Joe's Story

The Right Intervention at the Right Time

Christina Godard

Joe was a kindergarten student from an impoverished home. When he entered kindergarten, he had never seen scissors or crayons or even had a book of his own. He knew no letters, had no ability to write, and was unable to count to 10.

In some districts, helping students like Joe would be hampered by the discrepancy—or "wait-to-fail"—model of identifying students for special education services. But it doesn't have to be that way.

In contrast, the Response to Intervention (RTI) model can ensure that struggling students have access to specialized, individualized instruction to help them make appropriate progress through the curriculum. In Joe's case, his school's RTI benchmarking assessments showed that he needed intensive support. His teacher immediately sought out the RTI specialist within his school, and together they laid out a multitiered plan to propel Joe forward.

Levels of Intervention

Within the classroom, Joe entered Level 1 interventions designed by the school's occupational therapist to help students who need fine-motor development. Joe engaged in activities, such as using tongs to pick up small objects, using scissors for cutting and snipping, or making letters from modeling clay, in the regular classroom on a daily basis. He was also placed in Level 2 reading interventions, which occurred daily with the RTI interventionist. He spent 20 minutes per day in a small group targeting early literacy skills through phonics and guided reading. Finally, Joe was given Level 2 math supports with a specially trained high school tutor, who helped him understand basic math facts and used manipulatives to teach him math vocabulary words, such as "perimeter" and "estimation," before they came up in a lesson.

These interventions were possible because of the RTI model in place at Joe's school. The training the classroom teacher had received when the school implemented RTI, along with the ongoing support from the RTI specialist within his building, allowed Joe's teacher to have both the knowledge and the resources to provide Joe the support he needed to make progress within the regular education curriculum.

For the next six weeks, Joe participated in the various interventions and his classroom teacher monitored his weekly progress. At the end of that period, Joe's intervention team, which included the RTI specialist, occupational therapist, school psychologist, counselor, paraprofessional, and the principal, met to examine the progress Joe had made. The team members made adjustments to the interventions he was receiving and continued to monitor his progress.

Maintaining Grade Level

By the end of kindergarten, although Joe was still lagging behind his peers, he was no longer at the bottom of his class. In fact, he had moved up from the 1st percentile to the 18th percentile. By the end of 3rd grade, Joe was no longer receiving any intervention services; now in 5th grade, he's still working at grade level in all subjects.

Joe is an example of the success the RTI model can achieve. Instead of having to wait until a significant discrepancy could be documented using standardized achievements, Joe received the supports he needed to be successful as soon as his difficulties were identified. That is the strength of RTI.

The collaborative nature of RTI also brings the knowledge of many educators together to aid the students who need it the most. For our youngest struggling students, RTI has been and continues to be the hope for their success. It leads them on a path away from labels and stigma and instead redirects them toward a future in which they can achieve.

Christina Godard is an RTI interventionist for Gettysburg (Pa.) Area School District. She is also completing her doctoral degree in educational leadership at the Minneapolis-based Capella University.

ASCD Express, Vol. 5, No. 15. Copyright 2010 by ASCD. All rights reserved. Visit www.ascd.org/ascdexpress.