RtI Meeting

RtI Meeting

Last Thursday I joined our problem solving team in learning more about RtI and what will need to happen and be in place before the year 2013.  We met after school from 3:30 - 7:00.  I actually preferred this time to missing an entire day in the classroom and preparing sub plans.  I left there with more questions than I had before I went.

It was stated that 80% of our students need to get what we are teaching in order for a student to be identified as struggling and in need of an intervention.  My question is what does "get it" mean?  Earning an A,B,C?  Passing?  I remember in college that our goal was to have 80% of our students score 80% or higher, so is this it?  Does it mean earning a proficient or advanced score on the WKCE?  Does it mean meeting their growth target for the MAPS test?  No one there could answer the question as this has not been determined by the people creating the RtI standards. 

Also, I teach a team taught math class.  The class consists of special ed students and a few others who are intended to be good role models for the special ed students.  The class is slower paced.  While I try to teach the same concepts to this class as my other 6th grade math classes, the number of problems is greatly reduced.  The level of thinking needed to solve the problems is lessened as well.  In general, the expectation is greatly lowered.  There are still students struggling in this class.  Accomplishing work outside of class and late work are issues as well as just bringing needed materials to class consistently.  There are also many outbursts by the special ed students which require time and attention. After attending this meeting I think I am not suppose to lower expectations for any class according to RtI.  This made me really think about the kids.  I may be robbing them of valuable learning.  I need to expose them to deeper level thinking questions such as application and synthesis, instead of just knowledge based questions.  Lowering the benchmark automatically makes the data skewed.  Students won't get the services they need if I do this.  If I decide to raise the bar closer to the other classes, I am afraid many of the students will shut down completely.  In theory the special ed students should be receiving extra help during their structured study hall, but that requires more work for the special ed teacher and aides.  They also would rather work on social skills than help the kids with math.  There are kids in this team taught class who deserve more of a challenge or a push.  Am I hindering their learning if I don't try to lessen the gap?  I think I need to reflect and meet with other teachers who team teach before I make any changes.  Again, more questions than answers.  I guess I can be glad we don't have to have this completely figured out until 2013.  :)