Response to
Intervention: Response
to Intelligence
Meeting the needs of gifted learners in all educational settings
Deborah L. Holt
LBSD School District
Gifted Coordinator
January 2013
“If you are continually asked to jump over a bar
that requires little or no effort, how long will it
be before you will not be able to jump any
higher?”
~CAROL ANN TOMLINSON
What Does RtI Mean for the
Gifted Student?
TIER 1 is the foundation
or the core curriculum.
TIER 3
80-85% of students are
TIER 2
Tier 2 includes
supplemental instruction
and intervention in
addition to the core
curriculum.
learning and growing
in a grade level
TIER 1
curriculum.
Tier 3 consists of intensive instructional interventions in addition to the core
curriculum. Students are identified for Tiers 2 and 3 through ongoing
assessment. Data-based decision making is applied across the tiers.
Definition of Giftedness
• Children who possess:
• General intellectual ability
• Specific academic aptitude
• Creative and productive thinking
• Leadership ability
• Visual and performing arts, and/or
• Psychomotor ability
(Marland 1972)
Most Recent Brain
Research
“Stimuli enter the rear of the brain, integrate in
the center, and are interpreted by the frontal
lobes. Gifted individuals may be able to do this
faster and with greater accuracy than typical
individuals.”
~Dr. David Sousa (2009)
What Does This Mean?
• We need to pay close attention to what
happens in the primary and intermediate
grades. What happens in the classroom has
the potential to raise or lower I.Q.
• A disturbing trend is the high number of gifted
individuals who drop out of high school.
~Dr. David Sousa (2009)
What Can We Do?
Offer:
 Differentiated curriculum beyond grade-level standards
 Differentiated instruction
 Using a faster pace, greater independence in study and thought, and
increased complexity and depth in subject content
 A supportive learning environment also addressing social and
emotional needs
 Curriculum content initiatives for gifted learners including
acceleration when needed, curriculum compacting, and flexible
grouping
Also…
Instructional processes for gifted learners include:
 Higher-level thinking
 Creative thinking
 Problem-based learning
 Independent study
 Tiered assignments
 Discovery-based teaching that focuses on long term memory processing
 Appropriate products for gifted learners
The New RtI: Response
to Intelligence
TIER 2
TIER 3
Intense
individual
interventions
Longer
duration
Small targeted
group
interventions
Supplemental
to the core
curriculum
TIER 1
Academic/Beha
vioral Universal
Interventions
for students
who can
master content
WITH teacher
support
(differentiation
in the regular
classroom)
The goal of teaching is to constantly strive to
move students to the right.
TIER 2
TIER 3
Individual
and/or small
groups of
students
who need
extra
support for
appropriate
challenge
Individual
students
who need
intense
support for
growth
~Penny Choice (2008)
Tier 1
• This is where 80-90% of students will achieve
high levels of growth at this stage in the
regular classroom.
• Curriculum addresses what is the big picture
and what is worth knowing and doing?
• There still needs to be differentiation at this
tier-the more differentiation at Tier 1, the
fewer provisions for students at Tier 2.
Differentiation
Opportunities in Tier 1:
• Thinking at different levels
• Open-ended opportunities for responses
• Tiered opportunities to respond based on prior knowledge (i.e., graphic
organizers with varying degrees of difficulty);
• Product choices
• Primary sources
• Research studies
• Problem solving
• Cluster grouping of gifted students
Tier 2
• This tier is for students who need additional
support and opportunities based on their
learning needs and their rate of learning.
• Students to the left are not making adequate
progress in the core curriculum, but students
on the right find the core curriculum
redundant. They need intensive instruction
matched to their levels of performance and
rates of progress.
Supplemental Opportunities
for Tier 2 Right (Gifted)
• Self-contained gifted class
• Replacement class (in a content area that is
occurring at the same time in the regular
classroom) Example: Accelerated math
• A separate school within a school (which
would include cluster grouping, cooperative
learning grouping, and cross-ability or age
grouping)
Also…
• Concept-based curriculum for this group is desirable
• Right Tier 2 students can complete anchor activities and
extensions while other learn basic curriculum.
• Right Tier 2 needs advanced resources available to them.
• Exposure to inquiry experiences, problem-based learning, debate,
future studies, contracting through compacting, or competitions
work well in Right Tier 2.
Tier 3
• This group should have very few students on the left and to the
right. These students need intensive, more individualized
attention.
• Students to the left are not making adequate progress in the core
curriculum and need increasingly intensive instruction which is
matched to their levels of performance and rates of progress.
Students to the right also need their core curriculum replaced.
Students at both ends deserve to have individual attention in
order to have the opportunity to learn new content and to
grapple with new, challenging information.
• Right Tier 3 students have intense needs that extend beyond the
curriculum of that grade level.
Right Tier 3 Opportunities
•
Right Tier 3 need accelerated, concept-based content since they already know the
content of the curriculum. Their advanced mastery gives them time to devote to
intensive study of an area.
•
Independent Study
•
Research
•
Problem Solving
•
Delving deeper into the content
•
Exploration into related areas
•
Acceleration opportunities such as grade advancement
•
Dual enrollment
•
Early Advanced Placement Classes
•
Early college classes
Ways to Assess RtI
Effectiveness
observations
vocabulary lists
experiments
book review
problem solving
graphic organizers
booklet
portfolios
oral summaries
charts
questionnaires
pre-tests
Checklists
Class or small class discussions
Sample problems to solve
diagram with labels
concept map/web
Student-produced exhibits
thumbs up/down
Venn diagrams
KWL charts
ticket out the door
quizzes
Standardized tests
and many more!
Development of Creativity and
the New RtI
• Creativity is the highest form of giftedness
(Barbara Clark, 2005)
• Creativity belongs in all tiers of the New RtI,
but is essential in Right Tier 2 and Right Tier 3.
• Underachievers are often very creative. This
group may have high potential but not high
performance.
Also…
Truly gifted and talented persons who make
significant contributions to society have three
characteristics:
Above average ability
Strong task commitment
High levels of creativity
~Renzulli and Reis (2008)
Curriculum Models That Provide Appropriate
Tier 1, 2, or 3 challenges
• The Enrichment Triad Model-This model is appropriate for any
content area and grade level in multiple grouping arrangements.
It is perfect for RtI because it consists of three enrichment levels.
(Renzulli)
• Betts’ Autonomous Learner Model (1999)
• The Parallel Curriculum (Tomlinson 2002)
• Schlichter’s Talents Unlimited (1986)
• Dr. Calvin Taylor’s Multiple-Talent Totem Pole Model (1978)
“Until every gifted child can attend a school
where the brightest are appropriately challenged
in an environment with their intellectual peers,
America can’t claim that it’s leaving no child
behind.”
~Jan and Bob Davidson
Genius Denied