Responsiveness to Instruction and AIG:
Responsiveness to Instruction is the recognition of and commitment to providing academic advancement and social/emotional support to all children including those of high potential. Responding to the intelligence of all students includes the gifted population. The objective to include gifted students in the RTI implementation process is to provide students appropriate challenge for growth and skill development.
A tiered model of programming is a historical framework for the field of gifted and talented education. Students who are gifted require special provisions because of their strengths and above-grade instructional level or potential. Given that RtI supports setting goals for individual students, long term planning and monitoring of student progress allows students to learn and grow toward accelerated expectations.
A tiered model of programming is a historical framework for the field of gifted and talented education. Students who are gifted require special provisions because of their strengths and above-grade instructional level or potential. Given that RtI supports setting goals for individual students, long term planning and monitoring of student progress allows students to learn and grow toward accelerated expectations.
Tiers of instruction for AIG students within a RtI framework:
RTI involves three tiers of increasingly intensive instruction provided to students identified as needing advancement in instruction. The instruction uses high quality, research-based strategies coupled with ongoing progress monitoring using curriculum based measurement tools or other brief assessments.
Tier I:
Foundation / Core Curriculum
Process - Teacher may present material at a faster pace, use higher levels of thinking or use different teaching strategies. The purpose is to provide strategies that challenge high-end students and stretch their thinking at a more advanced level.
Product – Teachers provide options for students to demonstrate mastery of the core curriculum content. These options can range from written reports, an oral presentation or a graphic organizer, tiered-assignments, tic-tac-toe, extension menu, or strategy of RAFT.
Which students need Tier I differentiation?
- Grade level designed for ALL students.
- The majority of students – 80-85% - are learning and growing in a grade-level curriculum
- Tier 1 provides the basics of curriculum that is high quality, scientifically based, and differentiated to meet students’ needs.
- Tier 1 Students who can master the content with teacher support.
- Tier 1 Differentiation is the adaptation and modification of age-appropriate learning experiences in order to address the differences in student readiness levels, interests, and learning profiles.
- Tier 1 is most appropriate when students need teacher support for mastery.
- Teachers can differentiate the grade-level core curriculum by altering the content, process, or product.
Process - Teacher may present material at a faster pace, use higher levels of thinking or use different teaching strategies. The purpose is to provide strategies that challenge high-end students and stretch their thinking at a more advanced level.
Product – Teachers provide options for students to demonstrate mastery of the core curriculum content. These options can range from written reports, an oral presentation or a graphic organizer, tiered-assignments, tic-tac-toe, extension menu, or strategy of RAFT.
Which students need Tier I differentiation?
- Students who “get” the curriculum easily
- Students who master the curriculum with one repetition or know the material even before it is taught
- Students that become bored in the classroom.
- Thinking at different levels
- Open-ended opportunities for responses
- Tiered opportunities to respond i.e. graphic organizers
- Product choices
- Primary sources
- Research studies
- Problem solving
- Cluster grouping of gifted students
Tier II:
Supplemental instruction and intervention in ADDITION to the core curriculum.
Tier 2 is for students who need extra support in order to be challenged appropriately and to develop the thinking skills needed for success in life. These students may be at-risk if they do not receive appropriate support and opportunities for growth. Tier 2 is designed for students who need additional support and opportunities based on their needs and rate of learning.
Which students need Tier 2 support?
Students who demonstrate a need of challenge above and beyond grade-level work. These skills include problem-solving, critical, and creative thinking, higher-order thinking, risk-taking, sound reasoning, and the development of internal motivation and commitment to doing difficult work through struggle and challenge, persistence and questioning.
Tier 2 interventions may include:
Tier 2 is for students who need extra support in order to be challenged appropriately and to develop the thinking skills needed for success in life. These students may be at-risk if they do not receive appropriate support and opportunities for growth. Tier 2 is designed for students who need additional support and opportunities based on their needs and rate of learning.
Which students need Tier 2 support?
Students who demonstrate a need of challenge above and beyond grade-level work. These skills include problem-solving, critical, and creative thinking, higher-order thinking, risk-taking, sound reasoning, and the development of internal motivation and commitment to doing difficult work through struggle and challenge, persistence and questioning.
Tier 2 interventions may include:
- Gifted serves within the classroom with a trained gifted teacher.
- Compacting, acceleration and enrichment of the curriculum in order to meet the students’ needs.
- A different type of curriculum instead of working with the standard curriculum (William and Mary, honors classes, Accelerated Math and ELA classes)
- A continuum of services to meet individual students’ needs.
- Any opportunity for gifted students to meet together in small groups.
Tier III:
Tier 3 Intensive Instructional Interventions in ADDITION to the Core Instruction. Students are identified for Tiers 2 and 3 through ongoing assessment.
Tier 3 is for students who need intense support from a trained education specialist (or the equivalent) These students may have demonstrated a passion for learning I a given area and need support to grow.
What services are offered at Tier 3?
Tier 3 is for students who need intense support from a trained education specialist (or the equivalent) These students may have demonstrated a passion for learning I a given area and need support to grow.
What services are offered at Tier 3?
- Independent Contracts
- Gifted Tier 3 students require more than differentiation.
- Grade skipping
- Early admittance to middle school, high school or college
- AP Courses
- IB program
Reference: The New RTI Response to Intelligence, Choice, Penny and Walker, Sally