DISD Family Guide to Response to Intervention (RtI)

DISD schools are committed to helping all children succeed. Campuses have many ways to help children who are struggling to learn and need additional supports to be successful. Response to Intervention (RtI) is one form of support.

This guide reviews the basic components of any RtI process and includes questions you might ask to learn more about their RtI process. Also included are ways you can get involved in the process and what to do and where to go if you have questions or concerns.

What is RtI?
Response to Intervention is "the practice of providing high- quality instruction and interventions matched to student need, monitoring progress frequently to make decisions about changes in instruction or goals, and applying student response data to important educational decisions." (National Association of State Directors of Special Education, 2006).

What are the benefits of RtI?
RtI provides structure; it holds the promise of ensuring that all children have access to high quality instruction and that struggling learners, including those with learning disabilities are identified, supported and served early and effectively. An essential assumption of RtI is that all students can learn, and will, given the right opportunities.

What doe RtI look like?
The Tiered Delivery Model is central to RtI. It is a model of support designed to improve the delivery of instruction to all students. It is more than a campus intervention team... it is a problem-solving system which empowers educators to identify and provide intervention and support to students who are experiencing educational difficulties. Each level represents a grouping of students whose differing needs are met with more intensive (sometimes different) instructional approaches. Parents are involved in all Tiers of the RtI process.

• Tier 1, the base or largest level, represents the majority of students, largely served by the core instructional program (general education classroom), which is monitored for effectiveness.
• Tier 2 represents a smaller grouping of students who may require additional help-- interventions-- in addition to (though not replacing) core instruction, to achieve the learning rate necessary to meet grade level expectations.
• Tier 3 represents a still smaller group who need even more assistance-- intensive interventions-- to achieve the same goals.

Who do I contact about how RtI works in my child's school?
For more information about RtI at your child's campus please contact the campus administrator.