Response to Intervention

What is RTI or Response to Intervention?  Response to Intervention is an initiative that has been established to support all students in both academics and behavior.   Response to Intervention provides a 3-tier system for support in both academics and behavior. 80% of the student population will respond to tier 1 or core instruction in the classroom.  Tier 2 supports are more intensive interventions that support 15% of the population and tier 3 interventions support the needs of the remaining 5% of students. These interventions or supports are provided by the classroom teacher within the walls of the classroom.


Response to Intervention happens at least 3 times per week and can happen during a common block of time during the day or can be flexible within the classroom.  The goal is to provide each student with the reading intervention to support them in making gains in the areas of the foundations of reading-reading fluency, accuracy, and comprehension.  Data from benchmark testing is used to identify students that would benefit reading interventions.


Why is RTI good for kids?  Lewis students are gaining skills in reading through RTI. In one of many success stories, a student entered second grade reading at a DRA level 2 which is kindergarten and by the the end of second grade that student was reading at grade level.  In John Hattie’s work on “Visible Learning”, the effect size of RTI on students can be as high as 1.28. An effect size of 1.0 is equivalent to one grade level. Through targeted intervention students can increase their reading skills by at least 1 grade level.  


RTI is paying off for students across the country, including our own students at Lewis Elementary and other schools in the district.