As efforts to better understand how to implement an effective RTI program escalates, I thought it would be helpful to provide a one-stop-shopping list of websites that can give you current information, tips, and trends.

http://www.fcrr.org/
To conduct basic research on reading, reading growth, reading assessment, and reading instruction that will contribute to the scientific knowledge of reading and benefit students in Florida and throughout the nation.

http://www.ncld.org/
Our Mission: To ensure success for all individuals with learning disabilities in school, at work and in life. Check out their Parents Guide to Response to Intervention and Tiers without Tears documents.

http://www.casecec.org/
CASE is an international professional educational organization which is affiliated with the Council for Exceptional Children whose members are dedicated to the enhancement of the worth, dignity, potential, and uniqueness of each individual in society. Under the resource section of the website, you will find downloadable PDF Response to Intervention Blueprints for Implementation documents, case studies, and PowerPoint presentations.

https://dibels.uoregon.edu/
The University of Oregon is the heart of DIBELS. The use of data in setting education goals for students is the primary mission of this research and support website.

http://www.readinghorizons.com/rti/index.aspx?rti
Happy Tiers: Response to Intervention, a Three-Tiered-Model
View a special documentary highlighting Iron Springs Elementary and their implementation of Discover Intensive Phonics in all three tiers of the RTI model.


Other recommended RTI websites include:

National Center on Response to Intervention

Intervention Central: Your Site for Response to Intervention Resources

RTI Action Network

The Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy (SRCL) formula grant is authorized by the Appropriations Act to provide $250 million under Section 1520 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to develop a comprehensive literacy and education program to advance literacy skills for students from birth through grade twelve.

The Act reserves $10 million for formula grants to assist states in: 1) creating or maintaining a SRCL State Literacy Team with expertise in literacy development and education for children birth through grade twelve, and 2) developing a comprehensive literacy plan.

Recently the Department of Education awarded six states the Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy grant: Georgia, Louisiana, Montana, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Texas received monies totaling $180,500,000.

Striving Readers is a program that aims to

• Raise middle and high school students' literacy levels in Title I-eligible schools with significant numbers of students reading below grade-levels.
• Build a strong, scientific research base for identifying and replicating strategies that improve adolescent literacy skills.

Right now is the perfect time to start looking for 2012 grant opportunities. Reading Horizons is committed to helping you locate grants to help you advance literacy skills through screening and assessment, targeted interventions for students reading below grade level, and professional development training for your teachers.

Visit our website to get your Free Grant Resource Kit!

We just got word that Three Peaks Elementary School, was recently selected as a National Title Distinguished School for 2012.

The Title 1 designation by the U.S. Department of Education is determined by an enrollment of at least 40 percent of students in the free and reduced lunch program. Title 1 schools receive federal funding to improve curriculum, instructional activities, counseling, parental involvement, increase staff and program improvement.

Three Peaks Elementary serves 503 students living in the rural northern area of Iron County, Utah. The percentage of minorities is 12.5 percent and 56.44 percent of the students qualify for free or reduced lunch.

The National Association of State Title I Directors provides an opportunity for Title I schools from every state to be honored for their educational achievements. Each state may select two schools for special recognition at the annual National Title I Conference.

We are especially pleased that Three Peaks Elementary School received this coveted recognition because they use our reading software, Discover Intensive Phonics for Yourself and it's paying off. Three Peaks Elementary achieved 94 percent proficiency in math, and 90 percent proficiency in reading, which is above the state average.

Second Grade Teacher Stacie Reber said the Three Peaks Response to Intervention and Instruction program, that assesses individual student skill, tailors the curriculum to fit the student's needs. "It's not a one-size-fits-all curriculum," Reber said.

Three Peaks Elementary School is just five years old. Their teachers and paraprofessionals have been trained in “Early Steps, Next Steps, and Higher Steps,” by Dr. Kathleen Brown from the University of Utah. Additionally, teachers have been trained to use Discover Intensive Phonics for Yourself in the classroom to help emerging readers and support reading remediation efforts. Monthly Data Teams meet to monitor every at risk student in the school. Adjustments are made to optimize the effectiveness of interventions. Also, a reading specialist works full time with teachers and paraprofessionals teaching, modeling, and monitoring reading instruction.

Congratulations to the administrators, teachers, parents, and students at Three Peaks Elementary!

If you’d like to learn more about helping At Risk Readers, visit our RTI Resource Center>