Response to Intervention RTI: Helping Teachers to Select the Right Research-Based Classroom Strategies for ‘Emotionally Unpredictable’

Response to Intervention

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RTI: Helping Teachers to Select the Right Research-Based Classroom Strategies for ‘Emotionally Unpredictable’ Kids

Jim Wrightwww.interventioncentral.org


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Download PowerPoints and Handouts from this workshop at:

http://www.interventioncentral.org/esc10.php



Workshop Agenda

1. RTI & Behavior: Introduction

2. Teachers as Behavior Change Targets

3. Intervention Ideas for Motivation

4. Using Rewards Effectively in the Classroom

5. Intervention Ideas for Individual Challenging Behaviors

6. Structuring Behavioral Recommendations to Maximize Teacher ‘Buy-In’



RTI is a Model in Development

“Several proposals for operationalizing response to intervention have been made…The field can expect more efforts like these and, for a time at least, different models to be tested…Therefore, it is premature to advocate any single model.” (Barnett, Daly, Jones, & Lentz, 2004 )

Source: Barnett, D. W., Daly, E. J., Jones, K. M., & Lentz, F.E. (2004). Response to intervention: Empirically based special service decisions from single-case designs of increasing and decreasing intensity. Journal of Special Education, 38, 66-79.



RTI ‘Pyramid of Interventions’

Tier I

Tier II

Tier III

Tier I: Universal interventions. Available to all students in a classroom or school. Can consist of whole-group or individual strategies or supports.

Tier II: Individualized interventions. Subset of students receive interventions targeting specific needs. An RTI Team may assist with the plan.

Tier III: Intensive interventions. Students who are ‘non-responders’ to Tiers I & II may be eligible for special education services, intensive interventions.



Tier I Interventions

Tier I interventions are universal—available to all students.

Teachers often deliver these interventions in the classroom (e.g., providing additional drill and practice in reading fluency for students with limited decoding skills).

Tier I interventions are those strategies that instructors are likely to put into place at the first sign that a student is struggling.

Tier I interventions attempt to answer the question: Are routine classroom strategies for instructional delivery and classroom management sufficient to help the student to achieve academic success?



Tier II Interventions

Tier II interventions are individualized, tailored to the unique needs of struggling learners.

They are reserved for students with significant skill gaps who have failed to respond successfully to Tier I strategies.

Tier II interventions attempt to answer the question: Can an individualized intervention plan carried out in a general-education setting bring the student up to the academic level of his or her peers?



Tier II InterventionsThere are two different vehicles that schools can use to deliver Tier II interventions:

Standard-Protocol (Standalone Intervention). Group intervention programs based on scientifically valid instructional practices (‘standard protocol’) are created to address frequent student referral concerns. These services are provided outside of the classroom. A middle school, for example, may set up a structured math-tutoring program staffed by adult volunteer tutors to provide assistance to students with limited math skills. Students referred for a Tier II math intervention would be placed in this tutoring program. An advantage of the standard-protocol approach is that it is efficient and consistent: large numbers of students can be put into these group interventions to receive a highly standardized intervention. However, standard group intervention protocols often cannot be individualized easily to accommodate a specific student’s unique needs.

Problem-solving (Classroom-Based Intervention). Individualized research-based interventions match the profile of a particular student’s strengths and limitations. The classroom teacher often has a large role in carrying out these interventions. A plus of the problem-solving approach is that the intervention can be customized to the student’s needs. However, developing intervention plans for individual students can be time-consuming.



Tier III Interventions

Tier III interventions are the most intensive academic supports available in a school and are generally reserved for students with chronic and severe academic delays or behavioral problems.

In many schools, Tier III interventions are available only through special education.

Tier III supports try to answer the question, What ongoing supports does this student require and in what settings to achieve the greatest success possible?



Tier I: Universal100%

Tier II: Individualized~20%

Tier III: Intensive5-10%

Levels of Intervention: Tier I, II, & III



At the Federal Level: A ‘Hands-Off Approach to RTI Implementation

“There are many RTI models and the regulations are written to accommodate the many different models that are currently in use. The Department does not mandate or endorse any particular model. Rather, the regulations provide States with the flexibility to adopt criteria that best meet local needs. Language that is more specific or prescriptive would not be appropriate. For example, while we recognize that rate of learning is often a key variable in assessing a child’s response to intervention, it would not be appropriate for the regulations to set a standard for responsiveness or improvement in the rate of learning.” p. 46653

Source: U.S. Department of Education. (2006). Assistance to States for the education of children with disabilities and preschool grants for children with disabilities; final rule. 71 Fed. Reg. (August 14, 2006) 34 CFR Parts 300 and 301.



What is the Connection Between RTI & the Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA)?



Essential Elements of RTI (Fairbanks, Sugai, Guardino, & Lathrop, 2007)

1. A “continuum of evidence-based services available to all students" that range from universal to highly individualized & intensive

2. “Decision points to determine if students are performing significantly below the level of their peers in academic and social behavior domains"

3. “Ongoing monitoring of student progress"4. “Employment of more intensive or different

interventions when students do not improve in response" to lesser interventions

5. “Evaluation for special education services if students do not respond to intervention instruction"

Source: Fairbanks, S., Sugai, G., Guardino, S., & Lathrop, M. (2007). Response to intervention: Examining classroom behavior support in second grade. Exceptional Children, 73, p. 289.



Essential Elements of the Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA)

“Functional assessment is a collection of methods for obtaining information about antecedents…, behaviors…, and consequences… The purpose is to identify the reason for the behavior and to use that information to develop strategies that will support positive student performance while reducing the behaviors that interfere with the child’s successful functioning.”

Source: Witt, J. C., Daly, E. M., & Noell, G. (2000). Functional assessments: A step-by-step guide to solving academic and behavior problems. Longmont, CO: Sopris West..pp. 3-4.



“From this definition, several things are clear. First, functional assessment is not a single test or observation. It is a collection of methods involving a variety of assessment techniques, including observations, interviews, and review of records, that are conducted to acquire an understanding of a child’s behavior.

Second, the definition clarifies exactly what is assessed—that is, the child’s behavior as well as what happens just before the behavior occurs and what happens as a result of the behavior.

Third, the definition states clearly the goal of functional assessment, which is to identify strategies and interventions to help the child.”


Essential Elements of the Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) (Cont.)



Behavioral Disabilities [BD] and RTI (Gresham, 1992)

“Resistance to intervention may be defined as the lack of change in target behaviors as a function of intervention. Given that the goal of all interventions is to produce a discrepancy between baseline and post-intervention levels of performance, the failure to produce such a discrepancy can be taken as partial evidence for a BD classification. ”

Source: Gresham, F. M. (1992). Conceptualizing behavior disorders in terms of resistance to intervention. School Psychology Review, 20, p. 25.



The Purpose of RTI: What Students Should It Serve?

Early Identification. As students begin to show need for academic support, the RTI model proactively supports them with early interventions to close the skill or performance gap with peers.

Chronically At-Risk. Students whose school performance is marginal across school years but who do not qualify for special education services are identified by the RTI Team and provided with ongoing intervention support.

Special Education. Students who fail to respond to scientifically valid general-education interventions implemented with integrity are classified as ‘non-responders’ and found eligible for special education.



Preparing Teachers to Make Full Use of Behavioral Recommendations



‘Special Education is Magic’: A Barrier to Interventions in the General-Education Setting

“…some teachers view students with handicaps as being qualitatively different from normal achievers and believe that only special teachers can teach these special students. At the very least, this kind of magical thinking reduces teachers’ expectations for student progress, and we know that ambitious goals increase achievement. At its worst, believing that special education is magic leads teachers to actively resist accommodating students with special needs in their classrooms through behavioral or instructional consultation.”

Source: Martens, B. K. (1993). A case against magical thinking in school-based intervention. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 4(2), 185-189.



Factors Influencing the Decision to Classify as BD (Gresham, 1992)

Four factors strongly influence the likelihood that a student will be classified as Behaviorally Disordered:

• Severity: Frequency and intensity of the problem behavior(s).

• Chronicity: Length of time that the problem behavior(s) have been displayed.

• Generalization: Degree to which the student displays the problem behavior(s) across settings or situations.

• Tolerance: Degree to which the student’s problem behavior(s) are accepted in that student’s current social setting.

Source: Gresham, F. M. (1992). Conceptualizing behavior disorders in terms of resistance to intervention. School Psychology Review, 20, 23-37.



Academic or Behavioral Targets Are Stated as ‘Replacement Behaviors’

“The implementation of successful interventions begins with accurate problem identification. Traditionally, the student problem was stated as a broad, general concern (e.g., impulsive, aggressive, reading below grade level) that a teacher identified. In a competency-based approach, however, the problem identification is stated in terms of the desired replacement behaviors that will increase the student’s probability of successful adaptation to the task demands of the academic setting.” p. 178

Source: Batsche, G. M., Castillo, J. M., Dixon, D. N., & Forde, S. (2008). Best practices in problem analysis. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.), Best practices in school psychology V (pp. 177-193).



Inference: Moving Beyond the Margins of the ‘Known’

“An inference is a tentative conclusion without direct or conclusive support from available data. All hypotheses are, by definition, inferences. It is critical that problem analysts make distinctions between what is known and what is inferred or hypothesized….Low-level inferences should be exhausted prior to the use of high-level inferences.” p. 161

Source: Christ, T. (2008). Best practices in problem analysis. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.), Best practices in school psychology V (pp. 159-176).



Examples of High vs. Low Inference Hypotheses

High-Inference Hypothesis. The student is unmotivated and ‘lazy’.

Known

Unknown

Low-Inference Hypothesis. The student is seeking to escape the task of reading by passively declining to participate. Known

Unknown

A student becomes passively non-compliant--most often when pressed by the teacher to engage in reading-related activities.



‘Teacher’s Voice’: Behavior Management Strategies



Writing Quality ‘Problem Identification’ Statements



Writing Quality ‘Problem Identification’ Statements

• A frequent problem at RTI Team meetings is that teacher referral concerns are written in vague terms. If the referral concern is not written in explicit, observable, measurable terms, it will be very difficult to write clear goals for improvement or select appropriate interventions.

• Use this ‘test’ for evaluating the quality of a problem-identification (‘teacher-concern’) statement: Can a third party enter a classroom with the problem definition in hand and know when they see the behavior and when they don’t?



Writing Quality ‘Problem-Identification’ Statements: Template

Format for Writing RTI Team Teacher Concerns

Conditions when the behavior is observed or absent

Description of behavior in concrete, measurable, observable terms

During large-group instruction

The student calls out comments that do not relate to the content being taught.

When reading aloud The student decodes at a rate much slower than classmates.

When sent from the classroom with a pass to perform an errand or take a bathroom break

The student often wanders the building instead of returning promptly to class.



Writing Quality ‘Teacher Referral Concern’ Statements: Examples

• Needs Work: The student is disruptive.• Better: During independent seatwork , the

student is out of her seat frequently and talking with other students.

• Needs Work: The student doesn’t do his math.• Better: When math homework is assigned, the

student turns in math homework only about 20 percent of the time. Assignments turned in are often not fully completed.



‘Big Ideas’ in Student Behavior Management



Big Ideas: Similar Behaviors May Stem from Very Different ‘Root’ Causes

(Kratochwill, Elliott, & Carrington Rotto, 1990)

• Behavior is not random but follows purposeful patterns.

Students who present with the same apparent ‘surface’ behaviors may have very different ‘drivers’ (underlying reasons) that explain why those behaviors occur.

A student’s problem behaviors must be carefully identified and analyzed to determine the drivers that support them.

Source: Kratochwill, T. R., Elliott, S. N., & Carrington Rotto, P. (1990). Best practices in behavioral consultation. In A. Thomas and J. Grimes (Eds.). Best practices in school psychology-II (pp. 147=169). Silver Spring, MD: National Association of School Psychologists..



Common ‘Root Causes’ or ‘Drivers’ for Behaviors Include…

• Power/Control• Protection/Escape/Avoidance• Attention• Acceptance/Affiliation• Expression of Self• Gratification• Justice/Revenge




Big Ideas: Be Proactive in Behavior Management (Martens & Meller, 1990)

• Teachers who intervene before a student misbehaves or when the misbehavior has not yet escalated have a greater likelihood of keeping the student on task and engaged in learning.

Source: Martens, B.K., & Meller, P.J. (1990). The application of behavioral principles to educational settings. In T.B. Gutkin & C.R.Reynolds (Eds.), The handbook of school psychology (2nd ed.) (pp. 612-634). New York: John Wiley & Sons.

ABC Timeline

A CB



• Individuals are always performing SOME type of behavior: watching the instructor, sleeping, talking to a neighbor, completing a worksheet (‘behavior stream’).

• When students are fully engaged in academic behaviors, they are less likely to get off-task and display problem behaviors.

• Academic tasks that are clearly understood, elicit student interest, provide a high rate of student success, and include teacher encouragement and feedback are most likely to effectively ‘capture’ the student’s ‘behavior stream’.

Big Ideas: Behavior is a Continuous ‘Stream’ (Schoenfeld & Farmer, 1970)

Source: Schoenfeld, W. N., & Farmer, J. (1970). Reinforcement schedules and the ‘‘behavior stream.’’ In W. N. Schoenfeld (Ed.), The theory of reinforcement schedules (pp. 215–245). New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.



Student academic problems cause many school behavior problems.

“Whether [a student’s] problem is a behavior problem or an academic one, we recommend starting with a functional academic assessment, since often behavior problems occur when students cannot or will not do required academic work.”

Big Ideas: Academic Delays Can Be a Potent Cause of Behavior

Problems (Witt, Daly, & Noell, 2000)

Source: Witt, J. C., Daly, E. M., & Noell, G. (2000). Functional assessments: A step-by-step guide to solving academic and behavior problems. Longmont, CO: Sopris West, p. 13



Team Activity: Think of a Student…

At your table:• Discuss students in the present or past whom

you were asked to evaluate for a possible EBD/Behavior classification.

• Select one of those students as a focus for activities at today’s workshop.

• Jot down a brief behavioral profile of the student.



Activity: Selecting the ‘Best of the Best’ Tier I Intervention

Ideas



Tier I Interventions List: Activity

• Select an intervention topic of interest

• Scan the intervention pages that your group selected

• Select 2-4 TOP ideas from your reading that you feel should be on every teacher’s ‘Tier I’ intervention list at your school

• Be prepared to share your ideas



Reading Assignments

• Defiance/Non-Compliance: p. 56• Hyperactivity: p. 61• Off-Task/Inattention: p. 63

Documents

Response to Intervention RTI: Helping Teachers to Select the Right Research-Based Classroom Strategies for ‘Emotionally Unpredictable’