Response to Intervention (RTI): Building the Plane in the Air

RTI: Initial Steps, Preparations, Readiness Tammy RasmussenDean RichardsCOSA/OCE Fall ConferenceOct. 6, 2011

Core RTI PrinciplesWe can effectively teach all childrenIntervene earlyUse a multi-tier model of service deliveryUse a problem-solving method to make decisions within a multi-tier modelUse research-based, scientifically validated interventions/instruction to the extent availableMonitor student progress to inform instructionUse data to make decisionsUse assessment for 3 different purposesScreening, diagnostic, progress monitoring

NASDSE, 2006RTI Misconceptions: What it is and what its notIs NotIsAn instructional programA framework to implement effective practicesA group of students that leaves your room for extra instructionA system of matching resources to each individuals students needsPossible to implement aloneA collaborative effortThe same for every schoolUniquely designed for each buildingA special ed, a general ed, a Title 1, a Talented and Gifted initiativeAn Every Education InitiativeAn educational fadA systematic method for delivering instruction, based on research and effective large scale implementation examples including Minneapolis Public Schools, Heartland AEA (Iowa), Ohio, and Pennsylvania3RTI does not tell you what to think, it tells you what to think about. It is a framework.Reading (and Math) are not optional skills

Days and weeks matter

Working smart to achieve differentiation

Why does RTI matter for teachers?4Reading Is Not Optional

Kindergarten

Fourth grade

Behavior Problems

Low graduation ratesPoor readers in 4th grade struggle in literacy in KindergartenChildren who struggle K-3 rarely achieve average reading skillsChildren with behavior problems almost always have academic difficulties.Children who cannot read drop out of school5Developmental lag Skill deficit

Days and Weeks Matter

We cant wait for them to bloom?vs.Without intervention, kids who are behind stay behindSkill deficits can be erasedespecially if you catch them early!

6Good reading builds reading AND cognitive skills!

Days and Weeks MatterDifferences Learning to ReadPopulation %Journey to ReadingInstructional Requirements5Easy: children read before starting schoolNeed no formal decoding instruction35Relatively EasyLearn to read regardless of instructional approach40Formidable ChallengeNeed systematic and explicit instruction20 One of the most difficult tasks to be mastered in schoolNeed intensive, systematic, direct, explicit instruction8Joyce likes to use this slide to help participants to understand the importance of the shift in thinking about reading instruction, and thus the adoption of the core curriculum. Read this carefully so you can lead teams to the realization that a non explicit form of reading instruction likely will meet the needs of only 40% of students.Teaching is like running a relay

Grimes & Tilly, RtI Innovations 2008RtI: We Got GameIn The PastGeneralEducationTitle Reading or Other Reading SupportSpecial EducationSome FellThroughSome FellThroughHeartland Educational Agency10RTI: Full Continuum of SupportGeneralEducationTitle Reading & Reading Support,Gifted Ed.Special Education,Gifted Ed.IIIIIIIIall along the continuum!

I=InterventionsHeartland Educational Agency11Nuts and Bolts: System RequirementsLeadership at all levelsTeamingUse of a research based core reading curriculumUniversal screening Implementation of research based interventionsProgress monitoringDecision RulesPolicy and procedure development (standardization)Professional development including fidelity of implementation.

12So, what does this change requirewhat will your district or teams need to accomplish in order to implement this change. You might emphasize that when TTSD started this process we believed we were starting a three year change effort. That was an underestimate by double.Re-search based: Big 5, direct, explicit So how do we make this happen?Professional DevelopmentLeadershipData based teamingUniversal screenerCore Curriculum with strong instructionDecision rules and reading protocolProgress MonitoringInterventionsTeamingPrincipalClassroom TeachersSpecialistsSchool CounselorSchool PsychologistCollaborating

14Teaming is a component that needs to be tended. There is an example of the self assessment for the EBIS team on page 19 of the EBIS packet. If participants are working in teams, have them spend about 15 minutes conducting the self assessment with the expectation they will report out about their functioning.Teaming

PrincipalClassroom TeachersSpecialistsSchool CounselorSchool PsychologistCo-laboring15Teaming is a component that needs to be tended. There is an example of the self assessment for the EBIS team on page 19 of the EBIS packet. If participants are working in teams, have them spend about 15 minutes conducting the self assessment with the expectation they will report out about their functioning.LeadershipDistrict LevelStrong administrative support to ensure commitment and resources AND

School LevelStrong teacher support to share in the common goal of improving instruction

16This is a demonstration of the ways that we have adopted a top down-bottom up approach to leadership. The hyperlinks show the district strategic plan and an example of a school CIP. It is important also to note the importance of the superintendents explicit expectations and leadership.Delivery: Ongoing Anticipate and be willing to meet the newly emerging needs based on student and staff need and performance.Sufficient time to collaborate and planIncorporates fidelity checksData ALSO used to drive professional development needs. Professional Development17Content:Core curriculum & instruction AssessmentInterventionsTeamingData-based decision makingSPED procedures

Professional Development18Universal ScreeningUniversal screening for ALL students at least three times per yearGood screening measures:Efficient, brief, valid, reliable, unbiased and over-identifiesScreening is used as a key measure to determine:The health of the coreWhich students might need additional intervention

19Why Use Fluency Measures for Screening?Oral Reading Fluency and Accuracy in reading connected text is one of the best indicators of overall reading comprehension (Fuchs, Fuchs, Hosp, & Jenkins, 2001)We always examine fluency AND accuracyWithout examining accuracy scores, we are missing a BIG piece of the pictureStudents MUST be accurate with any skill before they are fluent.

Oral reading fluency (ORF) does not tell you everything about a students reading skill, but a child who cannot read fluently cannot fully comprehend written text and will need additional support.

Explicit, systematic, feedback, application 90 min reading block structureProfessional DevelopmentFidelityUsing Data to Improve your CoreCore ProgramPhonemic AwarenessPhonicsFluencyVocabularyComprehension

State standardsScope and sequencePhonics

FluencyPhonemic AwarenessComprhensionVocabularyFor all students!22So, here you probably just try to ascertain where teams are with respect to implementation of the core curriculumCore/Tier 1 is for ALL StudentsCore or Tier 1How does it help a struggling reader to be in core?They need the most instructionNeed to be exposed to grade level materialIf they miss grade level material, they will never catch upJust because there is a deficit in one area, does not mean there is a deficit in all areas of readingInterventions are limited in scope

Decision RulesProvide the now what after teams have analyzed student dataGuide decisions for all tiersTake the guesswork out of what to do nextEnsure equity across schools

I think I feel I believe

What data do you have that makes you think/feel/believe that?-Dr. Ed Shapiro

25

10203040Dec.ScoresFeb.ScoresJan.ScoresMarchScoresAprilScoresMayScoresJuneScores6050AimlineDecision Rule Example: 4 Points Below the Goal LineOral Reading FluencyAdd 15 minutes to interventionReduce group size to 3 studentsReading Protocol

Districts must adopt common procedures for doing this work:

Decision RulesFormsSPED Procedures

Think of RTI as a standardized testStudents should be identified similarly from school to schoolPolicy and Procedure Development (Standardization)29This is the point at which you talk about LD identification and how important it is to standardize parts of the process. Describe TTSDs development and invite them to use the forms and procedures they find on the district website and make any changes they like.Are the children learning? How can we tell?

Progress MonitoringTools Must Be:BriefValid ReliableRepeatableEasy to AdministerFrequency:Every 2 weeks (minimum)Every week (ideal)

30InterventionsMust be designed to match identified needs Is in addition to and aligns with the district core curriculumUses more explicit instructionProvides more intensityAdditional modeling and guided feedbackImmediacy of feedbackDoes NOT replace core

31Student data includes: interview, observation, review InterventionsStudents pulled out for interventions may be missing something elseBUTIf a student cant read, how much are they already missing in the classroom?

No one seems to notice that it is only during that single period each day [intervention time] that the struggling readers are provided with texts and lessons that theory and research support. The other 5 hours each day are largely comprised of texts and lessons that are over their heads.Richard Allington

Benefits Of an RTI System RTI will help you to: Know immediately, Is what we are doing working? Know which students need more/differentKnow what each student needsProvide structures to deliver what students needReduce rates of identification of student learning disabilitiesPrevent reading problems before they occurRaise student achievement

33Tigard-Tualatin School District OAKS Reading ProficiencyTigard-Tualatin School District OAKS Math ProficiencyA Tale of Two DistrictsDistrict 1: RTI for 4-5 yearsDistrict 2: Non RTI

Small, rural school district

Small, rural school district

350 elementary students(PK-5)470 elementary students(PK-5)Title 1 servicesTitle 1 services31% students on Free and Reduced Lunch19% students on Free and Reduced LunchA Tale of Two DistrictsDistrict 1: RTI3rd Grade ORFA Tale of Two DistrictsDistrict 2: Non RTI3rd Grade ORFThe Process is Ongoing and Long-Term CONSENSUSINFRASTRUCTUREIMPLEMENTATIONCONSENSUSINFRASTRUCTURE

Adapted fromCONSENSUS

39The IDM Process is ongoing, and is a long-term commitment. It will also vary in every school and from year to year depending on the unique characteristics of that school. For example, if your school has a high turnover in staff each year there will need to be more attention paid to ongoing consensus building with new staff. On the other hand, if through the process you find that you need to make some big changes to the instructional practices in your building, more time may need to be spent on building teacher skills for quality implementation. For long-term processes: Think about and plan for sustainabilityIDM is not a flash in the pan initiativeThis is about changing the culture of your schoolThis should become the way you do business at your schoolBuilding leadership teams are vital for sustainability.VisionSkillsIncentivesResourcesActionPlansCHANGE++++Managing Complex Change40Managing Complex Change=Change=====++++VisionSkillsIncentivesResourcesAction Plan++++SkillsIncentivesResourcesAction Plan++++VisionIncentivesResourcesAction Plan++++VisionSkillsResourcesAction Plan++++VisionSkillsIncentivesAction Plan++++VisionSkillsIncentivesResourcesAdapted from Knoster, T.AnxietyResistanceFalse StartsFrustrationConfusion41WE WOULD NEED TO MAKE A COPY FOR EACH PARTICIPANT IF WE USE THIS SLIDE> TOO SMALL TO SEE WITHOUT IT>

I MOVED THIS SLIDE to AFTER IDM/PBS CONSENSUS BUILDING ? ON The first SLIDE the last bullet deals with Validation of CONCERNS. If this was the next slide we could provide an OVERVIEW of this Managing Complex Change, then discuss how the team will be provided training in dealing with complex change and VALIDATING THESE COMMON FEELINGS-to the far right-that staff often feel when working through the change process????? Managing Complex ChangeVisionSkillsIncentivesResourcesActionPlansCONFUSION++++42VisionSkillsIncentivesResourcesActionPlansANXIETY++++Managing Complex Change43VisionSkillsIncentivesResourcesActionPlansRESISTANCE++++Managing Complex Change44VisionSkillsIncentivesResourcesActionPlansFRUSTRATION++++Managing Complex Change45VisionSkillsIncentivesResourcesActionPlansFALSE STARTS++++Managing Complex Change46The Process is Ongoing and Long-Term47The IDM Process is ongoing, and is a long-term commitment. It will also vary in every school and from year to year depending on the unique characteristics of that school. For example, if your school has a high turnover in staff each year there will need to be more attention paid to ongoing consensus building with new staff. On the other hand, if through the process you find that you need to make some big changes to the instructional practices in your building, more time may need to be spent on building teacher skills for quality implementation. For long-term processes: Think about and plan for sustainabilityIDM is not a flash in the pan initiativeThis is about changing the culture of your schoolThis should become the way you do business at your schoolBuilding leadership teams are vital for sustainability.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3hge6Bx-4w48Questions/CommentsTammy Rasmussen - trasmussen@roseburg.k12.or.us Dean Richards drichards@ttsd.k12.or.us