Levels of Support for Students – MTSS and RtI
Educational programs and supports are constantly evolving to support more individualized needs of students. One of the more recent initiatives within schools are MTSS and RtI. Responsiveness to Intervention (RtI) was developed as part of the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) in 2004. The model was developed as educators recognized that some struggling students might respond to some short-term intensive supports or services without the need for long-term special education services and accommodations. Under RtI, teachers and other support staff could modify instruction to support students who were identified as struggling or at risk of failing. It aligns with the concept of Least …
The Importance of Collaboration and Treating the “Whole Child”
Each of us, as special education professionals, are considered experts in our field. Speech pathologists (SLP) know communication, occupational therapists (OT) understand fine motor control, social workers (SW) treat social emotional challenges, and so on. However, there are so many aspects of development and academic skill building that require multiple systems; rarely is a skill isolated to only speech or only cognition. For example, the skill of reading aloud in class requires knowledge of the content (teacher), language comprehension and reading fluency (SLP), visual motor integration (OT), and confidence to speak in front of one’s peers (SW). As another example, research has found that …
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