In the Bemidji School District, Response to Intervention practices are followed when students struggle with reading skills.  Teachers work collaboratively to diagnose student needs and write appropriate intervention plans.  Generally, if students continue to struggle despite differentiated whole and small group instruction in the core (Tier 1), the student will receive a small group (Tier 2) intervention.  This intervention may be provided by a classroom teacher or a support teacher/paraprofessional from programs like Minnesota Reading Corps, Title I, or Assurance of Mastery.   If interventions in Tier 2 are unsuccessful, the student may be given more intensive, Tier 3 interventions involving more time or a smaller group size.  This link provides a Tier 1-3 visual:   Intervention Graph Samples.  For a more detailed description of Response to Intervention and the intervention protocols used in the district, click on the links below or refer to the “Reading Assessment Processes and the Communication of Results” section of this plan:

Teachers in the school district have many intervention options from which to select.  They may provide a small group or individual intervention themselves within the classroom.  Or, they may enlist the assistance of a Minnesota Reading Corps staff member to provide an intervention.  Minnesota Reading Corps members serve as one-on-one tutors and provide research-based interventions to Grades K-3 students who are just below proficiency in reading. The members tutor each student daily for 20 minutes to build phonics, phonemic awareness, and fluency skills.  Reading Corps members work with a teacher at each school to make sure the right interventions are chosen.  To view a list of the interventions Minnesota Reading Corps members can provide, please click on the link below:

Both commercial program interventions and evidence-based strategy interventions are provided in Bemidji Area Schools.  For a list of accepted interventions, please click on the link below:

For specific intervention instructions, materials, recording sheets, and fidelity checklists, click on the link below:

Classroom and support teachers collaborate in RtI teams to plan, monitor, and revise interventions.  Intervention Plans are written using a provided form.  At least once monthly, student progress and intervention plans are reviewed in RtI teams and necessary changes are made and recorded.