While working with building level team’s consistency among district RtI teams will emphasized. Building teams will be asked to assess their present level of understanding and effectiveness. Each building level team will be involved in a goal setting session to align with 2012 mandates from the federal government. Also, during the implementation phase, a library of interventions will be developed by each building team. If needed during the implementation phase training in creating local norms and probes will be provided. In addition, with assistance from appropriate school building personnel, a bank of probes with local norms will be developed for each grade level.
Phase 3: Sustainability
During the Sustainability phase on-going training for administrators, teachers, building team members, school psychologists and appropriate staff will be provided. Management of student data will also be supplied. Management of student data will include updates regarding student transfers, verifying data for accuracy, and providing classroom data profiles for the next school year to appropriate homerooms. Visual data displays from all universal screening tools will be created three times a year and data discussions about the results of the universal screening tool will take place. At the end of each school year, an updated district RtI plan will be written and shared with appropriate staff.
