eNumeracy

In my humble opinion, the process of "doing RtI" is a linear process. While the interactions of systems-based instruction, assessment, and curriculum goals seems to be recursive, RtI is linear. What do I mean by that and haven't I argued in the past that systems are "multivariate" universes that don't unfold in stages or steps? Well, looking at the whole picture of education indeed requires a multivariate sort of approach. However, in improving education, there are some things that need to come first. Because my background is formative curriculum-based assessment, I think that this should come first. Why? RtI is about examining a student's response to instruction. I think it's silly to think that we start with the "I" because the "I" is already going on and the purpose of RtI is to evaluate whether or not the "I" is working. So, what comes first? Establishing a formative assessment foundation. Some great readings about this is the Black & Wiliam (1998) piece from Phi Delta Kappan and anything about the "Schoolwide Reading Improvement Model" from the folks at the University of Oregon (http://reading.uoregon.edu).