COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

P.O. BOX 2120

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 23218-2120

SUPTS. MEMO NO. 239

November 9, 2007

INFORMATIONAL

TO:	Division Superintendents
FROM:	Billy K. Cannaday, Jr. Superintendent of Public Instruction
SUBJECT:	Response to Intervention (RtI) Initiative

The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) is pleased to announce the development of a comprehensive Response to Intervention (RtI) guidance document entitled Responsive Instruction: Refining Our Work of Teaching All Children – Virginia’s “Response to Intervention” Initiative. This document is designed to facilitate and assist school divisions across the Commonwealth as they implement RtI. It is hoped that each division will take advantage of the opportunity to embrace RtI. The guidance document will provide a conceptual framework and valuable information on developing, designing, and implementing a successful RtI program in each division. Within the next month, the department will provide each division with three copies of the document. The document is also available electronically at the following Web address: http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/studentsrvcs/rti_guidance_document.pdf

The reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in 2004 (IDEA 2004) focused national attention on a growing successful practice in the general education classroom, Response to Intervention (RtI), as a tool for assessing and working with struggling learners.

RtI is an integrated approach to service delivery that encompasses general, remedial, and special education through a multitiered service delivery model. RtI is the practice of providing high-quality instruction/intervention matched to all student needs and using the learning rate and level of performance over time to make important educational decisions. RtI practices are proactive, incorporating both prevention and intervention and are effective at all levels from early childhood through high school.

Two statewide Response to Intervention institutes will convene this fall. The first RtI institute is planned for November 15 – 16, 2007, at the Roanoke Holiday Inn, Ordway Road, Roanoke, Virginia. The second institute will be held December 4 – 5, 2007, at the Omni Newport News Hotel, 1000 Omni Boulevard, Newport News. Virginia Superintendent’s Informational Memo #209, dated September 28, 2007, provides details about the institutes.

The department will also be seeking several divisions to serve as pilot sites for gleaning best practices for RtI implementation, beginning with the 2008-2009 school year. More information regarding the pilot sites will follow the dissemination of the RtI guidance document.

If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact Susan Trulove, RtI specialist, via e-mail at Susan.Trulove@doe.virginia.gov or by telephone at (804)786-0720.

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