What Is RTI in Elementary School? A Powerful Tool, Reimagined

Ask any educator, and most will agree that our students need more support than ever. The recent release of the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress results quantifies the concern we all feel. Students’ reading scores continue to fall, and math gains are minimal. This alarming data underscores the urgent need for effective, targeted interventions in our elementary schools. In this blog post, we will explore how Response to Intervention (RTI) can provide a powerful framework for addressing these challenges and ensuring that all students have the support needed to succeed.

What is the RTI process in elementary schools?

The RTI process in elementary schools is a proactive, multi-tiered approach to teaching and learning. It’s designed to anticipate student needs, deliver targeted interventions, and continuously monitor progress. RTI is often visualized as a pyramid, with each tier representing a different level of support.

• Tier 1: High-quality instruction for all: Strong, standards-aligned instruction is important for all students. In the Tier 1 environment, students are engaged in rich discussions, exploring concepts through hands-on activities, and receiving explicit instruction from their teacher. Effective Tier 1 instruction is the foundation of RTI. It’s where all students receive high-quality, research-based instruction designed to meet the diverse needs within a typical classroom. Teachers utilize effective teaching strategies, differentiate instruction, and create a supportive learning environment to ensure every child has the opportunity to succeed.
• Tier 2: Targeted interventions: For some students, Tier 1 instruction alone may not be enough. They might need additional support with specific skills or concepts, falling behind their peers. This is where Tier 2 comes in. Students who aren’t making sufficient progress in Tier 1 receive targeted, small-group interventions. Think of it as a focused boost—a chance to work closely with a teacher or specialist. These interventions are carefully selected and tailored to address specific areas of need, providing extra support and practice to help students catch up.
• Tier 3: Intensive, individualized support: A smaller group of students may require more intensive support. These are the students who continue to struggle despite Tier 2 interventions. Tier 3 provides individualized, intensive interventions—a highly personalized approach designed to address significant learning challenges. This might involve one-on-one tutoring with a specialist, highly specialized instruction using specific programs, or even collaboration with related service providers. The goal is to provide the most effective support possible, minimizing the need for special education placement and helping students make significant gains.

Expanding the intervention continuum: Responding to today’s reality

To help educators plan for and support a diverse range of learner needs, HMH provides the “Intervention model matrix.” The matrix outlines key factors in the deployment of instructional support to target just-right interventions for striving learners:

• Instructional intention: What is the purpose of the instructional support and the model that is being deployed?
• Time: How many days per week and minutes per day of student engagement are necessary to achieve the instructional intention?
• Resources: What instructional resources are needed to attain the instructional intent of the support?
• Identification: How are the content and resources matched to students to meet their specific needs?
• Data: What data will indicate the student’s needs? What data is used for progress monitoring? What data defines the success of the instructional support?
• Curriculum design: What specific content needs to be addressed? What is the area of learning need that is to be remediated through instructional support?

Challenges of implementing RTI in elementary schools

Fitting RTI into an already packed elementary school day presents a significant challenge. Schools must be creative with scheduling to effectively deliver these crucial support services. This often involves navigating a complex web of time constraints, limited staffing resources, varying student needs, and the pressure to maximize instructional time for all learners.

Elementary scheduling: The how of getting it done

We all understand the challenges educators face in planning interventions. Hopefully, one of these common RTI models in elementary school can support implementation:

• Walk to learn: A dynamic approach where students move through learning stations, receiving targeted support in areas like reading, math, or writing. Flexible grouping within the class, across the grade, or among a team allows teachers to tailor instruction to each student’s needs, and extra support staff can be deployed to reduce student-teacher ratios.
• Needs-based instruction time: Intervention is seamlessly integrated into the school day, with teachers, paraprofessionals, or specialized staff providing targeted support. Students might receive additional help within their regular classroom either in pull-out situations of small-group settings or through individualized support.
• Scalable tutoring: AI-powered tools provide personalized practice, ensuring that every student receives intervention experiences at the dosage, frequency, and intensity they need.
• Intervention for all: We increasingly help schools integrate intervention into core instruction. By expanding the time available, personnel dedicated, and resources allocated for this model, teachers can address the diverse needs of the increased number of students who require intervention support.

Sample RTI and/or MTSS schedules for elementary school

Columbia County Schools, Georgia

Dr. Jeana Aycock, director of assessment and intervention for Columbia County Schools, Georgia, shares insights into scheduling support for elementary students. She says, “Our elementary schools schedule a 45-minute block during the day. That’s just intervention and acceleration for kids. During that 45-minute block, our teachers and schools work hard on what our students need. They drill down to meet the needs of each of their students who are in the 40th percentile and below.”

Jeana’s plan highlights the critical balance between dedicated intervention time and flexible, data-driven decision-making. The 45-minute intervention block provides a structured framework, but its effectiveness hinges on the ability of teachers and schools to accurately identify student needs through diagnostic assessments and ongoing progress monitoring. This targeted approach, combined with the strategic deployment of resources like intervention teachers and Title I staff, maximizes the impact of intervention and ensures that students receive the appropriate support at the right time.

Ultimately, Jeana’s description emphasizes the importance of a well-defined schedule that allows for both dedicated intervention and the flexibility to adjust strategies based on student progress and data analysis.

Okaloosa County Schools, Florida

The elementary intervention model utilized in Okaloosa County Schools, Florida, has distinct scheduling requirements that guide English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics interventions. Elease McDonald, curriculum specialist, shares that ELA push-in interventions are accommodated within a 90-minute instructional block. However, pull-out intervention necessitates a dedicated, uninterrupted 90-minute session, supplemented by an additional 30-minute block before or after the core intervention period, ensuring the intervention’s integrity by preventing student interruptions. Similarly, push-in math interventions in Okaloosa County Schools typically require a 50-minute block, often extended to 60 minutes. Pull-out math interventions follow a parallel structure, requiring a 50-minute uninterrupted session, complemented by a 30-minute addition preceding or following the core intervention time.

Paulding County Schools, Georgia

Implementing math and ELA intervention blocks in Paulding County Schools, Georgia, emphasizes a collaborative, data-driven approach. Kim Freedman, ELA curriculum coordinator, describes a system in which teachers at each grade level engage in a concerted team effort, utilizing student data to create cross-class groupings. This ensures that students receive targeted interventions addressing specific skill deficits hindering their learning progress. Grade-level teams adhere to a rigorous 15-day cycle, encompassing assessment, data analysis, flexible grouping, and intervention delivery. Once skill groups are established, teachers are assigned specific groups to support during the intervention. At the designated time, students move to the teacher assigned to their skill intervention, where they participate in small-group instruction. To maintain smaller group sizes, Paulding County Schools strategically incorporates additional staff, including Title I teachers, intervention specialists, ESOL instructors, and paraprofessionals, to provide instruction and support.

How to set up RTI in elementary school

Which model is right for you? It depends! Just as no two students are alike, each school’s context is different. Educators can consider several factors to customize an effective system of support:

• Scale of need: How many students require intervention support? If most students are performing below grade level, an RTI model that is scalable to a broad range of the student population is necessary.
• Teacher skill set: What capacity do teachers have to meet students’ needs through intervention successfully? Some teachers can design and implement strong intervention experiences. However, teachers often need training, scaffolding, and coaching to provide effective interventions. Select an RTI design that capitalizes on your teachers’ skill sets and offers them comprehensive support.
• Staff allocation: Who can deliver Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions? General education teachers, specialists, or paraprofessionals? If you are limited in the number or quality of staff to provide interventions, leverage technology resources to lengthen and strengthen the instructional reach of intervention.
• Robustness of Tier 1: Is the core curriculum strong enough to grow all students and intervention students at an accelerated, multiyear rate? To achieve proficiency, below-grade-level students require both a strong Tier 1 experience and an efficacious intervention experience.

Ultimately, RTI isn’t about fixing problems; it’s about building a system of support that empowers every student to succeed. By understanding and implementing the core principles of RTI, we can create a learning environment where all children have the opportunity to reach their full potential.

More elementary RTI strategies

For more information about how we at HMH reimagine the RTI levels of support for today’s classrooms and best practices to support implementing RTI in elementary schools, read the Shaped blogs below.

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Unlock whole-brain reading through Read 180, the leading reading intervention program for Grades 3–12.

Explore Math 180, our revolutionary approach to math intervention for students in Grades 5–12.

Sources used

• https://educationonline.ku.edu/community/what-is-response-to-intervention
• https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/rti01
• https://www.nwea.org/news-center/press-releases/latest-nwea-research-shows-covid-academic-recovery-still-elusive/
• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230853161_Matthew_Effects_in_Reading_Some_Consequences_of_Individual_Differences_in_the_Acquisition_of_Literacy