Educating Stakeholders & Building Staff Support for RTI

1. Educating Stakeholders & Building Staff Support for RTI Jim Wrightwww.interventioncentral.org

2. Discussion Question What kind of staff support does your school or district now have to put an RTI model into place?

3. RTI & Systems Change • To make RTI a success, your school must reallocate resources and redesign how it helps struggling students. • But…change is difficult. School stakeholders may initially be reluctant to adopt these changes—and that reluctance is only natural. • To prepare your school community for RTI, the RTI Steering Group should create a definite plan to enlist support among key stakeholder groups.

4. Enlisting the Support of…Administrators The backing of educational leaders at the district and building level is absolutely central to the success of RTI. At minimum, administrators should understand that the RTI model will require • Allocation of scarce resources, such as money to purchase intervention and progress-monitoring resources, staff time to permit regular intervention team meetings and staff development to build capacity in the various elements of RTI. • A willingness to work with faculty and support staff to redefine job duties and work expectations to better meet the needs of the RTI model. • Administrative endorsement of RTI in the face of possible resistance to change from school faculty or parents.

5. Enlisting the Support of…Teachers & Support Staff When introducing the concept of RTI to faculty and support staff, the RTI Steering Group has two key objectives: • To provide general information about the RTI model • To have staff identify potential barriers to RTI within the school system, as well as possible ‘enabling’ factors in the educational environment that might increase the probability of RTI’s success.

6. Staff RTI Overview and Anonymous Survey Schools often roll out RTI to staff by presenting an overview of the model at a faculty meeting. • As part of that presentation, faculty are given a fact sheet about the RTI model and the role played by school-based intervention teams (e.g., Frequently Asked Questions about Response to Intervention and RTI Teams: A Handout for Teachers, pp. 32-34). • After the RTI presentation, staff members are asked to respond anonymously to a questionnaire, sharing their opinion of whether the school is ready to implement the RTI process (Response to Intervention (RTI): Staff Feedback Form, p. 35). • The RTI Steering Group collects these questionnaires, summarizes staff comments, and tallies the percentage of respondents who vote ‘YES’ on the question of whether they believe the school is ready to put RTI into practice successfully. NOTE: While this anonymous vote is non-binding, the RTI Steering Committee should keep in mind that if the percentage of affirmative staff votes falls below 80 percent, the school should consider putting substantial effort into winning over faculty to support the RTI process.

7. RTI Staff Feedback Form p. 35

8. Enlisting the Support of…Parents The school can inform parents of the RTI model and its potential positive benefits for at-risk students through: • Teacher Conferences • School newsletters • Parent Teacher Association meetings • Handouts (e.g., RTI & Your School: A Handout for Parents, pp. 36-37) Parents are likely to seek assurance that the RTI model will not block them from their ‘due process’ rights to access a special education evaluation or special services. Parents will also probably be pleased to know that—under the RTI initiative-- students can be referred quickly to a problem-solving team for Tier II interventions if they are beginning to experience academic delays or problem behaviors.

9. Team Activity: Enlisting Support for RTI • At your table: • Identify which group(s) whose supportyou believe is most crucial to the success of RTI: • Administrators • Teachers/Support Staff • Parents • Brainstorm concrete steps (‘action plan’) that your school can take in the coming school year to win over these influential groups