Using RTI to Help All Students Master the Common Core

Robin Wisniewski

With Common Core implementation in full swing, many educators are increasingly concerned about how to help students—especially those who are already struggling—master the new standards. One educator recently asked me, "We are preparing students for ‘college and careers,’ but in our district, only 60 percent graduate. What do we do when our students are even more challenged by the new standards?"

It's true that the standards "raise the bar" for everybody. A 2010 report from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute comparing the Common Core State Standards and the current state standards found that in 33 states, the Common Core standards were superior to current state standards in both math and reading. This doesn't mean struggling students have no hope, however; they just need the right support. This is where Response to Intervention (RTI) comes in.

Although the Common Core standards provide the "what" for student learning, RTI—also referred to "response to instruction" or a "multitiered system of support" (MTSS)—provides the "how," in terms of supporting those who need targeted or intensive assistance along the way. Each level of the RTI framework integrates the goals of mastery learning. For example, mastery learning requires regular, authentic formative assessment. Similarly, RTI uses progress-monitoring data to show the rate of growth for students receiving targeted or intensive intervention (Guskey & Jung, 2011). Both approaches value personalized learning: learning that is diverse, personal, and monitored using multiple forms of assessment (American Institutes for Research, 2013).

Though the terminology differs, the objectives of RTI and mastery learning are aligned, and this makes RTI an attractive, strategic approach to moving all students to mastery under the new standards. RTI provides the structure and the pathway that can allay the teacher concerns cited above. In fact, RTI and the Common Core standards can be mutually beneficial—RTI can bolster Common Core implementation and sustainability, and the standards can fortify the RTI support structure that moves students toward mastery. But to accomplish this, administrators must take three key steps, as they start to integrate RTI and the Common Core standards.

• Declare a systems approach. RTI, like the Common Core standards, does not survive in pockets within a school or system. Rather, it needs to align with district, school, and classroom goals to succeed long term. School leaders should think about creating leadership teams and establishing processes that include shared leadership with identified norms and roles. Having structures and processes in place helps leadership teams develop confidence and capacity for multiple levels of support for mastery learning in the Common Core context.
• Demonstrate meaningful use of data. The best educational decisions are based on data. Principals and leadership teams should use data to determine student strengths and learning gaps, which will focus improvement efforts. In the RTI framework, instruction across the school is considered Tier 1 (with 80 percent of students making progress). With an efficient data culture in Tier 1, grade-level or department-level teams can better identify groups of students who need more targeted instruction for Tier 2 (approximately 15 percent of students), and teachers can have data-based support for requesting assistance from intervention teams for the 5 percent or fewer who compose Tier 3. The flow of data and information among this multitiered system of support (MTSS) then becomes the bedrock for assisting individual students toward mastery.
• Affirm standards-based curriculum progressions through the tiers. The goal of the Common Core standards is college and career readiness for all students. Administrators should help teams understand that goals for students receiving targeted instruction in Tier 2 or intervention plans in Tier 3 need to be tied to Common Core learning progressions. This curriculum thread ensures that each individual student not only has access to Common Core goals but also is able to move through the Common Core standards with opportunity for mastery.

Students who struggle can succeed with the rigorous new standards. An RTI or MTSS framework, if used systematically and in conjunction with the Common Core standards, provides the personalized supports that those students need to meet the expectation that they, like all students in the Common Core era, will master their own learning so that they are college and career ready.

References

American Institutes for Research. (2013). Are personalized learning environments the next wave of K–12 school reform? [Education Issue Paper Series]. Retrieved from http://www.air.org/files/AIR_Personalized_Learning_Issue_Paper_2013.pdf

Guskey, T. R., & Jung, L. (2011). Response to intervention and mastery learning: Tracing roots and seeking common ground. The Clearinghouse: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues, and Ideas, (84)6, 249–255.

Thomas B. Fordham Institute. (2010). The state of state standards—and the Common Core—in 2010. Washington, D.C.: Author.

Robin Wisniewski is a principal consultant at McREL, where she assists with systems change at local and state levels. A licensed psychologist, nationally certified school psychologist, and former university leadership and academic success center director, she has also authored professional development books on Response to Intervention and culturally responsive instruction.

ASCD Express, Vol. 9, No. 6. Copyright 2013 by ASCD. All rights reserved. Visit www.ascd.org/ascdexpress.