Transitioning to a Multi-Tier Model of Instruction

Justin MilnerDirector of Special

Services

“Don’t tell me you believe ‘all kids can learn’…tell me what you’re doing about the kids who aren’t

learning.”

-Richard DuFour

I’ve got your grades, and I’m afraid not everyone

will be moving up.

Changing Our Way of Thinking

• Our current reality dictates that every student succeeds in school, and so we must face the facts: our current system is not producing these results.

• Our profession has never had greater clarity and consensus on what schools must do to ensure that all students learn.

Changing Our Way of Thinking

Compelling evidence shows that a multi-tier model can successfully engage a school’s staff in a collective process to provide every child with the additional time and support needed to learn at high levels (Burn, Appleton, & Stehouwer, 2005).

What Does the Research Say?

Benjamin Bloom’s research on mastery learning in the 1960s established that if all students were to learn, some students would need additional time and support for learning.

What Does the Research Say?

Dr. Robert Marzano’s (2003) meta-analysis of research on school-level factors that impact student learning revealed that the schools that have a profound impact on student achievement “provide interventions that are designed to overcome student background characteristics.”

What Does the Research Say?

Doug Reeves (2006), in his studies of high-poverty, high-minority, high-achieving schools, found that those schools implement a plan for “immediate and decisive intervention” when students don’t learn.

What Does the Research Say?

In their study of school districts that were able to double student achievement, Allan Odden and Sarah Archibald (2009) found that those districts extended learning time for struggling students.

The Summary of the Research

The message is clear: some students will require a greater opportunity to learn – they will need more time and support than others – and the most effective schools ensure that they receive it.

Transitioning

Tier Two

•Targeted Social Skills Instruction•Check-In/Check-Out Programs•Alternatives to Suspension•School Based Mentors•Classroom Management Coaching

Tier One

•Teach School-Wide Positive Behavior Expectations and Procedures•Positive Reinforcement for All Students•Consistent Consequences for Problem Behaviors•Effective Procedures and Supervision in Common Areas•Effective Instruction and Classroom Management

Tier Three

•Individual Interventions Based on Assessment (FBA’s)•Parent Collaboration and Education•Wrap-Around Process•Person Centered Planning

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

Designing School-Wide Systems for Student Success

(A Multi-Tier Model)

Communication

Suddenly, a heated debate

took place between the king and the

moat contractor…

PBIS Leadership Team Leadership Team

Video

• Represents the entire staff

• Includes a building administrator

Resource

“So, in other words, if you want better test scores, get different kids!”

Midway through the test,

Allen pulls out a new brain.

A Multi-Tier Model is Not:• A way to qualify at-risk students for special

education and focus on trying a few token interventions before referring struggling students for traditional special education testing and placement

• A way to blame kids, parents, lack of funding, society, or DNA for student failure

• A way of misapplying research-based practices

Perspective

Cultural Shifts in a Multi-Tier Model• From a focus on teaching…to a focus on learning• From a emphasis on what was taught…to a focus on

what students learn• From coverage of content…to demonstration of

proficiency• From providing individual teachers with curriculum

documents such as state standards and curriculum guides…to engaging collaborative teams in building shared knowledge regarding essential curriculum

Cultural Shifts in a Multi-Tier Model• From individual teachers determining the appropriate

response…to a systematic response that ensures support for every student

• From fixed time and support for learning…to time and support for learning as variables

• From remediation…to intervention

• From invitational support outside of the school day…to directed (required) support occurring during the school day

• From one opportunity to demonstrate learning…to multiple opportunities to demonstrate learning

Cultural Shifts in a Multi-Tier Model• From infrequent summative assessments…to frequent

common formative assessments• From assessments to determine which students failed

to learn by the deadline…to assessments to identify students who need additional time and support

• From assessments used to reward and punish students…to assessments used to inform and motivate students

• From assessing many things infrequently…to assessing a few things frequently

Cultural Shifts in a Multi-Tier Model• From individual teacher assessments…to

assessments developed jointly by collaborative teams

• From each teacher determining the criteria to be used in assessing student work…to collaborative teams clarifying the criteria and ensuring consistency among team members when assessing student work

• From focusing on average scores…to monitoring each student’s proficiency in every essential skill

Cultural Shifts in a Multi-Tier Model• From an external focus on issues outside of the

school…to an internal focus on steps the staff can take to improve the school

• From a focus on inputs…to a focus on results

Universal Screening Planning Guide

Student Risk Screening Scale

We Must Be Creative

Designing a System of InterventionTier 1 Core Program

+ Have our teacher teams identified essential standards by

grade, subject, and/or course?

+ Does every student have access to grade-level essential

standards?

+ Is flexible time embedded in Tier 1 to provide differentiated

instruction and additional time embedded to meet the individual needs of students?

+ Have we clearly defined the positive behaviors (effort, attendance, social behaviors) that we want all students to demonstrate? Is there a plan to teach, reward, and support these behaviors?

+ How will we measure student progress toward meeting these

academic and behavior expectations?

Essential Standards Chart

Designing a System of Intervention

Certain Access: Tier 1 to Tier 2

+ How will we systematically identify students who need additional help after core instruction?

+ Is every teacher involved in this process?

+ Is this process frequent?

+ What criteria will we used to identify students in need of

supplemental support?

Designing a System of Intervention

Tier 2 Supplemental Program

+ What supplemental interventions are currently available at

our school? What is needed?

+ Which interventions will be led by teacher teams? (Failed

learners)

+ Which interventions will be led by schoolwide intervention

resources? (Motivation, attendance, behavior)

+ How can we best utilize schoolwide resources to support Tier

2 interventions?

+ How will we monitor student progress?

Designing a System of Intervention

Certain Access: Tier 2 to Tier 3

+ How will we systematically identify students who need intensive support?

+ Do we have a school intervention team to lead Tier 3 Interventions?

+ Is this process frequent?

+ What criteria will we use to identify students in need of supplemental support?

Designing a System of Intervention

Tier 3 Intensive Program

+ What intensive interventions are currently available at our

school? What is needed?

+ How can we best utilize schoolwide resources to support Tier

3 interventions?

+ How will we monitor student progress?

Intervention Evaluation and Alignment Chart

Questions For Your Intervention Team

• How do we respond in our school when students don’t learn?

• How timely is our response? How quickly can we identify a student who is experiencing difficulty?

• How proactive are we? What steps do we take to identify the students who will need us most before they come to our school?

• How directive is our response? Do we require students to put in extra time and utilize the extra support, or do we merely encourage them to so?

• How systematic is our response? Is there a plan in place that ensures students will receive additional time and support for learning independent of the classroom teacher?

• Who oversees the system of response? Who makes the determination to move a student one level of intervention to another?

Questions For Your Intervention Team

• How extensive is our response? How much time do we have each day and each week to support student learning through our interventions? Do we have multiple layers in our intervention plan?

• How might we adjust our schedule to give us greater access to students who are not successful within the traditional school schedule?

• How fluid is our response? Can we easily move students in and out of interventions based on their demonstrated proficiency?

Assessment

Planning Form

Common Assessment Team Protocol

Behavioral Analysis Protocol

How Will We Respond When Some Students Don’t Learn?

Special Education Identification

+ How will the intervention team determine if special education is necessary, appropriate, and defendable for a student?

Essential Questions for Special Education Identification

Tier 1:

Did the student have access to rigorous, grade-level curriculum?

What evidence do we have that our school’s initial instruction (Tier

I) was effective for similar students?

Was the student given additional time and differentiated instruction during Tier I instruction?

Tier 2:

Did we identify the student for supplemental time and support in a

timely manner?

What were the child’s specific learning needs?

What was the cause of the student’s struggles?

What research-based interventions were used to address the student’s specific learning needs?

What evidence do we have that these interventions were effective

for similar students?

Essential Questions for Special Education Identification

Tier 3:

When was the child referred for intensive support?

What quality problem-solving process was used to better identify

the child’s specific learning needs and the cause(s) of the student’s

struggles?

What research-based interventions were used to address the student’s specific learning needs?

What evidence do we have that these interventions were effective

for students with similar needs?

Are there any other intervention or supports that can or should be

tried before considering special education placement?

Do we have agreement among the intervention team that special

education is necessary and appropriate to meet the needs of this

child? Is this decision defensible?

“The success of our students is our joint responsibility, and when

they succeed, it is to our joint credit and cumulative

accomplishment.”

-Jonathan Saphier

References and Resources

DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., & Many, T. (2010). Learning by doing : A handbook for professional learning communities at work (2nd ed.). Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press

Buffum, A., Mattos, M., & Weber, C. (2012). Simplifying response to intervention: Four essential guiding principles. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press

Website: go.solution-tree.com/rti/Reproducibles

Transitioning to a Multi-Tier Model of Instruction

Questions???