I have worked at two different schools and it seemed like both schools struggled with  RTI.  There was  tons of repetitive paperwork and often what was acceptable in one meeting for one child…somehow didn’t work for another child and another meeting.  I think this is because it is a really confusing process in general- for all parties: parents, teachers, counselors and administrators.

While I have no magical guarantees of how to make RTI seamless for you and your school, I *do* have some suggestions on to help teachers stay organized while collecting data.  Last school year I had several students on the RTI tiers and collected LOTS of different data.  It could have been a paper work nightmare!  And it was…until one night I stayed late, developed a system and got myself organized. And it worked like a charm.

I wish I had photos of it, but I chose not to photograph it on purpose.  I was afraid that much of the information was confidential since it did have student’s names and data.

First things first, I got a binder. Here is the cover I used:

You can get this binder cover and several others free by liking my Facebook page.  Then click on Fan First Freebies and they are all yours!

Then I created sections.  I was too cheap to buy dividers (or even find construction paper to make my own) so I simply cut tabs from post it notes and stuck them on pieces of paper to hang out like flags.  On each of these post it notes, I wrote the student’s name that I was tiering.  Since I already knew what strategies I was using, I went ahead and prepared several copies of  worksheets or the materials I needed for that student.  Then I hole punched the papers and put them behind the students name post it.

In the front of the binder I kept a simple check sheet that looked similar to this:

Click here to download a copy
I wrote down each child’s name and then all the dates I met with the child to work with them and also assess with a probe. Some children may have had more concerns so they may have had more than one strategy (like Suzy).  If that was the case, then I wrote down both strategies on the check list and dated them.
This system worked for three reasons:
1.) It was an easy way to track when I worked with students and I could easy double check dates( and not look like a fool in meetings).
2.) Since I had several students on RTI, it became a running check list of who I needed to meet with next.  I could simply look at the dates in boxes and know who I needed to pull.
3.) It was also an easy way to check to see if a student was ready for the next tier.  If I had 6 weeks worth of data noted, and the student was still not making progress, I moved them to the next tier.
Since I was the general ed teacher in a co-taught classroom, my co-teacher and I decided Fridays would be data collection days. Instead of guided reading groups, we pulled individuals and small groups and worked with them on various things and collected data.
On Fridays, I would pull a student, open to their section of the binder, pull out the activity and complete it with the student.  Then I would date my check list, put the now completed activity in my binder, look at my check list, and pull the next kiddo.  This binder helped me keep my sanity. This system may not work for everyone, but it certainly helped me.
One area I struggled with for data collection was math reasoning because I couldn’t *FIND* anything to use for a probe.  So I decided to create something :).
Each probe, or assessment, contains four
word problems.  Each word problem on the
probe are slightly different due to the different styles of word
problems.  However, although each problem
on the probe is different, the style (or situation) is the same for that
specific number on all  the probes. 
For example, problem number one on all the probes is  always a single digit addition, numbers written as
numerals, join-result unknown
problem.  This makes is easy to show
growth (or lack of growth) with each assessment. The four problems on each
probe are:
1.) 
Single digit addition, numbers written as numerals, join-result unknown
2.) Single digit addition, numbers
written in word form, join-result
unknown
3.) 
Double digit subtraction (no regrouping), numbers written as numerals,  join- change unknown
4.) Double digit addition (no
regrouping), numbers written as numerals, join-results unknown
This packet contains one baseline probe
and four additional probes.  Hopefully
this will make data collection for RTI much more organized!  I just added it to my store and it is only $3!  I intend on making one set of these for each quarter!
Another RTI item I have in my store is 

Included in this packet:
•Games and activities to practice sight words before giving the students
the assessment.
•Teacher assessment checklists for each level
•Student lists for students to use during assessments
•Ready made graphs for each level
•Sight word cards for each level
•Blank sight words cards to reduce printing if the teacher does not need
all the cards
•Parent Letter
•Sight Word book for home practice (two lists per page to reduce
printing)
•Game and activity directions (same as the first bullet, but presented
for students) for center practice
•Two simple board games
•Tic-Tac-Toe game materials
Each list is color coded by a zoo animal to keep the lists and cards
organized. I hope this makes the RTI process a bit less stressful!
* Please note that I refer to the RTI probe as an assessment
throughout the packet.
It is listed in my store for $7.
I hope these ideas help!!
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