On December 3, 2004, Congress reauthorized the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA 2004). The language that Congress uses in IDEA 2004 and No Child Left Behind (NCLB) stresses the use of professionally sound interventions and instruction based on defensible research, as well as the delivery of effective academic and behavior programs to improve student achievement. Provisions in IDEA 2004 enable school divisions to use scientific, research-based interventions as another method of identifying students with specific learning disabilities (SLD). This process is generally known as Response to Intervention (RTI).

RTI is a comprehensive student-centered assessment and intervention model used to identify and address individual student difficulties before referral to special education. In using the RTI approach, students receive research-based intervention and assessment. Rather than waiting for a student to fail, interventions and assessments are designed to meet the needs of each student with individualized instruction.

Virginia launched its RTI initiative with statewide institutes in Roanoke in November 2007 and in Newport News in December 2007. A third institute convened April 1-2, 2008, in Fredericksburg. The Virginia RTI guidance document, Responsive Instruction: Refining Our Work of Teaching All Children, was disseminated in Fall 2007 and sent to all school divisions in our state.

In February 2008, the department announced plans for up to sixteen RTI pilot schools in Virginia for the 2008-2009 school year. The pilot sites are listed below. RTI training with selected school divisions begins in July 2008.

We will continue to provide RTI technical assistance and professional development to all school divisions as we move forward to ensure that each child in Virginia receives a quality education that is responsive to each individual’s needs.

RTI Guidance Document

• Responsive Instruction: Refining Our Work of Teaching All Children (PDF)

Monographs

• Universal Screening as a Component of RTI (PDF)
• The Two Models of RTI: Standard Protocol and Problem Solving (PDF)
• RtI and the Special Education Eligibility Process: Frequently Asked Questions (PDF)

Pilot Sites  

Superintendent's Memos  

• Superintendent's Memo Informational #41, February 22, 2008
  Application for Response to Intervention (RTI) Pilot Sites  
• Superintendent's Memo Informational #39, February 22, 2008
  Spring 2008 Response to Intervention Statewide Institute (RTI)  
• Superintendent's Memo Informational #239, November 9, 2007
  Response to Intervention (RTI) Initiative  
• Superintendent's Memo Informational #209, September 28, 2007
  Response to Intervention (RTI) Initiative and Fall 2007 Institutes 

RTI Institutes

• July 16-17, 2009 (PDF)
• July 9-10, 2009 (PDF)

Presentations From the Institutes

• April 1-2, 2008 (PDF)
• December 4-5, 2007 (PDF)
• November 15-16, 2007 (PDF)

PowerPoint Presentations From the Institutes

• Getting to Scale With RTI
• CBM, Charting, Progress Monitoring, and Data Based Instructional Decision Making in a RTI Model
• The Case for Using a Three-Tiered Model for Reading Intervention
• Universal Literacy Screening: First Steps Toward Prevention & Intervention
• Ensuring RTI's Successful Implementation
• Universal Screening of Academics and Behavior in an RTI Framework
• Tiers of RTI: Graduated Intensity of Effort

RTI Pilot Training

Training Sessions, PowerPoint Presentations and Resources

• Agenda for June 23, 2009 (PDF)
  • RTI and the Road to Special Education (PDF)
  • Planning for Next Year - Ensuring Fidelity (PDF)
    
    
• Agenda for April 30, 2009 (PDF)
  • Closing the Gap: The Pivotal Role of Quality Instruction in Student Achievement (PDF)
  • Using RTI: Let's Get Real (PDF)

• Agenda for April 1, 2009 (PDF)
  • Building the Context of Excellence to Improve Results for ALL Students: A CALL to Action (PDF)
  • Steve Kukic's Collection (PDF)
  • Response to Intervention Manual - School District of Lee County, Fort Myers, Florida (PDF)
  • Heartland AEA - 13 Guiding Questions for RTI Implementation (PDF)
  • Response to Intervention - Blueprints for Implementation - District Level (PDF)
  • Response to Intervention - Blueprints for Implementation - School Building Level (PDF)
  • The Scales for Effective Teaching (PDF)
  • Effective Literacy and English Language Instruction for English Learners in the Elementary Grades   (PDF)
  • Self-Assessment of Problem Solving Implementation (PDF)
  • Kansas Multi-Tier System of Supports (PDF)
  • Implementation Research: A Synthesis of the Literature Chapter 1 (PDF)
  • Beyond Islands of Excellence: What Districts Can Do to Improve Instruction and Achievement in All Schools (PDF)
  • Assisting Students Struggling With Reading: Response to Intervention (RtI) and Multi-Tiered Interventions in the Primary Grades (PDF)
  • Florida Department of Education Statewide Response to Instruction/Intervention (RtI) Implementation Plan (PDF)
  • Self-Assessment of Problem Solving Implementation (SAPSA) (PDF)
  • Utah's ABC Systems Framework (PDF)

• Agenda for February 26, 2009 (PDF)
  • Progress Monitoring: Connecting the Dots (PDF)
  • Right Tool for the Job (PDF)

• Agenda for January 29, 2009 (PDF)
  • Questions for Guiding NASDSE Blueprint Discussion (PDF)
  • Standard Protocol and Problem Solving Model - What do the Models Share?(PDF)
  • Standard Protocol Question Bank (PDF)
  • Case Study - Problem Solving Model (PDF)
  • Using Your Own Data to Make Decisions (PDF)
  • Guiding Questions When Making Data Decisions (PDF)

• Agenda for November 19, 2008 (PDF)
  • Big Ideas of Universal Screening
  • Using PALs for Screening and Diagnosis (PDF)
  • ABCs of CBMs
  • Examples of CBMs That Are Often Used As Universal Screeners Universal Screening and Mathematics

• Agenda for October 21, 2008 (PDF)
  • Response to intervention - Under Construction: Team Building
  • Building a Foundation - Defining Quality Instruction and Linking Practices And Beliefs

• Agenda for October 3, 2008 (PDF)
  • RTI Components
  • Responsive Instruction - Quality Educational Practices (PDF)
  • Quality Instruction (PDF)
  • RTI in Orange County Public Schools
  • School Level Considerations When Building Your RTI House (PDF)

• Agenda for July 7-11, 2008 (PDF)
  • The Foundations of Response to Intervention
  • Problem Solving Model in Detail: Preparation for Implementation
  • Formative Evaluation
  • From Theory to Practice: A Behavioral Case Study and an Academic Case Study
  • Now that I have the data, what do I do? (PDF)

Resources

• California Department of Education RTI Webcast Training Series
• Center for Teaching and Learning - University of Oregon
• Effective School Wide Discipline in Virginia
• Florida Center for Reading Research
• Ideas and Activities for Developing Phonological Awareness Skills (PDF)
• Implementation of Response to Intervention (RTI) in 7-PAK States: Approaches and Lessons Learned (PDF)
• National Center on Response to Intervention
• National Center on Student Progress Monitoring
• Response to Intervention and Virginia’s Early Intervention Reading Initiative
• Response to Intervention - Blueprints for Implementation - District Level
• Response to Intervention - Blueprints for Implementation - School Building Level
• RTI Action Network
• School Wide Information System - Behavioral monitoring

Contact:

Susan M. Trulove
Response to Intervention Specialist
Office of Student Services
Division of Special Education and Student Services
101 N. 14th St., 20th Floor
Richmond, VA 23219
phone: (804) 786-0720
fax: (804) 371-8796
E-mail: Susan.Trulove@doe.virginia.gov