Kentucky System of Interventions

1. Kentucky System of Interventions Frequently Asked Questions

2. KSI is a school-wide system for providing timely support to meet the needs of all children (struggling and high achieving) within (and in addition to) research-based core instruction. • It is ensuring that all students receive timely, direct interventions at the first indication they are experiencing difficulty rather than waiting until they are significantly further behind. • The main difference between KSI and RtI is that RtI focuses only on struggling learners in reading, mathematics, and/or behavior. What is the difference between KSI/RtI?

3. KSI/RtI is not a program; it is a multi-tiered preventive process for identifying and addressing academic and behavioral needs. Intervention is ‘good teaching’ and should be supported through the use of rich instructional resources. You can find further guidance in relation to this issue on the Kentucky Department of Education website by looking through the KSI (Kentucky Systems of Intervention) Document. Is KSI/RtI a program or an instructional strategy? 

4. KRS 158.6453 (subsection 20) The reporting structure shall include… • Grades 3rd through 8th • Plan for addressing learning concerns for any student with identified deficiencies OR strengths • Each student who takes a high school or college readiness examination • Plan for addressing students who do not meet CCR benchmarks • Communication to Parents/ Guardians • KRS 158.6459 (Interventions) • Any student who does not meet college readiness benchmarks on EPAS… Shall have intervention strategies included in their individual learning plan • 704 KAR 3:305 (Min Graduation Requirements) • A transitional course or intervention (which shall be monitored to address remediation needs) shall be required before exiting high school. • HB 69 (K-3 RtI) • Requires interventions in K-3 for reading, mathematics, writing and behavior; requires monitoring of interventions What legislation is in place for KSI/RtI?

5. KSI/ RtI is a process schools should implement to help any struggling student. Every teacher and administrator in the school building should be somehow involved in, and responsible for, KSI/RtI. • Tier 1 is geared toward every student in the school because this is the universal tier- this is the core instruction that all students receive. • At the Tier 2 and Tier 3 levels, your interventionist should be someone well versed in the reading or mathematics content, or someone well experienced in behavior interventions. Who is responsible for KSI/RtI

6. The administration plays the most important role in the KSI/RtI process. • The administrators are the instructional leaders in the school setting. They must make big decisions for their school in terms of: • Interventions • Staffing allocations and scheduling • Professional development (screeners, progress monitoring, etc.) • Resources to be used in/with interventions What is the administration's role in KSI/RtI?

7. No, RtI is a multi-tier prevention system including multiple levels of intensity that provides intervention to ALL students that need additional, targeted instruction in a specific area. • RtI cannot be something that the Special Education Dept in your school is doing- if it is, then your school is not actually doing RtI. Your school will not be doing RtI until your regular classroom teachers embrace and fully participate. ~ Pat Quinn Is RtI only for students who will eventually qualify for special education? 

8. KDE cannot endorse any specific program or service for interventions. • The National Center on Response to Interventions has compiled research on various intervention and monitoring tools. You can compare these products at their website: http://www.rti4success.org/screeningTools What materials can we purchase to use to help us with interventions?

9. The school or district should begin the school year with their universal screener. The screener will help identify those students who should be considered for interventions. • It is imperative that students who need intervention services be scheduled for those services as early in the school year as possible. How early in the year should KSI/RtI be implemented? 

10. ESS Model • Lab Model  • Intervention Time • Lunch Intervention • Embedded Model  • Pull-out Model How do we find time in the school day to provide interventions?

11. By general definition, Tier 1 is for all students in the school. Tier 1 instruction is highly effective, good instruction that supports student interest and individuality with differentiation. • Schools do have an opportunity, through the Individual Learning Plan, to develop “school-wide” interventions. This would be appropriate if a large percentage of your students had the same areas of need. What are examples of tier 1 interventions?

12. If you have a large number of students in an intervention class, begin by considering the skill areas of need for students and place the students in flexible groups for instruction. Flexible grouping would allow an intervention teacher to focus on the needs of each group, effectively the size of the group while still individualizing instruction as much as possible. I have a lot of students in intervention; how do I manage that many students? 

13. Start by analyzing the diagnostic assessment to pinpoint the area of difficulty for individual students. From the diagnostic assessment, consider any skill area where at least 20% or more of the grade level (or content level) did not master the skill. These are Tier 1 (core instruction) concerns and should be addressed within regular classroom. Those skill areas that remain should be addressed in intervention. Utilize formative assessment practices to monitor student achievement throughout sessions. My intervention students have so many instructional needs; where do I start? 

14. Students in intervention may have similar needs; however, each student should have individualized academic and/or behavioral goals within their intervention plan that is specific to their learning needs. It is always recommended that students in Tier 2 or beyond have an individualized, written plan that is shared with the students’ teacher(s) and with their parents/ guardians. When is it appropriate to set individual student goals? 

15. A student intervention plan may not be as formal as an IEP. • There is more flexibility in the student intervention plan. • An example of a student intervention plan has been posted to the KSI website and associated with webinar #3, Student Intervention Plans. How is a student intervention plan different from an IEP?

16. Progress monitoring should be conducted often enough that an intervention teacher can determine if a student is responding to an intervention. • Intervention teachers should ensure that enough “teaching time” has elapsed between intervention sessions for the progress monitoring to be effective. • Most research indicates that progress monitoring should be done at least every two weeks for a Tier 3 intervention. How often should we conduct progress monitoring?

17. No, it does not always have to be norm referenced. Schools can use “informal” or teacher-made probes to collect intervention data. • Any type of Intervention should include: • Strategies or interventions that target the areas of concern • Are scientific, research-based • Are more than just assessing the area-actual instruction is provided • The interventions are documented, data collection is occurring • Analysis of this data is occurring regularly • Multiple intervention strategies are used, not just one strategy • The school is following the district’s or school’s RtI policies and procedures • It is important to remember a single procedure shall not be used as the sole criterion for determining whether a child is a child with a disability (707 KAR 1:300 Section 4 (9)). RtI data should be used along with other data- classroom observations, state, district, school assessment data, classwork samples, so forth.  The level of intervention data and the types used may vary for each student. In progress monitoring, does the probe need to be Norm Referenced?

18. Decision-making rules and are necessary for moving students between and among tiers. These decision rules must be a flexible and fluid process that relies on relevant student assessment data. The use of progress monitoring data informs the decision making process. How do I decide when a student moves between tiers? How long should they remain at each tier? How many data points are required? 

19. Keep in mind that Tier 1 is for all students • Just because a student receives special education services does not mean they are excluded from tiered interventions. If a student receives Special Education (or ELL) services, do we have to provide tiered interventions?

20. Fidelity of implementation is fidelity to the KSI/RtI process as well as to the research-validated instructional strategies used within the instruction. • Fidelity of the process means the school or district has established a process that outlines how/when students will receive intervention, for moving between and among the tiers, and then the process for exiting intervention. • Fidelity to the instructional strategies means to the proper procedure and/or intent of the instructional strategy based on the research that has validated the strategy. • Fidelity of implementation does not necessarily mean fidelity to a particular program. What is fidelity of implementation?

21. Parent involvement is recommended from the very beginning. • During the instructional intervention and progress monitoring process parent permission is not required. This is because the assessments are focusing on improving instruction. • (If the child is referred for special education evaluation parent permission is required as part of the usual procedural safeguards.) When is parent permission required in the KSI/RtI process?

22. The answer to this question rests largely with how the speech pathologist is funding in your school/ district. • If some percentage of their salary is paid from funds not related to IDEA, then yes they can provide interventions to students during that part of their work day. Can speech pathologists provide interventions to students?

23. KDE is working on identifying model KSI/RtI schools and districts. • A list of the schools and districts that we have identified will be available on our website, along with the model school criteria. • If you feel your school or district could be a model site for others, please contact us and let us know. Where can I go to see a good school model of KSI/RtI in Kentucky?

24. Questions? 502-564-2106 • Kim Willhoite, Reading Interventionist • Kim.willhoite@education.ky.gov • Samantha Thomas, Math Interventionist • Samantha.thomas@education.ky.gov • April Pieper, Academic Program Manager • April.pieper@education.ky.gov