Response to Intervention RTI & Literacy: Key Challenges to Implementation Jim Wright .

Response to Intervention

www.interventioncentral.org

RTI & Literacy: Key Challenges to Implementation

Jim Wrightwww.interventioncentral.org


www.interventioncentral.org 2

RTI ‘Pyramid of Interventions’

Tier 1

Tier 2

Tier 3

Tier 1: Universal interventions. Available to all students in a classroom or school. Can consist of whole-group or individual strategies or supports.

Tier 2: Individualized interventions. Subset of students receive interventions targeting specific needs.

Tier 3: Intensive interventions. Students who are ‘non-responders’ to Tiers I & II may be eligible for special education services, intensive interventions.



Building Teacher Capacity to Deliver Tier 1 Interventions: An 8-

Step Checklist



Tier 1 (Classroom) Interventions: Building Your School’s Capacity

1. Identify Specific Grade- or Schoolwide Academic & Behavioral Referral Concerns

2. Inventory Tier 1 Interventions Already in Use

3. Create a Standard Menu of Evidence-Based Tier 1 Intervention Ideas for Teachers

4. Establish Tier 1 Coaching and Support Resources



Tier 1 (Classroom) Interventions: Building Your School’s Capacity (Cont.)

5. Provide Classroom (Tier 1) Problem-Solving Support to Teachers.

6. Set Up a System to Locate Additional Evidence-Based Tier 1 Intervention Ideas.

7. Create Formal Guidelines for Teachers to Document Tier 1 Strategies.

8. Develop Decision Rules for Referring Students from Tier 1 to Higher Levels of Intervention.



Tier I Instruction/InterventionsTier I instruction/interventions:

• Are universal—available to all students.• Can be delivered within classrooms or throughout the school. • Are likely to be put into place by the teacher at the first sign that a student is struggling.

All children have access to Tier 1 instruction/interventions. Teachers have the capability to use those strategies without requiring outside assistance.

Tier 1 instruction/interventions encompass:

• The school’s core curriculum and all published or teacher-made materials used to deliver that curriculum.

• Teacher use of ‘whole-group’ teaching & management strategies.• Teacher use of individualized strategies with specific students.

Tier I instruction/interventions attempt to answer the question: Are routine classroom instructional strategies sufficient to help the student to achieve academic success?




Tier 1

Tier 2

Tier 3






Tier 2: Supplemental (Group-Based) Interventions

Tier 2 interventions are typically delivered in small-group format. About 15% of students in the typical school will require Tier 2/supplemental intervention support.

Group size for Tier 2 interventions is limited to 4-6 students.

Students placed in Tier 2 interventions should have a shared profile of intervention need.

The reading progress of students in Tier 2 interventions are monitored at least 1-2 times per month.

Source: Burns, M. K., & Gibbons, K. A. (2008). Implementing response-to-intervention in elementary and secondary schools. Routledge: New York.



Group-Based Tier II Services: How Much Time Should Be Allocated?

Emerging guidelines drawn largely from reading research suggest that standard protocol interventions should consist of at least three to five 30-minute sessions per week, in a group size not to exceed 6 students. Standard protocol interventions should also supplement, rather than replace, core instruction taking place in the classroom.

Sources: Burns, Al Otaiba, S. & Torgesen, J. (2007). Effects from intensive standardized kindergarten and first-grade interventions for the prevention of reading difficulties. In S. R. Jimerson, M. K. Burns, & A. M. VanDerHeyden (Eds.), Response to intervention: The science and practice of assessment and intervention (pp. 212-222).

National Reading Panel. (2000). Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction. Bethesda, MD: National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, National Institutes of Health.



Tier 2: Exploring Use of Non-Instructional Personnel

To expand their intervention capacity, schools may want to explore using people other than teachers to assist with some RTI interventions, including:

– peer or older student tutors– adult volunteers– graduate students– paraprofessionalsOf course, any person serving as a tutor would need to be trained appropriately and their tutoring activities overseen by a certified educator. (Burns & Gibbons, 2008).




Tier 2 Resources: Maintain Flexibility by Assigning to Grade Levels

If there are personnel resources available to support classroom RTI (e.g., paraprofessional time, push-in support available from a reading teacher), those resources should be allocated to the grade level, not to individual classrooms. This permits greater flexibility in moving resources around to target shifting student needs.

Source: Burns, M. K., & Gibbons, K. A. (2008). Implementing response-to-intervention in elementary and secondary schools: Procedures to assure scientific-based practices. New York: Routledge.



Scheduling Elementary Tier 2 Interventions


Classroom 1 Classroom 2 Classroom 3Grade K

Classroom 1 Classroom 2 Classroom 3Grade 1





Anyplace Elementary School: 9:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.

Option 1: Independent Scheduling. Teachers independently schedule their own Tier 2 intervention time. An advantage is flexibility. A disadvantage is that scheduling outside providers to assist is difficult.











Anyplace Elementary School: 9:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.

Option 2: Schoolwide Shared Schedule. All teachers run Tier 2 interventions at the same time each day. An advantage is the ability to group students across classrooms and grades. A disadvantage is that outside providers cannot provide support to all classrooms.











Anyplace Elementary School: RTI Daily Schedule

Option 3: ‘Floating RTI’:Gradewide Shared Schedule. Each grade has a scheduled RTI time across classrooms. No two grades share the same RTI time. Advantages are that outside providers can move from grade to grade providing push-in or pull-out services and that students can be grouped by need across different teachers within the grade.

9:00-9:30

9:45-10:15

10:30-11:00

12:30-1:00

1:15-1:45

2:00-2:30



Secondary Students: Should Interventions Be ‘Off-Level’ or Focus on Grade-Level Academics?

There is a lack of consensus about how to address the academic needs of students with deficits in basic skills in secondary grades (Espin & Tindal, 1998).– Should the student be placed in remedial instruction at a point

of ‘instructional match’ to address those basic-skill deficits? (Instruction is adjusted down to the student)

– Or is time better spent providing the student with compensatory strategies to learn grade-level content and ‘work around’ those basic-skill deficits? (Student is brought up to current instruction)

Source: Espin, C. A., & Tindal, G. (1998). Curriculum-based measurement for secondary students. In M. R. Shinn (Ed.) Advanced applications of curriculum-based measurement. New York: Guilford Press.



Tier 2 ‘Standard Protocol’ Treatments: Strengths & Limits in Secondary Settings

• Research indicates that students do well in targeted small-group interventions (4-6 students) when the intervention ‘treatment’ is closely matched to those students’ academic needs (Burns & Gibbons, 2008).

• However, in secondary schools:1. students are sometimes grouped for remediation by

convenience rather than by presenting need. Teachers instruct across a broad range of student skills, diluting the positive impact of the intervention.

2. students often present with a unique profile of concerns that does not lend itself to placement in a group intervention.




Caution About Secondary Tier 2 Standard-Protocol Interventions: Avoid the ‘Homework Help’ Trap

• Tier 2 group-based or standard-protocol interventions are an efficient method to deliver targeted academic support to students (Burns & Gibbons, 2008).

• However, students should be matched to specific research-based interventions that address their specific needs.

• RTI intervention support in secondary schools should not take the form of unfocused ‘homework help’.




Tier 1

Tier 2

Tier 3






Tier 3: Intensive Individualized Interventions

Tier 3 interventions are the most intensive offered in a school setting.

Students qualify for Tier 3 interventions because:– they are found to have a large skill gap when compared to their class or grade

peers; and/or– They did not respond to interventions provided previously at Tiers 1 & 2.

Tier 3 interventions are provided daily for sessions of 30 minutes. The student-teacher ratio is flexible but should allow the student to receive intensive, individualized instruction.

The reading progress of students in Tier 3 interventions is monitored at least weekly.




Tier 3 Interventions Are Developed With Assistance from the School’s RTI (Problem-Solving) Team

Effective RTI Teams:• Are multi-disciplinary and include classroom teachers among

their members• Follow a structured ‘problem-solving’ model• Use data to analyze the academic problem and match the

student to effective, evidence-based interventions• Develop a detailed research-based intervention plan to help

staff with implementation• Check up on the teacher’s success in carrying out the

intervention (‘intervention integrity’)



The Problem-Solving Model & Multi-Disciplinary Teams

A school consultative process (‘the problem-solving model’) with roots in applied behavior analysis was developed (e.g., Bergan, 1995) that includes 4 steps: – Problem Identification– Problem Analysis– Plan Implementation– Problem EvaluationOriginally designed for individual consultation with teachers,

the problem-solving model was later adapted in various forms to multi-disciplinary team settings.

Source: Bergan, J. R. (1995). Evolution of a problem-solving model of consultation. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 6(2), 111-123.



Tier 3 Targets: Intervention, Curriculum, and Environment

“For [a tier 3] intervention to be effective and robust, it must focus on the specific needs of the student. It should also address the reason that the student is experiencing difficulty…. Rather than considering a [student] problem to be the result of inalterable student characteristics, teams are compelled to focus on change that can be made to the intervention, curriculum or environment that would result in positive student outcome. The hypothesis and intervention should focus on those variables that are alterable within the school setting. These alterable variables include learning goals and objectives (what is to be learned), materials, time, student-to-teacher ratio, activities, and motivational strategies.” p. 95




Tier 3: Scripting Interventions to Promote Better Compliance

Interventions should be written up in a ‘scripted’ format to ensure that:– Teachers have sufficient information about the

intervention to implement it correctly; and– External observers can view the teacher implementing the

intervention strategy and—using the script as a checklist—verify that each step of the intervention was implemented correctly (‘treatment integrity’).




Intervention Script Builder Form



Advancing Through RTI: Flexibility in the TiersFor purposes of efficiency, students should be placed in small-group instruction at Tier 2. In early reading instruction, this intervention option is usually simple to implement.

However, group interventions may not always be possible because –due to scheduling or other issues—no group is available. (For example, students with RTI behavioral referrals may not have a group intervention available.)

In such a case, the student will go directly to the problem-solving process (Tier 3)—typically through a referral to the school RTI Team.

Nonetheless, the school must still document the same minimum number of interventions attempted for every student in RTI, whether or not a student first received interventions in a group setting.



Increasing the Intensity of an Intervention: Key Dimensions

Interventions can move up the RTI Tiers through being intensified across several dimensions, including:

• Student-teacher ratio• Length of intervention sessions• Frequency of intervention sessions• Duration of the intervention period (e.g., extending an intervention

from 5 weeks to 10 weeks)• Type of intervention strategy or materials used• Motivation strategies


Kratochwill, T. R., Clements, M. A., & Kalymon, K. M. (2007). Response to intervention: Conceptual and methodological issues in implementation. In Jimerson, S. R., Burns, M. K., & VanDerHeyden, A. M. (Eds.), Handbook of response to intervention: The science and practice of assessment and intervention. New York: Springer.



RTI Literacy: Conducting Assessment & Progress-Monitoring



RTI Literacy: Assessment & Progress-Monitoring

The RTI Literacy model collects reading assessment information on students on a schedule based on their risk profile and intervention placement.

Reading measures used are valid, reliable, brief, and matched to curriculum expectations for each grade.

Depending on the grade, the battery of reading measures used can include assessments in phonological awareness, oral reading fluency, and basic reading comprehension.




CBM Student Reading Samples: What Difference Does Fluency Make?

• 3rd Grade: 19 Words Per Minute





RTI Literacy: Assessment & Progress-Monitoring (Cont.) To measure student ‘response to instruction/intervention’ effectively, the RTI Literacy model measures students’ reading performance and progress on schedules matched to each student’s risk profile and intervention Tier membership.

• Benchmarking/Universal Screening. All children in a grade level are assessed at least 3 times per year on a common collection of literacy assessments.

• Strategic Monitoring. Students placed in Tier 2 (supplemental) reading groups are assessed 1-2 times per month to gauge their progress with this intervention.

• Intensive Monitoring. Students who participate in an intensive, individualized Tier 3 reading intervention are assessed at least once per week.




“Phonemic Awareness: The ability to hear and manipulate sounds in words.”

• Letter-Naming Fluency (DIBELS)• Initial Sound Fluency (DIBELS)• Phoneme Segmentation Fluency (DIBELS)

SOURCE: University of Oregon: http://reading.uoregon.edu/big_ideas/trial_bi_index.php

Reading ‘Big Idea’ (U of Oregon) Sample Benchmarking/Progress-Monitoring Tools

“Alphabetic Principle: The ability to associate sounds with letters and use these sounds to form words”

• Nonsense Word Fluency (DIBELS)

“Fluency with Text: The effortless, automatic ability to read words in connected text.”

• Oral Reading Fluency (DIBELS)

“Comprehension: The complex cognitive process involving the intentional interaction between reader and text to convey meaning.”

• Maze Passages (AimsWeb)



RTI Literacy: The Visual Display of Progress-Monitoring Data

Time-series charts can make progress-monitoring data more accessible, allowing stakeholders to judge within weeks whether an intensive intervention is effective.



Sample Peer Tutoring Chart



Apply the ’80-15-5’ Rule to Determine if the Focus of the Intervention Should Be the Core Curriculum, Subgroups of Underperforming Learners, or Individual Struggling Students (T. Christ, 2008)

– If less than 80% of students are successfully meeting academic or behavioral goals, the intervention focus is on the core curriculum and general student population.

– If no more than 15% of students are not successful in meeting academic or behavioral goals, the intervention focus is on small-group ‘treatments’ or interventions.

– If no more than 5% of students are not successful in meeting academic or behavioral goals, the intervention focus is on the individual student.

Source: Christ, T. (2008). Best practices in problem analysis. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.), Best practices in school psychology V (pp. 159-176).



Example: Using Local Reading Fluency Norms in Coordination with Research Norms



Baylor Elementary School : Grade Norms: Correctly Read Words Per Min : Sample Size: 23 StudentsGroup Norms: Correctly Read Words Per Min: Book 4-1: Raw Data31 34 34 39 41 43 52 55 59 61 68 71 74 75 85 89 102 108 112 115 118 118 131

LOCAL NORMS EXAMPLE: Twenty-three 4th-grade students were administered oral reading fluency Curriculum-Based Measurement passages at the 4th-grade level in their school.

In their current number form, these data are not easy to interpret.

So the school converts them into a visual display—a box-plot —to show the distribution of scores and to convert the scores to percentile form.

When Billy, a struggling reader, is screened in CBM reading fluency, he shows a SIGNIFICANT skill gap when compared to his grade peers.



Baylor Elementary School : Grade Norms: Correctly Read Words Per Min : Sample Size: 23 Students January Benchmarking

Low Value=31 Hi Value=131

Median (2nd Quartile)=71

3rd Quartile=1081st Quartile=43

Billy=19

Group Norms: Correctly Read Words Per Min: Book 4-1: Raw Data31 34 34 39 41 43 52 55 59 61 68 71 74 75 85 89 102 108 112 115 118 118 131

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160Correctly Read Words-Book 4-1

Group Norms: Converted to Box-Plot

Source: Tindal, G., Hansbrouck, J., &

Jones, C. (2005).Oral reading fluency: 90

years of measurement

[Technical report #33]. Eugene, OR:

University of Oregon.

National Reading Norms: 112 CRW Per Min



Identifying ‘Evidence-Based’ Reading Interventions



Tier 1: What Are the Recommended Elements of ‘Core Curriculum’?: More Research Needed

“In essence, we now have a good beginning on the evaluation of Tier 2 and 3 interventions, but no idea about what it will take to get the core curriculum to work at Tier 1. A complicating issue with this potential line of research is that many schools use multiple materials as their core program.” p. 640

Source: Kovelski, J. F. (2007). Response to intervention: Considerations for research and systems change. School Psychology Review, 36, 638-646.



There is a lack of agreement about what is meant by ‘scientifically validated’ classroom (Tier I) interventions. Districts should establish a ‘vetting’ process—criteria for judging whether a particular instructional or intervention approach should be considered empirically based.

Source: Fuchs, D., & Deshler, D. D. (2007). What we need to know about responsiveness to intervention (and shouldn’t be afraid to ask).. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 22(2),129–136.

Schools Need to Review Tier 1 (Classroom) Interventions to Ensure That They Are Supported

By Research



Limitations of Intervention Research…

“…the list of evidence-based interventions is quite small relative to the need [of RTI]…. Thus, limited dissemination of interventions is likely to be a practical problem as individuals move forward in the application of RTI models in applied settings.” p. 33

Source: Kratochwill, T. R., Clements, M. A., & Kalymon, K. M. (2007). Response to intervention: Conceptual and methodological issues in implementation. In Jimerson, S. R., Burns, M. K., & VanDerHeyden, A. M. (Eds.), Handbook of response to intervention: The science and practice of assessment and intervention. New York: Springer.



RTI Interventions: What If There is No Commercial Intervention Package or Program Available?

“Although commercially prepared programs and the subsequent manuals and materials are inviting, they are not necessary. … A recent review of research suggests that interventions are research based and likely to be successful, if they are correctly targeted and provide explicit instruction in the skill, an appropriate level of challenge, sufficient opportunities to respond to and practice the skill, and immediate feedback on performance…Thus, these [elements] could be used as criteria with which to judge potential tier 2 interventions.” p. 88


Response to Intervention RTI & Literacy: Key Challenges to Implementation Jim Wright .

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