Heather Graham
February 14, 2014
CI 407 – Cronenberg
RTI, Gifted/Talented, and PBIS Reflection Paper
Before starting my elementary education career at the University of Illinois, I had no idea as
to what any of these terms really meant. RTI and PBIS were secret codes that I heard in the
classroom and thought they pertained to teachers more so than students. I also was not sure if
‘gifted’ and ‘talented’ meant the same thing or even if there was a specific program for those
students altogether. Either way, coming into this program (or even being introduced to these
curriculum and instruction courses) gave me more insight as to what these words means, how they
apply both in and out of the classroom, and what misconceptions I had about them being
implemented in schools.
After learning about what RTI stood for, I was able to develop some ideas of my own on it. I
still had questions on the different kinds of ways that this can be implemented in schools, but I
thought it was a really good program to have for students who needed extra help that did not fall
under special education or English Language Learners categories. I was under the belief that every
school had an effective RTI program because it helped reach out to those kids who did not have
educational resources outside of school. I was also under the impression that RTI focused on helped
students with all subjects.
At my first student teaching placement in the Fall of 2013, I was fortunate enough to have
experienced a school with a very active RTI program. Because of my misconception on what RTI
covered, I thought that my first student teaching placement’s RTI program was inadequate because
it only focused on reading and math. After interviewing one of the RTI specialists (since they have
one for every two grade levels), she clarified for me that RTI only looks at these two areas in
general. She also informed me that in order to figure out which students qualify for RTI, regular
testing occurs throughout the year with the DIBLS system. This was a new concept for me, and
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actually made RTI even more confusing for me to understand. However once I was able to observe
how she worked with the students when she was pushed in the classroom, I could see how it was
important to monitor each student’s progress in these areas throughout the year.
At my current placement, the RTI program being used is much different. My current
cooperative teacher informed me of a couple of different systems they use in the district, all of
which are tracked throughout the year as well. I was able to observe some of these testing periods,
and could see that some of the students really struggled with understanding what they needed to
accomplish during the test and why they were being randomly tested on information not taught
during the core subject areas. This is something that I think can be improved on: since we are at a
middle school and are working with older kids, I believe that informing the students on why we do
this would receive much better response than when informing younger, less mature students. I am
not too concerned about this though since the RTI system is being fully implemented throughout the
year.
All in all, I believe that the best responses for RTI programs vary depending on the school.
At my first placement in an elementary school, the system of having another teacher pushed into the
classroom (one who specifically specialized in RTI management) worked well for them since it
allowed the classroom to have another teacher working with the students. However there could have
been better ways to organize it so that the RTI specialists could be utilized more. In my second
placement at a middle school, I would have liked to see more teachers (or even the school
psychologist) inform the students of what this testing means and how RTI is important for certain
students. I believe that students would have a better understanding as to why they are completing it
and how it relates to their current schoolwork. With RTI, I would like to learn more about other
systems in place besides the specialists pushing in the classroom and the general education teachers
giving the tests themselves.
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When first discussing PBIS in the classroom, I was under the impression that all schools had
the same general positive behavior system, and changed a couple of factors to fit to their school
(such as ‘Cougar Cash’, ‘Panther Paws’, ‘Golf Balls’, etc.). In fact, I learned that PBIS itself was a
program that needed to be purchased by the school in order to be used – meaning that the system of
positive behavior intervention was not necessarily required by all school. Nonetheless I certainly
learned that not all positive behavior systems are the same, nor are there positive behavior systems
implemented in every single school.
At my first placement, the system PBIS was used. There was a ‘star system’ in place where
students would receive stars and be able to place them on a ‘PBIS Chart’ in the classroom. From
there, they would be eligible to receive prizes each month. My cooperative teacher informed me that
each classroom teacher would decide which student would receive the prize each month (so that
students who received many stars each month received the award). However this means that certain
students may never win the prize and that some students may win it all the time: that is how the
positive behavior system was implemented (which is very similar to my current placement). I’m not
sure if I one hundred percent agree with this method in the sense that there are some students who
will never be affected by the system. Yet I am not sure if I would be able to come up with an idea to
change it so that all students would be affected by it. That issue is still puzzling to me.
At my current placement, a positive behavior system is used. Instead of paying to utilize
PBIS, my middle school decided to create a system of their own called PARR. PARR stands for
productive, appropriate, responsible, and respectful. My current cooperative teacher was an asset to
putting this system together, and has a great understanding of how affective PARR is today.
Because the system cross-tracks behaviors in different locations throughout the school, I believe
that it works in promoting positive behavior both in and outside of the school – relating in-school
learning to every day life. However what I do think could be improved is the relation to RTI. PARR
relates greatly to RTI in the sense of relating positive behavior with high academics. The only thing
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about this is that is it a little bit confusing to distinguish the differences between the two. I think it’s
important to know the difference between these two and not always assume that one correlates to
the other. Just because a student has poor behavior does not mean that they have low academic
achievements, and I think that the PARR system should make more of a distinction between that.
I personally believe that the PBIS system works well in elementary schools while the PARR
system works better in middle schools because of the terminology being used. With younger
students, focusing on simple, easy to ‘understand and relate to’ words helps them grasp the idea of a
positive behavior system. With middle school, I feel that responsibility should be a central focus
since many of the students are moving onto high school in the next few years. Therefore it really
depends on how the school is able to affectively implement the system they are using to reach out to
their student populations. I personally prefer the PARR system because I want to work with the
older students and feel this system does a better job at relating how they should be responsible
adults both in and outside of school. However it’s also good to make note that I only saw the PBIS
system implemented in an elementary school and the PARR system implemented in a middle school
– which could really affect the way I view both positive behavior systems. I do want to look more
into ways in which I can reach out to students for positive behavior rewards (like having monthly
gift card drawings or fun assemblies to attend) as well as at different levels of schooling.
As for gifted/talented, I feel this category is the easiest to understand. Yet I do feel like it is
the least seen in schools out of the three topics being discussed. When I was in middle school, I was
in the school-wide gifted program. It was categorized by grade level, where all the students in each
grade were pulled out of a general education class twice a month to learn about a new unit not being
covered in their regular classes. The most vivid memory I have is from eighth grade, where we were
pulled out of social studies to learn more about an architecture unit. (We even got to go on a field
trip to Chicago to explore some of Frank Lloyd Wright’s house/building designs.) Because of this
gifted program, I was able to extend my learning beyond that of the general education classroom
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and keep my interest in learning by being challenged by more difficult topics. I personally believe
that this type of gifted/talented program helped me to explore learning both in and outside the
classroom, and used this ideal to compare to when looking at other school’s gifted/talented
programs. However the unfortunate thing is that both my student teaching placement last semester
and current one do not have gifted/talented programs.
I was saddened to hear that there was no gifted/talented program at my elementary school
placement in the fall. One reason I believe they did not have this type of program was because this
school had over 90 percent of their students receiving free-and-reduced lunch and did not have the
financial means to support a program like that. I also think that because so many of their students
are in the RTI program, they have to focus a lot of their time and energy on enriching those
students. I personally feel that even though it is important to focus on the students who are at lower
academic levels, I also feel it is just as important to work with and challenge higher academic
students.
My current placement also does not have a gifted/talented program. This is the first year that
the program does not exist, but it has been replaced with accelerated classes. Most of the teachers
and parental involvement do believe that gifted education is important, and feel that it is being
implemented into regular and accelerated classes just fine. However I do feel that a continued gifted
program (from the past years) would benefit those gifted students in the classroom by challenging
them outside of/by extending the usual curriculum. I personally think that some of the students are
not even aware that they are gifted. An interview I conducted with a ‘gifted’ student in my advisory
class led me to believe that he has no idea he works faster than others and finishes his work much
earlier than everyone else. He even quoted to me that he does not “have any challenges in school”
and that he find it easy to “get class work done, interact with peers, and understand what the teacher
is talking about”. If there was a gifted/talented program continued on through this year, I really
would have liked to seen how it was implemented.
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With gifted/talented programs, I personally believe that it is just as important to have these
as having special education classes or RTI programs in school. However I do feel a bit biased since
I was fortunate enough to have experienced a thriving gifted program when I was younger. If I had
the chance to see another gifted program implemented in a school, I would love the opportunity to
go and visit it and compare it to my previous experience. I feel that having a program like this at
schools not only shows that schools are well-rounded, but that they care about all their students.
My elementary education career at the University of Illinois has affected my views greatly
on RTI, PBIS, and gifted/talented programs in school across the state and country. My student
teaching experiences have also given me different perspectives of these programs in school such as
seeing what I like, dislike, want to improve on, and still have concerns for. My current placement
has allowed me to become more involved in the RTI, PBIS, and gifted/talented ‘programs’ by
implementing RTI tests, giving out PARR rewards, and modifying the curriculum to challenge
certain students. Being introduced to these school programs has allowed me to grow as an
individual, student, and future educator, and I am glad to have prior experience with these before
becoming a teacher in a school myself.
Even though I am not sure what RTI, PBIS, and gifted/talented programs will be
implemented at the school I teach at next year, I do have ideas about what I would like to see in
each program. For RTI, I would like to work in a school that has different RTI Specialists pushed
into classrooms rather than have students taken out of them. This would most students to feel more
included in the classroom environment, creating an inclusive classroom for all. I also would prefer
to have those staff members conducting RTI to be specialists and have prior experience working
with different RTI programs (so they are aware that what they are doing is what is best for the
students). However I do realize that it may be hard to fit all these needs in one school. As for PBIS,
I would like to observe a couple of other positive behavior systems in both elementary and middle
school in order to have an idea of what my ‘ideal’ position would be. I did like both systems I
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observed at my student teaching placements, but would have liked to see each of them be
implemented in the other higher or lower level of schooling. More so, it would focus on having
PBIS as a separate entity from RTI and not making the assumption that one correlates to the other.
With gifted/talented programs, I would like to have more experience with multiple kinds. Since my
two student teaching placements do not have specialized classrooms for gifted/talented students, I
only have my own past educational experiences and advanced classes to reference too. I did have an
enjoyable experience while in one during middle school (even though it was a pull-out program),
but I would like the opportunity to talk to a couple of students who are in this type of program as
well as see how the program is administered.
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