RTI: Overview Module Sharon Rinks, Psy.D. Lisa Sirian, Ph.D. Michelle Bolling, Ed.S.

1. RTI: Overview ModuleSharon Rinks, Psy.D.Lisa Sirian, Ph.D.Michelle Bolling, Ed.S.

2. The problem is not to suppress change, which cannot be done, but to manage it. - Alvin Toffler

3. Goals of Today’s Session • Overview of training • Establish a common language • Self-Assessment • Discuss goals and action planning • Gather your questions and confusions

4. What is RTI? • Ready, Think, Inspire • Really Thoughtful Insight • Rotten Terrible Initiative • Radical Time-consuming Insanity • Response to Intervention … is the practice of (1) providing high-quality instruction and interventions matched to student needs and, (2) using learning rate over time and level of performance to (3) make important educational decisions.” National Association of State Directors of Special Education (2005) Response to Intervention: Policy Considerations and Implementation, p. 5

5. Stages of RTI • Consensus… Ready? • Buy in from the top down • Buy in from the bottom up • Infrastructure Development… Get Set… • Building capacity in personnel • Increasing materials & personnel resources • Effective teaming & Data Analysis • Implementation… Go! • Infrastructure first, then implement

6. “It will never work. It’s too early in the year. That’s not my job. We tried that before. There’s no money in the budget. Let’s just think about it… It’s too close to the holidays. Let’s not rush into anything. It’s really too late in the year. Let’s wait until next year. We’ll never have administrative support. No one else does it that way. We’ve never done it that way. We already tried it in my old school. My old school didn’t do it that way. It would never work here. It can’t be done. Everyone would hate it.” Signs that Consensus Has Not Been Reached (Tilton, 2003)

7. Prerequisite Beliefs for RTI • “No child should be left behind. • It is okay to provide differential service across students. • “Academic engaged time” must be considered first. • Student performance is influenced most by the quality of the interventions we deliver and how well we deliver them—not by preconceived notions about child characteristics. • Decisions are best made with data. • Expectations for student performance should be dependent on a student’s response to an intervention, not on the basis of a score that predicts what they are capable of doing.” (Batsche, 2007)

8. Evidence of Teacher Impact • Teachers underestimate their impact on student achievement • The expertise of the teacher accounts more for learning than size or composition of the class (e.g., Wright, Horn & Sanders, 1997) • Students who have several highly effective teachers in a row make significantly greater gains (Sanders & Rivers, 1996) • Teacher expertise accounts for much more of the variation in student achievement than socioeconomic status or race (Ferguson, 1991)

9. Building the Infrastructure for RTI • Using RTI requires an infrastructure of assessment and intervention techniques. • Initial and ongoing efforts must be made to build the infrastructure. • Infrastructure includes: • Training of school personnel • Redefining roles of key personnel • Acquiring resources and materials

10. Like Trying to Build a House Without a Foundation… • Georgia has required us to move to implementation before the infrastructure was in place. • This led to confusion, frustration, resistance, anger, denial… etc. • The RTI Institute is an effort to address the need for building infrastructure within our schools for the future while giving us tools to intervene with children in our classrooms today.

11. Goals and Objectives • Use evidence-based adult learning practices to build capacity to implement RTI • Increase capacity in the following areas: • RTI understanding • Universal screening • Evidence-based intervention in reading, math, writing, and behavior • Progress monitoring • Graphing intervention data • Data-based decision making

12. The Long and Short of It • These goals will take substantial time to accomplish • Building a house does not get accomplished over night • While we build our house we MUST NOT leave children out in the cold. • Long Term Goal- Build Infrastructure • Short Term Goal- Meet the needs of students we have in our classrooms right now

13. The Long and Short of It • Long Term Goal- Build Infrastructure • The RTI Institute- building capacities • Follow-up implementation- building skills • Frequent formative assessment • Short Term Goal- Meet the needs of student we have in our classrooms right now • Academic and Behavior Modules- • Interventions you can use now • Progress Monitoring tools to track progress • Application Activities- • Using the strategies with a few cases that you have in your schools right now

14. Professional Learning Approach • Whole group training will be supported by: • Illustrative case studies • Team planning and self-assessment • Sharing of cases • Application activities provide opportunities to practice skills in authentic contexts to help the 4 or 5 kids you know need it now

15. Professional Learning Approach • Train the Trainer model • Participating teams will all receive training materials • 5 additional on-site support visits will be provided to teams that redeliver training at the school level • An additional PLU may be earned by schools that demonstrate evidence of redelivery of the content

16. Implementation: The Professional Learning Model • Voluntary participation • Distributed learning over time • Meaningful choices • Opportunities for practice • Authentic cases • Learning communities/teaming • Responsive to participants’ needs • Tailored feedback

17. Are there any questions yet?

18. Key Characteristics of RTI • Preventive approach • Tiered problem solving • Beginning with sound instructional practices • Using evidence-based interventions • Using a team approach • Decisions are made based on performance data at all levels

19. Key Characteristics of RTI • Universal screening of academics and behavior • Multiple tiers of increasingly intense interventions • Differentiated curriculum • Use of evidence-based practices and interventions • Continuous monitoring of student performance • Outcome assessment

20. Empirically tested using sound research methodology Accepted by experts within the field Published in scholarly research journals Evidence-Based Interventions

21. Evidence or Intuition? Evidence-Based Intervention Small Group Instruction (1:4) 1:1 Instruction Lillenstein & Pedersen (2005)

22. Advantages of RTI • Early intervention • Allows flexibility in how schools use their resources • Improves student outcomes • Focuses on school-based needs at many levels (grade-level, teacher-level, student…) • More timely and responsive practice • Efficient use of resources • More options to meet students’ needs in LRE

23. Why is RTI good for AYP? • You know at the beginning of the year who is not likely to “Meet Expectations”/pass standardized tests • You can bring kids’ scores up • You can help students without labeling them as disabled or SPED • You can help kids earlier (keep SPED numbers down) • You can and should give SPED students access to Tier 3 intervention groups if they are appropriate to their needs

24. Multi-Tiered Approach • Tier 1- Standards-Based Classroom Instruction (core curriculum for all students) • Tier 2- Needs-Based Learning (selected interventions for some students) • Tier 3- Committee-Driven Instruction (intensive interventions for fewer students) • Tier 4- Specially Designed Instruction (special ed., 504, alternative placement)

25. Tier 1- Standards-Based Classroom Instruction • Whole class, general ed curriculum • Effective instruction/environment • Universal screening • Early intervention • Effective for most students (80%)

26. Universal Screening • Tier 1 – all students screened for academic and behavioral difficulties • Conducted 3 times per year • Early fall • Midwinter • Spring • Maintain results in a database • Aligned with instruction, standards, and benchmarks

27. What Universal Screening Is: • Relevant for pre-K through 12th grade • Answers which and how many students are potentially in need of additional support • Snapshot of a point in time • Sample of a skill, measured repeatedly • Used proactively • Quantitative (gives a number for a score)

28. What Universal Screening Is NOT: • Administered to an isolated group • Program placement or tracking • Intended to tell you what the problem is or what program the student needs • Qualitative • Expensive or labor intensive • Administered, scored, or interpreted randomly or subjectively • Intended to measure every skill

29. Universal Screening Real-World Analogy • Weighing in at the Doctor’s office • Using weight as a screener for physical health • Everyone gets weighed at a DR’s visit • If on target, then stay at Tier 1 • Your next weigh in will be at your next visit • If not, there might be a Tier 2 intervention • If Overweight, the doctor might suggest one of the following Tier 2 interventions: • A change in eating habits • Or an increase in physical activity • Check for progress with the intervention by weighing yourself

30. Characteristics of Quality Screening Instruments • Brief and easily administered • Research-based • Highly correlated to skills assessed • Predictive of future performance • High reliability and validity • Sensitive to small increments of change • Alternate forms available • Data analysis and reporting available

31. Examples of Universal Screening Measures • DIBELS • AIMsweb • STAR Reading/Math • SWIS • Office Discipline Referral Database • Systematic Screening for Behavior Disorders [SSBD] • Curriculum Based Measurement • 4Sight • Behavior rating scale • Attendance data

32. Approaches to Universal Screening • Classroom or Grade • Teachers and/or support staff screen all students in the classroom or grade • Advantages: • Test own students • Students tested within classroom routine • Excellent for group or computer administered tests • Disadvantages: • Time-consuming for individually-administered subtests • Requires materials for all teachers • Logistically difficult for school-wide scoring and data entry

33. Approaches to Universal Screening • SWAT Team • Large team of administrators, unassigned teachers, support staff, and/or trained volunteers moves through the building screening all students • Advantages: • Data collected quickly and efficiently • Minimal disruption to classroom routine • Fewer materials needed • May facilitate scoring and data entry • Disadvantages: • Teachers do not test their own students • May lead to lack of ownership of data and data analysis • Support services may be disrupted

34. Approaches to Universal Screening • Modified SWAT Team • Substitute or substitutes are added to the classroom while the students are screened. The classroom teacher then conducts the screening. • Advantages: • Teachers screen their own students • Increases teachers’ understanding and ownership of screening data • Less disruptive to other classes • Disadvantages: • Pre-planning is required by the classroom teacher • Can be disruptive of classroom routine • May require more time than other two options

35. Universal Screening Among your team, discuss the practice of universal screening. What data do you have that you can use? What data do you need? How are you using the data that you are gathering?

36. Tier 1: Data Analysis Team (DAT) • Teams of like teachers (grade level or department level) working together to: • Meet immediately after universal screening • Analyze data and find groups of students not performing at benchmark • Need a structure (time, place, etc.) • For Tier 1 analysis teachers talk about the group as a whole, NOT individual students

37. RTI/DAT Conferencing Handout • Format for DAT Conference • Ensure understanding • Look at grade-level data • Look at classroom-level data

38. Case Example – Elementary Grade Level Data Analysis • 47% At Benchmark • 34% At Risk • 19% At Significant Risk What does this data tell you about the core program? Intervene at TIER 1 with entire group

39. Case Example- Middle School Grade Level Analysis

40. Case Example- High School School Level Analysis

41. Case Example- High School School Level Analysis

42. Case Example- High School School Level Analysis

43. DAT Sets Goals & Plans • Establish the group performance goal • Set a deadline or target date • For example: By the Midwinter universal screening, 80% of students will demonstrate proficiency on… (describe specific skill) • Teachers problem-solve for specific intervention ideas • Choose from existing available strategies • Research new strategies to implement • Focus on evidence-based strategies

44. Teachers Implement Strategies • Whole-group interventions delivered in the classroom • Differentiated instruction (may include small-group instruction) • Consult fellow teachers as resources • Check that all team members are implementing the core curriculum with fidelity

45. Case Example- Classroom-Level Data Analysis Grade Level Teacher 1 Teacher 2

46. Teacher 1 Data Analysis ORF Teacher 1 Data – Fall Teacher 1 Data- Midwinter * Grade-level intervention initiated in January Teacher 1 Data- Spring

47. Benefits of Tier 1 Data Analysis Teaming • Promotion of evidence-based instruction on a whole-class, whole-school level • Systematic identification of lowest performing students (rather than teacher impression or parent referral) • Eventual focusing of resources on fewer students at later Tiers

48. Case Example • 83% At Benchmark • 10% At Risk • 7% At Significant Risk How is the core program here? Intervene at Tier 2 with smaller groups

49. From Tier 1 to Tier 2 • DATs consider the appropriateness of the core curriculum and make recommendations as appropriate. • If appropriate, identify the lowest performing students (roughly 20%) and move to Tier 2 status. • If not appropriate, discuss what changes to the core curriculum or teaching strategies will be necessary to ensure success for all students.

50. From Tier 1 to Tier 2 Team identifies students who require needs based instruction. Team plans TIER 2 intervention for these students.