RTI from the classroom perspective August 3, 2009 Superintendent's Summer Institute Eugene Hilton

RTI from the classroom

perspectiveAugust 3, 2009

Superintendent's Summer InstituteEugene Hilton

Targets

• Understand RTI vs. MTI• Look at RTI at the classroom level • Explore the role of screening and progress

monitoring assessment, core program, interventions and teaming in an RTI system

RTI is not

• A reading curriculum• A stand-alone small group reading group• DIBELS• An instructional strategy• A instructional methodology

Academic Systems Behavioral Systems

1-5% 1-5%

5-10% 5-10%

80-90% 80-90%

Intensive, Individual Interventions•Individual Students•Assessment-based•High Intensity

Intensive, Individual Interventions•Individual Students•Assessment-based•Intense, durable procedures

Targeted Group Interventions•Some students (at-risk)•High efficiency•Rapid response

Targeted Group Interventions•Some students (at-risk)•High efficiency•Rapid response

Universal Interventions•All students•Preventive, proactive

Universal Interventions•All settings, all students•Preventive, proactive

School-Wide Systems for Student Success

Defining Terms:

• Is a system of organizing gen. ed. curriculum and instruction to meet the needs of all students

• Integrates all support programs to use resources more efficiently

• Applies to all students

• Can exist without using RTI

• Is an evaluation procedure identified in IDEA for identifying learning disabilities

• Is a special education procedure that is limited to assessment

• Applies only to children suspected of having LD

• Cannot be implemented without a system like MTI in place

Multi-Tiered Instruction(MTI)

Response to Intervention (RTI)

Why RTI?

• One size doesn’t fit all

• We don’t have enough resources to intervene one by one

• We miss kids

• We wait too long to intervene

RTI is all about General Education!

• Teachers don’t fail students, systems do.• RTI is a system for differentiation of

instruction!• RTI is a system that is predicated on the

general education teachers’ skill and knowledge of instruction, assessment, curriculum, and children.

A Tale of Two Teams

Does the child find the system, or does the system find the child?

Pre-referral team (CARES)reviews what teacher

has tried

Jessie participates in the general curriculum

Jessie isn’t doing well

Teacher tries again

Resumesregular

program

Jessiedoesn’t

improve

Jessieimproves

Teacher’s effort is deemed sufficient

Special Education referral is initiated by the teacher

Jessie’s teacher does his best to differentiate instruction and keeps

anecdotal data

Teacher is told to try again

The

pre referral/discrepancy

approach

Jessie is tested, usually by special education personnel, using IQ, achievement, and other tests

Daisy participates in the general curriculum

Daisy isn’t doing well Second Group

Intervention

EBIS Team designs individualized intervention

Resumesgeneralprogram

Daisydoesn’t

improve

Daisyimproves

Daisydoesn’t

improve

Daisyimproves

Intervention is intense and LD is suspected

Improvement is good and other

factors are suspected as

cause

Special Education referral is initiated

EBIS Team reviews screening data and places Daisy in group intervention

Parents Notified

How RTI Works from a Student’s Perspective

What does this mean for my class?

• You need to believe all children can learn.

• As a classroom teacher, the RTI system will provide a system for differentiation.

• You may need to change how you currently do things.

Why is RTI so connected to Reading?

• Reading is not an optional skill

• Days and weeks matter

• Working smart to achieve differentiation

• Sharing responsibility

Differences Learning to ReadEstimates from NICHD research (NC Dept. of Public Education)

Population Population %%

Journey to ReadingJourney to Reading Instructional Instructional RequirementsRequirements

55 Easy: children read Easy: children read before starting before starting schoolschool

Need no formal Need no formal decoding instructiondecoding instruction

3535 Relatively EasyRelatively Easy Learn to read Learn to read regardless of regardless of instructional approachinstructional approach

4040 Formidable Formidable ChallengeChallenge

Need systematic and Need systematic and explicit instructionexplicit instruction

20 20 One of the most One of the most difficult tasks to be difficult tasks to be mastered in schoolmastered in school

Need intensive, Need intensive, systematic, direct, systematic, direct, explicit instructionexplicit instruction

Reading is not an optional skill

• Poor readers in 4th grade struggle in literacy in Kindergarten (Torgeson, 2004)

• Children who struggle K-3 rarely achieve average reading skills (Torgeson, Rashotte, Alexander, 2001)

• Children who cannot read drop out of school

• In 1994, fewer than 50 percent of high school dropouts were employed (National Center for Education Statistics, as cited in Snow et al., 1998)

• Academic success or failure is strongly related to adaptive functioning as an adult

Reading is not an optional skill

Independent Reading %tile Minutes Per Day Words Read Per Year

98 65.0 4,358,00090 21.1 1,823,00070 9.6 622,00050 4.6 282,00030 1.3 106,00010 0.1 8,000 2 0.0 0

Adapted from Anderson, Wilson, and Fielding (1988).

Really? How does that Work?

“. . . students who get off to a fast start in reading are more likely to read more over the years, and, furthermore, this very act of reading can help children compensate for modest levels of cognitive ability by building their vocabulary and general knowledge. In other words, ability is not the only variable that counts in the development of intellectual functioning. Those who read a lot will enhance their verbal intelligence; that is, reading will make them smarter.”

--Cunningham and Stanovich, 1998

The Matthew Effect

For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.

(Matthew 25:29)

In other words, good readers get smarter while poor readers fall farther and farther behind.

Days and weeks matter

• Is it a skill deficit or developmental lag ? Can’t we wait for them to “bloom?”– Without intervention, kids who are behind stay behind

(Juel, 1988; Francis, et al., 1996, Shaywitz, 1999)– Skill deficits can be erased—especially if you catch them

early!

• Strong reading skills build reading AND cognitive skills!

Days and weeks matter

• Differentiate from the start; • Continue with differentiated literacy

development;• Multi-faceted assessment;• Predictive assessment;• Ongoing accountability.

NO FAILURE!

Working smart to achieve differentiation

• Overall, national longitudinal studies show that more than 17.5 percent of the nation's children--about 10 million children--will encounter reading problems in the crucial first three years of their schooling" (National Reading Panel Progress Report, 2000).

• In a 500 student school:– 400 students will do fine with a good core curriculum– 75 students will need systematic, ongoing specialized

instruction– 25 students will need intensive, individualized intervention

Sharing responsibility

Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.

Ryunosuke Satoro


• Literacy becomes the main thing.• You need a sense of urgency.• Your students get additional

instruction.• You don’t have to do it all on your

own.

Daisy participates in the general curriculum


Tier 1

Provide instruction on the essential skills for the majority of students

Tier I

• All students receive Tier I – Research-based core reading

curriculum–Strong fidelity and professional

development– Universal screening of all students

Figure out what is important to your system

• If you don’t know what is important, everything is.

• If everything is important, you will try to do everything.

• If you try to do everything you will diminish the outcomes of the high impact skills.

Big 5 + 5What we teach…

• Phonemic Awareness

• Phonics• Fluency• Vocabulary• Comprehension

How we teach it…

• Classroom Organization• Matching students to text• Access to interesting text

with choice and collaboration

• Writing and Reading• Expert Tutoring

Essential Components of Effective Reading Instruction

• Explicit – Overtly teaching each step through teacher modeling and many examples (Gradual Release Model).

• Systematic – Breaking lessons and activities into sequential, manageable steps that progress from simple to more complex concepts and skills.

• Practice and Feedback – Providing many opportunities for students to respond and demonstrate what they are learning, which may include teacher modeling, rehearsal, and feedback.

• Mastery and Application – Generalizes what is learned in different contexts.

Instruction is more important than curriculum

Lots of Active ParticipationLeveled PracticeVocabulary InstructionComprehension Skills and Strategies Taught and

Practiced in Connected TextFluency Taught and PracticedGraphic OrganizersPhonics Review and ELL supportWriting/Drawing (K-1) in response to what is readNo Round Robin Reading!!!

Small Group Instruction• Text is student appropriate• Conducted in small, flexible groupings• The text is focused on the needs of the students• Each student has their own copy of the text and they

read independently while the adult observes their reading behaviors (this is not round robin reading)

• The adult explicitly guides the students and addresses errors the students are making

• After the students reads the adult leads a group discussion

How does it help a struggling reader to be in core?

• They need the most instruction• Need to be exposed to grade level material• If they miss grade level material, they will

never catch up• Just because there is a deficit in one area,

does not mean there is a deficit in all areas of reading

• Interventions are limited in scope

Tier IReading Programs for ALL students in TTSD

Elementary• Treasures• Screened with DIBELS

Middle and High School• Priority standards• Holt –Elements of Literature & Elements of

Language• Common novels• Screened with OAKS percentile and MAZE


• Teach the core curriculum as it is designed.

• Creativity comes from HOW you teach• Use assessments to group students into

small flexible groups.• Give students the opportunity to practice

and gain mastery.

Daisy isn’t doing well


What is CBM?

Curriculum Based Measures are usually composed of a set of standard directions, a timing device, set of materials, scoring rules, standards for judging performance, and record form or charts.

Purposes of CBMs• Evaluate overall effectiveness of program• Select students who need additional support• Monitor progress of students

A universal screener should over-identify students who might need something more!

Essential Features of CBM Tools

• Robust indicator of academic health • Brief and easy to administer• Can be administered frequently• Must have multiple, equivalent forms

– (If the metric isn’t the same, the data are meaningless)

• Must be sensitive to growth

Universal Screening• Quick general outcome measures• Should occur for ALL students 3x per

year• Used for data-based decision making

about:– How to create instructional change for ALL

• Changes for Tier 1– Which students need a closer look and/or

intervention• Changes for Tier 2

Why use a CBM to Track Progress?

• Reading trajectories are established early. • Readers on a low trajectory tend to stay on

that trajectory.• Students on a low trajectory tend to fall

further and further behind.• Early identification leads to early

intervention. The later children are identified as needing support, the more difficult it is to catch up!

Oral Reading Fluency

• Same measure middle of first grade through eighth grade

• ORF is not designed to provide an exhaustive assessment.

• You can be fluent enough, unless you want to be an auctioneer!

• Strong link to comprehension• Accuracy matters!

Oral Reading Fluency

95% 98% 99%

The Secret Life of Bees 18.5 7.4 3.6

My Brother Sam is Dead 15 6 3

The Magic School Bus 6 2.4 1.2

Oral Reading Errors per Page at Different Levels of Accuracy

Richard Allington, 2009

Evaluate Overall Effectiveness of Program

• Are 80% of students reaching benchmarks and “on track” for next goal?

• Does the core curriculum need to be addressed:– Intensity– Fidelity– Targeted– Group size– Instructional skills

Evaluate Overall Effectiveness of Program

• Literacy:– 90 minutes of reading daily?– Protected allocated reading time each day?– Skill grouping by class or grade?– Core and supplemental programs

implemented with fidelity? – More professional development needed?

Make a School Plan• Who will conduct Universal Screening? • Who will train the screeners?• Who will prepare materials?• Who will organize at the school?• Where will the data go?• Who will organize the data and present it to teaching teams?• Who will keep track of which students are in interventions?


• Understand the purpose of CBM• Deprivatize your practice• You may have to give the screener to

your whole class• You will have to use the data to trust

it

EBIS Team reviews screening data and places Daisy in group intervention


Team outcomes

• Identify causes over which you have control

• Prioritize and define problems using data• Set specific student goals

– Intervene, not just accommodate

• Monitor progress– Define success using data

PLC Critical Questions

• What exactly do we expect all students to learn?

• How will we know if they’ve learned it?• How will we respond when some students

don’t learn it?• How will we respond when some students

have already learned?

Select Students who are in Need of Additional Support

• CBMs are used as a way to begin a conversation. Other pieces of complementary assessments are used to help in decision making

• As a team you will use all of the assessment data available to you to place students in interventions.

Variables Related to Student Achievement

•Desire to learn•Strategies for learning•Knowledge•Skills•Prior content knowledge•Self-efficacy/helplessness

•Race •Genetic potential•Gender•Birth Order•Disposition•Health•Physical difference•IQ•Disability category •Personal history

•Quality of instruction•Pedagogical knowledge•Content knowledge

•Quality of curriculum•Quality of learning environment•Quality of evaluation •Quality and quantity of time/content

•Family income and resources•Family housing•Parent years of schooling•Mobility•Members of family•Family values•Socioeconomic status•Family history

Alterable

Unalterable(hard to change)

Within the student External to the student

ICEL

InstructionCurriculumEnvironmentLearner

Types of Teams

Tier 1 meetings• Meet 3 times a year after

screener is given (1/2 day)• Principal, Counselor,

Literacy Specialist/Title 1, Grade Level . . .

• Makes team decisions about core instruction using screening data

Tier 2 meetings• Meet monthly on a

designated day (30-60 min)• Principal, Counselor,

Literacy Specialist/Title 1, Grade Level . . .

• Makes team decisions about students in interventions using progress monitoring data (continue, intensify, remove)


• This is the hardest part of the RTI system.

• It will eventually lead to fewer meetings.

• A solid agenda will help these meetings run smooth.

EBIS Team reviews screening data and places

Daisy in group intervention


Tier 2

Strategic support: Students are placed in a program that provides moderate intervention and progress monitored weekly or twice a month

Tier IIElementary

• 90 minutes of core plus strategic intervention• Research-based intervention program• Small group 20-30 min. daily • Progress monitoring with CBM

Secondary• 45 minutes of Language Arts class• 45 minutes of an additional class focusing on Reading• Progress Monitoring with CBM

Interventions can be:

• Time consuming• Disconnected• Difficult to schedule• Expensive• Requires trained personnel

Interventions work when used correctly

The most critical elements of an effective program for the prevention of reading disability at the elementary school level are: (a)the right kind and quality of instruction delivered with the (b)right level of intensity and duration to (c)the right children at the(d)right time.

Joe Torgesen, “Catch Them Before They Fall”, American Educator, Spring Summer 1998

Essentials of a Successful Reading Intervention

• Early intervention• Intense instruction• High-quality instruction• Sufficient duration

Shaywitz, Overcoming Dyslexia

Resources

• Florida Center for Reading Research– http://www.fcrr.org/Interventions/index.htm

• What Works Clearinghouse– http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/

• Shaywitz, Overcoming Dyslexia, Chapter 19

Tier II Elementary Interventions in TTSD

Ladders to LiteracyPA in Young Children

Road to the CodeEarobicsDaisy CastleTriumphs

Read NaturallySFA TutoringPhonics For ReadingSTARSReading SuccessREWARDSSix-Minute Solution

Tier II Secondary Intervention in TTSD

• Middle School– Soar to Success

• 45 minutes/day

• High School– Double the time of instruction– Incorporates standard LA curriculum

and research based reading strategies


• Students will likely miss some other content area.

• The schedule matters.• You may be asked to teach an

intervention group.• 20% group will receive 120 minutes of

reading instruction

Daisydoesn’t

improve

Daisyimproves


Progress Monitoring Data

Accuracy rates

Progress Monitoring• Quick measure of skills in area of need• Is what we are doing working?!?• All students needing intervention are progress

monitored• Frequency and level is determined by district

decision rules• Weekly• Twice per month• Monthly

Not Purposes of Progress Monitoring

• Diagnose educational problems

• Evaluate teachers

• Used to grade students

• Used to select specific instructional goals

Make a Plan• Who will conduct probes?• Who will graph the information?• Who will draw trendlines?• Who will decide whether and instructional decision

needs to be made?• Do you like the decision rules?• What will happen when it is time to make a special

education referral?


• You may need to PM your students.• You will need to look at the data to make

decisions.• You will have to use the data to trust it.

EBIS Team designs individualized intervention


Intensive support: Students are placed in an intervention that is intense and progress monitored weekly

Tier 3

Tier IIIElementary

• 90 minutes of core plus intensive intervention– Research-based intervention program– Small group 45+ min. daily – Progress monitoring with CBM

Secondary• 90 minutes of alternative Language Arts course

– Progress monitoring with CBM

Individualizing

Reminder: 2 unsuccessful group interventions…• Individual data analysis and problem solving begins• Team creates an intervention plan for the student• Case Manager is assigned

• Monitors the intervention and progress monitoring

• Is responsible for reporting on progress at the next monthly meeting and making sure paperwork is complete

• Cumulative file review is completed by team

Data Analysis

• Purpose: Rule out possible causes for the slow progress besides a learning disability.

• Students are presumed “abled” until proven “disabled”!

• The least likely reason a student struggles academically is that he or she has a learning disability.

Tier IIIElementary Interventions in TTSD

ERILanguage for Learning Fast Track Phonics Reading MasteryHorizonsLanguage for Thinking

Reading SuccessGreat LeapsCorrective Reading

Secondary InterventionsLanguage!

90 minutes a day


• You no longer “bring a child” to special education teacher

• A tier 3 student may miss a substantial amount of content area instruction

• A student who is learning disabled will receive services earlier


Daisydoesn’t

improve

Daisyimproves

Intervention is intense and LD is suspected

Improvement is good and other

factors are suspected as

cause

If progress is made

Intervention is intense and LD is suspected•Because the intervention is SO weighted the team believes the student could not make progress without intensive support

Improvement is good and other factors are suspected as cause•Through individual problem solving something else came up as the cause. The team works to solve the problem and continues to monitor the student


• You will need to work closely with specialists

• You may need to progress monitor these students

• The whole process can take 12-16 weeks


Special Education referral is initiated

The team must determine that the student’s lack of progress is not primarily due

to: • Lack of appropriate instruction

• Existence of another disability

• Limited English proficiency

• Environmental or Economic Disadvantage

Dual Discrepancy

– Low skills (the easier part)

– Slow progress despite intensive intervention (The trickier part)

Does the Student Have Low Skills? Does the

student have low skills?

Core Only Core + Up to 30 Minutes of Supplemental Intervention (from the TTSD Protocol)

Core + 45 Minutes of Supplemental Intervention (from the TTSD Protocol)

90th Percentile

80th Percentile

70th Percentile

60th Percentile

50th Percentile

40th Percentile

30th Percentile May Need More Possibly LD

20th Percentile Needs More Needs More Likely LD

10th Percentile Needs More Needs More Likely LD

Is the student’s progress slow? Is the

student’s progress slow?

Core Only Core + Up to 30 Minutes of Supplemental Intervention (from the TTSD Protocol)

Core + 45 Minutes of Supplemental Intervention (from the TTSD Protocol)

More than 150% of expected rate of growth

110 – 150% of expected rate of growth

Possibly LD (See below)


Likely LD


May Need More May Need More Likely LD

80% or less of expected rate of growth

Needs More Needs More Likely LD


• “Slow and Low” IS a learning disability

• Students who need “help” will now get instruction

Lessons• It’s ok to do MTI without doing RTI• Don’t try to get ready and then start• Eventually you will need to jump off the cliff• Principals are key players• Learning disability expertise is imperative• Decision rules – RULE!• Train, train, train, and SUPPORT• People don’t know what they don’t know

A closing thought

RTI is, first and foremost, about good teaching: Even before students are formally classified as having “learning disabilities,” those who need more assistance receive additional interventions…So RTI is as much a prevention model as an identification model.

-Michael Hock, WestEd

RTI from the classroom perspective

Dean Richards, [email protected]

This presentation can be found at www.oregonrti.org under presentations

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.oregonrti.org/

Documents

RTI from the classroom perspective August 3, 2009 Superintendent's Summer Institute Eugene Hilton