RtI in the Secondary School
Setting: Making it Work!
Jennifer Maichin
jmaichin@mineola.k12.ny.us
Whittney Smith
wsmith@mineola.k12.ny.us
Albert Einstein once said…
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and
over again and expecting different results.”
Essential Components
High Quality
Classroom Instruction
Tiered Instruction /
Intervention
Family
Involvement
Ongoing
Student Assessment
 “Without
the right building-level leadership,
RtI will not realize the potential it has in
fundamentally altering for the better both
the delivery system and educational
practice in our schools.”
• Dr. David P. Prasse, Professor and Dean of the School of
Education, Loyola University Chicago
NYSED
April 2008 State Education Department Field
Memo
 Authorizes the use of RtI in the State's criteria
to determine learning disabilities (LD) and
requires, effective July 1, 2012, that all
school districts have an RtI program in
place as part of the process to determine if
a student in grades K-4 is a student with a
learning disability in the area of
reading. “Effective on or after July 1, 2012, a
school district shall not use the severe
discrepancy criteria to determine that a student
in kindergarten through grade four has a
learning disability in the area of reading.”
[8 NYCRR section 200.4(j)]
Prior to the State’s Memo:
 IDEA 2004:

“…in determining whether a child has a
specific learning disability, a local agency may
use a process that determines if the child
responds to scientific research-based
intervention as part of the evaluation
procedures…” (H.R. 1350, 2004, section 614
(b)(6)(A&B))
Background:

WelI Established IST

The Team
• Constant Members: IST Chairperson, Guidance Counselor,
Speech Therapist, School Psychologist, Parent
• Varying Members: Team Teachers (General and Special
Education), Encore Teachers, Support Staff, Social Worker,
Student

See Attached “Initial Referral Protocol and Task List”
Background:
R.O.C.K.
Committee
AIS Team
Meetings
A Well Established
IST:
Tier I
Tier I
BPST Meetings
Tier II
Tier II
Guidance
Meetings
Content Literacy
Committee
Tier III
Tier III
Constant
Members IST
Chairperson,
Guidance
Counselor,
Speech
Therapist,
School
Psychologist,
Parent
Varying
Members:
Individual
Team Teachers
(General and
Special
Education),
See Attached “Initial Referral Protocol and Task List”Encore
Teachers,
PLC Guiding
Coalition School-wide
Tier I: What is it?
 Quality





classroom instruction
Within the general education classroom
High quality program incorporating standards
Research-based instructional strategies or
materials
On-going assessment of strengths and needs
On-going professional development
Implementation: Part I

Educate the staff about what RtI is?




IDEA 2004
“Wait to fail” vs. RtI
District Support
Leverage with New IDEA

“ 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)).
Getting Stuck in Tier I
 Scenario: Your team has an IST meeting to discuss
a student who is struggling in school. A few strategies
were brainstormed after a lengthy conversation about
what the student can’t do. Six weeks later, the team
meets again and…
Strategy Development (Tier I)
Teacher Ownership vs. “Buy In”
 Station Activity





Devote Faculty Meeting Time
Objectives from IST Meetings
Teachers working in groups to brainstorm strategies
Weed Out the ones that are not measurable
 Share the collective strategies with the entire
faculty & bring them to IST Meetings
 Attach the strategies to research
Implementation:
A Three Tier RTI Model
Master Schedule
Changes
Tier I
Scheduling of
Committee Meetings
Tier II
Tier III
Tier I
Tier II
Tier III
Staff Development /
Curriculum Writing
Problem Solving
Approach vs. Standard
Treatment Protocol
Scheduling of IST
Meetings
School-wide
Individual
Implementation: Part II
School-wide
IST 6 week
follow-up
Individual
Core Team
Meetings
Tier III
Tier III
•AIS Tier III
•FBA / BIP
•Progress Monitoring
•1:1 Counseling
Tier II
Tier II
•Scheduling
•AIS / IST (movement
between tiers)
•AIS Tier II
•Small group counseling
Tier I
•Scheduling
•Programs (ROCK, Universal
Screenings, DIGS)
•Content Literacy
•PLCs
•Walkthroughs
•Department Meetings
•Strategic Monitoring
(monthly)
•Dynamic Program
•Positive Reinforcement Plan
Tier I
•IST
•AIS / IST
Our Structure of Academic Support

6th Grade



7th Grade


Double ELA --- with a Reading Teacher
Double Period Math
Dedicated Period --- On-Target; AIS Math Tier II or III;
AIS ELA Tier II or III; or any combination
8th Grade

Dedicated Period --- On-Target; AIS Math Tier II or III;
AIS ELA Tier II or III; or any combination
Master Schedule Changes
(see attachments)
Visual Representation of Tiers II &
III in 7th and 8th Grade










Day A
Reading Tier III
Reading Tier III
4-6
students
Math Tier III
Math Tier III
ELA Tier II
ELA Tier II
12-14
students
Math Tier II
Math Tier II
On-Target
25
On-Target
students
Day B
 Reading Tier III
 Reading Tier III
4-6
students
 Math Tier III
 Math Tier III
 ELA Tier II
 ELA Tier II
12-14
students
 Math Tier II
 Math Tier II
 On-Target
25
students
 On-Target
Identification
&
Progress Monitoring
Identification
 ELA Scores
 Math
Scores
 Teacher Recommendations
 Universal Screening
 AIMs Web
 Elementary Articulation Meetings
 Attendance and Discipline Records
AIMS Web (Tracking Program)

READING


MAZE
Reading Curriculum
Based Measurement
(R-CBM)
Tier I – Universal Screening
(Benchmarking 3x/year)
Tier II – monthly progress
monitoring
Tier III – Progress Monitoring
(weekly / bi-monthly)

MATH


All Facts
Math Concepts and
Applications (M-CAP)
Tier I – Universal Screening
(Benchmarking 3x/year)
Tier II – monthly strategic
monitoring
Tier III – Progress Monitoring
(weekly / bi-monthly)
Sample
AIMsWeb
Data
8th Grade
Tier II AIS
Sample Student Benchmark Report
Reading Improvement Report for
2008-2009 School Year
Benchmark Scores for 2008-2009
School Year
http://www.aimsweb.com/login.php
Implementation: Part III
Continuous Improvement:
 Training Manuals
 Yearly Timeline ---- meetings, testing
 Protocols and Task Lists
 Research Based Interventions
Tier 3 - Intensive
Small group (4-6 students)
AIS classes
Progress Monitoring every
2-3 weeks
Regression /no progress,
revise (repeat if not
successful) --- consider
referral to CSE
Progress
Continue with
program
IST Process
Tier 2 - Strategic
Three data
checks,
regression/no
progress
IST Process
At-Risk Student
Teacher analyzes data, refers
student to IST and moves
student to Tier 2.
Small Group (10-12 students) AIS Classes
Benchmarking three times / year
Tier 1 - Universal
Quality classroom instruction using
research-based strategies with
targeted students
Three data
checks
IST Process
On Target Student
Teacher analyzes data and
keeps student in Tier 1.
Questions…
RtI Resources/Links
 www.nrcld.org
 www.ncld.org
 www.nasdse.org
 http://www.rtinetwork.org/
 www.aimsweb.com
 www.interventioncentral.org