Wisconsin Response to Intervention Center

The Wisconsin Response to Intervention (RtI) Center was established by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction in fall 2009 in partnership with the 12 Wisconsin regional Cooperative Educational Service Agencies (CESAs). The RtI Center was designed to build upon existing infrastructure and initiatives available in the CESAs and school districts to provide high-quality, differentiated, culturally responsive core instruction; effective collaborative structures; and effective data-based decision making. The RtI Center provides directed professional development to district teams as well as direct supports to a limited number of school districts. The RtI Center offers coordinated academic and behavioral RTI professional development and technical assistance on behavioral RTI, including professional development and technical assistance in Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), which is offered through the Wisconsin PBIS Network, a component of the Wisconsin RtI Center.

The evaluation of the Wisconsin RtI Center was designed to: (1) assess the extent to which the RtI Center is meeting its goals and timelines for statewide implementation of RTI; (2) identify key stakeholders’ expectations for and satisfaction with the work being carried out by the Center; (3) assess district participation in and satisfaction with Center workshops; and (4) determine the familiarity of school district personnel with the Wisconsin framework for RTI, the purpose and goals of the Wisconsin RtI Center, and the types of training, services, and resources offered to districts by the RtI Center.

To provide useful feedback about the Wisconsin RtI Center, the evaluation team used a variety of methods, including systematic review of RtI Center work plans, procedures, and products; interviews with key stakeholders; analysis of surveys completed by participants in RtI Center workshops; follow-up interviews with a subsample of workshop participants; and a survey of school administrators throughout the state.

Results of the evaluation indicate that the RtI Center is achieving its goals and timelines for statewide implementation of RTI and has been successful in meeting stakeholder expectations for the development and rollout of RTI training materials and resources. The RtI Center offered a series of workshops in spring 2011 to provide an overview of Wisconsin’s vision and mission for RTI and to describe RtI Center resources and supports available to districts. Results from the evaluation suggest that workshops provided the by the RtI Center were useful in increasing participants’ knowledge and understanding of how to implement Wisconsin’s vision and framework for RTI. However, in spite of strong attendance at the workshops, district personnel reported only minimal familiarity with the Wisconsin RtI Center, suggesting that additional efforts are needed to build awareness of RtI Center services and resources within the state.