NYS RtI TAC

Interventionist: highly trained, skilled and knowledgeable school personnel
Setting: most often takes place outside of the general education classroom
Grouping: small, homogeneous grouping (1:1 – 1:2)
Curriculum: customized, intensive, systematic and research-based instruction that targets academic areas of greatest need
Duration: varies- a minimum of 10-30 weeks
Length of Intervention Sessions: 30 – 60 minutes, five times per week
Assessment: may include formal and informal measures to inform instruction
Progress Monitoring: minimum once per week

Interventionist: trained, skilled and knowledgeable school personnel
Setting: variable, can occur in and/or outside of general education classroom
Grouping: small, homogeneous grouping (1:3 – 1:5)
Curriculum: scientifically research-based instruction designed to remediate skill deficits of targeted students
Duration: varies – based on rate of progress and performance of students; 10 to 30 weeks minimum
Length of Intervention Sessions: 20 – 30 minutes, 3 to 4 times per week
Assessment: may include formal and informal measures to inform instruction
Progress Monitoring: twice monthly to examine rate and level of performance

Interventionist: general education teacher
Setting: general education classroom
Grouping: variable and flexible grouping formats
Curriculum: scientific, research-based instruction aligned to state learning standards in core academic areas
Duration: year-long
Length of Instructional Sessions: involves a minimum of 90 minutes of uninterrupted, ELA instruction per day
Assessment: all students are screened at least 3 times per year (Fall, Winter, Spring)
Progress Monitoring: students initially identified as at-risk on screening measures are progress monitored on a weekly basis for 5-6 weeks

A Parent's Guide to Response to Intervention

This pamphlet provides parents, families and others with information regarding Response to Intervention (RtI). RtI is a process used in schools to provide well-designed instruction, closely monitor all students' progress and provide additional instructional supports to students who are struggling. This additional help is to assist those students to keep up with learning in their classrooms, particularly in the areas of reading and math. At the end of this pamphlet, there is a reference list which provides sources for additional information for parents and websites where these resources can be found. PDF, 162KB

NYS Regulations define RtI as a school district's process to determine if a student responds to scientific, research-based instruction, which minimally must include:
- Appropriate instruction delivered to all students in the general education class by qualified personnel.
- Screenings administered to all students for the purpose of identifying those students who are not making academic progress at expected rates.
- Instruction matched to student need with increasingly intensive levels of targeted intervention and instruction for students who do not make satisfactory progress in their levels of performance and/or in their rate of learning.
- Repeated assessments of student achievement which should include curriculum based measures.
- Written notification to the parents regarding the nature and scope of interventions.
For a complete definition of RtI see 8 NYCRR section 100.2(ii). Click here for additional information.

The New York State Response to Intervention Technical Assistance Center (NYS RtI-TAC) is supported by a 5-year contract with the New York State Education Department P-12, Office of Special Education. Our mission is to support capacity-building efforts of NYS schools to implement proven and promising practices within a Response to Intervention model. This website is designed to provide resources and tools to educators and families regarding effective RtI practices. Please consider this website a work in progress that will continue to expand and evolve as we continue to add additional RtI resources.

Click a Tier for a more
detailed description

Tertiary intervention
intended for about 1-5% of
students who are not responding
to instruction at Tiers 1 & 2

Secondary Intervention intended for 10-15%
of students who are not making adequate
progress with core instruction at Tier 1

Core instruction or primary intervention intended for all students
in the general education classroom

Effective July 1, 2012, all school districts in NYS must have an RtI program in place as part of its evaluation process to determine if a student in grades K-4 is a student with a learning disability in the area of reading. (NYSED, 2009)

This Web site is made possible through a contract (#C009953) between Buffalo State College and New York State Education Department P-12, Office of Special Education. The contents of this Web site do not necessarily reflect views or policies of the NYS Department of Education, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the NYS Education Department.

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