Stage 2: Installation

Once the team makes the decision to move forward with the RtI process, we move into the "start-up stage." In this stage the team should focus on building "buy-in" from staff members, team building, and taking an inventory of resources. The most important part of this stage is to remember that it is supposed to take time! When I say it takes time, I mean 2 to 6 months kind of time. Let's take a closer look at what to focus on within this stage. 

Building "Buy-In"

This is an extremely important first step that is often missed. As surprising as it sounds, building "buy-in" can and should be planned. As I have mentioned in an earlier blog post... find the leaders! Hone in on them and start planting the RtI seed. However, it is just as important to identify the "negative" influencers (i.e. the people the are anti-change). The RtI Network  goes into more detail about how to give "jobs" to both groups of leaders and influencers in order to build "buy-in." I highly suggest you read the article prior to jumping into the "buy-in" pool. 

Team Building

In order for RtI implementation to be successful, there has to be a strong foundational team. In order to have a strong foundational team, we need to have a strong specials team (e.g. special education teachers, classroom teachers, speech language pathologists, ESL teachers, etc.) as well as strong grade level team(s). We need to ensure that there is positive and clear collaboration between these two teams in order to build that foundational team. Every single team member that comes in contact with a student with a learning disability should have equal involvement in the decision making process towards the instructional path for that student. The RtI Network gives a great resource for every team member to have an intervention log in order to determine the amount and frequency of intervention each team member is providing. 

Inventory of Resources

When determining the resources that the school has and needs for motivating the school to implement RtI, they need to ask a few questions. The RtI Network lists the following questions for the team to ask:  

Staffing—who will provide the intervention instruction?

Assessment tools—do we need to purchase or license any?

Curriculum inventory—what do we have, and what will we need?

Administrative leadership—what steps do the leaders need to take to support this initiative?

Teacher training—what kind of support, coaching, or professional development (PD) will be needed?

Teacher background knowledge—what exists and what will we need to provide?

Budget/funding—how much may be needed, and what are the potential funding sources?

Finally, click here for two awesome activities that you can implement with your RtI team during this stage! 

Stage 1: Exploration

When we look to our leaders to help implement the RtI process, we must look at the different stages of implementation... Six in all, but we are only going to be focusing on Stage 1.  One of the biggest mistakes that schools and districts make when implementing RtI is "biting off more than they can chew." By doing this, the team becomes overwhelmed, loses all motivation and the next thing you know RtI is no longer obtainable. 

The RtI Network  goes into detail on each stage of the implementation process and in Stage 1: Exploration, they discuss three other activities (look at the bottom of the site) that one can do in order to help gain a better understanding of what your district needs and how to move forward in the implementation process. 

The very first thing that the leader should do in order to find out what the "next step" is in the implementation process for his/her school/district is to complete the Self-Assessment of Problem Solving Implementation (SAPSI) form. Once you have an idea of the direction that you need to go moving forward, you will need to develop a 3-5 year timetable with your school/district in order to make implementation seem manageable. Take a look at the link for the three other activities once you have the SAPSI results and see if any of the activities will work in your school/district. 

I am very curious to hear your feedback! What were some of the results that you found after completing the SAPSI form?