This is the place to share stories and showcase your RTI successes. Educators and families talk about what they did, the challenges they faced, the outcomes of their efforts, and advice they would give others. Take advantage of this rich opportunity to gain insights from the experiences and wisdom of others.

Read the Stories

— Paul A. Jebe, Principal, CO

Integrating RTI into your classrooms is not a quick fix. An open mind and a lot of patience are essential, as it often requires a paradigm shift for educators.

— Mary Anne Lesiak, Director of Education, AppleTree Institute for Education Innovation, DC

Take time for team building. It is critical to include general and special education staff in the discussion and build  consensus and clear expectations of what RTI is and how it will be implemented.

— Sandi Feldman, Senior Innovative Program Specialist, NY

The secret to successful implementation of an RTI model is building a culture of collaboration and a strong shared belief in a tiered system to support all children learning.

— Jane Wagmeister, Ed.D, Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Continuous Improvement, CA

Think about how to communicate RTI both vertically and horizontally...Communication is a key piece of ensuring that RTI is implemented effectively.

— Terri Metcalf, Technical Assistance Partner, MI

Above all, accept that RTI is a work in process and all of us have much to learn about how to best implement this model. Without a doubt, it has the potential to help schools improve the quality of education across the board.

— Jeremy Koselak, Spec. Ed. Math Teacher and RTI coordinator, CO

The greatest benefit of RTI practice is that we're finally able to help students who were caught in the middle—those who didn't qualify for special education and weren't getting help from their teachers because of caseloads and schedules.

— Aaron Deris, Ph.D., Intervention Specialist, MN

In order to pledge success for every child using the RTI model, I would advise educators to seek building-wide commitment to the process and assemble a problem solving team dedicated to data analysis, interventions and progress monitoring.

— Katherine Griego, Principal, CO

The RTI framework (tiered instruction model) gives schools only a start. The hard work is developing the systems to ensure effective implementation (decision-making rules, strategic monitoring process, monitoring with fidelity).

— Dr. Albert P. DuPont, Principal, MD

"The biggest plus to beginning RTI has been a better understanding between general and special education. Our teams are more aware of each other’s expertise and can work together for the benefit of all of our students."

— Nicole Power, RTI Coordinator and SLP, OK

"If you don't have data you believe in, look for ways to gather data you can use. Once you are confident in the data, look at how you can best use the resources you currently have in place."

— Brian Miller, Principal, IA

"All hands on deck" most definitely needs to be the theme of RTI. Strong leadership from administrators and coordinators will give RTI every advantage in best serving our students.

— Kim Kysar, RTI Coordinator and SLP, OK

The effective planning and implementation of a comprehensive Response to Intervention (RTI) Plan is a several year process that requires the coordination and collaboration of several stakeholders both inside and outside of the school system.

— Chuck Grable, Assistant Superintendent for Instruction, IN

Loring Elementary is a K–5 school in the Minneapolis public school district. Loring has an enrollment of 323 students of which 80% live in poverty. Students of color make up 75% of the school population, 21% are English language learners (ELL), and 8% receive special education services.

— Douglas Marston, Ph.D., Special Education Administrator

As a principal, my quest for providing meaningful reading instruction for students was shared by my teaching staff.  While we felt we were doing great things for students in the area of reading, our state assessment showed that, in some cases, 50% of our students were not at grade level in reading..." 

— Bob Heimbaugh, K-5 Principal, WY

RTI and a three-tier intervention model were introduced in our district in 2005-2006 as an integrated framework in which all students have access to instruction and intervention at all tiers in the three-tier system.

— Elliott Elementary School, Irving, TX

We started Response to Intervention (RTI) as a way to meet the many needs of our students.

—  Linda Dittmer, retired Principal, IA