RTI Success in Secondary Schools:

Response To Intervention (RTI) is an effective, evidence-based process used to assess students' skills and needs and to provide the appropriate level of targeted academic and/or behavioral support to struggling and at-risk students.  Since being listed as an alternative method of identifying students with learning disabilities (SLD) in the 2004 reauthorization of IDEA (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), RTI has become a familiar term to most educators, many of whom have been involved in implementing RTI, especially at the elementary level. Fewer educators are experienced with using RTI at the secondary level, however, and many have questions about how to confront challenges associated with its implementation at the secondary level. These include

• Finding time for supplemental interventions within busy students’ complex schedules
• Integrating interventions across subjects amidst compartmentalized instruction,
• Keeping pace with highly demanding curriculum expectations
• Addressing significant skills gaps that have developed between struggling students and their peers
• Working with students who have become discouraged and lost motivation
• Supporting adolescent learners in a way that is empowering and gives them a voice in their own educational programs

In RTI Success in Secondary Schools: A Toolkit for Middle and High Schools, acclaimed author and intervention specialist Jim Wright answers these questions and more. The book provides secondary school educators—including teachers, administrators, service providers, support staff and all those who may be part of RTI teams—comprehensive strategies for effective communication and cooperation among the various stakeholders who must work together over an extended period to elicit systemic change. It also provides specific instructions for preparing for schoolwide RTI initiatives, as well as practical guidance for implementation, including

• Establishing a school-wide screening program to identify at-risk students on the basis of data;
• Training educators to clearly define academic and behavioral problems;
• Developing and selecting effective Tier 1 classroom interventions;
• Forming strong RTI problem-solving teams to create customized, evidence-based, Tier 2 and Tier 3 intensive intervention plans.

Jim Wright’s original RTI Toolkit provides further insight and guidance on the schoolwide implementation of RTI.  Like RTI: Success in Secondary Schools, it is replete with comprehensive, valuable strategies that will help schools get the most out of RTI. A wealth of resources are also available on the author's popular website, www.InterventionCentral.org.