Ashley Schrage

Intro. Special Education

I picked two school districts out of New York to compare because they had very straightforward
plans and all of the districts, I looked at in Wyoming were confusing. I am comparing Monticello
Central School District to Beacon City School District. 
https://www.monticelloschools.net/academics/response-to-intervention-rti/ (Links to an external
site.) School 1
https://www.beaconk12.org/site/handlers/filedownload.ashx?
moduleinstanceid=221&dataid=49&FileName=District%20RTI%20Plan.pdf (Links to an
external site.) School 2
How they define RTI 
School 1: " a school district’s process to determine if a student responds to scientific, research-
based instruction."
School 2: "Appropriate instruction delivered to all students in the general education class by
qualified personnel. Appropriate instruction in reading means scientific research-based reading
programs that include explicit and systematic instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics,
vocabulary development, reading fluency (including oral reading skills) and reading
comprehension strategies." 
How RTI is implemented at each level
School 1: they do this through a series of different components. It first starts with school-wide
screening to gauge where students sit academically. then they monitor the progress between each
tier that they have, which is three. They do frequent check-ins to determine if the student is in the
correct tier or if they need to be moved up or down. The staff is using instructional methods and
materials with the students for this process. There is also differentiated instruction in all lessons
while they are to notice the student's different learning styles. They have different styles for
students with special needs as well. 
School 2: this district has a model of the three tiers that they use and how it is mapped out. They
gave an example of a literacy chart to follow. if you are in tier three then the student can read
naturally and needs no assistance and is not pulled out of the class during any time of the week.
In the second tier, the students can read naturally but not fluently and are pulled out of the
classroom a max of 3 times during the week. In the first tier, the students are pulled into guided
reading with small groups for all reading times during the week. 
Any remaining questions
School 2 has a more detailed plan than that of school 1, I wish I knew what type of teacher was
helping with what tiers and how a plan looked for school 1. 
for school 1- what is a specific example I could see of the process working for students who
struggle in multiple areas. During the screening process, what are you looking for to determine
what tier the student should fall into/
for school 2- How do you keep track of the progress and keep other teachers informed? What
happens if the parents don't approve of the RTI? 
Critique 
I thought both schools have amazing resources that were easy to access and follow, but school 2
had an overall better plan. There was no confusion or questions I could have come up with for
this district. I wish school 1 was as detailed and outlined as the second one. I also was happy to
see that there was parent involvement and notice for both districts. I would want to stay informed
as to what my student is doing in class and if at any time they were moving to another class for
any reason. I liked how both could be found so easily on the school's websites and that the
districts really care about the outcome of the students. I would have to side with the Beacon
County School District plans because they are more laid out and give specific examples of what
to expect, Monticello Central School District could have improved their process a bit more.