This mini-course will provide a comprehensive overview of the RTI/MTSS (Response to Intervention/Multi-Tiered Support System) process, its differences, how to identify which students would benefit from MTSS support, how to choose and progress monitor interventions, and provide an opportunity for participants to create their own plan for a struggling student in their class.
Target Learner
This course is designed for teachers, administrators, and school professionals. This course would most apply to those who are classroom teachers of academic subjects, those who provide intervention services, and administrators. Learners could be new or seasoned teachers as no prior knowledge is required.
Course Overview
This course is self-paced and fully online. Learners can expect to share ideas and reflections through discussion posts at the end of each unit. Learners can complete the course on their own schedule and will need a computer, internet access, and access to current student performance level data such as benchmark scores - preferably 2-3 data points.
Needs Assessment
The Problem
Teachers are tasked with delivering grade level instruction to students who are performing at grade level, above grade level, and below grade level. For most, teachers are able to provide scaffolds and enrichment for students who are performing above and below grade level. However, often there are students who do not make the progress necessary to keep up with the grade level tasks, thus creating a learning gap. It is here that teachers need to have a comprehensive understanding of the MTSS process including how to identify students in need of additional support, how to implement interventions, and how to collect and interpret progressing monitoring data. This process needs monitoring and adjusting based on the needs of the student. Many teachers struggle with one or more steps in the process.
Analysis of Gaps
I completed a survey of school professionals to gather some information around their experiences with RTI and MTSS.
Survey Findings:
Many school professionals believe their teaching practices are in alignment with MTSS and support student success, however more than half of school professionals are not familiar with the MTSS comprehensive approach and the tiers of support.
Most school professionals are confident in their abilities to differentiate instruction and progress monitor MTSS interventions.
Most school professionals are somewhat satisfied with the availability of MTSS resources and collaboration with colleagues. However, most school professionals are not comfortable with their ability to implement an MTSS plan.
Connections to Research article Spear-Swerling and Cheeseman (2011):
The survey by Spear-Swerling and Cheeseman (2011) states that only 14.8% were not familiar with RTI models (p.1708). This shows that teachers are more familiar with RTI but have not been given the professional development necessary to understand the broader approach that MTSS provides.
On page 1716, when Spear-Swerling and Cheeseman (2011) discuss implications, they shared that in their study many educators “fundamental background knowledge about RTI” however “lacked other knowledge necessary for implementing these models effectively, especially (but not only) in the area of assessment.” This supports my findings that school professionals are not confident in their ability to implement MTSS interventions.
Given my survey and the article by Spear-Swerling and Cheeseman, I believe these findings support the need for instruction in the MTSS approach, using data to make instructional decisions, implementing and progress monitoring interventions, and creating a MTSS plan.
Performance Objectives
After completing this mini-course, learners will be able to:
Identify differences between RTI and MTSS using notes from the provided instruction.
Identify outliers in the provided mock class with a set of data points.
Identify the best interventions and progress monitoring methods in different scenarios.
Create a MTSS plan for a student in their class using their own data points and explain what intervention will be used and how they will monitor the students' progress.
Response to Intervention KNILT course by Kristina Rosenberg (contains relevant information) Response to Intervention
Spear-Swerling, L. & Cheesman, E. (2011). Teachers’ knowledge base for implementing response-to-intervention models in reading. Read Writ (25) 1691–1723 https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ973090
