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It’s mid-morning inside Christy Ruffing’s classroom at Park Elementary, and her second graders are scattered throughout the room hard at work. A small group is sprawled on the floor, putting the finishing touches on posters showcasing the options and prices for their hot chocolate stands. A few others are tapping away on iPads as they answer questions about measurements or complete math problems.
At a table shaped in a semicircle, Mrs. Ruffing sits in front of a few students who are equipped with dry-erase sheets, markers, and base-10 blocks. They’re working on math problems with Mrs. Ruffing’s guidance, with the blocks providing a manipulative tool as the students write out their calculations on the dry-erase sheets.
This is just a glimpse at Park’s daily RTI Period. RTI, or Response to Intervention, is a dedicated time each school day when students can receive additional support or enrichment.
“Each grade level’s RTI period is designed around the needs of their students. That means it may look different across grade levels, and that’s exactly the point,” Park principal Cara McKenna said. “Kindergarten students may focus on foundational literacy skills, while upper grades may emphasize reading fluency, comprehension, or math problem-solving. What matters most is that every RTI block is equally valuable and focused on growth. This flexibility allows teachers to meet students where they are and help them move forward.”
Elementary schools often have some form of an RTI period, whether it’s daily, once a week, or in some other format. For Park teachers, the key is making the periods as individually focused as possible to truly reach every student. That means utilizing data provided through MAP (Measure of Academic Progress) testing and DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) measures. The data provided by those programs not only allows teachers to track student progress throughout the year, but from grade to grade. It also integrates into other programs like IXL, which uses the assessment data to identify specific skills students need to work on or highlight areas where students excel.
“Exit tickets, or Check Understandings, are given after we teach a skill,” Mrs. Ruffing said. “I scroll through those to see who got it right. For the kids who didn’t, those kids will work with me the next day on the skill that we learned that they did not quite understand.”
Depending on class size and student needs, teachers can vary the level of focus devoted to specific strengths and weaknesses.
“It’s really amazing, and it provides a lot of individualized data based on everybody's ability,” said fourth grade teacher Marissa Petro.
Fourth graders have their RTI period just after noon each day, after two blocks of math or English Language Arts, lunch, and recess. It’s a natural transition to the other subjects later in the day. A reading period might include nonfiction text related to science or social studies. A math period might include word problems related to geography or science.
“It's very easy to do cross-curricular things within one skill,” Mrs. Petro said.
Fridays, meanwhile, are What I Need (WIN) Time, where they’re open to any subject or topic students need help on. Some grade levels also incorporate social-emotional learning into that period each Friday. That level of flexibility is important, but Mrs. Petro acknowledged it’s also a lot of work to make sure she and her fellow teachers are maximizing student opportunities. For upper-level elementary teachers, that means staying on track for PSSA testing later in the year.
“There are so many standards and skills that you’re trying to meet. Especially fourth grade. I need to have the majority of my curriculum covered by April for testing,” Mrs. Petro said. “So, it's getting very creative in how you're doing things, tackling as much as you can without being overwhelming, and meeting all the different needs at the same time.”
With different class sizes in each grade, teachers in the same grades spread throughout the building, and Park’s unique layout, Ms. McKenna said adaptability was key.
“At first, I was really excited about switching groups,” Ms. McKenna said. “But then I saw second grade — Mrs. Wright is down in the annex of our building, and Mrs. Ruffing and Mrs. Ambrozic are on this side of the building. It just didn’t make sense for them to transition. I felt it was important to give everyone the autonomy and flexibility to try it out and see what works best for each grade level.”
That flexibility allows teachers to mold the RTI periods to meet new developments throughout the school year.
“I have a group that really struggles with nonsense words. Nonsense words give you a great idea if a student can decode and chunk words,” Mrs. Ruffing said. “So, if I have a group that is struggling, I’m going to pull those students during the ELA group, and maybe one day a week for three weeks we’re going to work on that skill.”
The access to data and updated evaluations means students can progress from group to group and receive different levels of support or enrichment throughout the school year. The staff looks at the collective data each quarter and adjusts groups accordingly.
“If it’s done correctly, it’s a very good use of time,” Mrs. Ruffing said. “But I will say that it does take a lot of work, a lot of focus, a lot of flexibility, a lot of getting to know your students. Not just by your data, but their classroom performance, too.”
The process also allows the staff to better identify students who are ready for more enrichment or the district gifted program. For students who are excelling in a particular area, they’re now able to have a dedicated period where they can be challenged. Their progress is tracked from grade-to-grade, which enables that enrichment to continue as warranted.
“I have a student who's in second grade who is working on fifth grade skills,” Mrs. Ruffing said. “Whenever I look at her path, I make sure that she’s checking off those boxes and working her way through so that’s understanding it.”
“And when that student comes to me in fourth grade, I will be able to see, ‘They’ve already done this. Let’s not make them do it again,” Mrs. Petro said. “And then, maybe, they’re onto eighth grade skills by the time they get to me. It carries over every year, so they don't have to start all over again. It’s constantly pushing them.”
The individualized and small group instruction during the RTI period may heavily incorporate data, but the time also allows for a better understanding of how individual students learn.
“You have to look at the whole child, which I think is super important when you’re making those decisions based on what they need to go into that RTI piece,” Mrs. Ruffing said.
At its core, the RTI period is designed to help students thrive, no matter what the structure looks like.
“It’s so important to realize that if a kid is struggling in reading and they’re struggling in math, there are still things that they are very, very good at,” Mrs. Petro said. “Relating it to things that they are good at makes them feel successful, and that confidence goes a long way.”
