Having students that are working at multiple grade levels can be stressful for even for the most seasoned teacher. It really shouldn’t be a surprise when teachers struggle with implementing Tier 2 interventions.
The response to intervention model is very clear about what steps to take when students are not making progress with Tier 1 instruction. Yet, schools with large populations of high need stundents continue to struggle to ensure that Tier 2 inventions are taking place.
There are 3 reasons why teachers struggle with with implementing Tier 2 interventions.
1.Tier 2 students are not identified
At the beginning of the school year teachers are busy giving BOY (beginning of the year) tests, reviewing data from the previous year, and disaggregating data from the current year. DATA ,DATA, DATA! Schools are data rich2 but are information poor. This means that teachers are unable to take the data and translate it into useful information. There’s so much data that teachers are using ONLY raw data to make instructional decisions.
[bctt tweet=”Schools are data rich but information poor.” username=”@theignitedteach”]2. Teacher don’t know where to begin
With all of the technology that is available to schools many teachers struggle with putting a RTI plan together for students. Sometimes students have huge academic gaps that it’s overwhelming for less experienced teachers. For example, if a 5th grader struggles with reading most teachers who have not taught reading at a lower level will not know know where to begin this student’s interventions. This this then leads to students not receiving any remediation if adequate support is NOT available for the teacher.
3. Remediation is non-existent
Often times effective remediation is not offered to students. Since education has become so test driven that Tier 2 interventions have become test prep practice. Most tutorials that are supposed to help students with skills and concepts are “how to pass the test” sessions. Teachers , through no fault of their own, have to focus on helping students to master test taking skills. True interventions/remediation doesn’t stand a chance in a system that is so focused on passing tests.
There’s hope!
Even in a high stakes test driven school system I have managed to effectively implement Tier 2 interventions. You can register for my live FREE Response to Intervention webinar here.
