1. Kentucky System of Interventions
Frequently Asked Questions

2. What is the difference between KSI/RtI?
KSI is a school-wide system for providing timely support to meet the needs of all children (struggling and high achieving) within (and in addition to) research-based core instruction.
It is ensuring that all students receive timely, direct interventions at the first indication they are experiencing difficulty rather than waiting until they are significantly further behind.
The main difference between KSI and RtI is that RtI focuses only on struggling learners in reading, mathematics, and/or behavior.
KSI is a comprehensive system encompassing the academic and behavioral needs of all students utilizing highly effective teaching and learning, and research based instruction. The system provides direct intervention immediately at the first indication that students are experiencing difficulty.
For example, if the universal screener reveals that a student is performing above benchmark, that student should receive intervention that provides them with academic challenges to push them to the next level. Equally, if a universal screener reveals that a student is having difficulty and performing below benchmark then that student should receive intervention that provides them with the needed support in order to be successful within the core instruction.
The main difference between KSI and RtI is that KSI includes all students, all content areas P-12 whereas RtI focuses only on struggling learners in the areas of mathematics, reading, and/or behavior.

3. Is KSI/RtI a program or an instructional strategy?
KSI/RtI is not a program; it is a multi-tiered preventive process for identifying and addressing academic and behavioral needs. Intervention is ‘good teaching’ and should be supported through the use of rich instructional resources. You can find further guidance in relation to this issue on the Kentucky Department of Education website by looking through the KSI (Kentucky Systems of Intervention) Document.
KSI is not a program. Although a program may be used as a supplementary support, KSI itself is a process that provides interventions that utilizes highly effective teaching and learning, differentiated and research based instruction that targets and addresses specific student needs. A school or district does not have to purchase a program in order to provide intervention to their students.
Further guidance can be found at the Kentucky Department of Education website located in the KSI guidance document that provides an in depth explanation of all components of intervention.

4. What legislation is in place for KSI/RtI?
KRS (subsection 20) The reporting structure shall include…
Grades 3rd through 8th
Plan for addressing learning concerns for any student with identified deficiencies OR strengths
Each student who takes a high school or college readiness examination
Plan for addressing students who do not meet CCR benchmarks
Communication to Parents/ Guardians
KRS (Interventions)
Any student who does not meet college readiness benchmarks on EPAS… Shall have intervention strategies included in their individual learning plan
704 KAR 3:305 (Min Graduation Requirements)  
A transitional course or intervention (which shall be monitored to address remediation needs) shall be required before exiting high school.
HB 69 (K-3 RtI)
Requires interventions in K-3 for reading, mathematics, writing and behavior; requires monitoring of interventions
KRS (subsection 20) The reporting structure shall include… (b) requires  An individual student report to parents for each student in grades three (3) through eight (8) summarizing the student's skills in reading and mathematics. The school's staff shall develop a plan for accelerated learning for any student with identified deficiencies or strengths
KRS (subsection 20) The reporting structure shall include… (20) (c) An individual report for each student who takes a high school or college readiness examination administered under subsection (11)(a) of this section that: 1) Provides the student's test scores; 2). Provides a judgment regarding whether or not a student has met, exceeded, or failed to meet the expectations for each standard assessed; and 3) Is designed to assist students, parents, and teachers to identify, assess, and remedy academic deficiencies prior to high school graduation
KRS (Interventions) Any student who does not meet ACT benchmarks on the EXPLORE or PLAN; Any student who does not meet college readiness benchmarks on the ACT… Shall have intervention strategies included in their individual learning plan
704 KAR 3:305 (Min Graduation Requirements)  If students do not meet college readiness benchmarks on the ACT (English, Math, Reading)… a transitional course or intervention (which shall be monitored to address remediation needs) shall be required before exiting high school.
HB 69 (L. Belcher) defines "aphasia," "dyscalculia," dyslexia," "phonemic awareness," and "scientifically-based research". The bill requires KBE to promulgate administrative regulations for district-wide reporting on the use of K-3 Response-to-Intervention implementation in reading by August 1, 2013, in mathematics by August 1, 2014, and behavior by August 1, KDE must provide technical assistance, training, and a Web-based resource to assist all local school districts in the implementation of the system and instructional tools based on scientifically-based research. KDE must report to the IJC on Education on implementation by November 30, 2013, and annually thereafter.

5. Who is responsible for KSI/RtI
KSI/ RtI is a process schools should implement to help any struggling student. Every teacher and administrator in the school building should be somehow involved in, and responsible for, KSI/RtI.
Tier 1 is geared toward every student in the school because this is the universal tier- this is the core instruction that all students receive.
At the Tier 2 and Tier 3 levels, your interventionist should be someone well versed in the reading or mathematics content, or someone well experienced in behavior interventions.
KSI/ RtI is a process schools should implement to help any struggling student. Every teacher and administrator in the school building should be somehow involved in, and responsible for, KSI/RtI.
Tier 1 is geared toward every student in the school because this is the universal tier- this is the core instruction that all students receive. Tier 1 should include highly effective teaching and learning; it should also include differentiation for individual student needs within the classroom.
At the Tier 2 and Tier 3 levels, your interventionist should be someone well versed in the reading or mathematics content, or someone well experienced in behavior interventions. These interventionists, however, should have regular communication and collaboration with the Tier 1 classroom teacher and other faculty and staff who work with the student.

6. What is the administration's role in KSI/RtI?
The administration plays the most important role in the KSI/RtI process.
The administrators are the instructional leaders in the school setting. They must make big decisions for their school in terms of:
Interventions
Staffing allocations and scheduling
Professional development (screeners, progress monitoring, etc.)
Resources to be used in/with interventions
The school leader is crucial in implementing an effective tiered level of interventions for students. The school leader should facilitate and lead the analysis of the school data, the interventions, the staffing, the master schedule, and resources. They do not have to work alone in this process, but put together a team of staff that they will assist in the analysis and that will make recommendations that will improve student success. We have guidance on developing a school implementation team or school RtI team in the Overview Webinar and the Using and Analyzing Data Webinar.

7. Is RtI only for students who will eventually qualify for special education? 
No, RtI is a multi-tier prevention system including multiple levels of intensity that provides intervention to ALL students that need additional, targeted instruction in a specific area.
RtI cannot be something that the Special Education Dept in your school is doing- if it is, then your school is not actually doing RtI. Your school will not be doing RtI until your regular classroom teachers embrace and fully participate. ~ Pat Quinn
RtI is a multi-tiered system designed to prevent students from falling too far behind their peers. It is a system that provides students various supports and instruction to meet the needs of the student.
If RtI is only something that your special education department is doing to qualify students for special education then RtI is not being used effectively in your building. It is crucial to understand RtI is a general education initiative that must focus on the effectiveness of the classroom instruction first. If students are not receiving highly effective instruction in the classroom then that they may be the reason for the lack of success. Instruction at all tiers must be highly effective and more individualized as the level of tier increases.
RtI may be used as 1 way to qualify a student for a specific learning disability, but the overall intent of RtI is to be preventive.

8. What materials can we purchase to use to help us with interventions?
KDE cannot endorse any specific program or service for interventions.
The National Center on Response to Interventions has compiled research on various intervention and monitoring tools. You can compare these products at their website:
KDE cannot endorse any specific program or service for intervention.
The National Center on Response to Interventions website contains a comparison chart of screening tools in which individual screeners were evaluated and rated based on specific criteria defined as technical adequacy that are critical to the center’s definition of evidence based practices in screening, progress monitoring and tiered instruction. The chart provides information for accuracy, generalizability, reliability, validity, and disaggregated data for diverse population. The chart also includes information such as cost, services and support the tool would require and usage information. This comparison chart can assist schools and districts in making informed decisions when choosing a universal screener, progress monitoring tool, or intervention program.

9. How early in the year should KSI/RtI be implemented?
The school or district should begin the school year with their universal screener. The screener will help identify those students who should be considered for interventions.
It is imperative that students who need intervention services be scheduled for those services as early in the school year as possible.
The universal screener should be given at the beginning of the year and as soon in the year as possible. Remember, a universal screener should be used to ‘flag’ students for consideration for an intervention. After those students have been flagged then additional information or data may be consulted before further consideration. Once students have been identified for an intervention then the students should receive a diagnostic assessment that will further determine their specific areas of concern.
It is so important for students to begin intervention services as soon as they can. You do not want to miss ¼ of the school year because of the screening process.
Just a note for preschool or kindergarten students…it may be appropriate for these young students to be screened a little later in the year than those in other grades. These students need time to acclimate themselves and for teachers to get to know them. Also, there may not be pre-existing data for these students for you to use or consider. However, I would still recommend screening these students no later than the end of the 2nd month of school.

10. How do we find time in the school day to provide interventions?
ESS Model
Lab Model 
Intervention Time
Lunch Intervention
Embedded Model 
Pull-out Model
ESS Model
Many schools are using their before or after school ESS programs (and often expanding these with 21st century learning, or other funds) to provide interventions. Others are using daytime waivers to provide intervention services for ESS during the school day.
Lab Model
Some schools are implementing Math and Reading labs. Sometimes these labs are just for students who are struggling in math or reading, other times there are advanced labs and remedial labs so that ever student has a lab class. The lab model provides students direct instruction in their regular classroom, but then provides extensions or interventions in the lab classroom. The one big issue here would be that lab teachers need to be those teachers who are good at differentiation with students, who have the dynamic personalities, who can adjust quickly to their teaching plans if there are indications from formative assessment that students need something else academically.
Intervention Time
One of the most interesting models we’ve seen is a dedicated intervention time built into the school schedule. (Look for our Advising Toolkit on the KDE website. Just type “Advising Toolkit” in the search box and it should take you straight to it. This resources has some sample schedules for Advising programs. These same schedules work for Intervention times as well.) This particular school we visited had built in 28 minutes into their afternoon schedule. During that 28 minutes, every student had an intervention and/ or an acceleration class- sometimes both. For instance, one male student had Math intervention Mon, Wed and Fri for 28 minutes, but he had a robotics enhancement class on Tue and Thurs. The Math Intervention class had 9 students in it (great numbers for Tier 2 Intervention), but the enhancement course had about 30 students in it. During this time period, all teachers have a class. The school scheduled this in IC so that every student had “Academic Preparation and Readiness” class and they did receive like .25 credit for it. The school also utilized support staff to help even out their numbers. For instance, there was a special Choral Enhancement class that had like 35 students in it, but there was a classified staff member in there to assist during that time. The kids were singing songs through the decades- they would study the particular decade in terms of what was going on politically, and then they would sing songs from the decade, and then they’d see if there was a connection between the two.
Lunch Intervention
Some schools are doing “Intervention Lunches” where a teacher volunteers once a week to provide intervention services to students during the student’s lunch. The student goes to the café and gets their lunch and then reports to the teacher, who works with them during that time on academic targets the student needs to monitor.
Embedded Model
Many schools are embedding the English and/or Reading transitional curriculum into their English IV course. The new KCAS really lends itself to this embedded model and it is working very well. I have one curriculum map that shows this embedded model.
Pull-out Model
Some schools pull students out of elective courses to attend an intervention. Usually it is only a few days a week. Often those electives are CTE courses, PE, arts and humanities related. You cannot pull students out of non-tested core content courses.

11. What are examples of tier 1 interventions?
By general definition, Tier 1 is for all students in the school. Tier 1 instruction is highly effective, good instruction that supports student interest and individuality with differentiation.
Schools do have an opportunity, through the Individual Learning Plan, to develop “school-wide” interventions. This would be appropriate if a large percentage of your students had the same areas of need.

12. I have a lot of students in intervention; how do I manage that many students? 
If you have a large number of students in an intervention class, begin by considering the skill areas of need for students and place the students in flexible groups for instruction. Flexible grouping would allow an intervention teacher to focus on the needs of each group, effectively the size of the group while still individualizing instruction as much as possible.
If you are dealing with a large intervention group flexibly organize the students by skill areas to effectively address the needs of all students. For instance, if you have 12 students in an intervention session, look to see what needs the students have in common. You may find that five students require additional work with subtracting two digit numbers, four students need help with fluency with multiplying two digit numbers, and the remaining three need to work on multiplication based word problems.
Identify multiple resources/strategies within the school (or grade level) and utilize those tools to serve a large population of intervention students. Examples of these consist of small group work, peer tutoring, manipulative based work, technology based, etc.
Keep in mind, if you find yourself with an overwhelming number of students requiring interventions, there is likely a problem at the Tier 1 level (core instruction) that really needs to be addressed. You may also need to consider how you are scheduling the intervention sessions. Consider the needs of an entire grade level (or content area), rather than attempting to schedule by classroom (or course).
For example, in some schools, interventions sessions are assigned by the classroom teacher. Ms. Jones’ class goes for intervention at 9:00, Mr. Smith’s class goes at 9:30, etc. Rather, consider the grouping needs of the entire grade level (or content area). Perhaps students who need help with algebraic expression go to intervention at 9:00, and students who need help with quadratic equations go for intervention at 9:30. (Keep in mind the intervention schedule should be fluid, and adjusted to meet the instructional needs of the students.)

13. My intervention students have so many instructional needs; where do I start? 
Start by analyzing the diagnostic assessment to pinpoint the area of difficulty for individual students. From the diagnostic assessment, consider any skill area where at least 20% or more of the grade level (or content level) did not master the skill. These are Tier 1 (core instruction) concerns and should be addressed within regular classroom. Those skill areas that remain should be addressed in intervention. Utilize formative assessment practices to monitor student achievement throughout sessions.
When students come to intervention there might be a spectrum of skills and needs as not all students struggle with the same targets. Start by analyzing the diagnostic assessment to pinpoint the exact area of difficulty and identify the exact misconception the student has developed. Consider removing any skills in which more than 20% of students in the grade level did not master and should be retaught within the core instruction. However, if this is a skill in which the student needs to learn before the reteach date do not hesitate to do so in order to continue moving the student forward in their intervention sessions. From there utilize multiple resources and instructional strategies that will address the skill and target that students specific learning style.
(Also refer to the Frequently Asked Questions document, question “I have a lot of students in intervention; how do I manage that many students” for information on flexible grouping of students.)

14. When is it appropriate to set individual student goals?
Students in intervention may have similar needs; however, each student should have individualized academic and/or behavioral goals within their intervention plan that is specific to their learning needs. It is always recommended that students in Tier 2 or beyond have an individualized, written plan that is shared with the students’ teacher(s) and with their parents/ guardians.
Students receiving intervention may have similar needs or have difficulty with similar content. However, ALL students should have an individualized plan with goals that address their specific learning/behavioral needs.
If students are entering intervention withh no set goals how are we suppose to address their needs.
It is always appropriate for the m to have indi student lkearning goals
Provide them with instruction that is determined throu analyaing their information and writing specidifc goals.

15. How is a student intervention plan different from an IEP?
A student intervention plan may not be as formal as an IEP.
There is more flexibility in the student intervention plan.
An example of a student intervention plan has been posted to the KSI website and associated with webinar #3, Student Intervention Plans.

16. How often should we conduct progress monitoring?
Progress monitoring should be conducted often enough that an intervention teacher can determine if a student is responding to an intervention.
Intervention teachers should ensure that enough “teaching time” has elapsed between intervention sessions for the progress monitoring to be effective.
Most research indicates that progress monitoring should be done at least every two weeks for a Tier 3 intervention.
Progress monitoring probes should be given regularly enough to inform the teacher’s instruction and provide feedback to the student but not too far apart that they are time consuming and lengthy.
Provide enough time between probes so that a student has a true opportunity to show growth and soon enough to catch a misconception.

17. In progress monitoring, does the probe need to be Norm Referenced?
No, it does not always have to be norm referenced. Schools can use “informal” or teacher-made probes to collect intervention data.
Any type of Intervention should include:
Strategies or interventions that target the areas of concern
Are scientific, research-based
Are more than just assessing the area-actual instruction is provided
The interventions are documented, data collection is occurring
Analysis of this data is occurring regularly
Multiple intervention strategies are used, not just one strategy
The school is following the district’s or school’s RtI policies and procedures
It is important to remember a single procedure shall not be used as the sole criterion for determining whether a child is a child with a disability (707 KAR 1:300 Section 4 (9)). RtI data should be used along with other data- classroom observations, state, district, school assessment data, classwork samples, so forth.  The level of intervention data and the types used may vary for each student.
Teacher-made or informal progress monitoring probes may be used and they have their place in designing a student’s instructional plan. The probes should reflect the instruction that the student is receiving. For instance, if you are working on a child’s comprehension then you wouldn’t want your probe to only capture a student’s fluency rate.
Some believe the progress monitoring probes must be norm-referenced because they may be used to qualify a student for special education services. It is important to understand that this is not the only form of data that will considered. It is always important to triangulate the data.
It is also important to understand that the intervention itself must be research-based with regular data collection. That data must be analyzed to inform the teaching and learning.

18. How do I decide when a student moves between tiers
How do I decide when a student moves between tiers? How long should they remain at each tier? How many data points are required? 
Decision-making rules and are necessary for moving students between and among tiers. These decision rules must be a flexible and fluid process that relies on relevant student assessment data. The use of progress monitoring data informs the decision making process.
Decision making rules include, but are not limited to: analyzing the performance level, analyzing the growth rate, and analyzing the strength of the intervention to make necessary decisions based on the student data. Progress throughout the intervention is monitored frequently to determine whether the intervention is successful in helping the student learn at an appropriate rate and/or if continuous progress is occurring. Students receiving intervention at the targeted level are generally monitored every two weeks but can be monitored more frequently based on the data.

19. If a student receives Special Education (or ELL) services, do we have to provide tiered interventions?
Keep in mind that Tier 1 is for all students
Just because a student receives special education services does not mean they are excluded from tiered interventions.
If a student qualifies for special education, many schools remove the students from tiered interventions. However, students may receive RtI interventions at the same time as receiving special education services. If a student has an IEP with reading goals then the student may receive RtI interventions for reading and any other content area.
If you do remove a student from RtI interventions, then ensure the level of service that they are receiving is in fact more individualized and more intense than the services that they were receiving in RtI interventions. If a student has not been successful enough in your tiers of instruction and qualifies for special education services then the students special education instruction should reflect that in the intense instruction that it provides.
Students that received Tier 3 interventions may have received 1-on-1, 30-minute daily sessions of intervention. So, how would the special education services be providing more intense and individualized instruction?
If a district funds an interventionist with Part B funds for Coordinated Early Intervening Services (CEIS) then there may be restrictions for students with an IEP. For further information or questions contact Chris Thacker or Sammie Lambert

20. What is fidelity of implementation?
Fidelity of implementation is fidelity to the KSI/RtI process as well as to the research-validated instructional strategies used within the instruction.
Fidelity of the process means the school or district has established a process that outlines how/when students will receive intervention, for moving between and among the tiers, and then the process for exiting intervention.
Fidelity to the instructional strategies means to the proper procedure and/or intent of the instructional strategy based on the research that has validated the strategy.
Fidelity of implementation does not necessarily mean fidelity to a particular program.
There are multiple meanings for fidelity when it comes to a system of interventions. We talk about fidelity to a program, to the process, and to a strategy.
We think of fidelity to the implementation of a research-based strategy and to the KSI process.
Fidelity to the instruction or to the strategy is when the delivery of instruction mirrors the design or the prescribed procedure according to research findings and/or developers’ specifications. 
Fidelity to the process means following the decision-making rules and the intervention process that was developed by the school or district.
Fidelity of implementation does not necessarily mean fidelity to a particular program. Multiple resources, texts, programs may all be used to design lessons that specifically meet a student’s intervention goals.

21. When is parent permission required in the KSI/RtI process?
Parent involvement is recommended from the very beginning.
During the instructional intervention and progress monitoring process parent permission is not required. This is because the assessments are focusing on improving instruction.
(If the child is referred for special education evaluation parent permission is required as part of the usual procedural safeguards.)

22. Can speech pathologists provide interventions to students?
The answer to this question rests largely with how the speech pathologist is funding in your school/ district.
If some percentage of their salary is paid from funds not related to IDEA, then yes they can provide interventions to students during that part of their work day.

23. Where can I go to see a good school model of KSI/RtI in Kentucky?
KDE is working on identifying model KSI/RtI schools and districts.
A list of the schools and districts that we have identified will be available on our website, along with the model school criteria.
If you feel your school or district could be a model site for others, please contact us and let us know.
KDE is currently working on identifying models sites implementing effective KSI/RtI models. Schools will be identified that are in all stages of implementation and consist of varying socioeconomic status, grade levels, geographical regions, and population sizes. Schools will be reviewed using model site criteria that is posted to the Kentucky Department of Education KSI website.

24. Questions? 502-564-2106 Kim Willhoite, Reading Interventionist
Samantha Thomas, Math Interventionist
April Pieper, Academic Program Manager
It is always best to contact us by . But, our number is provided above if you would like to reach us by phone.