The Road Ahead…Bringing It All Together 2008-

2009

Professional Learning Communities and Response to

Intervention The mission of our district’s PLC

embedded RtI model is to: --Assure high levels of learning for ALL

students…Truly, Educate… Every Child, Every Day.

The PLC embedded RtI model is NOT:

--A short term fix for low achievement--A redesign of special education

Starting With The End In MindPLCs/RtI will help PSD accomplish its goals: 1. 3rd grade students will attain proficiency in

reading 2. All students will achieve at least one year

of growth in reading, writing and math annually

3. All students will be post-secondary ready4. Successful transitions for all students

Poudre School District’s Four Transitional Goals

Our Dilemma:“Our traditional U.S. school system was not designed to ensure that all students learn at high levels.” (DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, and Karhanek, 2004)

Evidence of a Need for Change: Dropouts on average earn $12,000 per year and

are 50% less likely to have a pension plan or health insurance. Rouse/Muenning, 2005: www.centerforpubliceducation.org

90 million U.S. adults, nearly 1 out of 2, are functionally illiterate. Larry Roberts, Illiteracy on the Rise in America

43% of people with the lowest literacy skills live below the poverty line. Larry Roberts, Illiteracy on the Rise in America

75% of those claiming welfare are functionally illiterate. http://www.covinaliteracy.org/facts.htm

Evidence of a Need for Change: 85% of juvenile offenders have reading

problems. http://www.edjj.org

Only 57% of youth with disabilities graduated from high school in the 2001-2001 school year.http://www.ncset.org/publications/viewdesc.asp?id=3135

82% of U.S. prison inmates are dropouts. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2248/is_n126_v32/ai_19619426/pg_1?tag=artBody;col1

Passage of No Child Left Behind and Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act 2004 to address these and other achievement gap issues.

Thankfully Research is Guiding Us…

“Throughout our ten-year study , whenever we found an effective school or an effective department within a school, without exception that school or department has been a part of a collaborative professional learning community.” (McLaughlin and Talbert, 2001)

Professional Learning Communities

3 ‘Big Ideas’ of Being a PLC1. Focus on Learning

2. Collaborative Culture

3. Focus on Results

Focus on LearningTo have a mission of learning for

all…- believe all students can learn at

high levels- take responsibility to ensure that

all students learn (academics and social/emotional competence)

Collaborative CultureIn a Professional Learning Community, collaborative teams focus on 4 key

questions…

1. What do we expect students to learn?2. How will we know when they have

learned it?3. How will we respond when they don’t?4. What do we do if they already know it?

Focus on Results

“One of the most powerful strategies for making progress on the road to a PLC is ensuring every collaborative team utilizes frequent, timely formative assessments.”(DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, and Karhanek, 2004)

Response to Intervention

How Does RtI Help Us to Focus on Results?

Eliminates the “wait to fail” model and provides an early identification and intervention process

Decreases labels that create barriers to learning

Lowers proportion of minority students misidentified as needing special education

Focus is on learning with time and level of support as variables

Our education system has grown up through a process of “disjointed incrementalism.” (Reynolds, 1988)

K-12 Education

SPED

Migrant

ELL

At-Risk

Title I

GiftedIf this current form of educational practice were effective, our results would be better!

Adapted from Horner, PBIS.org, 2008

Define Problem

Develop Plan

Implement

Data-Based Decision Making

Proposed Solution:Provide interventions through PLC embedded RtI, using a conventional problem solving modelEducational

redesign is necessary for schools to be successful. It is also hard work!It doesn’t happen overnight.

Adapted from Horner, PBIS.org, 2008

Data Drives Student Learning

Data

Keys to Implementing RtI RtI/PLC is a framework:

1. Students receive high quality, research-based instruction by qualified staff in their general education setting.

2. School staff conduct universal screenings in academic areas.

3. School staff implement specific, research-based interventions to address the student’s academic and or behavioral difficulties.

(Note: Positive Behavior Support (PBS) IS RtI—for behavior).

Keys to Implementing RtI, contd.

4. Frequent progress monitoring of student performance occurs.

5. School staff use progress monitoring data to determine interventions’ effectiveness and needed modifications.

6. Systematic assessment of the fidelity or integrity with which instruction and interventions are implemented.

Importance of the Learning Environment in PLC Embedded RtI

The RtI implementation manual from the Colorado Department of Education clearly states that a safe and positive learning environment is the basic foundation on which academic instruction occurs.

To accurately assess a student’s response to academic and/or behavioral interventions, the student’s social & learning environment must be taken into consideration!

Key Components of a Positive Learning Environment (from CDE 2008)

Specific, positively stated behavioral expectations are clearly defined and taught directly

Appropriate behaviors are positively acknowledged with high frequency

Behavioral errors are monitored and corrected, using an instructional approach

Teachers engage in a collaborative problem solving process, using data to make decisions about academic and behavior intervention

Families are included in a culturally sensitive, solution-focused approach to student support

Intervention Levels Fluid, multi tiered model—students

move up and down between tiers of intervention as needed, with the need documented by data

Each tier includes increasing levels of intensity of interventions

Academic Systems Behavioral Systems

1-5% 1-5%

5-10% 5-10%

80-90% 80-90%

Tertiary Interventions•Individual Students•Assessment-based•High Intensity

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

Secondary Interventions•Some students (at-risk)•High efficiency•Rapid response•Small Group Interventions•Some Individualizing

Secondary Interventions•Some students (at-risk)•High efficiency•Rapid response•Small Group Interventions•Some Individualizing

Universal Interventions•All students•Preventive, proactive

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

School-Wide Systems for Student Success:A Response to Intervention Model

Another way to look at it…

Tier 1:Universal/Core Instruction Expectation:

-80-90% of the students are successful with general education curriculum and instruction-core instruction: research-based, implemented with fidelity, rigorous, relevant, and standards driven

Interventions: -differentiated instructional practices Assessment:

-universal screenings and diagnostic assessments as needed

Roles and Responsibilities-primarily the general education teacher, school wide system analyzes data and monitors fidelity of core instruction

Tier 2:Targeted Intervention Expectation:

-5-15% of students may be at-risk and in need of targeted interventions

Interventions: -research-based intervention, aligned with core

curriculum and instruction Assessment:

-progress monitoring of students response to specific intervention

Roles and Responsibilities-general education teacher with support of other staff as determined by school wide PLC/RtI system

Tier 3:Intensive Intervention Expectation:

-1-5% of students may be at significant risk and in need of intensive interventions

Interventions: -research-based intervention Assessment:

-frequent progress monitoring of student response to intervention

Roles and Responsibilities -general education teacher with support of other staff as determined by school wide PLC/RtI system

“It is a multiyear journey of discovery that can shape the strengths of your school system into an explosion of student success!”

(Howell, Patton, and Deiotte, 2008)