Wisconsin’s vision for RtI addresses both academics and behavior, employs
culturally responsive practices within each of the three essential elements, and
uses a strengths-based model to systematically provide ALL students with the
supports they need to succeed. The Menomonie Area School District has adopted the
following guiding principles that provide the philosophical underpinning to RtI and
also serve as a reflective checkpoint to assess an enacted system:
• RtI is for ALL children and ALL educators
• RtI must support and provide value to effective practices
• Success for RtI lies within the classroom through collaboration
• RtI applies to both academics and behavior
• RtI supports and provides value to the use of multiple assessments to inform
instructional practices
• RtI is something you do and not necessarily something you buy
• RtI emerges from and supports research and evidence-based practice

There are eight non-negotiable essential components of RtI:
1. Evidence-based curriculum and instruction
2. Ongoing assessment
3. Collaborative teaming
4. Data-based decision-making
5. Fidelity of implementation
6. Ongoing training and professional development
7. Community and family involvement
8. Strong leadership

Each element is part of an interrelated process that should be applied to every
student. RtI creates an integrated and seamless continuum of service that
encompasses all staff through a multi-tiered service delivery model. It requires
effective building leadership and ongoing collaboration among educators with a
motto of “all educators for all students.”

RTI and Gifted

The Menomonie Area School District is committed to providing optimal learning conditions
that support achievement for all students. When implemented with fidelity the
RtI framework has the potential for meeting this commitment through the
implementation of a multi-tiered system of support, which has been the premise of
gifted education, based on scientific evidence. The Menomonie Area School District
recognizes the importance of local school principals as instructional leaders, the
use of data to guide instruction, appropriate interventions or enrichments and
practice, parent involvement, and other research-based practices. In the world
of gifted education, this refers to implementing and sustaining efforts which
ensure our students have access to differentiated curriculum, flexible pacing,
cluster grouping, acceleration and/or other universal interventions available to
all students in the regular classroom.

EXPLANATIONS AND INTERVENTIONS FOR EACH TIER

Tier 1: ALL: Core Classroom Instruction
All students should receive core classroom instruction utilizing scientifically based
curriculum and methods to teach critical elements of a subject (reading, math),
e.g., 80-90 percent of students will have a sufficient response to instruction by
demonstrating subject proficiency with effective Tier 1 instruction. Students
who score at the higher level of Tier 1 should be receiving instruction that will
continue to keep them challenged.

Tier 2: SOME: Strategic Targeted Instruction
Some students will receive strategically targeted instruction in addition to core
instruction. Strategic instruction addresses the specific needs of students who
do not make sufficient progress (all students must grow) in Tier 1. It is important
to be aware, especially when thinking of advanced learners, that educators need to
measure, not what they know, understand and are able to do relative to their age

peers, but rather what they have learned during their time in the classroom.
Gifted students learn at a much faster pace than other students and should not
be expected to wait for their age peers to catch up. They may spend from three
to six years of their school lives learning nothing new. (Rogers 2002).

Instruction is generally provided in a small group (3-5 students) format with
similarly skilled students. The duration of this instruction will vary based on
student assessment and progress monitoring data that measures the student’s
response to instruction.

Tier 3: FEW: Intensive Targeted Intervention
Intensive targeted instruction is provided to the most at risk (or the students who

demonstrate the greatest need) who have not sufficiently responded to Tier 1 and

2 instruction. It may in some cases replace core instruction. The duration of this
intervention is extended over a longer period of time and varies based on student
assessment and progress monitoring data.

Student Movement through the Tiers

Student movement through the tiers is a fluid process based on student
assessment data and collaborative team decisions about students' response to
instruction. It should be noted that students who receive interventions based on
their needs for academic and/or behavior challenge(s) are not necessarily
expected to return to Tier 1 instruction. Our goal for these students is for them
to learn and grow at an accelerated pace.

Like RtI, gifted education provides a tiered model of programming. Levels of
intensity in programming allow for the diversity of individual needs of students who
are gifted and talented. Response to Instruction provides support systems for
students with exceptional ability or potential.