RtI is an acronym standing for “Response to Intervention.” It’s a new, mandated plan that requires schools to identify students who may be at risk of failure and provide those students with steadily more intense interventions to get them back on track. RtI can be extremely complicated since it requires small group and one-on-one assistance — whether a district has any additional resources for this small-group and individual work or not. But we all have lots and lots of meetings on how to implement RtI, frequently concerned with how to identify those students needing extra help. Then we try to figure out how to provide help without neglecting the regular students more than necessary.

I just stumbled on a note in a journal from some past RtI meeting that I found entertaining:

“We need a wild banshee intervention system.”

Eduhonesty; Students fall behind for many reasons. Behavioral issues create the biggest challenges. Our wildest banshees seldom respond to RtI, but we can leave no child behind. So we leave everybody else behind while we try intensive interventions on students who are wild, loud and out of control. I’m not saying these students don’t need help, but they frequently need more help than anyone except a trained psychologist or psychiatrist can provide.