TIERS without TEARS

1. TIERS without TEARS Is Your Council Ready?

2. NEA Definition RtI process is “the practice of providing high quality instruction and intervention matched to student skill needs, monitoring student progress frequently to make changes in instructional goals, and applying child response data to important educational decisions.” NEA (2006) Role of General Education Teachers in the RtI Process

3. RtI Core Principles • We can effectively teach all children • Intervene early • Use a multi-tier model of service delivery • Use a problem-solving methodology

4. RtI Core Principles (2) • Use research-based, scientifically validated interventions/instruction • Monitor student progress to inform instruction • Use data to make decisions • Use assessments for three different purposes: (1) screening; (2) diagnostics; and (3) progress monitoring

5. Reduced to it’s most base-element RTI is:Data-Based Decision Making • Who needs/will receive supplemental intervention? (Universal Screening) • What specific skills are they lacking so that we can match them to an appropriate intervention? (Diagnostic) • Is the chosen intervention making a difference and helping close the skills gap? (Progress Monitoring)

6. Why Weekly Progress Monitoring? • Progress monitoring allows us to track progress toward specific and measurable goals. • We can determine a students trend line and compare it to the goal/aim line. We can calculate rates of desired progress versus actual progress. These things allow us to determine whether students are closing the gap and how quickly.

7. Why Weekly Progress Monitoring? • Progress monitoring data allows us to evaluate the effectiveness (the RESPONSE) of specific interventions or combinations of interventions for groups of students and/or individual students. This will help with decision-making in the following areas: • Did we make a good match of intervention to students’ needs? • Are we getting enough “bang for our buck?” • Do we need to try a different intervention or further supplement the current intervention? • Do we need to individualize our intervention plan (move to Tier 3 and enlist the help of the RTI team)?

8. Why Weekly Progress Monitoring? • Progress monitoring provides objective, concrete documentation to support decisions made (i.e., inclusion of students in various levels of intervention and exclusion of students from various levels of intervention).

9. What are data points? • A data point is the result of one progress monitoring probe (e.g., number of words read correctly on a reading fluency passage, number of call-outs during a class period, number of on-task observations at twenty-second intervals within a ten-minute observation, etc.). • Research indicates that a minimum of 7-9 data points are required for a reliable slope estimate (trend line).

10. 1-5% Intensive Individualized Interventions 1-5% Intensive Individualized Interventions 5-10% Targeted Interventions 5-10% Targeted Interventions 80-90% School-Wide Interventions 80-90% School-Wide Interventions F B A E D C Integrated Systems Model for Academics and Behavior Academic Systems Behavioral Systems Decisions about tiers of support are data-based Adapted from OSEP Effective School-Wide Interventions

11. What This Means for Schools/Councils: The School Administrator, April, 2007 • RtI is a general education responsibility and activity along with special education, Title, ELL • Requires major changes in district-wide “configuration of instruction” in basic skills (reading, math) for all students

12. Changes in Practices – Before Referral and Evaluation Previous Practices • Wait for referral (often wait to fail) • Pre-referral • Intervention responsibility on teacher • Anecdotal progress reports • Wait to fail – had to be deficit to be eligible RtI Practices • Teams review universal screening data and automatically intervene with 20-30% • Interventions are automatic, designed by team and delivered flexibly by building personnel • Progress monitoring data reviewed by team to make decisions

13. Change in Practices: During Evaluation Previous Practices • Most information collected after referral • Testing had most influence on eligibility decision • Little focus on other criteria than tests • Proving deficits, waiting to fail RtI Practices • Most information already gathered when comprehensive evaluation begins • RtI data have most influence on eligibility decision • All criteria are fully analyzed • Diagnostic and other assessment used as needed to fill in missing information needed for intervention planning

14. Changes in Practices: After Evaluation and for the IEP Previous Practices • Frequently, more evaluation was needed to establish goals and services • If not eligible, frustration of educators, parents, and lack of student support and progress • No clear link between assessment and IEP, as required by IDEA RtI Practices • IEP team has extensive information on student response to instruction by time eligibility is established • Clear, on-going link between assessment and IEP – same data methods used to progress monitor on IEP goals

15. “We did then what we knew how to do, when we knew better, we did better.” - Maya Angelou

16. Tier 1: Core instruction - All Students • Effective, scientifically-based core instruction, linked to state standards • Differentiated instruction and adaptation as needed to meet the needs of all students • Universal screening data • To identify student progress in core instruction and effectiveness of core

17. Universal Screening • Curriculum Based Measurement • Dynamic indicators of basic skills • Reading – fluency and early literacy • Mathematics – numeric principles and computation • Written Expression • Spelling • Web-based tool – e.g. AIMSWEB, V-Port

18. CCS Universal Screeners • MAP: Grades K-11 Reading and Math • AIMSweb Behavior Screener

19. Tier 1: Decision Making • Using data to examine effectiveness of overall practices • 80% of students reaching benchmark • No achievement gaps for subgroups • If no to either, strengthen core instruction (grow the green!) • Use of school-wide team (Building-level Team) for planning and decision making, including parent representation

20. Building-Level Team Decision Making • Examination of core instruction • Examination of effectiveness (student data – state test data and screening – “how’s that working for you?) • Matching instructional practices to student needs • Differentiation and help as needed • Flexible grouping • Flexible use of resources (including teaching staff) • Effective, efficient use of instructional time

21. TIER 1: Benchmark/Schoolwide Benchmark/Core Reading Programs: Voyager Learning/Cambium Rigby Literacy (Harcourt Rigby Education, 2000) Trophies (Harcourt School Publishers, 2003) The Nation’s Choice (Houghton Mifflin, 2003) Macmillan/McGraw-Hill Reading (2003) Open Court (SRA/McGraw-Hill, 2002) Reading Mastery Plus (SRA/ McGraw-Hill, 2002) Scott Foresman Reading (2004) Success For All (1998-2003) Wright Group Literacy (2002) Reviewed by: Oregon Reading First Comprehensive: Addressed all 5 areas and included at least grades K-3

22. TIER 1: School-Wide Discipline Programs: Positive Behavior Support Prosocial Discipline Programs School-wide Discipline Committee Attendance Programs CCS Approach to Tier I Behavior: CHAMPS

23. Tier 2: Supplemental, Some Students • Supplemental, research-based intervention, delivered in a timely, automatic fashion to students who need it, approximately 5-10% (not referral based) • Use of universal screening data (e.g., DIBELS, CBM) for early identification of who is in need of more intensive intervention • Usually involves small group intervention, flexible grouping

24. Tier 2: Supplemental, Some Students • Use of regularly scheduled (at least weekly) systematic progress monitoring to evaluate student progress and determine if more intensive intervention is needed • Use of instructional teams (e.g., grade level teams, with data manager support) to make decisions on interventions, delivery of interventions, grouping, student progress

25. Tier 2 Decision Making • Apply decision rules (progress, closing gap toward meeting benchmark) to students receiving intervention • Move to more intensive intervention (Tier 3) as needed – by data

26. Characteristics of Tier 2 Interventions • Available in general education settings – increased dose of instruction for students who fail to make progress with core instruction on state benchmarks • Opportunity to increase exposure (academic engaged time) to core curriculum and content standards • Opportunity to narrow focus of the instruction to meet skill needs • Interventions are research-based

27. Characteristics of Tier 2 Interventions (cont.) • Typically delivered in small groups (with flexible grouping) by classroom teachers, with support as needed from resource specialists (e.g., Title, reading teachers) • Sufficient time for interventions to have an effect (10-30 weeks) • Frequent (at least weekly) progress monitoring to assure are examining effectiveness and student response, with opportunity to intensify as indicated by data

28. Tier 3: Intensive Intervention, Few Students • Intensive, individualized interventions (using problem-solving methods and research-based practices) for students who need it, approximately 1-5% • Use of systematic progress monitoring data, at least weekly

29. Tier 3: Intensive Intervention, Few Students • Additional research-based intervention, in small group or individualized, for students with insufficient progress to Tier 2 interventions • Use of small problem-solving team, including parents, teacher, support teacher, others as needed • Use when need for support, demonstrated by data, is chronic and intensive

30. Tier 3: Data-based Decision Making • Weekly progress monitoring data, reviewed regularly by team, using decision rules • Consideration of • Level • Slope (rate of progress); closing gap • Intensity of instruction/intervention needed to close gap/change trajectory

31. Tier 3: Intensive Intervention, Few Students (cont.) • Tier 3 is not special education • Response to Tier 3 determines if “suspect disability” (consistent with Questions and Answers from Office of Special Education Programs – clarification that do not suspect disability until track response to instruction and intervention)

32. TIER 3: INTENSIVE Reading Programs Voyager Reading Corrective Reading (SRA) Language! (Sopris West) Earobics (phonics/phonemic awareness; Cognitive Concepts) Great Leaps/ Read Naturally (Fluency) REWARDS (Fluency, Comp. and Vocab. in Plus Program) Soar to Success (comp.)

33. CCS TIERS DEFINED… • See website/RtI Overview • We first looked at resources we had available and determined what met the criteria of researched-based intervention • Next we determined the appropriateness of the interventions in accordance with the characteristics of each of the three tiers.

34. CCS Progress Monitoring Tools • Curriculum Based Measures (CBM) • Voyager (V-PORT) • Fast ForWord (Progress Tracker) • AIMSweb Probes (Stored in Share Point) • AIMSweb-Behavior (Currently under construction!)

35. CCS RtI Behavior • Non-negotiables • AIMSweb Screener (Under Construction!) • Behavior Forms (Under Construction!) • Building CHAMPIONS

39. Moving to Suspecting Eligibility and Eligibility Determination • Time clock starts when suspect disability • Comprehensive evaluation means examining all data and collecting what additional data are needed (if any) to answer questions • In need of specialized instruction? • Eligible as a child with a disability? • If yes to both (do #1 first), move to IEP

40. CCS RtI Website • http://www.campbellcountyschools.org/rti/indexrti.php • Share Point: Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 is a new server program that is part of the 2007 Microsoft Office system. Your organization can use Office SharePoint Server 2007 to facilitate collaboration, provide content management features, implement business processes, and supply access to information that is essential to organizational goals and processes. You can quickly create SharePoint sites that support specific content publishing, content management, records management, or business intelligence needs. You can also conduct effective searches for people, documents, and data, participate in forms-driven business processes, and access and analyze large amounts of business data.

41. Typical Implementation Activities by Year: • Year 1: Planning, reviewing data and instructional practices and use of resources, setting up structure, communicating about benefits, building skills through professional development (PD) • Year 2: Implementation begins (school-wide or within grade/s), use of universal screening data, targeted interventions, continued planning and PD • Year 3 and Beyond: Data-based decision making, evaluating outcomes, making adjustments, continued planning

42. Our Goals for 2010-2011 • Refine Behavior RtI including screening, monitoring • Pilot Writing second semester in grades 3,4 and 5 • Continued Professional Development in classroom level interventions, data analysis and RtI Protocols in general

43. What Role Does Your Council Play In All of This?

46. NEEDS ASSESSMENT • Is your school ready for RtI? • What are your next steps? (See sample needs assessments and additional tools from the KSI website)

47. Questions? • Connie Pohlgeers, Director of School Improvement Campbell County Schools connie.pohlgeers@campbell.kyschools.us (859) 635-2173 ext. 107 Thank you for coming!