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Fuchs et al. proposes that students starting high school move directly into Tier 3, where they would receive the most support to help increase their confidence. The reasoning for this is that there would already be a larger amount of data on these students when they are coming from elementary school, so it would be easier to implement RTI in a later tier and make use of the resources they have. Once beginning in Tier 3, students with successful interventions could find their way moved into lower tiers. Basically, RTI for high school is a reverse elementary school method. Fuchs et al. further mentions that high school interventions may need to be more creative and engaging to make noticeable improvements compared to elementary school interventions.
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A further consideration for Response to Intervention is that it was not designed with content-specific subject areas in mind. Lenski (2011) suggests that content-area teachers do not necessarily focus on “teaching kids how to read” because high school, as earlier mentioned, is a time to “read to learn.” Teachers focus on literary approaches specific to their content area, such a math teacher needing to teach how to directly dissect and decode a word problem. Lenski continues to stress that content-area teachers must continue assigning text to students, including struggling learners, compared to avoiding it, to give the students ample opportunities to continuing developing and being challenged in multiple disciplines.
An additional issue for secondary teachers versus elementary is that, for Tiers 1 and 2, the general classroom teacher has full responsibility, with the specialized education teacher addressing the child’s needs in Tier 3. In a study by Isbell (2014), collaboration with other teachers was listed as one of the biggest concerns of implementing secondary RTI. Each subject educator needs to be able to collaborate with each other (for multiple students), administration, and the specialized education teacher, compared to elementary where there are not specific content area teachers to discuss with.
An additional issue for secondary teachers versus elementary is that, for Tiers 1 and 2, the general classroom teacher has full responsibility, with the specialized education teacher addressing the child’s needs in Tier 3. In a study by Isbell (2014), collaboration with other teachers was listed as one of the biggest concerns of implementing secondary RTI. Each subject educator needs to be able to collaborate with each other (for multiple students), administration, and the specialized education teacher, compared to elementary where there are not specific content area teachers to discuss with.