"Response to Intervention" Focus of New Hampshire Educators Conference

June 29, 2009

More than 250 New Hampshire educators will attend a statewide institute on Response to Intervention (RTI), a school improvement strategy currently being implemented across the country. The event is sponsored by the New Hampshire Department of Education and a statewide Task Force on RTI, with assistance from the New England Comprehensive Center. The three-day institute to be held on July 7-9, 2009, in Nashua will feature Shannon Harken, an Iowa educator who has been a leader in implementing RTI in the Midwest. The institute will mix informative presentations with facilitated work groups and planning sessions to assist participants in implementing RTI in their school districts.

The Response to Intervention framework uses a collaborative, data-driven approach to improve student outcomes. At its core is the use of rigorous, standards-based curricula and regular progress monitoring to identify struggling students and provide supports of varying intensity depending on each student's needs. The RTI framework is a component of the 2004 reauthorization of IDEA, (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), as an alternative to traditional methods of identifying learning disabilities. Its applicability to the wider school population has reduced the numbers of students misidentified as learning disabled, and has reached many students with learning issues whom the traditional method may have overlooked.

More information about RTI can be found at www.education.nh.gov.