In Education, Why RTI is Doomed to Fail!

We have posted a good many field reports on RTI start up programs and organizational systems.  From the beginning there were doubts.  The intuition was it was all too slick! Here are some accumulated factors suggesting it is going to be a long haul home. 1. Current financial hardships are jerking school districts off course [...]

26. Special Education Overidentification: “Struggling Children”

From 2009 to 2011 we see articles making reference to “struggling children” in American public schools.  Renewal of the No Child Left Behind Act has brought out discussion of this group of children who have academic difficulties according to test norms.  The common denominator is academic difficulty and history says these are Title I children.   [...]

RTI and TIER 3 – Yesterday’s Special Education?

In the popular press stories review the successes of response to intervention in helping “struggling children” in American schools.  A close look at such reports indicates not much is said about Tier 3.  Tier 3 brings in “specialists” but who they are, exactly, is not typically stated.  The children in Tier 3 are not in special [...]

15. “Struggling Children”

The Elementary and Secondary Education act is being studied for reauthorization. President Obama in 2010 released his blueprint for reform.  Graduation from high school is a key aim.  It falls on related service personnel and special education teachers to move beyond IEP goals to long-term success.  The section on education of students with disabilities is [...]

16. RTI Success

Dick Nitsch, director of pupil services, reports (The Herald Times Reporter, January 2011) that  the Two Rivers School District in Wisconsin is at work implementing a Response To Instruction program making use of the three-tier model suggested by national experts and The No Child Left Behind Act.   “Response to Intervention (RtI) is an intervention framework [...]

15. RTI Success

The State of Minnesota has reported in 2010 on efforts to save money while reducing the drain from special education placements, particularly in the category of learning disability.  Improving reading is one key to preventing over-identification.  Success was recorded in the St. Croix River Education Districts:  ”Since the St. Croix River Education Districts (SCRED) have [...]

14. RTI Success

Commercial organizations originating RTI solutions are widespread.  Here is a profile for Spectrum K12 Solutions: “Spectrum K12 partners with educators and administrators who strive to Move Every Child Forward®. Working collaboratively with districts of all sizes, we deliver a Student Achievement Management solution suite that manages, administers and prescribes the personalized learning process and data [...]

13. RTI Success

A notice by Lexia Learning Systems, headquartered in Concord, Massachusetts, lays out the advantages of its computer software program to enhance literacy acquisition. “To boost the performance of struggling readers and improve reading proficiency for all students, more than 700 schools and districts in Illinois have turned to the Lexia Reading® software program.” The system [...]

12. RTI Success

Anne Brown, writing for the Morning Sun (Michigan) in 2010, reports on the use of RTI in Isabella County Schools. Not all Michigan schools are required to use RTI but here it is already producing good results along several lines. Principal Phyllis Hall reported an RTI-like program has been in place for five years: “Hall [...]

11. RTI Success

Gary Henry, writing for the Paris-Beacon News in 2010, reports on an RTI program in Hume, Illinois, at the Newman Grade School. Hume is a town with less than 400 residents. The RTI program is mandated. It is for struggling students who are falling behind their peers but should not go immediately to special education. [...]