The role of the student in the RTI change initiative was very limited. The pupils selected for intervention could not choose whether or not to take these classes. Though test scores were consulted, students, themselves, were not consulted during the planning or implementation of the initiative. Students were merely “potential beneficiaries of change” (Fullan, 2006, p. 170). As beneficiaries, these learners were only to be engaged as recipients of the remediation services being offered to them.
Despite students only having a receptive role in this process, the educators behind the initiative were aware students would have to be highly engaged by both learning and healthy student-teacher relationships. Based on both test scores and grades, …show more content…
. . students need support to help them develop their voices effectively (as cited in Fullan, 2006, p. 185). While I cannot say there was overall support and commitment for all students at Florence Middle School (FMS) to have a voice, I do believe students were allowed to develop their voices in the intervention courses. As the year progressed, many of the intervention students transformed from disengaged behavior problems to engaged learners who trusted their intervention teachers. For instance, a seventh-grader from Atlanta came to FMS in August and he read at a kindergarten level. I personally conducted a diagnostic reading test with him. As he entered my office, he dropped his head in despair and angrily crossed his arms saying he “could not read.” With much coaxing, he completed the test. I rewarded him with a pep talk and candy before walking him over to meet our interventionist. Very soon, she was working with his teachers, his mother, the school counselor, and a local church to ensure he was supported socially and emotionally at home and at …show more content…
Accordingly, it was his engagement with school that changed the most. At his previous school, his mother reported frequent absences, fighting, and poor grades. At FMS, he was able to make C’s in two classes and become a confident reader. Most importantly, school, his mother said, was his absolute favorite place to be. For this student and others like him, the RTI change initiative changed the culture of the intervention classrooms and built trust among students and teachers on a small scale. For the future, FMS would be wise to maximize this effort and allow this culture to build beyond the remediation
Despite students only having a receptive role in this process, the educators behind the initiative were aware students would have to be highly engaged by both learning and healthy student-teacher relationships. Based on both test scores and grades, …show more content…
. . students need support to help them develop their voices effectively (as cited in Fullan, 2006, p. 185). While I cannot say there was overall support and commitment for all students at Florence Middle School (FMS) to have a voice, I do believe students were allowed to develop their voices in the intervention courses. As the year progressed, many of the intervention students transformed from disengaged behavior problems to engaged learners who trusted their intervention teachers. For instance, a seventh-grader from Atlanta came to FMS in August and he read at a kindergarten level. I personally conducted a diagnostic reading test with him. As he entered my office, he dropped his head in despair and angrily crossed his arms saying he “could not read.” With much coaxing, he completed the test. I rewarded him with a pep talk and candy before walking him over to meet our interventionist. Very soon, she was working with his teachers, his mother, the school counselor, and a local church to ensure he was supported socially and emotionally at home and at …show more content…
Accordingly, it was his engagement with school that changed the most. At his previous school, his mother reported frequent absences, fighting, and poor grades. At FMS, he was able to make C’s in two classes and become a confident reader. Most importantly, school, his mother said, was his absolute favorite place to be. For this student and others like him, the RTI change initiative changed the culture of the intervention classrooms and built trust among students and teachers on a small scale. For the future, FMS would be wise to maximize this effort and allow this culture to build beyond the remediation