Blog 2
The RTI/SST Process
As the Special Education Department Chairperson, I
have had the opportunity to observe and participate in RTI/SST meeting at my
school. In doing this, I was able to see both sides of the process of helping
teachers identify students’ deficit areas.
Nothing is more embarrassing than you sitting in a meeting with a parent
(that is already stressful for the parent) and teachers do not know a thing
about the student! What do I mean by
this you may ask? Teachers are not
really aware of the students’ strengths and weaknesses nor can the articulate
what interventions they should try with the student. If teachers are unaware of the RTI/SST
process and how this process can truly help students, that’s acceptable. Our counseling department is excellent and
has provided many professional learning sessions on this topic as well as
resources for interventions. Additionally,
the county level coordinator for RTI/SST has been to our school to provide
professional learning as well. Even with
all of this training, the process continues to go undone. Administration is
aware of this issue; however, accountability is low. There needs to be consistency amongst
administration for using TKES when this occurs.
What is the process at your school for the RTI/SST and how are teachers
held accountable for the process.
I am the RTI chairperson for my school. The accountability piece is an issue for us, too. By and large, I find that high school teachers are the hardest to nail down to get them to implement strategies. In my experience, teachers would usually rather just give the student extra time (or some other type of accommodation) instead of working with them to find an appropriate learning strategy to help them learn better.
ReplyDeleteTo help, I've started meeting with the gen ed teachers 1 on 1 and helping them understand exactly what the child's weakness is, and then helping them figure out an appropriate strategy. It's helped, but it's not a permanent fix.
Thanks Kristin,
ReplyDeleteI am just sadden by the lack of urgency and lack of concern by teachers. I don't mind helping, but accountability is still an issue. We can give them all of the strategies needed, but they won't even take the strategies and implement them. It is a shame!
LaTaucha-How can the meetings even take place if the teachers haven't implemented an intervention and collected data for it? This does seem like a major concern.
ReplyDeleteExactly, that is the embarrassing part. At most, one teacher will collect data as expected. This is a major problem and should be addressed on TKES.
DeleteWe don't have any particular system of accountability either. I think Kristin's idea of meeting 1 on 1 would be very beneficial. I see administration being similar to teaching: when working with people on so many different levels, having to keep up with everyone individually seems like a daunting task. I'm sure there's a way that people do it though.
ReplyDeleteKimberly,
DeleteAccountability is so important and teachers have to know this. It is up to administration to make certain teachers are held accountable.
To me this issue comes back to teacher training programs. I know that isn't helpful in finding a solution for your school (sorry!), but general education teachers are drastically undertrained for serving students with diverse needs.
ReplyDeleteI know in my own bachelors program for early childhood ed, I was required to take ONE course about special education! Looking back, that seems unthinkable. Ever general ed teacher WILL serve students with special needs in their classrooms, so why aren't colleges doing more to prepare them? To me it's a civil rights issue. How is it anywhere near acceptable for teachers to just NOT serve a portion of their population? The same goes for students of color and students living in poverty-- colleges need to improve how they prepare teachers for teaching ALL students, with consideration to their unique needs and abilities.
I'm thankful that GSU does a much better job of addressing diversity than my undergrad school did. My colleague who got her undergrad from GSU graduated with a dual certification in both Gen. ed. and Special education, making me wonder why that isn't a requirement for all teachers.
Jen,
DeleteI agree with you about teacher training. It's sad that certain areas of education is looked over.
Well as the RTI/SST Specialist, I take full ownership in ensuring that my teachers know what RTI and SST is, the difference between the two and the impact they have in it. The only accountability I place on teachers is to effectively implement the interventions and document the intervention delivery and progress monitoring into Infinite Campus. Simply having a teacher say, I do not know or I did not know is unacceptable in my book. I make myself available to ensure that teachers are equipped with the resources and knowledge they need. As long as I am employed as the RTI/SST Specialist, there will never be a meeting with a parent and the teacher does not know what he or she is talking about. Nope, not on my watch.
ReplyDeleteMichael,
DeleteI'm glad you have that positive attitude towards your process. Sadly enough, teachers have been given interventions to try by the SST Chairperson and they still don't conform. They are so used to getting away with it that they don't care. I don't think they really know how serious of an issue this is.