RtI2:
Response to Instruction
AND Intervention
Douglas Fisher & Nancy Frey
San Diego State University
www.fisherandfrey.com
Traditional View of Learning
When time and instruction are held constant…
LEARNING
Adapted from Buffum, Mattos, & Weber, 2009
… learning outcomes
vary.
A New View of Learning
When time and instruction are variable…
LEARNING
… learning is
held constant.
Adapted from Buffum, Mattos, & Weber, 2009
Response to Instruction
and Intervention (RtI2)
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Tier 1: Quality core instruction
Tier 2: Supplemental intervention
Tier 3: Intensive intervention
Tier 1:
70+%
Tier 2:
20-30%
Manipulate variables…
Tier 3:
5-15%
What Variables Can You
Control?
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Frequency (time)
Duration (time)
Assessment (instruction)
Group size (instruction)
Access to expertise (instruction)
Staff collaboration (instruction)
Student Monitoring Team (instruction)
Others?
Tier 1: Quality Core Instruction



Based on a Gradual Release of
Responsibility
Formative assessments (feed forward, not
just feedback)
Push-in supports and incidental benefits
TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY
“I do it”
Focus Lesson
Guided
Instruction
“We do it”
Collaborative
“You do it
together”
Independent
“You do it
alone”
STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY
A Structure for Instruction that Works
In some classrooms …
TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY
“I do it”
Focus Lesson
Independent
“You do it
alone”
STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY
In some classrooms …
TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY
Independent
“You do it
alone”
STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY
And in some classrooms …
TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY
“I do it”
Focus Lesson
Guided
Instruction
“We do it”
Independent
“You do it
alone”
STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY
TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY
“I do it”
Focus Lesson
Guided
Instruction
“We do it”
Collaborative
“You do it
together”
Independent
“You do it
alone”
STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY
A Structure for Instruction that Works
Knowing what to look for:
Productive group work in action
How do you know productive group
work when you see it?
Knowing what to listen for:
Productive group work in action
How do you know productive group work
when you hear it?
Tier 2: Supplemental


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Increase guided instruction within the school
day and beyond the school day
Small groups (no more than 5)
Recruit additional staff members to provide
supplemental instruction
Increase progress monitoring and
assessment
Examples of Tier 2 Supplemental
Instruction and Intervention
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Additional guided instruction
Lower group size (2-5 students)
Lunch Bunch book discussions
Afterschool tutorials
Increased expertise (teacher, S/LP, reading
specialist, etc.)
Curriculum Based Measures (CBM) for progress
monitoring
Family involvement
Student Monitoring Team feeds forward to improve
instruction
Roots of Guided Instruction


Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development
 “the distance between the actual developmental
level as determined by independent problem solving
and the level of potential development as
determined through problem solving under adult
guidance, or in collaboration with more capable
peers” (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 86).
Wood, Bruner, and Ross’s Scaffolding
 requires the adult’s “controlling those elements of
the task that are initially beyond the learner’s
capability, thus permitting him to concentrate upon
and complete only those elements that are within
his range of competence” (Wood, Bruner, & Ross,
1976, p. 90).
Scaffolds in Classroom
Instruction
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Robust questions to check for
understanding
Prompts that focus on cognitive and
metacognitive processes
Cues to shift attention to sources
Direct explanation and modeling to reteach
Types of Robust Questions
•Elicitation questions draw on information that has
already been taught (5 W’s)
•Divergent questions require the learner to use both
previously taught and new information (“Why does
water in a lake look blue but is clear in a glass?”)
•Elaboration questions ask the student to provide their
reasoning (“Why do you think so?”)
•Clarification questions require extending thinking
through furnishing an example (“Can you show me
where you found that information?”)
•Heuristic questions engage them in informal problemsolving (“How do you know when you have run out of
ways to answer this question?”)
Prompts
Focus on cognitive and metacognitive
processes
 Can be declarative or interrogatory
 What does the student need to complete the
task?
Questioning is about assessment; Prompting is
about doing

Types of Prompts
Cognitive
Triggers academic knowledge
 Background Knowledge and Process or
Procedure Prompts
Metacognitive
Sense-making and self-assessment
 Heuristic and Reflective Prompts
Using Background
Knowledge Prompts
Context: Students are creating a Jeopardy®-style
game. The teacher is building the background
knowledge of a group of students. He draws their
attention to a sentence in the text: “When you eat
foods—such as bread, meat, and vegetables—they are not
in a form that the body can use as nourishment.” He asks
Mauricio to retell it is his own words...
Mauricio: So, I think it says that your body can’t use meat like it is meat. It has
to be changed.
Jessica: But that’s what we eat to live. That’s good eating.
Russell: I don’t eat any vegetables. I only like the meat and bread from this, like
a hamburger.
Mr. Jackson: How does that meat change so that your body can use it? Russell?
Russell: It doesn’t change. It’s meat.
Mr. Jackson: So let’s think about what we know about nourishment and our
food. There’s a process that it goes through, right? [they nod in agreement]
What’s the first step? You know this because you do it several times a day.
Sarah: The first thing to eat? Is that what you mean?
Mr. Jackson: Yeah, the first thing.
Sarah: You take a bite.
Mr. Jackson: Exactly, right on. So you’ve changed the food, right?
Russell: Yeah, but it’s still meat.
Mr. Jackson: It sure is. But it’s changed a bit, and will change more. Remember
we talked about different kinds of changes. Physical … Chemical
Jessica: So the first thing, when you bite it, it’s a physical change, right?
Mr. Jackson: You know it! And then what happens?
Defining Cues

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Shift attention to sources of information
Can highlight an error
More direct and specific than prompts
Often follow a prompt that did not elicit a
correct response
Attention grows with competency
Types of Cues
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Visual
Physical
Gestural
Positional
Verbal
Environmental
Pair cues for greater impact
When a Learner Gets Stuck…
… and prompting and cueing don’t work:
Direct explanation
 Modeling
 Thinking aloud
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Defining Direct Explanation
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Explicitly state what is being taught
Tell when and how it will be used
Think aloud to demonstrate
reasoning
Monitor application
Check for understanding
Take care not to re-assume responsibility too quickly
Tier 3: Intensive
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Individual
30 minutes at least three times per week
Increase assessment and monitoring
frequency
Increase expertise
A whole school focus
Examples of Tier 3 Intensive
Instruction and Intervention
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One-to-one instruction
Increased duration and frequency
Frequent CBM for progress monitoring
Experts provide instruction--every certificated adult
on campus has students
Specialized assessments
Increased family involvement
Student Monitoring Team feeds forward to improve
programmatic efforts
Teacher remains central figure in these efforts
The Takeaway
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Instruction and Intervention are linked
Manipulate variables (time, assessment,
expertise, instruction) to intensify intervention
Build in a feed forward method so that RtI2
results inform classroom instruction and
programmatic improvements
Keep the teacher and family at the center of
communication