Week 4-Assignment 1 a

My understanding of RTI is that this is a screening process to ensure that really no children fall through the cracks and that every student receives the proper instruction at the proper time. As explained in the video, literacy instruction is three tiered. Most children fall under the biggest tier and they receive at least 90 minutes per day of literacy instruction including phonics. This instruction is monitored and adjusted by the teacher to meet the needs of her students. The next tier is for a smaller portion of students who need extra help in grasping literacy but do not fall under the category as special ed. These children get at least thirty minutes of extra instruction on top of what they are learning in class. This is an important point since this extra time is meant to reinforce what these students are receiving in class, not to replace that time. The third tier is for an even smaller group of students who would fall under a special education category and receive special services.


It seems like RTI comes with all of the tools that teachers need to teach literacy effectively. Not only is the method successful but because it is user friendly and requires little extra work outside of class it seems to be a favorite among educators. Teachers however need to be constantly aware of their students' status and gather evidence of their students' work. I wonder if this is challenging for teachers to have to keep track of the individual state of each of their students. I also wonder if there are other effective assessments and literacy techniques that teachers implement successfully. I truly hope that through RTI that every child really receives the literacy instruction that he needs but I find it hard to believe that no one falls through the cracks. I am looking forward to learning more about the subject and implementing it in my classroom.