Parents Response to Response to Intervention
by Terri Donahue
A
PARENT’S GUIDE TO RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION (RTI)
What is “Response to Intervention” or RTI?
RTI is a federal and state initiative intended to meet a wide
range of individual student needs through general education
services. The regular classroom teacher and other personnel (other
classroom teachers and educational specialists) can help meet the
needs of individual students. The goal of RTI is to provide
students with the help they need to be successful as early as
possible in their school career.
How does RTI work?
When a child begins to have some area of concern affecting
his/her school progress the teacher will create an intervention
plan designed to improve the student’s performance. If the child
continues to have difficulty, the teacher will meet with a team of
other staff members to discuss the child’s needs, consider other
interventions, and outline a method to carefully monitor the
child’s progress**. The child’s progress is measured over time. If
he/she makes acceptable progress the interventions may be
discontinued (if sufficient progress is made) or continued (if the
team feels the interventions are needed to help the student
succeed). If the child continues to struggle then more intensive
interventions may be tried.
**This team – referred to as the Building Level Team – uses the
insight and expertise of several different school staff members.
Team members contribute in different ways to the RTI process:
offering suggestions, gathering data, and communicating with other
staff and/or parents. The team meets regularly to discuss and
monitor student concerns.
What is the role of the Parent in RTI?
Parents have an important role throughout the RTI process.
Teachers will communicate concerns regarding their student and
invite parent participation in telephone conversations and/or team
meetings regarding their child. Parents provide insight into a
child’s learning and development to understand the problem and why
it occurs, plan and implement an intervention plan, and measure and
evaluate the plan’s effectiveness. Parents should contact their
child’s teacher with any concerns regarding academics or
behavior.
Please contact your child’s teacher if you have any questions. We
look forward to working together to help your child succeed.
