Response to Intervention (RTI): What Teachers of Reading Need to Know

Response to Intervention (RTI): What Teachers of Reading Need to Know

Summary & Reflection

By now, we all know what Response to Intervention or RTI is, especially in regards to the field of literacy. But when it comes down to actually putting it into practice, many of us, including myself, are flummoxed about the breadth of student skills that need to be assessed as well as the many various methods of intervention. This article gives us a general outline of the steps that should be taken by sharing the vignette of Mark, a second grade student with difficulties in fluency and accuracy. The authors discuss RTI's step by step process with this student beginning with universal screening with the Phonological Awareness and Literacy Screening (PALS) and first grade word lists; and ending with specific individualized instruction with constant assessments to see whether benchmarks have been achieved. Happily for Mark, in the final step, the committee did not see evidence of a need for him to be in special education, although, there was concern for him to fall behind over the summer break.

I enjoy reading articles like this because it reveals what truly happens implementing RTI in a real-life context. Like any of the students that we hope to teach, we ourselves tend to be more interested in reading material that can be related to the outside world or that insights empathy. This article is a good supplement to some of our upcoming chapters in our text books in regards to the planning, organizing, and implementation of interventions. Literacy interventions must be structured, balanced, and based on scientific evidence of our students' skills to be successful.