Mineola Middle School: Response to Intervention
Albert Einstein has noted that “Insanity is continuing to do what you have always
done and expecting different results”. Since 1977, the population of students labeled
“learning disabled” in America has continuously risen almost 200%. Because of this, the
Department of Education was forced to look at the way we were determining how a
student was classified as having a specific learning disability. For the past 30 years,
Federal Regulations have used the “discrepancy model”, or the “wait to fail” approach to
identify a child as disabled. This approach focused on a student’s problem after the
student was significantly behind. Recently, the DOE noted the “insanity” of continuing
the same process.
IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) was reauthorized in 2004.
Part of the reauthorization was a noted change in the way children would be identified as
learning disabled:
“ The IQ discrepancy criterion is potentially harmful to students as it results in delaying
intervention until the student’s achievement is sufficiently low so that the discrepancy is
achieved” (Assistance to States for the Education of Children with Disabilities, 2005).
Therefore, the new law states:
“ In determining whether a child has a specific learning disability, a local educational
agency may use a process that determines if the child responds to a scientific, research
based intervention as part of the evaluation procedures” (IDEA 2004, Title 20, Section
1414, subsection b(6)).
This clause is currently being called the “RtI statute”.
The Mineola School District and Mineola Middle School has adopted the RtI approach.
RtI is a general education initiative, and is used to ensure that every struggling student
receives high quality instruction at the first sign of a problem.
Mineola Middle School has adopted a three-tier Response to Intervention approach.
Each tier provides systematically more intensive instruction, focusing on the student’s
specific needs and constantly monitoring progress to ensure that the student is responding
to the specific interventions.
Instructional Support Teams
In Mineola, we value the Instructional Support Team (IST) and collaborative teacher
decision making. In order to guide our RtI process, the IST was a natural fit for us. The
purpose of the IST has always been to develop interventions to assure that the child
REMAINS in the general education classroom and receive the necessary supports
through general education initiatives.
Once a student is recognized as struggling and is recommended to the IST a
problem solving model is followed. The team:
 Identifies the problem
 Analyzes the problem
 Develops intervention strategies
 Implements intervention strategies
 Evaluates student’s response to intervention
The following pages map out the responsibilities and process of the Instructional
Support Team at Mineola Middle School:
Referral Form Generated
(All members)
Objectives / Strategic Intervention Worksheet Completed
(Core IST Team)
Initial Meeting
Initial Meeting Plan
(IST Chairperson)
IST Strategic Intervention Plan
(Chairperson  Guidance  Teachers)
Follow-up Meeting
Follow-up Meeting Plan
Mineola Middle School’s Three Tier Model
A child CANNOT be classified as Learning Disabled until all the protocol for all
three tiers are followed and data is provided to show little or no response to specific
interventions (this process can take as long as 18 weeks).
Throughout these tiers, interventions are put in place to help a struggling child, and their
progress is monitored regularly to see if the intervention is working. If the intervention is
working, the student remains on that tier and continues to be monitored until it is evident
that the problem is solved. If the student does not respond to the intervention on that tier,
the student is moved into the next tier and receives additional or more intensive
intervention, in which progress monitoring will continue and be periodically evaluated.
TIER I
QUALITY INSTRUCTION IN THE GENERAL EDUCATION PROGRAM
Within the general education framework of the classroom the individual needs/styles
of the student are addressed by using empirically or research-based instructional
practices such as:
 differentiated instruction
 use of a variety of methods of presenting information
 flexible grouping
 matching materials to ability level
 specific research based methods
TIER II
Students in need of skill and curriculum support in specific academic areas
In addition to implemented Tier I strategies:
Increased Frequency of instruction and smaller student/teacher ratio
 12-14 students per group
 Homogeneously grouped based on test scores
 Support basic skills through grade level curriculum
 Continuously assessed (monthly) for improvement
 Constant scheduled review of student progress
TIER III
Students in most need of skills and support in specific academic areas
In addition to implemented Tier I strategies:
Students who are in most need of skills and assistance
 5-7 students per group
 Homogeneously grouped based on test scores
 Focused on individual needs
 Continuously assessed (weekly) for improvement
 Constant scheduled review of student progress
Movement throughout Tier System
Students are able to move throughout the three tiers throughout the school year through
the AIS-IST process.
Continuous assessments (both formal and informal) and periodic scheduled reviews of
student progress will supply evidence for moving up or down tiers.
Since our school provides tiered interventions for students who we deem “at-risk,” above
and beyond the criteria of the State for AIS services, we are able to afford students
greater movement during the school year.
Tier III
Tier I
Tier II