What is Response to Intervention Education?

If you look inside any general education classroom, chances are good that you’d see different students struggling for different reasons. It can be hard for a teacher to tell right away which students are struggling or why. Simply put, Response to Intervention (RTI) is a framework for implementing proactive data-driven decision-making. It provides teachers with better, more timely information about students to improve student learning and performance.

An Effective Prevention Model

RTI is not just a model for special education classrooms. It is increasingly an early identification and prevention model that helps schools and districts nationwide broaden the range of interventions available in general education. RTI also ensures that the curriculum truly meets the needs of all students. With the appropriate processes in place, RTI can help schools identify students at risk for poor learning outcomes. It monitors their progress and provides evidence‐based interventions early on – when students first exhibit signs of learning problems. The nature and intensity of such interventions can be continually adjusted depending on each student’s responsiveness.

Teachers Provide the Interventions

Teachers can provide targeted teaching — called interventions — to help struggling students catch up. A big part of the RTI process involves closely monitoring student progress—that way the school can see which students need more academic support. RTI isn’t a specific program or type of teaching. It’s a proactive approach. RTI measures students’ skills and uses this data to decide which interventions to use.

Response to Intervention Components

Below are key components of RTI.

Early Identification of Learning Issues: RTI helps in the early identification of students who may be facing academic challenges. By monitoring students’ progress regularly, educators can identify difficulties and intervene promptly, preventing further academic setbacks.
Individualized Support: RTI emphasizes providing individualized support based on a student’s specific needs. This tailored approach allows educators to address the unique learning styles and requirements of each child, helping them progress at their own pace.
Prevention of Academic Failure: The primary goal of RTI is to prevent academic failure. By intervening early and providing targeted support, educators can help students catch up to their peers, reducing the likelihood of long-term academic struggles.
Data-Driven Decision Making: RTI relies on data and ongoing assessment to guide instructional decisions. This data-driven approach allows educators to make informed choices about the most effective interventions for each student, ensuring that efforts are targeted and efficient.
Collaboration between Teachers and Parents: RTI promotes collaboration between teachers and parents. Parents are integral members of the intervention team and are kept informed about their child’s progress, the interventions being used, and how they can support their child at home.
Inclusive Education: RTI fosters an inclusive education environment by recognizing and addressing diverse learning needs. It helps create a supportive atmosphere where all students, regardless of their initial skill levels, have the opportunity to succeed.
Reducing Special Education Referrals: RTI can help reduce the number of unnecessary referrals to special education by providing early and targeted interventions. This ensures that students receive appropriate support within the general education setting, reducing the need for more restrictive environments.

Student Achievement Data Produces Results!

In many states, RTI or intervention data is needed as part of the body of evidence to qualify for special education services as a student with a learning disability. Many states also have READ plans to support students reading below grade level. RTI ensures teachers are completing interventions and using the data to close reading gaps. If you don’t know if your child is receiving classroom-based interventions, ask your teacher. The teacher can also provide you with your child’s supporting achievement data.

Magnificent Magical Mud

by Mary Ann Burke

INTRODUCTION: GenParenting bloggers will periodically feature select children’s stories with educational and social-emotional growth themes. Magnificent Magical Mud was written to support second grade learners. Students will complete mud science projects and research online informational text to write a mud report.

Why do I love mud?

I have loved mud since I was three years old. I liked the way it squished through my fingers. It was fun to smush my feet in sticky, muddy puddles. Mud was my favorite ingredient for pies and sloshy rock leaf soup. My favorite activity was slinging mud balls at my irritating older brother. Maybe I liked mud because my mom hated mud. Perhaps it was because our backyard became flooded with lots of muddy puddles that I played in whenever it rained. Then my mom would make me change out of my muddy clothes before I stepped into the house.

What is mud?

I was excited when our teacher, Mrs. Hecklebee, asked our class, “What is mud and how do you make it?”

We learned that you can make different types of mud when you mix water with various types of soil. Clay soil is heavy, sticky when wet, and has very fine mineral specks. Sandy soil consists of small pieces of weathered rock and is light and crumbly. Loamy soil has clay, sand silt, and dead plants in it. I was amazed that there were different types of soil that could make mud. I must have used clay soil for great mud pies when I played in my backyard.

Sophia excitedly asked our teacher, “What is the difference between sandy mud and clay mud?”

Then Manuel exclaimed, “Does one type of mud take more water to make? Can you add leaves and branches to make the mud thick?”

My teacher responded to our questions by having us make a quart of clay mud. First, we scooped 4 cups of clay soil into a bucket. Second, we mixed it with a few cups of water to make it stick to our fingers. Finally, we added lots more water to make the mud roll off our fingers.

SIDEBAR HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT:

Experiment with different types of soil at home. Write down your answers to the following questions:

What type of soil did you use for your experiment?
Measure out 1 cup of soil. How many measuring cups of water did you need to make mud that stuck to your fingers?
How many measuring cups of water did you need to make sloshy mud that rolled off of your hands?
Did you try this experiment with other types of soil? If yes, what were the differences when using each type of soil?

How do you build a house with mud?

The next day our teacher read us a story about how the Toas Pueblo in New Mexico was constructed using adobe mud bricks.

Mrs. Hecklebee explained, “The brick makers created an adobe mud mixture of sand and clay that was mixed with water and other natural materials for binding, like straw or dung. Then they poured the mixture into large molds. Some workers added cement, asphalt, or other substances to make the bricks stronger. Adobe bricks were dried by the sun, heat, or fire. After the bricks dried, they were removed from the molds. Then the workers laid the bricks with cement mixed with sand on the foundation. Wooden inserts were set between the bricks to hold the frames for windows and doors.”

Our teacher added, “Today’s homes can still use adobe bricks. I recently visited Peru and toured an adobe home in the countryside. Other countries with adobe homes include Costa Rica, Nicaragua, San Salvador, Ireland, and the United States. Adobe homes do not melt away when it rains and are cool to live in due to their insulated composition.”

Mrs. Hecklebee stated, “Different animal and insects might also live in mud houses. For example, mud dauber wasps may build their mud nests on the side of homes. Other living creatures with mud homes include mason bees, American Flamingos, Black-billed Magpies, and mud crabs.”

SIDEBAR HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT:

Think about different living creatures that might also live in mud houses. Then complete the following activities:

Draw a picture of the creature living in their mud home.
Write a sentence describing what the mud home looks like.

Is mud play a sport?

After talking about mud houses, our teacher explained, “Some people like to participate in different types of mud sports. For example, there are obstacle races where people run, crawl, or slide through mud pits, and race onto balance beams or over inflated objects in the mud.”

Sophia eagerly described how her brother participated in a mud wrestling event and said, “He and his friends fought in a mud pit and slipped and slid in the mud as they wrestled with each other. It was so much fun to watch this sport!”

Manuel added, “My dad loves to participate in off road mudding. He drives his 4 x 4 truck with my older brother off the road on muddy mountain trails. Our truck becomes filthy with layers of dried mud.”

I excitedly exclaimed, “Our family likes to ride our mountain bikes after a rain storm. We will speed down a sloshy muddy hill. It is so much fun! My dad has taught me how to relax while pedaling evenly. I must brake early while I steer my bike through a slippery, muddy trail. I have a mud flap on my bike to keep the mud off my face so I can see the trail ahead.”

SIDEBAR HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT:

Research a mud sport to complete the following project:

Make a poster about the sport.
Write a rule to keep people safe when participating in the mud sport.

How do people use mud to take care of their bodies?

I thought that mud was an amazing substance. Not only was it fun to play in and build with, but it was actually good for my health.

During a class discussion, Sonia explained, “My dad used mud packs for aches and pains after running in marathons.”

Jasmine exclaimed, “My mom had a calming spa treatment. She actually put a mud paste on her face to get rid of wrinkles and soaked in a mud bath!”

Manuel added, “My parents went to a Calistoga hot spring in California. They relaxed in a mud bath for about 10 minutes. Then they took a shower and enjoyed a warm mineral water soak.”

Mrs. Hecklebee stated, “Mud therapy can also improve digestion when applying a layer of mud around your stomach. Mud can also cool down the body from heat. It will relax you and can get rid of stress.”

I was surprised to learn that mud used for health purposes is sanitized or cleaned before people use it so that they do not get sick.

SIDEBAR HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT:

Talk with your parents about how mud is made and its importance in your daily life.

Ask your parents if they have changed their understanding or their attitude about mud after this discussion.
Report to your teacher and friends if your parents changed their opinions about the importance of mud.

That night I had a talk with my mom about my mud assignment. The next morning, I ran into the classroom.

I excitedly reported, “After seven years of having my mom yell at me about my muddy messes, she hugged me after our discussion about mud. My mother also reassured me that she now understood how important mud was to my health, happiness, and creativity. Mud truly was a magnificent magical substance!”

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Nurturing Your Children’s Passions

It’s a new year! Your children may become anxious about how to fill long dark winter days. What can you do as parents to nurture their passions? When your children tend to shut down on cold winter days, you may feel overwhelmed and frustrated on how your family will get through the winter months without going crazy.

Questions to Ask Your Kids to Identify Passions

Here are some questions you can ask your children to get them thinking about what they would like to do or explore during their free time:

What do you love most about school?
What would you like to do to keep your body moving on cold winter days?
What is your favorite playtime activity?
What do you like to do outside?
Who would you like to do a project with? What would you do for a project?
What would you like to learn about? How do you want to learn about this topic?
Where would you like to go to learn more about a specific topic?
Is there a museum or activity program that explores or provides training about a topic of interest?
What can I do to support your interests?
What should we research online to identify classes or learn more about your topic of interest?

Some of the Best Projects Come from Our Children

Children are capable of planning incredible projects when you encourage them with your actions. For example, Maria loves art and shares art projects with her friends. She creates temporary tattoos by drawing creations with marking pens on an absorbent sheet of paper. Then she places the marking pen art against her skin and dampens the sheet of paper with a paper towel. She is very impressed with transferred tattoos. Her sister, Anna, loves to create finger weaving leashes for her collection of stuffed animals. Rosie, her cousin, designs and sews doll clothes for her doll. She has also has created an Etsy account to sell customized Cricut stickers.

Science experiments generate lots of questions that must be answered. Brandon experimented with various hand sanitizers and surface cleaners to determine which products killed the most germs. Dave learned how to code and created various digital games. Marla won an ecology award for learning how to continuously water trees while conserving water with various irrigation systems.

Passions Lead to Internships and Careers

Although these art projects and science experiments sound like educational and exciting rainy-day activities, several led to future internships and career choices. Maria now works in a store creating graphic art designs for tee shirts and other products. She plans to major in graphic art design when she starts college. Anna loves project-based learning and wants to inspire kids by becoming a project-based elementary teacher. Brandon has expanded his scientific interests and is currently becoming certified as a train engineer at a local park. Dave is getting ready to apply to colleges. He wants to eventually construct mass transit systems. I loved playing school when I was a kid and am still teaching students after 40 years in education.

Share in the comments section below this blog what passions you may have developed as a child that led to a satisfying career. Much success as you continue to support your children’s passions.

Acts of Kindness Monthly Calendar

Happy new year 2024! Each year many of us make new year’s resolutions and will fail fulfilling them within the first few weeks. This year I made the commitment to help our younger family members give back to their community. Planning should not overwhelm our family when considering their demanding schedules. To overcome this challenge, we convened family meetings with Brandon, Anna, and Maria.

Kindness Acts Calendar

We decided to focus on one act of kindness each month. Listed below is our proposed schedule of activities that might work for your family:

January: It is cold outside and homeless shelters are filled with families. Donate a few hours at a soup kitchen or give a sack of groceries to our local food bank.
February: Create 10 handmade valentines for a local senior center or senior nutritional lunch program. Give people who work hard in our community some chocolate candy.
March: Distribute flowers to the neighbors to celebrate the start of spring.
April: Make pretty Easter eggs with greetings and deliver to neighbors.
May: Think of all the mothers we know and wish them a happy Mother’s Day.
June: Make a lemonade stand and give away tee-shirts to cool off during the hot season.
July: Clean up the streets from 4^th of July celebrations.
August: On the first day of school, say good morning to everyone. Tell them that we hope they are happy with their teacher and friends in their class.
September: Be kind to our parents and do things that our parents love to do with us on Labor Day.
October: Try not to scare people with our costumes.
November: Collect donations for the food bank to buy turkeys.
December: Give new or nearly new toys to the Toys for Tots program.

Activity Reflection

After completing all of these acts of kindness, our family should feel fulfilled, tired, and happy! Much success by sharing your acts of kindness with others.

Parent Roles on School Committees

It’s that time of year! Schools are desperately reaching out to parents to provide extended services that may include:

Volunteering in your child’s classroom or lunchtime supervision support
Fundraising for the school or a student group
Driving for field trips or sports activities
Acting as a leader for the Parent-Teacher-Student Association
Serving on a school or district advisory team for curriculum adoption, school plan development, special education services, English language learner services, Title I services, gifted or talented services, or local education bond oversight
Providing added after school or weekend services

Support Your Children’s Schools

Parents should seriously consider how they can best support each of their child’s school activities when considering their added job and family support needs. Many families struggle with accepting too many responsibilities at one school and not having any more time for the demands from another school. It is better to talk with each child to determine how they want their parents to support them. For example, could another family member offer more help? As grandparents, we provide carpool and homework help for the younger grandkids. Older grandkids may invite us to attend special sporting events as they prefer to carpool with their friends to most events.

Classroom parent volunteer help may include:

Organizing and helping at special events
Creating curricular units for a classroom teacher
Listening to students read in small classroom groups
Reading to children and managing an art or social studies activity that supports a story
Helping students with their small group math assignments
Sitting near challenged students to give encouragement and help them focus on assignments

School leadership activities that may incorporate parents’ special talents may include:

Writing public relations stories for the school
Organizing and leading fundraising activities
Organizing and leading school events
Organizing parent carpools for field trips or sporting activities
Recruiting parents to serve on school leadership and advisory groups
Helping with the after school childcare services

Consider Leadership Opportunities with Various Countries

When a parent has immigrated from another country or attended a different type of school, they can offer teachers a wider variety of culturally rich activities. Many parents are reluctant to become involved in their children’s classroom activities because they may have had limited experiences in the American school systems. Some parents from different countries help classroom teachers by sharing their cultural practices through cooking, art projects, storytelling, social studies projects, and plays. A few parents lead cultural history days. Several parents volunteer in classrooms during the Thanksgiving holiday season by talking about their holiday cultural practices. Others may lead students with various acts of kindness. They may host a fundraising event for cultural communities in need or adopt a school from another country with letter writing activities.

Grow Your Volunteer Leadership Talents

As parents become active in their children’s schools, many will gain leadership skills that can benefit their jobs. Others may explore new skills as they learn how to fundraise for a project or write a public relations story. Some may manage the social media platform for the school. The talents gained from these experiences may lead a parent to run for their local school board, substitute teach, work as a lunch time supervisor, or return to school to become a teacher. My own parent volunteer activities led me back to college many years ago to become a teacher and an educational leader. Please share your own leadership journey as a parent volunteer in the comments section under this blog.