A: Explain Response to Intervention (RTI)

RTI is a framework that describes one method a teacher can use to ensure their students are
receiving instruction at the level that meets their learning needs. This framework includes a 3 tiered
response as outlined by RTI Action Network: Students receive high quality science based instruction,
Students are assessed regularly and appropriately to identify those who are not meeting expected
performance and individualized response for the students who need intensive learning interventions
[CITATION Edw \l 1033 ]. Ongoing assessment of students at each tier of the learning model is required
for the teacher to escalate or deescalate students as their learning experience continues. How student
learn reading skills will be the case study for this explanation of the RIT method.

1. Identify Students for Reading Intervention

The first step in the RTI model is identifying students who need intervention in the first place. This
identification occurs in tier one of the framework. In order to identify students who need help teachers
will need to use science based teaching strategies to teach the learning objectives appropriate to the
age and skill level of a group of students. This paired with proper assessment methods will allow the
teacher to identify students who are not performing as expected. In the case of teaching reading skills,
the following is one recommend process for completing this. Provide explicit instruction of reading and
writing strategies in tandem with a focus on using those skills to support motivation and engagement
through all instruction. As mentioned before, maintain ongoing assessment of students to identify those
who are not meeting the standards and look at their history and other subject areas to determine if the
deficit is pervasive through use of reading in all subjects the student participates in. The literacy program
should be comprehensive and coordinated between other programs and subjects across and
organizations curriculum [ CITATION Joh20 \l 1033 ].

2. Describe How Instruction is Differentiated

All students exist on tier one of the RTI framework to start. As learning deficits are identified, then
instruction is differentiated on tiers two and three. The second tier involves supplementing instruction
by creating more leaning opportunities for the student. This tier is usually addressed by the teacher after
identifying students who are not meeting the expectations of assessments. The teacher can typically use
group or small group instruction to address students in this category. Tier three is the last escalation in
the framework and includes students who require intensive differentiation of teaching methods best
provided by one on one support. Many students who reach this level of the RTI framework will be given
Individualized Education Plans (IEP’s) and receive special education services for a variety of reason
ranging from, but not limited to, English as a second language or psychological learning differences
[ CITATION Edw \l 1033 ]. In our model addressing RTI used as a response for reading we would see
students given more time to practice their skills in both tier two and three. In a reading class tier two
would involve differentiated groups reading books at different reading levels. The teacher would ensure
that tier two reading groups receive more instructional time than groups in tier one. This is not to say
that instruction is being withheld from group one but, to clarify, groups in tier two of the RTI framework
will require more time and instruction to ensure they learn the required skills. Students who reach tier
three and require intensive differentiation will focus on the skill subsets they are lacking. Students will
be screened on their reading skills to identify what needs to be targeted. Some of these reading skills
targeted at tier three include Fluency, Decoding, Motivation, Cognitive strategies, vocabulary, and text
structure. All of the above skills also rely heavily on prior knowledge, and the intensive instruction will
also need to address larger deficiencies students may have due to a variety of reasons including a lack of
early intervention or being new to the English language [ CITATION Wil13 \l 1033 ].

3. Describe How Progress is Monitored

Progress monitoring has been mentioned in the above sections as a supporting element of each tier
of intervention. It’s time to take a look at some methods of how progress monitoring can occur in
relation to learning literacy. Like other parts of the RTI method it is important to use science-based
practices when choosing methods of progress monitoring. Three suggested methods from RTI Strategies
For Secondary Teachers include: curriculum based measurement (CBM), rubrics, and exit cards. CBM is
the process of creating academic standards and tracking student development compared to the
standards to improve achievement. Rubrics are a tool that can be use to evaluate a performance based
on a task or group of task with a desired outcome. They are a way to clearly out line performance goals
for student and teacher reference and can be designed by the teacher to identify what areas of a task
need intervention. Exit cards are a simple assessment where students are given two to three questions
to answer and turn in at the end of a lesson. The results on these cards can be adapted to place students
in groups during the next lesson where they can receive the proper level of intervention. [CITATION
Sus11 \l 1033 ]. For the purpose of connecting these strategies to improving student literacy, the rubric
will make a nice example of how to monitor for progress. There are 5 main areas in which literacy
deficits can occur: Reading, decoding, comprehension, fluency, and motivation [ CITATION Joh20 \l
1033 ]. Using the rubric method we can break down these categories. When a reading task is assigned
evaluated different levels of understanding for each of the categories, listing what parts of the task
relate to each category. This will provide students with a roadmap for success and easy to pinpoint areas
of intervention for the teacher.

B: Vocabulary Interventions for Each Teir of the RTI Framework

Pulling again from RTI strategies For Secondary teachers let us step through how different
vocabulary interventions can look at different levels of the RTI network.

Tier 1

Tier one focuses on using proven strategies to provide quality instruction. This level is taught to
a whole class or large groups that have already been differentiated by skill level. I selected Fitzell’s
method of using finger signing from American sign language to introduce new vocabulary. This method
seems to be best situated for teaching to a larger group as it requires the complex step of teaching
finger signing in addition to the vocab. While this method increases the complexity of skills that need to
be learned, it has the benefit of also teaching spelling with the vocabulary. The method outlines that as
a whole group three vocabulary words are chosen by the teacher and the class works with the teacher
using context from a reading source to define the words. Students are split into pairs and they take turns
signing the word and drawing a picture of the word to each other. Students then repeat this task until
they have mastery of all three words. This primarily useful in classrooms that contain students new to
the English language, and students who generally have trouble connecting new information to previous
knowledge. Essentially, creating scaffolding for further language growth [CITATION Sus11 \l 1033 ].

Tier 2

Tier two narrows the focus of the quality instruction from tier one. Where the first tier is taught
in large group instruction, tier two focuses on smaller groups to complete the same task. After progress
monitoring identifies students that need more practice and targeted attention by the instructor to
understand the topic, students are paced in small groups where students can focus on learning the same
skills together. I selected Fitzell’s vocabulary mapping method for this example. Student groups are
assigned a vocab work with 4 boxes to fill out: definition, Antonym, visual representation, and silly
sentence. For Tier two instructing this method is used for students who have been identified to have
comprehension challenges with a text they are reading. While reading the group is directed to select
words that they do not understand. Then the students work together to fill out the vocabulary map for
the selected words to improve comprehension of the text [CITATION Sus11 \l 1033 ].

Tier 3

Tier 3 is the level of intervention where a student needs targeted one on one attention to
address the skill deficit. In school settings, this is often where special education services come into play.
When working one-one with a student it is important to make the work engaging to motivate student
engagement because the student is constantly interacting with the instructor; different than a larger
group setting where an instructor will directly engage a student one at a time. Fitzell suggests using
nonlinguistic interventions as a vocabulary intervention strategy. This is a great method for teaching
words that can be described physically, such as verbs or prepositions. The student is encouraged to act
out words with their bodies or in a kinesthetic way. For example, a student could be given a complex
action word such as “to bake” and they can practice idenifyi9ng that work by coming up with a way to
pantomime the process of baking a treat. This method incorporates active physical engagement to
encourage motivation and hopefully incorporate some humor into the lesson. [ CITATION Sus11 \l 1033 ]

Bibliography
Fitzell, S. G. (2011). RTI Strategies for Secondary Teachers. Thousand Oaks: Corwin.

Johnson, E. S., & Pool, J. (2020). Screening for Reading Problems in Grades 4 Through 12. Retrieved from
RTI Action Network: http://www.rtinetwork.org/essential/assessment/screening/screening-for-
reading-problems-in-grades-4-through-12

Shapiro, E. (2020). Tiered Instruction and Intervention in a Response-to-Intervention Model. Retrieved

from RTI Action Network: http://www.rtinetwork.org/essential/tieredinstruction/tiered-
instruction-and-intervention-rti-model

Wilson, J. A., Faggella-Luby, M., & Wei, Y. (2013). Planning for Adolescent Teir 3 Reading Instruction.
Teaching Exceptional Children, 46(1), 26-34.