Response to Intervention (RtI) Leads to Improved Results for Fennville Students: A Special Education/General Education Infrastructure Is the Key

by Jill Rodriguez, School Psychologist, Fennville Public Schools

To provide struggling students with early instruction interventions, Fennville Elementary School’s child-study team has evolved into a student intervention team. Aligned with the federal regulations that encourage the use of Response to Intervention (RtI), the refocused child-study team works toward providing interventions for all struggling students regardless of whether or not a special education evaluation is needed. By doing so, staff can address concerns as they emerge, rather than after a student is facing failure.

The student intervention team includes both general and special education staff members who meet once a week for a half hour to discuss individual students referred for having academic and/or behavior difficulties. A “case management” model is used for each student. Team members decide upon the severity of an individual student’s problem and suggest interventions that might help. Student progress continues to be reviewed periodically in order to evaluate how well an intervention is working. If interventions fail to help the student, a new plan is discussed and put into action.

Initial transformation from the child-study team model to the current student intervention team model was somewhat problematic. Special education was seen as completely separate from general education, with neither side taking responsibility for the students “in the middle” (those who did not seem to fit well into either group). Questions such as “where does this child belong?” and “who is ultimately responsible?” needed to be clarified. At that time, the members of the team made the decision to “step up to the plate” and accept responsibility for the success of these students. The goal was to set an example of collaboration. Since then, general education teachers have also accepted this responsibility, leading to improvements for ALL Fennville students. In fact, the general education teachers now periodically review students at grade level meetings and implement intervention even before involving the team.

Over the last four years, constant shifting and changing of staff roles and positions has led to many challenges and opportunities for staff learning. The following examples and tips are offered for schools implementing their own intervention teams.

• Choose team members early and provide them with specific roles within the group.
• Create a true group by getting all team members’ input and ideas before implementing a system.
• Give team members flexibility. At Fennville, no monetary compensation is given for the extra time dedicated. If a member cannot make it to a meeting due to other priorities, we understand.
• Get administrative support. When administration prioritizes the mission and provides substitutes, teacher consultants, or school counselors, the team is much more productive. Work closely with building administrators as they are the key to building infrastructure between general and special education parameters.
• Make do with the resources available, and be creative.
• Create referral forms that are comprehensive but easy to complete. Typically, general education teachers are willing to fill out a lengthy student checklist because it also helps them understand the problem. The checklist developed by Fennville’s student intervention team is divided into categories (i.e. behaviors, speech, academics, and sensory needs).
• Meet regularly/consistently.
• Develop a data collection process that includes problem identification, problem analysis, data-driven intervention, and data monitoring. Many such systems are available online. Key words to use in search engines include: student intervention teams, student assistance teams, and Response to Intervention.
• Keep records of all referrals in a simple format (include date, grade, teacher), preferably in categories such as behavior, speech, academic, and sensory.
• Do not “re-invent the wheel.” There are many Web sites that post manuals for similar intervention teams. Borrow what you can and create a system that meets your school’s needs.
• Remember that it takes time to develop and build a working team. Every school will have unique challenges to face; consider challenges as a chance to be creative.
• Provide written copies of the overall procedures of your system to ALL staff, and keep a manual in the office for reference.

The greatest challenge facing Fennville’s student intervention team is collecting data and monitoring progress. It is important to understand that this is almost impossible to do without building a collaborative infrastructure between general and special education. Some of the other challenges facing Fennville’s student intervention team this fall include the possible loss of the teacher consultant and school counselor due to funding cuts. Team members and administration are working together to come up with creative solutions to these challenges, to set goals, to build a stronger case management system, and to build an infrastructure that will simplify data collection and progress monitoring. Fennville is also looking at creating a monitoring system for math.

The work of Fennville’s student intervention team has resulted in improved student achievement and an overall reduction of special education referrals at the school. Team members are excited with the progress and look forward to further development.

Fennville Elementary receives a grant from Michigan’s Integrated Behavior and Learning Support Initiative (MiBLSi) (see What Is Michigan's Integrated Behavior and Learning Support Initiative), uses the School-Wide Information System (SWIS) to monitor office referrals for behavioral problems, and uses the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) system to monitor progress for some basic reading skills (see Glossary on page 30). For more information, contact: Jill Rodriguez, School Psychologist, Fennville Public Schools or Pat Boonstra, School Social Worker, Fennville Elementary, 8 North St., Fennville, MI 49408, (269) 561-7236 ext. 4256, (269) 561-7271 fax.