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Response to Intervention Simplified

After working with hundreds of schools and districts around the world, we have found the use of lots of RTI jargon, but a general lack of specificity on what the terminology means. To counteract this, we have carefully rethought and revised the traditional RTI pyramid. We refer to our visual framework as the RTI at Work pyramid.

At first glance, you probably noticed that our pyramid is upside-down. This is because we have found that some educators misinterpret the traditional RTI pyramid as a new way to qualify students for special education. States, provinces, and school districts visually reinforce this conclusion when they place special education at the top of the pyramid. To challenge this detrimental view of the traditional pyramid, we intentionally inverted the RTI at Work pyramid, visually focusing a school’s interventions on a single point—the individual student.

Source: Buffum, Mattos, and Malone, 2018.

In the RTI at Work pyramid, the widest part of the pyramid represents the school’s core instruction program. The purpose of this tier—Tier 1—is to provide all students access to essential grade-level curriculum and effective initial teaching.

As we state in our most comprehensive book on RTI, Taking Action (Buffum, Mattos, & Malone, 2018):

Many traditional RTI approaches advocate that the key to Tier 1 is effective first instruction. We don’t disagree with this, but this teaching must include instruction on the skills, knowledge, and behaviors that a student must acquire during the current year to be prepared for the following year. Unfortunately, many schools deem their most at-risk students incapable of learning grade-level curriculum, so they pull out these students and place them in Tier 3 interventions that replace core instruction with remedial coursework. So, even if the initial teaching is done well, if a student’s core instruction is focused on below-grade-level standards, then he or she will learn well below grade level.

If the fundamental purpose of RTI is to ensure all students learn at high levels—grade level or better each year—then we must teach students at grade level. Every student might not leave each school year having mastered every grade-level standard, but he or she must master the learning outcomes deemed indispensable for future success. (pp. 20–21)

There will be a point in every unit of study when most students have learned the unit’s essential learning outcomes, and the teacher will need to move on to the next unit of study. But because some students may not have yet mastered the essential curriculum by the end of the unit, the school must dedicate time to provide these students additional support to master this essential grade-level curriculum without missing critical new core instruction. This supplemental help to master grade-level curriculum is the purpose of the second tier—Tier 2.

This is a critical point! Traditional RTI approaches often define Tier 2 by either the size of the intervention group or the duration of the intervention. These recommendations are based primarily on early RTI research focused on primary reading interventions. In our experience, this approach has limitations when applied across all grades and subjects. Instead, we recommend that the defining characteristic of Tier 2 is the learning outcomes being targeted. Supplemental help should primarily focus on providing targeted students with the additional time and support needed to master the specific skills, knowledge, and behaviors that were identified at Tier 1 to be absolutely essential for a student’s future success. Classroom teacher teams should be actively involved at Tier 2, as these outcomes directly relate to their areas of expertise. Because supplemental interventions are focused on very specific learning targets, placement into Tier 2 interventions must be timely, targeted, flexible, and aligned to classroom assessments.

Equally important, for students who do master essential curriculum during core instruction, Tier 2 time can be used to extend their learning.

To be clear, there is an important difference between enrichment and extension. Extension is when students are stretched beyond essential grade-level curriculum or levels of proficiency. We define enrichment as students having access to the subjects that specials or electives teachers traditionally teach, such as music, art, drama, applied technology, and physical education. We strongly believe that this curriculum is essential for all students (Buffum et al., 2018). Tier 2 time should be used for extension, not enrichment.

If a school provides students access to essential grade-level curriculum and effective initial teaching during Tier 1 core instruction, and targeted supplemental academic and behavioral help in meeting these standards at Tier 2, then most students should be succeeding. But there will inevitably be students who enter a school year lacking the foundational skills needed to learn at high levels. These universal skills of learning include the ability to:

1. Decode and comprehend grade-level text

2. Write effectively

3. Apply number sense

4. Comprehend the English language (or the school’s primary language)

5. Consistently demonstrate social and academic behaviors

6. Overcome complications due to health or home

These foundational skills are much more than a student needing help in a specific learning target, but instead represent a series of skills that enable a student to comprehend instruction, access information, demonstrate understanding, and behave appropriately in a school setting. If a student is significantly behind in one of these universal skills, he or she will struggle in virtually every grade level, course, and subject. Not coincidentally, a school’s most at-risk youth are behind in more than one area. For students who need intensive remediation in foundational skills, the school must have a plan to provide this level of assistance without denying these students access to grade-level essential curriculum. This is the purpose of Tier 3.

Because students develop universal skills over time, schools must provide intensive interventions for targeted students as part of their instructional day and by highly trained staff in a student’s targeted area (or areas) of need.

Finally, RTI is considered a multitiered system of supports because some students are going to need all three tiers to learn at high levels. Students are not moved from tier to tier. Instead, the tiers are cumulative. All students need effective initial teaching on grade-level essential standards at Tier 1. In addition, some students need additional time and support in meeting grade-level essential standards at Tier 2. And in addition to Tier 1 and Tier 2, some students need intensive help in learning essential outcomes from previous years. Students in need of Tier 3 intensive help in remedial skills will most likely struggle with new essential grade-level curriculum the first time it is taught. This means these students will need effective Tier 2 interventions, too.

Questions for Reflection

As a team, use the following question for reflections about your efforts with RTI at Work.

▶ At your school, do all students have access to grade-level essential curriculum and coursework? What changes are necessary to ensure students do not miss essential curriculum to receive interventions?

▶ At your school, when students have not mastered grade-level essential curriculum by the end of a unit of study, is there systematic help to provide them? What systems are in place to ensure students receive this help without missing new Tier 1 essential instruction? What changes are necessary?

▶ At your school, can students receive intensive Tier 3 remediation in prior-year essential curriculum? What processes ensure students receive this help without missing Tier 1 and Tier 2 interventions?