Lack of Training is Hurting District RTI Implementations
Posted by Beth DuBose on Sep 17, 2008
Lack of teacher training was identified as the biggest obstacle to implementing RTI.
This year we asked districts what they felt was the biggest obstacle to implementing RTI. According to our RTI Survey results, they felt their biggest obstacle was lack of staff training. They even stated that a majority of districts have trained fewer than one-quarter of staff! Adequate professional development is crucial to the fidelity of the implementation of a Response to Intervention process. Implementation teams need to be trained on the process for the district, how to facilitate meetings, and measure intervention effectiveness. Teachers need to be trained on how to provide interventions, perform universal screenings and progress monitoring assessments, and modifying instruction to meet the students’ needs. I know it is hard to find the time to provide professional development with the minimal amount of professional development days available. For those of you that are looking for some free resources to provide some background on RTI, I have a listed a few here:
The International Reading Association has a Powerpoint available on RTI
Self-Assessment of RTI Planning available from RTI in Action
The School Association of Special Education in DuPage County has many presentations that were conducted at workshops throughout the 2007-2008 school year. * My only suggestion is to look at these from a starting point because they are Illinois specific, but they do provide great general insight into the RTI process.
NASDSE has written an article on the suggestions for professional development that they feel are necessary for a successful RTI implementation.
The RTI Action Network provides many different forums for RTI professional development from live chats to national online forums, videos and podcasts to webinars.
The Council of Administrators of Special Education and NASDSE created RTI Implementation Blueprints for both the school level and the district level.