Implementing Response to Intervention Framework Paper
Getting Ready for Success
Winter Elementary school has a total of 600 students in the K-5 grade, 40% of who are English language learners (ELL). The school relies on three-tier model of reading, mathematics, behavior, attendance and writing. In 2019-2020, 75% of the third-grade learners met or exceeded the state-defined standard of reading part of the text, while 73% passed the state-defined standard on math. Other important demographics of Winder Elementary school is that 38% of the students receive free or reduced-price lunch, while 10% of the students serve in special education. Lastly, 3.8% of the students identify as those with learning disabilities.
The proposed strategic plan seeks to eliminate infidelity among the teachers and help them become more faithful to the Response to Intervention (RTI) framework. the strategic plan should yield into a road map for training the teachers and helping them understand the documentation process together with its importance in the implementation of RTI framework.
Checking Readiness for the Plan
With a basic understanding of why the RTI needs to be effectively implemented, the Winter Elementary school executive director and the entire leadership have shown support and commitment to see the project through to the end. The planning process will take a top-down process whereby those in the highest level of the organization are perceived to be the thinkers of what is best for the school (Alahmari, 2019).
However, a major disadvantage of this approach that the planning team will experience is getting the lower level staff to understand and embrace the plan. As such, the planning committee will take all the necessary steps to involve the staffs in the planning process. Considering the experiences from the previous planning process, involving the staffs makes them feel part of the proposed changes, and are therefore more likely to accepts the changes that the plan proposes to bring.
The other pitfall that must be avoided is too much rigidity and formality of the planning process. Considering that Winter Elementary school is a highly bureaucratic institution, being too rigid with the planning process may curtail creativity and slow down the planning process (Bartholomew & De Jong, 2017).
Participants
The main participants in the planning process will be the executive director, board of directors, staffs and an outside consultant. The executive director will be the chief planner, who will lead the strategic planning process from beginning to end. The school board of directors will ensure that the strategic plan aligns with the school mission, vision and values. A few staffs will be part of the planning committee, including the special education teacher and reading specialists.
Their main role will be to shape the relevance and workability of the plan to ensure buy-in to the school’s strategies and goals with regards to RTI. Lastly, consultant’s main role will be to bring and independent perspective to the strategic planning process (Kressler & Cavendish, 2020).
Organization’s History and Profile
Historically, Winter Elementary school has used RTI for a different purpose. Earlier on, the school implemented RTI as a formality and a means of assessing student’s eligibility for special education. As such, the school implemented RTI in line with its formal and legal definition; as means of determining students with learning disabilities in case they do not make enough progress in the context of scientifically based intervention and instruction.
However, the proposed strategic plan should help the school to use RTI as an instructional framework that is informed by individual student need based on their performance through an easily implemented progress-monitoring criteria. As such, students who fail to adequately respond learning will receive an increasingly intense instruction within a tiered model of learning resource allocation. Therefore, the teachers needed professional training on the new use of RTI to understand how to implement it and measure outcomes.
Information needed for Strategic Planning
Some of the key information needed for the planning process are the key trends in the RTI program environment, attitudes and plans of teachers, demographic changes within the student fraternity and the regulatory changes that have occurred since the RTI framework was first implemented (Alahmari, 2019).
Furthermore, the planning committee will need student information about the students’ performance to evaluate the RTI program, data trends for the past three years, changes in the student mix based on teacher observation, quality indicators and changes in the RTI program base in the past three years. Lastly, the planning committee will need the financial implications of the RTI framework over the past three years for conducting a cost-benefit analysis.
Business Model
Winter Elementary school generally serves elementary grade students. All the teaching services are delivered within the school compound that has all the teaching resources and infrastructure. The RTI framework implementation would fit within the school’s daily activities that are supported by various revenue streams as highlighted in the table below.
The RTI presents as the program with the most mission impact because it monitors and improves student’s general academic performance. It is also the most attractive financially because parents and other donors pay for the student’s academic excellence. As such, implementing the RTI would be profitable in that sense that it attracts enough financial support to fully cover its costs. Nonetheless, it is worth noting that the 80% of the budget goes to staffing costs. Appendix 1 contains Winter Elementary school’s revenue and expenses involved in running the RTI program.
Using The Plan Successfully
| Activity | Objective | Timeline |
| Develop a frequently asked question document and post it in the school’s website | Provides a universal guidance to the school’s RTI framework and how it aligns to the organization’s mission, vision and values | 1 day |
| Establish and inclusive committee of stakeholders to monitor and review the RTI implementation process including professional development and resource allocation | To ensure continuous monitoring and evaluation of the program, gauging its effectiveness and recommending points of improvements | Ongoing |
| Provide ongoing technical assistance to the teachers during the implementation process | To ensure teachers have the necessary resources for effective implementation | Ongoing |
References
- Alahmari, A. (2019). A Review and Synthesis of the Response to Intervention (RtI) Literature: Teachers’ Implementations and Perceptions. International Journal of Special Education, 33(4), 894-909. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1219496
- Bartholomew, M., & De Jong, D. (2017). Barriers to implementing the response to intervention framework in secondary schools: Interviews with secondary principals. NASSP Bulletin, 101(4), 261-277. doi/abs/10.1177/0192636517743788
- Kressler, B., & Cavendish, W. (2020). High school teachers’ sense-making of response to intervention: A critical practice analysis. Education and Urban Society, 52(3), 433-458. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013124519848032
Appendix 1: Winter Elementary school’s revenue and expenses involved in running the RTI program
| Environmental Education | Nursery | Resource Library | Direct Mail | Solicitation of Donors | Annual Events | Common Costs | Administration | Totals | |
| Revenues | |||||||||
| Contributions | 170,000 | 130,000 | 300,000 | ||||||
| Restricted grants | 14,000 | 120,000 | 134,000 | ||||||
| Fees | 900,000 | 900,000 | |||||||
| Total Revenue | |||||||||
| Expenses | |||||||||
| Direct Expenses | 746,300 | 184,000 | 12,900 | 147,500 | 59,000 | 66,300 | 160,000 | 162,200 | 1,538,500 |
| Allocation of Common Costs | 63,700 | 15,000 | 1,100 | 12,600 | 5000 | 5,700 | (160,000) | 13,800 | 42,400 |
| Total before administration | 810,000 | 200,000 | 14,000 | 160,000 | 64,000 | 72,000 | 176,000 | 1496000 | |
| Allocation of Administration | 80,000 | 20,000 | 1,000 | 15,000 | 6000 | 3,000 | (176,000) | (131,000) | |
| Full Costs | 890,000 | 220,000 | 15,000 | 175,000 | 70,000 | 75,000 | 1445,000 | ||
| Net | 24,000 | (100,000) | (15,000) | 45,000 | 100,000 | 60,000 | 114,000 | ||