RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION

According to Connecticut’s Framework, Response to Intervention (RtI or RTI) involves providing scientific, research-based instruction and intervention matched to student needs, with important educational decisions based on students’ levels of performance and learning rates over time. Rather than limiting the provision of instructional and social/behavioral supports for those students classified under a particular label or program, supports are provided to all students, based on individual needs.

Important elements of Scientific Researched-Based Interventions (SRBI) include:

      • Core general education curriculums that are comprehensive in addressing a range of important competencies in each academic domain, culturally relevant and research-based to the extent that research exists to inform their selection or development.
      • A schoolwide comprehensive system of social-emotional learning and behavioral supports.
      • Strategies for assuring that educators are modeling respectful and ethical behaviors, fostering student engagement/connectedness to school and assessing the quality of the overall school climate so that students experience physical, emotional and intellectual safety.
      • The use of research-based, effective instructional strategies both within and across a variety of academic domains.
      • Differentiation of instruction for all learners, including students performing above and below grade level expectations and English language learners.
      • Common assessments of all students that enable teachers to monitor academic and social progress, and identify those who are experiencing difficulty early.
      • Early intervention for students experiencing academic and/or behavioral difficulties to prevent the development of more serious issues later on
      • Educational decision-making driven by data involving students’ growth and performance relative to peers; data are carefully and collaboratively analyzed by teams of educators with the results applied not only to inform instruction for individual students, but also to evaluate and improve core general education practices and the overall efficacy of interventions.
      • A continuum of support that is part of the general education system, with increasing intensity and/or individualization across multiple tiers.
      • A systemic approach to core educational practices in which teachers use common assessments for all students, address the same curricular competencies, and share the same behavioral expectations, within and across grades.

George Batsche, an RTI expert, sums up the definition of RTI by saying it is the practice of (1) providing high-quality instruction/intervention matched to student needs and (2) using learning rate over time and level of performance to (3) make important educational decisions.
The Eastford Elementary School faculty is continually reviewing the interventions that have been used and searching for new interventions that can be used to ensure that all students are approaching proficiency in reading and mathematics.

In the Response to Intervention  (RTI) model, a student with academic delays is given one or more research-validated interventions. The student’s academic progress is monitored frequently to see if those interventions are sufficient to help the student to catch up with his or her peers.