Principals and Professional Learning Communities: Breaking Down Barriers to Effective Response to Intervention in Secondary Schools

Abstract

In the past decade, there has been a call for reform to improve adolescent literacy achievement. Response to Intervention (RTI) is a widely employed multi-tiered intervention system designed to identify and support the academic needs of at-risk students. Despite the success of RTI for younger students, there is little research documenting ways to effectively implement the model in secondary schools. This article identifies barriers that interfere with RTI implementation and highlights strategies to avoid failure. In particular, we emphasize the need for administrative support when initiating RTI and suggest building Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) to ensure teachers are offered the time to collaborate on planning, implementing, and assessing the effects of RTI.