Response to Intervention (RtI)

Glossary

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Behavior Intervention Plan
A behavior plan based on a Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA).  It is developed and implemented by a collaborative team, which includes the student and parent.  The plan includes positive behavior supports (PBS), identified skills for school success, and specific strategies for behavioral instruction.

Data Driven Decision-Making
The process of planning for student success (both academic and behavioral) through the use of ongoing progress monitoring and analysis of its data.

Duration
For the purposes of documenting response to intervention, duration refers to the length (number of minutes) of a session multiplied by the number of sessions per school year.  "Sufficient duration" is dependent on a number of factors including the program or strategy being used, the age of the student, and the severity of the deficit involved.  Some programs offer guidelines or recommendations for duration.  Reading Recovery, for example, limits the number of 20-30 minute sessions in which a child can participate to 100, believing that a child who does not make adequate gains after this amount of time would likely benefit from an alternative intervention.

Evidence-based Instruction/Interventions
See research-based instruction/intervention/practice.

Fidelity
Fidelity refers to the accuracy, loyalty and attentiveness with which an intended research design for instruction and/or intervention is implemented.  To ensure standardization, intervention specialists must generally follow a prescribed protocol in order to attend to a program's or strategy's fidelity.

Flexible Grouping
Prescriptive, focused, research-based interventions provided to students by any trained or skilled staff member, regardless of the child's special or general education categorization or the educator's special or general education job description.

Focused Assessment
Formal and informal assessment targeted to specifically plan program service delivery and/or appropriate interventions for student success.

Frequency
How often a behavior or an intervention occurs.  Commonly used in Functional Behavioral Analysis (FBA) and Response to Intervention (RtI) research in the context of the three most important factors in considering behaviors of concern:  Frequency, Intensity, and Duration.  Frequency of an intervention, as an element of its effectiveness, can be a focus of the fidelity of delivery.

Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA)
This term comes from what is called a "Functional Assessment" or "Functional Analysis" in the field of applied behavioral analysis.  This is the process of determining the cause (or "function") of behavior before developing an intervention or Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP).  The intervention/BIP is based on the hypothesized cause (function) of behavior.  Adapted from Stephen Starin, Ph.D., http://www.aspennj.org/pdf/information/articles/functional-behavioral-assessment.pdf

Gap Analysis
Gap Analysis is a tool for measuring the difference between the student's current level of performance and benchmark expectations.

Intensity
The adjustment of duration, length and teacher-to-student ratio for a child's academic or behavioral needs.

Intervention
The systematic and explicit instruction provided to accelerate growth in an area of identified need.  Interventions are provided by both special and general educators, and are based on training, not titles.  They are designed to improve performance relative to a specific, measurable goal.  Interventions are based on valid information about current performance, realistic implementation, and include ongoing student progress monitoring.

Multi-tiered Model
Providing differing levels of intensity [i.e., universal (Tier I), targeted (Tier II), intensive (Tier III)] based upon student responsiveness to intervention, with ongoing progress monitoring and focused assessment.

Prescriptive Intervention
A specified response, that focuses on academic or behavioral areas of concern, to meet the specific needs of a student.

Problem-Solving Process
A collaborative team (which includes parents, general and special educators) that meets to evaluate student data and to plan and monitor prescribed interventions.

Progress Monitoring
Progress Monitoring is the ongoing process that involves collecting and analyzing data to determine student progress toward specific skills or general outcomes.  Progress monitoring generates the useful data for making instructional decisions based on the review and analysis of student data.  Monitoring student progress, through collection and analysis of data, is an effective way to determine if the instruction being delivered is meeting the needs of the student.

Research-based Instruction/Intervention/Practice
A research-based instructional practice or intervention is one found to be reliable, trustworthy, and valid based on evidence to suggest that when the program is used with a particular group of children, the children can be expected to make adequate gains in achievement.  Ongoing documentation and analysis of student outcomes helps to define effective practice.  In the absence of evidence, the instruction/ intervention must be considered "best practice" based on available research and professional literature.

Schoolwide Positive Behavior Supports (PBS)
A schoolwide, multi-tiered framework designed to develop positive learning behavior in all students.  The focus of PBS is on prevention rather than the development of consequences for inappropriate behavior.

Screening
Refers to a quick checklist, survey or probe about a student's development or skills to see if further evaluation is needed.

Specific, Measurable Outcome
The statement of a single, specific desired result from an intervention.  To be measurable, the outcome should be expressed in observable and quantifiable terms (i.e., Johnny will demonstrate mastery of grade-level basic math calculation skills as measured by a score of 85% or better on the end of the unit test on numerical operations).

Tier One (Universal) Intervention
Tier I Interventions are those provided to all students in the classroom, regardless of individual needs (e.g., Bully proofing, Guided Reading, Every Day Math, 6-Traits Writing).  These may be research-based, but are not necessarily prescriptive.

Tier Two (Targeted) Intervention
Tier II Interventions are to be implemented when assessment indicates that a student is not making adequate gains from universal instruction alone.  They are generally smaller group interventions designed to meet the specific needs of a student and his/her peers with similar needs (e.g., Social skills training, Multi-sensory reading, or Knowing Mathematics).

Tier Three (Intensive) Intervention
Tier III Interventions are those which offer a student highly individualized, systematic and explicit instruction in an area of assessed need.  Although the programs or strategies may be similar to those offered at Tier II, the intervention is reclassified as "intensive" if it is individualized to meet the needs of a particular student and the duration and/or intensity of the intervention is increased to accelerate student response.