Implementation of RTI
- Posted by Chuck Noe on Tuesday, 2009-03-10 at 15:13:10
RTI has much potential to assist students & schools, however, like most things, it comes down to implementation. There is an informative article on RTI on the wrightslaw website at: http://www.wrightslaw.com/nltr/09/nl.0303.htm It is done by Susan Bruce, the parent of children with learning disabilities & on the staff of the South Carolina PTI.
She says "RTI, if used as intended, can be a significant advance in special education. If used incorrectly, RTI will prevent students who have true learning disabilities from receiving the specialized instruction they need.
As with any special educational issue that affects our children. we parents must become experts on RTI. We must educate ourselves, ask questions, and document what we are told."
There are numerous sections to this article that provide good information & also a parent's perspective on RTI. In working with parents, I am hearing stories of schools having weak Reading First & RTI programs. In other cases, schools do a poor job of explaining their RTI program & appear to use it to delay or stop referrals for special education evaluations.
- Posted by Donna DeWitt on Thursday, 2010-02-18 at 15:32:51
RTI is an all children issue and not just a special education issue as I understand it. And yes, schools seem to have an unclear understanding of the RTI process. There are parents who call and say that the school their child attends is telling them they have to complete all three tiers of RTI prior to their child being referred to Special education services. This is inaccurate. This really is an all child issue and not a referral process for Special Ed. As with any change in procedure it takes time and lots of education. Schools will need all the support, accurate information and adequate resources to fully implement the process.Parents will need to have accurate information in order to become experts.
Wrightslaw is an excellent and reliable resource for parents and professionals. Maine Parent Federation as part of the P3 collaborative (Here in Maine) are sponsoring a 2-day Wrightslaw conference in South Portland, Me April 30th and May 1st. Come join us.
- Posted by on Thursday, 2010-02-18 at 18:35:13
Donna - Thanks for your post - would you mind if I circulated your basic information to people in your region who migh be interesting in your 2 day conference? If so you can send the information to cglimpse@aed.org. I am with the Technical Assistance Coordination Center, funded by OSEP.