How can schools assess whether or not the RTI approach is effective?
Page 19: Evaluation and Revision
Whereas fidelity checks ensure that the RTI approach is being implemented correctly, schools use other sources of data to document student performance. These data may include:
- Standardized reading scores
- Progress monitoring data
- The number of students referred for evaluations or identified as having learning disabilities
- The number of students receiving Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions
- Pupil data (e.g., number of absences)
These data indicate whether students are benefiting from RTI and, when collected before implementation begins, can serve as a baseline with which to compare data collected after RTI has been implemented in a school. In addition, to prepare for the subsequent year’s RTI implementation, staff can use these data to:
- Estimate the number of students who may need Tier 2 or Tier 3 interventions
- Help decide if additional personnel need to be hired
- Improve or fine-tune the implementation of the RTI approach
- Gauge the type and amount of professional development training school personnel will need
Mayflower Elementary Year 1 Outcome Data
At the end of the first year of fully implementing RTI (three years after Mr. Irwin initially presented the approach to Mayflower Elementary staff), Mr. Irwin and the planning team look at the year-end data and find that most struggling readers seem to be benefiting from the RTI approach. However, they also discover that a number of students do not seem to be making substantial gains in reading. On closer examination, the team realizes that what these students have in common is an unusually high number of absences. They theorize that these students are not improving in reading because the students’ missed school days have disrupted their instruction. As a result, the team decides to revise its school’s action plan to include strategies designed to improve students’ attendance.
