This new teaching method, which requires teachers to initiate scientifically based, intensive instruction when students show signs of struggling academically, is supposed to be the formula for better academic results for most students.  This is a real problem because if the very teachers who are going to implement the new approach don’t have a clue about what it is or how it works, then it won’t happen for the kids that need it most.

Even with the endorsement and support of the NEA and the formation of the RTI Action Network, a recent informal survey of 800 teachers revealed that over 80% of the respondents rated their knowledge of RTI as “minimal to none.”  In response to this knowledge gap, the 3.2 million member NEA, the nation’s largest teachers’ union held a symposium designed to introduce educators to RTI.

A key concept of RTI is that all students in the classroom need to be evaluated to see if they are on track academically.  The evaluations should reveal strengths and weaknesses and give teachers the information thaey will need to address the issues head on.  This initial evaluation is a key concept of differentiated instruction and in fact they are one and the same.  RTI is truly a way of formally bringing a process for delivering differentiated intruction to those that need it most.

If the educators can get the message and the training to bring RTI to the classroom, then that along with automated systems that achieve the similar result can truly change the results that we’re getting in our schools, especially in the early elementary grades where skills building is so critical for later success.