Pre-referral Assessment

Pre-referral Assessment

Part 1: Pre-Referral Assessments

In the special education field, educators tend to come across various learning disabilities from the students they interact with. As a result, special education professionals will come across multiple assessments. The special education teacher is tasked with helping in interpreting these assessments and helps deliver them to the parties involved in the change process. Recently, I had a conversation with a special education educator in a K-5 grade setting (Ms. Winy) about pre-referral assessments and her role in the RTI process. During this conversation, I was able to observe and gain more insights into the topic of intervention. I realized that the process of RTI incorporates academic and behavioral concepts with various Tiers distinguished based on involvement level. RTI’s Tier 1 appears to be more general and supports all learners. Tier 2 seems to direct more targeted alternative support as well as strategies to a group of learners. Finally, Tier 3 takes a more individualized learner-specific direction.

The three types of RTI Tiers are developed and administered differently. Tier 1’s interventions and assessments comprise a managerial ladder whereby once the expectations are met, positive reinforcement is allowed as incentives. At the same time, a change in the strategy adopted is made in instances where students fail to meet expectations. In RTI’s Tier 2, a staff-student agreement could be drawn so that a payoff/benefit is established for surpassing expectations. Lastly, Tier 3 may include counseling, individualized behavior plan, and modified schedules to accommodate the various personalized needs of students..

Teachers tend to record and interpret information from the RTIs regarding student progress, which includes the development of check-in or a check-out system whereby expectations are tracked with respect to the level of the Tier before being rated. These ratings will ensure clearer progress in the interpretations made to direct an intervention and make decisions on eligibility, program, and placement for the student being assessed. Ms. Winy further emphasized that communicating the RTI results to relevant stakeholders must be in a format that is contextual, concise, subjective, and non-technical.

Part 2: Collaboration

In collaboration with Ms. Winy, we developed an informal assessment with two sets used to gauge students’ academic progress at TRI’s Tier 1 for reading, math, and listening. Upon successfully converting a topic, we agreed that a suitable quiz to the discussion would be attempted by all learners, out of which results will determine their tier grading. Those students with a 75% plus score would be grouped in the Tier 1 category and be considered for normative general learning interventions. Students posing a 50-75% score would be grouped in the Tier 2 and receive group-based interventions. Those with a below 50% score would be categorized in Tier 3 and considered for targeted and personalized interventions. Besides, leaners in Tier 3 would demand that educators make anecdotal notes and observations involving their attitude, skills, performance, and behavior for further personalized and targeted intervention.

Conclusion

The learning experience was a remarkable experience as it provided new insights in my current and future professional practice. Getting to interact with Ms. Winy acted as an eye-opener to understand the various student needs that educators need to understand in the teaching and learning process. Through the three RTI Tiers, I was able to understand that each Tier has its role in the assessment process to ensure behavior change that is directed towards academic success. Findings from the conversation and those derived from the development of an informal assessment to be used in gauging student’s academic progress are instrumental in my future professional practice. I will use this information to further my skills in special education and ensure that my students’ needs are met irrespective of the Tier they are grouped into. Therefore, an RTI assessment should be adopted by all certified special education teachers in ensuring that universal, targeted, and intensive individualized interventions are implemented before initiating the formal special education referral process.