RTI/MTSS in a resource setting..how much is too much
Hello! I am a tk-6th RSP teacher coming to end of her first year in a district that was almost take over by state (California). I work at a title one school and was never even given proper training on what RTI is supposed to look like or be in my district. I have no curriculum and there seems to be no rhyme or reason as to which students are referred to RTI. I have asked multiple times what exactly we need to see to progress a student to RTI but it seems like it just depends on how pushy the child’s teacher is. I have pointed out that there must be sufficient data (dibels, iready, sipps, etc) that shows a lack of progress but I feel like I get ignored and many behavior students are placed in my RTI cycles. On top of this we have a chronic absentee issue and I keep getting students for RTI who are absent for weeks on end! To be clear I do not teach social skills and my room is not used for behavior intervention. I work strictly on math, reading, and writing intervention.
I currently accept 2 RTI students every 6-10 weeks. If they do progress we move on to testing. Is this system incorrect? I thought it was up to my discretion the amount of RTI students I can handle. My school only has tier 2 interventions for K-2nd and a newcomer interventionist who comes in twice a week. My caseload is currently at 23 (and I have 5 intials pending) and I am the only RSP. I handle all paper work, scheduling, WJ testing, etc. I am extremely overwhelmed and I am wondering if this RTI process is normal!
I am making this post because my principal has made it apparent that she feels I can handle taking on 5-6 students for RTI for 10-12 week cycles starting next year. Coincidentally we are losing all of our tier 2 interventions for next year except for the newcomer teacher because of extreme budget cuts. She is trying to hire an uncertified memeber of the community to provide “reading intervention” to supplement the k-2 literacy intervention loss. My principal has stated that the teacher 4 years ago used to take on 6 students for RTI (but she also failed to mention that this teacher had 8 years of experience and second RSP teacher). I guess my question is can I refuse? I know that either way I have to take RTI students but is the amount I take on up to me. Taking on 2 RTI students already takes away so much from my students with IEPs. I can’t imagine the affect of taking on 5.
I can tell that my principal feels overwhelmed by the changes for next year but I can’t help but feel this is problem she is putting on me. I believe that if we had a strong process for deciding which students get RTI this would be less of an issue. I also want to mentions that at least half of students in every classroom are 2 grades levels or more below… so again I don’t understand why we aren’t being more specific about who should get RTI because at least half the schools shows the need for RTI.
I don’t really want to hear how I should leave to a new school district because I’m already locked in for next year. But what can I do to improve this situation and what are the legalities about the amount of RTI students I can take. Any advice and thoughts appreciated.