WELCOME PARENTS!

1. Leigh RtI Leaders Colleen Shaunnessy K-5 Cross Categorical cshaunnessy@norridge80.org Danielle Rubel K-8 Reading Specialist drubel@norridge80.org WELCOME PARENTS! RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION PARENT NIGHT at Leigh School September 25th, 2012

2. WHAT IS RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION (RtI)? • Response to Intervention is a process designed to help schools focus on high quality interventions that are matched to student needs and monitored on a frequent basis. • The information gained from the RtI process is used by school personnel to adapt instruction and to make decisions regarding the student’s educational program. • Did you know that an adult with poor literacy skills earns about $550.00 less per week than an adult with excellent literacy skills? (U.S. Department of Literacy)

3. WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF RtI? • The greatest benefit of an RtI approach is that it eliminates a “wait to fail” situation. • Students receive help promptly within the general education setting. • As soon as assessment data indicate a problem area for a student or a group of students, interventions are put into place to address those concerns. • While interventions are taking place, faculty members monitor student progress in their area(s) of concern. • These progress monitoring techniques, which are used within the RtI process, provide information that allows teachers to better evaluate students’ needs and to correlate instruction, resources, and interventions appropriately.

4. WHAT SCREENING PROCEDURES ARE USED TO IDENTIFY STUDENTS IN NEED OF INTERVENTIONS? • AIMSweb – a nationally normed reading and math assessment is used to screen the entire student body. • Students who fall below the 25 percentile are placed in an RtI group for intervention • ISAT Reading and Math Scores • In 4th – 8th grades, students with ISAT scores of below in reading and/or math from the previous school year will be placed in an RtI group

5. BENCHMARKING EXAMPLE • Reading Curriculum Based Measure (R-CBM): Alex loved to visit his Great Aunt Heidi because she had (11) a library filled with books. The library’s shelves held (20) books on every subject. There were books on rocks (29) and books on clocks. There were books on mountains (38) and books on fountains. (42) Did you know…….Research shows that the amount of leisure time spent reading is directly related to a child’s reading comprehension, the size of their vocabularies, and gains in their reading ability???? (Bennett and Ciccone)

6. BENCHMARKING EXAMPLE • Reading Comprehension Measure (MAZE) Alex loved to visit his Great Aunt Heidi because she had a library filled with books. The library’s shelves held books on (read, once, every) subject. There were books on rocks (that, and, if) books on clocks. There were books (on, in, you) mountains and books on fountains. But (at, all, the) one thing that made Aunt Heidi’s (perfect, library, ladder) really special was the library’s elves.

7. WHEN WILL BENCHMARKING TAKE PLACE? • Fall : August 27th – 31st • Winter : January 22nd – 25th • Spring : May 13th – 17th Did you know……..Each day in the United States, an average person spends four hours watching television, three hours listening to the radio/music, and only fourteen minutes reading? (Veronis, Suchler and Associates)

8. WHEN ARE RtI SERVICES BEING DELIVERED? During RtI at Leigh School (in RtI groups for K-4 and Jumpstart for 5-8) no content is taught. For students with demonstrated need, based upon data, interventions take place. For all other students, enrichment activities take place K – 4th Grade RtI Groups • 30 minutes/day • 5 days/week • Built into the daily reading block – occurs at different times for each grade level 5th – 8th Grade Jumpstart • 25 minutes/day • 5 days/week • Built into the student schedule. Takes place from 11:26 – 11:51 daily. Morning Math Lab for 1st – 5th Grade Students • 20 minutes/day (before school) • 5 days/week • Math lab takes place from 8:20 – 8:40 each morning

9. WHAT RESEARCH BASED INTERVENTIONS ARE WE USING? All specific interventions are Research-Based Interventions, which means scientific evidence supports the tool’s effectiveness in terms of educational instructional strategies. PAL-RW REWARDS LANGUAGE! Reading A-Z Soar to Success Read Naturally Making Meaning KU-SIMS - Vocabulary, Comprehension, & Test Taking Skills Symphony Math Successmaker

10. PROGRESS MONITORING • Progress is monitored frequently and repeatedly over time. Progress Monitoring takes place once a week. • Trends in performance are used to gauge the effectiveness of the supports and interventions. • Ineffective intervention plans are modified in a timely manner (6 weeks). • Progress Monitoring Reports will be sent to parents quarterly so that you are able to track your child’s progress as well. • Did you know……. That more than eight million U.S. students (grades 4-12) struggle to read, write, and comprehend adequately????????

14. Did you know……Out of school reading habits of students have shown that even 15 minutes a day of independent reading – can expose a child to more than a million words of text in a year?????? Next Steps… If adequate progress is made: • The student will be dismissed from RtI • A parent letter will be sent home If adequate progress is not made: • A Problem Solving Meeting will be scheduled. • Parents will be contacted by their child’s homeroom teacher because parents are expected to be active participants in the Problem Solving process.

15. WHAT CAN I DO AS A PARENT? • You will be provided with quarterly Progress Monitoring results. • Examine the results and praise your child for any progress or general improvement. • Implement and reinforce any strategies or interventions at home. • Frequently communicate with your child’s teacher(s). • Monitor and assist your child with homework assignments. • Visit the library often!

16. WHAT CAN I DO AS A PARENT? • Model reading and read often to and with your child. • Provide varied reading material--some for reading enjoyment and some with information about hobbies and interests. • Encourage activities that require reading, for example, cooking (reading a recipe), constructing a kite (reading directions), or identifying an interesting bird's nest or a shell collected at the beach (using a reference book). • Establish a reading time, even if it is only 10 minutes a day.

17. WHAT CAN I DO AS A PARENT? • Write notes to your school-age child; encourage written responses. • Encourage your child in all reading efforts. • Reward your child with a book. • Practice math facts • Play games that encourage critical thinking and problem solving skills • Use every day activities like grocery shopping or filling up the car with gas to instill the use of math in daily life

18. QUESTIONS? INTERESTING STATISTICS: • 50% of American adults are unable to read an eighth-grade level book. • Good readers in 5th grade may read ten times as many words as poor readers over a school year. • Students who report having all four types of reading materials (books, magazines, newspapers, encyclopedias) in their homes scored (on average) higher than those who reported fewer reading materials. • First grade children with good word recognition skills were exposed to almost twice as many words in their basal readers as were children who had poor word-recognition skills. • On average, 56% of young people say they read more than 10 books a year--with middle school students reading the most. Approximately 70% of middle school students read more than 10 books a year. • The average student learns about 3,000 words per year in early school years. • Almost 80% of families did not buy or read a book last year! • Children improve their reading ability by reading frequently! Reading achievement is directly related to the amount of reading children do in school and outside school.