Designing Effective Systems of Instruction and Intervention

Invest in Teacher Training

Professional Learning Disability

You may recall that the systems approach requires a focus not on individual objects or activities, but rather on the interrelationships between them. Nowhere is this more evident than in exploring the relationship between your investment in professional development for teachers and student learning outcomes.

Full implementation of the RTI model requires a significant shift in the professional roles and responsibilities of school staff. It also requires a careful allocation of both time and resources to ensure you are providing teacher training opportunities to support these changes.

Teachers Have the Opportunity to Change the World (4:34)

Maryland's 2012 Teacher of the Year, Josh Parker, shares his views on how to elevate the teaching profession and how to improve teacher morale.

“Research consistently shows that teacher quality—whether measured by content knowledge, experience, training and credentials, or general intellectual skills—is strongly related to student achievement: Simply, skilled teachers produce better student results.”

[Center for Public Education]

Is the professional development your teachers receive…

Ongoing?
Job-embedded?
Personalized?

Relevant to RTI?
Collaborative?

Preparing Staff for Systemic Change

Unfortunately, teacher training often focuses on building awareness rather than providing practical implementation guidance. Additionally, training is frequently limited to one-shot professional development workshops rather than ongoing, job-embedded coaching or just-in-time feedback from peers.

Thoughtful educator development and collaboration opportunities are vital for overcoming resistance to systemic change. To ensure your RTI implementation is not hindered by professional learning disabilities, it is critical to provide access to both in-depth professional development for teachers and time to collaborate with their peers.