How many of you are dealing with
RtI (Response to Intervention) as part of your jobs? Well if you haven’t heard,
RtI is now being referred to as MTSS (Multi-Tiered Support System), because,
you know, once we learn an acronym, the natural thing to do is change it!
Believe it or not, SBLT is not a tasty sandwich! SBLT stands for School-Based Leadership Team,
which is just what my county calls the team that gets together to discuss
school data and those struggling students requiring help from the intervention
(RtI/MTSS) team. I’m sure your school
has a different name for this team.
Anyway, since it looks like
RtI/MTSS is here to stay and is becoming a large part of our SLP
responsibilities, I thought I’d do a post on information on RtI/MTSS from my
point of view! I realize that every state, and every county, and many times
every school is different in how they go about RtI. This has been part of the
problem in implementing it. In my particular county, they have realized the
inconsistency and are working to develop a more consistent protocol. A small group of SLPs, me included, developed
an RtI Workgroup. We meet once a month
or so to work on a system for SLPs to help implement RtI. Through our research, we learned that many teachers
did not understand the role of the SLP.
If they don’t know what we do, they don’t request our help. Because of this, we developed a PowerPoint to
share during a staff meeting to explain what we do and how we can help.
We also discovered that many
classroom teachers are asked to implement interventions for students, many of which
are language-based interventions, but they don’t know where to begin. They know their student has delays, but they
aren’t sure what intervention(s) to put in place. This is where the SLP comes in! In my particular school, I am part of the
SBLT (School-Based Leadership Team) where we discuss struggling students and
their needs. We discuss when to begin
the RtI process and if there is a need for the SLP to be involved in the
process as a consultant. Before we as
SLPs got involved in the SBLT, we would all of a sudden receive consent to
evaluate a student that we had never heard of before. Even worse, we would hear about a student who
was in Tier 3 of RtI and was not making any progress. It was then that we decided that the SLPs
might could (and should) help. Now, when
a struggling student is brought before the SBLT, we make sure to rule out any
language difficulties when we first initiate RtI. If there are no language concerns, we back
out of that case. If there are language
concerns, we address these in the interventions and make suggestions for
possible interventions to use. Most of
all, we make sure to let the teachers know that we are here to help them if
they need help. We don’t actually
implement the interventions ourselves, but we show them where to turn.
Now might be a good time to make a couple of
acknowledgements. First, I acknowledge
that being involved with these kids who are not “technically” on our caseloads
means more work for the SLP. However, what it comes down to is that it is best
for the kids. Second, I acknowledge that there are some SLPs out there who are
doing a whole lot more than simply suggesting language-based
interventions. In GA where I’m from, the
SLPs are actually seeing the kids in RtI and implementing their interventions
along with kids on their caseloads. Thus, they are seeing the kids as if they
are on their caseloads, but not being allowed to count them in their numbers. I
am also sure that there are other SLPs out there who are doing other things
that are not necessarily “in their job descriptions.” However, this is what we do. We wear many
hats. We do what is best for our
kids. We may not be able to do
everything, but we do everything we can. Whatever your role in RtI may be, I
encourage you to get involved in helping suggest language-based interventions
for your classroom teachers. Another
very important part of what our RtI Workgroup is working on is a book of
interventions (and progress monitoring tools) to give our SLPs for the
different strands of language. This way,
when a student is struggling with, say, syntax, they can flip to the syntax
section and have at their fingertips an array of interventions and progress
monitoring templates to give to the teachers.
It is crucial that the classroom teachers know we are there to be team
players and assist them when we can.
In conclusion, I wanted to
suggest a few interventions we have been using with students going though RtI/MTSS:
1. Story
Grammar Marker by Mindwing Concepts, Inc. (See my previous blog posts on my
love for SGM!) (Picture from mindwingconcepts.com)
2. Bridge to Vocabulary by Judy
Montgomery-a personal favorite of mine. Very easy to create progress-monitoring
templates for. (picture from Amazon.com)
3. RtI
In Action by Roth, Paul, Adamczyk, & Dougherty (picture from Amazon.com)
4. FCRR-Florida
Center for Reading Research(picture from fcrr.org)
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5. Language Lab by Wiechmann,
Rudebusch, & Kuhles and sold by
Super Duper Publications (Picture from superduperinc.com)
I am very interested in hearing
from you on this issue. How are you
involved with the RtI/MTSS process in your school? What questions do you have
about RtI/MTSS? Do you have any interventions that you have found have really
worked? Please email me at: whit.smith.1987@gmail.com.
Thanks so much for having me, Kristin, and thanks so much to
all of you for reading!
Whitney :)
