I was fortunate to attend a 3-day RtI conference in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina this week. I’m feeling inspired and energized (and I’m pretty sure it doesn’t have everything to do with North Carolina’s beautiful beaches or the warm, sunny weather ). The truth is, I am excited to continue Burlington’s journey with RtI.
RtI (Response to Intervention) integrates assessment and interventions within a school-wide multi-tiered system. RtI allows schools to monitor and address all students’ learning and behavioral needs in real time to reduce or prevent discrepancies in student learning.
But, back to Wrightsville Beach...
I am always amazed to be in a room with RtI experts like Dr. Tom Jenkins, Joan Sedita, Bill Trant, Irene Meier, etc. I take copious notes as I take in new information. There is also a sense of pride when all of the hard work we are doing in Burlington is validated by these RtI gurus. On Wednesday, I sat on a panel to speak to the conference attendees on Burlington’s behalf about our RtI systems.
The experts say it takes 5-7 years to fully implement RtI. We have been implementing RtI in our elementary schools for the past 4 years now. Although we still have a long way to go, I am proud of how far we’ve come...
- We assess all K-5 students with a Universal Screener.
- We use research-based interventions to target student deficits.
- We monitor student progress to ensure growth.
- We have looked at and made changes to our core curriculum for all students.
- We (teachers, specialists, administrators, coaches) know all of our students better than we ever have before.
- We have become a district that is proactive instead of reactive.
Most importantly, we are implementing a system of changes that is helping our students become better learners.
