Thomas J. Lahey Elementary School
RtI
What is RtI?
Response to intervention (RtI) provides targeted teaching—called interventions—to help struggling students catch up in reading, writing and math. The RtI process involves closely monitoring student progress to see which students need more academic support. RtI aims to identify struggling students early on and give them the support they need to be successful in school. RtI isn’t a specific program or type of teaching. It’s a proactive approach to measuring students’ skills and using data to decide which types of targeted teaching to use.
From Understanding Response to Intervention by Amanda Morin
At Thomas J. Lahey Elementary School, our reading, math and writing interventions follow an RtI model. Interventions can be part of classroom-wide instruction. The teacher may break students into small groups tailored for different skill levels or learning styles. This is also known as differentiated instruction. Students who don’t make enough progress getting this kind of help during class may start to work on skills in small groups with an AIS (Academic Intervention Services) math, writing and/or reading teacher.
While the instructional intervention is in process, data is continuously gathered to monitor student growth and to plan appropriate instruction. The AIS teachers and classroom teachers work as a team when addressing students’ instructional needs. When the necessary progress has been demonstrated by students receiving AIS services, the instruction is concluded and the student is provided the opportunity to demonstrate his/her academic independence within the whole classroom setting. Students who demonstrate larger gaps of understanding with math, reading and/or writing can be placed in groups receiving more intensive instruction.
With an RtI program in place, students at TJL have the opportunity to receive the appropriate reading, writing or math instruction for their individual needs.