Parents'
Frequently Asked Questions
Thank you for taking the time to visit Marshall County's Elementary RtI site. I have compiled a list of frequently asked questions when it comes to RtI from a parent's point of view. If you do not see an answer to your question, feel free to contact me or your child's homeroom teacher or school counselor. We will be glad to provide any information that we can. We really appreciate your dedication to learning more about what you can do to improve your child's education.
RtI stands for "Response to Intervention." This is an initiative to help students that are not performing on grade level. It is the responsibility of general education teachers to make sure that your child is making gains. RtI is a model we use to identify specific weaknesses that a child may have and then provide interventions (or instruction)that are designed to target that particular weakness. So for example, if a student is having difficulty reading grade level material as quickly as his/her classmates, we determine what instruction we think he/she should receive in order to increase the rate or speed of reading. Teachers choose this instruction from strategies that have been highly researched and have been proven effective time and time again. The teacher will then set aside extra time to use this strategy with your child either one-on-one or in a small group. The teacher will then assess them on a weekly or bi-weekly basis to see if they are making improvements or are "responding to the intervention" that has been used with them during this time. In short, teachers are figuring out student weaknesses, choosing instruction that targets that weakness, and then using that strategy to help students improve their weaknesses.
* What is the purpose of RtI?
The purpose of RtI is to help students that are struggling or not performing on grade level, have access to extra assistance in their area of weakness. The hopes are that this extra instruction or intervention that is targeting their specific weakness will allow them to eventually close the gap between where they are performing and where they need to be performing. For example, if a 4th grade student is reading on a 2nd grade level, we want to provide them with extra reading instruction (in addition to what they receive during regular reading class) in order to help them "catch up" and read on-grade level. Our intent or purpose is to help close the gap for these students.
* How was my child identified as needing RtI assistance?
At the beginning of each school year, all students are given what is known as "benchmark assessments." From these assessments, teachers can review the results and determine which students are performing on grade-level. The benchmark assessment we use in our elementary schools in Marshall County is known as MAP. The MAP assessments look at the areas of reading and math. Once these results are available, the teachers meet and discuss how their students performed. If they notice a student is particularly weak in a certain area, they can give other assessments to determine if a true weakness is present. These other assessments include STAR assessments, AIMSweb, and teacher-made assessments. All of these assessments give teachers more information as to which specific areas are strengths and weaknesses of the students. If we see that a child has been weak in the same area according to a variety of assessments and teacher observation, the teacher then decides that extra instruction or intervention is needed for that child in that particular area. We then begin to schedule when we can fit that extra instruction into this child's day. We ensure that the child never misses any core instruction time and that this time is in addition to what they generally receive in the classroom. All of our elementary schools have adopted what is known as a "flex time" into their schedules which has helped make finding this extra time for instruction possible. (I will cover what flex time consists of in the next question) In short, students are identified based on how they compare to other students on assessments. If a student falls below grade-level, the teachers decide what instruction the student needs to help reach grade level. Based on how far below grade-level a student is, instruction could be one-on-one or in small groups with other students that have similar weaknesses during RtI or flex time.
* What is flex time? Will my child miss important instruction if they are receiving additional help? Is my child being "pulled out" of the classroom? Who gives my child extra instruction in his area of weakness?
I lumped all of these questions together because I will answer them all by explaining what Flex Time is designed to do at the elementary level. For the 2011-2012 school year, all elementary schools were asked to implement a time into their daily schedules known as "Flex Time." This is a 30-60 minute period of time where the instruction that is being delivered to all students is "flexible." This time is different for every grade level. Some grade levels have longer time to dedicate to this, while others are only able to dedicate a portion of their day to this based on the content they are covering. During this time many things are occurring. Most schools have a schedule worked out to where they are able to have several additional helpers during grade level flex times including resource teachers and instructional assistants. It is during this time that students are flexibly grouped by their current needs. We say "flexibly grouped" because these groups change often according to current strengths and weaknesses. Students are grouped by strengths and weaknesses. If data shows that we have three or four students that could benefit from one particular form of instruction or intervention, then we group those students together and they receive the same intervention at that time. Some groups are larger than others. For students that are below grade level and need help closing that gap, we try to limit groups to 6 or less so that the students will have more specialized attention. In some cases, we are able to form groups of three or less to meet the needs of students that need intensive help in order to reach grade level. Once again, these decisions are all based on assessments students are given along with teacher observations. The instructors that are delivering this extra help vary from school to school and grade to grade. Some grade level teachers provide this extra help while resource teachers and trained instructional assistants may be responsible for providing instruction to some groups. We look at this as a team effort in educating our kids. It is sometimes beneficial for kids to hear instruction from a different person or delivered in a different way in order to help them make gains. These groups also meet in various locations throughout the school. Flex groups may meet in the grade-level classroom or there may be designated quiet spots where students go with their interventionist in order to provide the best environment for this additional instruction. Students are never "pulled out" of grade level content. They do not "miss" anything going on in the classroom because the entire flex time is designated to building on strengths and improving weaknesses in all of the groups. So if a student is not in one particular group, it is because the intervention in that group is not tailored to meet that student's need. All students are grouped based on their needs and the intervention is tailored to meet their current needs. Students are frequently monitored and based on their improvements or lack of, they are moved to another group that would then best meet their needs.
* Who makes these decisions about my child's needs?
Each school designates a minimum of one day per month where grade level teachers meet to discuss the progress of their students. These team meetings can include grade level teachers, resource teachers, instructional assistants, the school counselor, principal, and RtI academic and behavior consultants. During these meetings the progress of the grade level as a whole is discussed along with individual student progress. It is a reflective process in which the teachers reflect on the instruction they are delivering as well as the students' response to the instruction that is being given. In some instances, we decide that the strategies we are using are not working. In which case, we discuss strategies that may be more effective. In other instances we may see that a particular student may need another form of instruction or additional time allotted to working on that area of weakness. Using this information, we make changes to our flex groups (as covered in an earlier question). We may be pleased with the progress of an individual student or group of students and decide to either continue what we are doing because it's working or change the focus of instruction for that particular group to work on other areas of weakness. These meetings are extremely beneficial because they contain several people with a variety of experiences and knowledge working towards finding instruction that will best meet an individual student's or group of students' needs.
* Do I get to voice my opinion about what I think my child needs?
Absolutely! Frequent communication with your child's teacher(s) is a key part in the effectiveness of the RtI model. We encourage teachers to contact parents when changes have been made to a student's flex group. A note was also sent at the beginning of the year to the parents of students that were placed in a small flexible group which targeted a weakness in either the area of reading or math. This note had a place where parents could request more information from the teacher. This was a request for extra information on strategies you could work on with your child at home and specifics on the areas of weakness that were identified for your child along with the intervention he/she is currently receiving. If you have not received that information, please contact your child's homeroom teacher again and request that information. Teachers always appreciate any additional information you can provide that will help us better meet the needs of your child.
* How can you tell if the instruction you are giving my child is working? What happens if it doesn't work?
Students that are in flex groups designed to instruct on a specific weakness have their progress monitored weekly or bi-weekly. A short assessment is given to the student and the results are placed on a graph. Students are given a goal (most are given a goal that would put them at grade level at the end of the year) and the graphed results give us information on the trend or direction in which they are headed. If they have a trend that puts them on track with reaching their goal, we generally continue the interventions we are doing for that child. If they have a trend that is far exceeding their goal, it is possible that we will find another group for them that more appropriately meets their needs since they have responded well to their current group. Occassionally there are times when a student shows minimal growth, no growth, or regression (goes backwards). When this happens we assess the situation. We ask ourselves these questions: Is the group too large? Does this student need one-0n-one attention? Is this intervention appropriate for this student? Are there outside factors that may be influencing performance? And the list goes on... We try our best to use all of our resources to help that child progress. If after several weeks of intervention (in most cases 9-12 weeks of trying a variety of tactics) with little to no progress and concerned teacher/parent observations, we begin screening for possible deficiencies or to simply provide us more information about the student. These screenings can include (but are not limited to) cognitive, language, and attention screeners. Results from these screenings can give us a better picture or understanding about the way this student processes information. Based on these results and what we have seen through interventions, we may suggest a referral for special education services. In this case, we would set up a meeting with you, the parent, and explain the range of diagnostic testing that will take place in order to determine if your child has a learning disability or some other sort of disabling circumstance that is interfering with his/her ability to learn information like that of their peers. Please rest assured that if we were at the point of referral for your child, you would have already been notified by the teacher several times in the past and will have had discussions with your child's homeroom teacher about lack of progress up to this point...in other words, this should never be a surprise and you should have been well informed up to this point.
* Can I refuse RtI services?
Response to Intervention (RtI) is a regular education initiative. Which basically means that it is a model that regular educators are adopting to help close the gap with struggling students. Flex times have been set aside at the elementary schools in order to provide this instruction to all students. Every student is receiving additional instruction at this time. Not everyone is receiving the same instruction, but it is all additional instruction based on the needs of that particular group of students. So really, there is nothing to "refuse" because every student is getting this. It is part of the general education curriculum - it's built into the daily schedule of every student. We have made provisions for every student to get additional instruction in enrichment or their area of weakness during flex time.
* How can I get more information about my child's progress?
Stay in frequent contact with your child's teacher. Mid-term reports as well as report cards are methods of communication, but if you wish to receive more information please let your child's teacher know. They can easily send you (hard copy or email) a monthly graph noting how your child is doing in his/her flex group and what decisions were made based on that graph.
* Where can I find resources to help my child at home?
You can use the tabs on my website (reading and math) to locate online resources to use with your child. If you would like specific information about your child's weakness, contact your child's teacher and different strategies can be provided to you. If you are wondering what programs address particular needs, click on the "Interventions" tab to learn about the programs we use in Marshall County and which needs are met by these programs.
