District receives grant to improve intervention strategies

"The grant is intended to be a 'personnel development' grant to improve and increase our use of Response to Intervention (RTI) strategies and frameworks, an outgrowth of the three-tier instructional model," Assistant Superintendent Linda Boggs said. "Response to Intervention, or RTI, is simply the process of using data to decide if our students are responding to the interventions we have put in place, and intensifying or changing the interventions when our students fail to respond adequately."

According to Boggs, key components of effective use of RTI are: 
- universal screening
- progress monitoring
- diagnostic assessment
- effective intervention programs for reading, writing, mathematics, and behavior.

"Effective implementation of RTI will ultimately improve student achievement, reduce the number of students identified as having disabilities, and allow those with disabilities to be identified much earlier so that intensive interventions can reduce the impact of those disabilities," Boggs said.

Grant resources will be used to support expanded understanding, skills and processes to make sure that our teams are effectively meeting the needs of all of our students.

"By the time the life of the grant expires, we hope to have supported all building teams in Walla Walla, Pre-K through 12, to develop the ability to more efficiently and meaningfully respond when children struggle," Boggs said.

School Psychologist Maria Garcia will serve as the grant coordinator. She will be working with district principals and building level teams to evaluate what components are already in place and to develop action plans tailored to meet specific school needs.