Simplifying Response to Intervention: Four Essential Guiding Principles

The sequel to Pyramid Response to Intervention advocates that a successful RTI model begins by asking the right questions to create a fundamentally effective learning environment for every student. RTI is not a series of implementation steps, but rather a way of thinking. Understand why bureaucratic, paperwork-heavy, compliance-oriented, test-score-driven approaches fail. Then learn how to create a focused RTI model that works.

• Use the four guiding principles to guide thinking and implementation.
• Shift to a culture of collective responsibility, and build team structures for collaboration.
• Define essential learnings in a program of concentrated instruction.
• Develop a system of convergent assessment to identify students for intervention, determine their unique needs, monitor their progress, and revise or extend learning based on their progress.