Frequently Asked Questions

1.    What is “Response to Intervention”?

Response to Intervention is a school-wide, multi-tiered, data-driven framework that allows teachers to assist any child identified as needing academic and/or behavioral support—whether they are working below grade level or are gifted and not meeting their full potential.

2.  How do students move between Tiers? 

Moving between tiers is a fluid process and there will likely be some fluctuation for many students whether they exhibit academic and/or behavioral concerns. Essentially, students move between tiers based on the gap demonstrated through progress monitoring as well as with the intensity level of the intervention. 

3.  What is a Problem Solving Team?

A Problem Solving Team is a group of teachers and school staff who meet regularly to evaluate student data, plan interventions and monitor student progress.   Different staff members may be part of the team depending on the needs of the student. Parents or guardians are also encouraged to participate on the team to create an effective action plan for their child.

4.  What is an intervention?

An intervention is an instructional strategy or curricular component used to enhance student learning. Interventions are systematic and targeted in the area of identified need and designed to improve student performance toward a measurable goal.

5.   How do I know my student is progressing?

Response to Intervention uses short, frequent tests (about 1-3 minutes each) to find out whether a student is making progress. The results are often displayed using a graph. The graph will provide valuable information about student progress and how he or she is performing in relation to a standard benchmark.

6.   Is behavior part of RtI?

Yes. Many students have the knowledge and skills to be successful. However, their behavior may negatively impact their academic success.  All District 11 schools are implementing programs to proactively teach and reward expected behaviors in all settings (e.g., classroom, hallway, lunchroom, etc.).  As a part of these programs, schools develop levels of interventions to help students monitor and improve their behavior. 

7.       Is a student ever involved in more than one intervention at a time? 

Students should typically participate in one intervention at a time for individual skill deficits.  However, in some situations a student may be participating in a standard protocol intervention such as a flexible reading group to address reading skills in general, but may also be in a more intense (Tier III) intervention to address the specific skill deficit. Additionally, a student may participate in more than one intervention if there are a variety of skill deficits in different academic or behavior areas. 

8.       Is RtI just a way to avoid providing special education services? 

No. RtI is a way to integrate the mandates of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and IDEA so that ALL students receive high quality, effective instruction in the general education setting and beyond. Also, RtI is a framework of instruction for students who do receive special education services. The intent is to generate a seamless system of support that is available to all students at the first sign of need.  

9.  Can RtI be used for students who are Gifted and Talented and/or underachieving? 

Absolutely, not only can RtI be used, but should be used for students identified as Gifted and Talented or underachieving.  Because the RtI Model is a system-wide model, all students who are making insufficient progress should be provided more intensive interventions based on their individual needs. Gifted students need strength-based tiered interventions based on programming needs. Gifted students with learning difficulties will also need interventions for skill deficits. 

10.  Does the RtI Model have to be used to determine eligibility for students who are identified ha shaving a Specific Learning Disability? 

To align with federal laws, the Colorado Department of Education revised the Exceptional Children’s Education Act to utilize a problem-solving process to determine eligibility for a Specific Learning Disability. The expectation is that the majority of data are collected through the process; however, other data may need to be collected for a full and individual evaluation to qualify as having a Specific Learning Disability. 

11.    How/what do we communicate to parents? 

Regardless of whether the parent initiated a concern or the teacher initiated a concern, parent involvement is critical and should be facilitated throughout the process, beginning with the problem identification phase. Parents should always be invited to the problem-solving meetings, and if parents are unable to attend the meeting the progress monitoring information should e provided to the parents each time the data are analyzed. Parents should be involved in all the decisions regarding modifications to interventions.