Tier III Preparing for First Meeting

Making the Decision  When making the decision to move to Tier III, all those involve with the implementation of Tier II must review the Reflective Questions to guide the decision making.  You (or your school) may also choose to involve your PLC group.

The Reflective Questions look at:  Implementation  Evidence

Implementation  Did the delivery of interventions follow the plan for implementation?  Is progress monitoring of the intervention used and adjustments made as needed?  Did the intervention match the student’s specific need?  If the answer is “no” to any of the above questions, you must first make adjustments to the plan before considering moving the student up to Tier II.

Evidence  Does the instruction or the intervention decrease the student’s learning gap?  Does the intervention reduce the problem behavior and/or increase the desired the behavior?  Does progress monitoring data determine the intervention to be effective?  Does student performance improved as measured by assessment(s)?

First Step  Teacher needs to develop a clear description of the problem: –This is the most difficulty step of the model. –It is highly recommended to be done collaboratively. –Using your PLC –Using Case Managers –Using the RtI Team –Or whatever collaborative format is set up at your school

How to Develop Description 1.Select Target Area(s)  Reading  Math  Written Expression  Language  Behavior

Developing Description 2.Define the Problem  Hypothesize what the specific problem is.  Do this by breaking the target area down into the smaller component or domain.  This will help lead to interventions.  You probably feel that his was completed at Tier I & II. It may have been. However, since the student continues to struggle, a review needs to be completed to be sure the correct problem was defined.

Examples  Reading:  Slow oral reading fluency is impeding comprehension.  Struggling in reading due to weak phonological awareness skills  Weak vocabulary is impeding comprehension

Examples  Math:  Struggling in math due to weak number sense.  Weak computation skills are impeding students ability to do math.  Student is having difficulty with math due to weak problem-solving skills.

Examples  Written Expression  Student struggles with writing due to organizational problems.  Writing tasks exceeds the student’s memory capacity.  Student has difficulty with writing due to expressive language problems.

Examples  Language  Second Language  Weak acquisition of language skills in the area of listening is impeding the student’s academics.  NOTE: If it is determine that the student has weak acquisition of language skills in the second language, there needs to be discussion about whether it is appropriate to move student to Tier III.

Examples  Language  Communication Difficulties  Weak listening comprehension skills are impeding the student’s academics.  Student has weak social language, which is impeding academics.  Difficulty in oral expression is causing problems with learning

Examples  Behavior  Student’s off task behavior gets him/her out of independent work.  Student displays inappropriate social behavior to get attention from adults.

Documenting Description  Target Area  Problem Definition Page One of Tier III Paperwork

Documenting Description  You may have more than one target area and problem definition listed on page one. No matter how many areas, only do page one once. For example:

Now What?

Complete a Functional Assessment  Generate questions and develop an assessment plan.  Data across four domains should be gathered from multiple sources - RIOT  Reviews  Interviews  Observations  Tests  Determine roles, responsibilities, and timeline

Why look at functional explanations?  Relating academic performance to aspects of classroom instruction that both precede and follow student performance represents a functional approach to understanding failure.  Functional explanations appeal to factors external to the child that have been shown experimentally to affect academic performance, such as time for learning, feedback from the teacher, and reinforcement for correct responding.  Because these factors are external to the child and subject to direct manipulation, functional explanations have the added advantage of identifying simple, practical targets for instructional programming.

How to Complete a Functional Assessment

Functional Assessment  The functional assessment is completed by looking at the four domains listed on page one of the Tier III paperwork.  To help you complete this assessment, a problem analysis/assessment guide has been created. problem analysis/assessment guide  Unless requested by your RtI team, this guide does not have to be filled out, but should be used to assist you with the functional assessment.

To complete this guide, you will need to…  Review, Interview, Observe, Test  Review records and work samples, interview staff and parents, testing involves CBM or informal diagnostic assessment.

Lets begin

Environment How is the environment impacting learning?  In order to review this domain, it is recommended that you already have the social/developmental history completed.  A review of the cumulative records will also be good.

Environment  The Problem Analysis/Assessment Guide has several statements to help you determine if there may be an environmental cause impacting the student’s learning.  Go through each statement and determine yes or no.

Environment  Under Problem Analysis  Any statements that you stated “no” to would be listed as a possible reason for why the problem may be occurring.  If nothing was identified, write no environmental causes were determined.

Environment  Assessment Plan  If statements are listed, the RtI team would then identify how best to assess and address the possibility. This plan would be written here.  If nothing was identified, the assessment plan would be Problem Analysis/Assessment Guide.  Person Responsible  List the Person

Environment Examples

Curriculum Is the curriculum appropriate for the student?  There are three parts to reviewing this domain. 1.What parts of the core curriculum does the student display weaknesses? 2.What programs or methods have been used to addressed these areas of weaknesses? 3.Identify the student’s strengths, as well as any incentives that motivate the student.

Curriculum  You need to be prepared to discuss this domain in detail at the RtI meeting.  Doing a serious review of this domain will help to determine the type of instructional interventions.  The section on the form will be completed as indicated below.

Instruction Is the instruction appropriate for the student?  To complete this domain, it is important to understand the Gradual Release of Responsibility Model and Effective Feedback.Gradual Release of Responsibility Model and Effective Feedback.

Instruction  The Problem Analysis/Assessment Guide has several statements to help you determine if there may be an instructional cause impacting the student’s learning.  Go through each statement and determine yes or no.

Instruction  Under Problem Analysis  Any statements that you stated “no” to would be listed as a possible reason for why the problem may be occurring.  If nothing was identified, write no instructional causes were determined. Note: It would be rare to have no instructional causes.

Instruction  Assessment Plan  If statements are listed, the RtI team would then identify how best to assess and address the possibility. This plan would be written here.  If nothing was identified, the assessment plan would be Problem Analysis/Assessment Guide.  Person Responsible  List the Person

Instruction Examples

Learner Are there student factors impacting the learning?  For this domain, you are looking at the student.  For older students, you may want to consider interviewing the student.  You will also want to understand Learned Helplessness.Learned Helplessness.

Learner  The Problem Analysis/Assessment Guide has several statements to help you determine if there may be a learner cause impacting the student’s learning.  Go through each statement and determine yes or no.

Learner  Under Problem Analysis  Any statements that you stated “no” to would be listed as a possible reason for why the problem may be occurring.  If nothing was identified, write no learner causes were determined.

Learner  Assessment Plan  If statements are listed, the RtI team would then identify how best to assess and address the possibility. This plan would be written here.  If nothing was identified, the assessment plan would be Problem Analysis/Assessment Guide.  Person Responsible  List the Person

Learner Examples

Date you will be bringing the student to the RtI Team Meeting to review this information.

Preparation for Meeting  Description of major concerns and how the student’s difficulties interfere with the student’s performance  Pertinent data from parents, including their concerns  Description of student’s strengths, as well as any incentives that motivate the student  Description of what has been done to assist the student  Data that indicates the student’s current level of performance

Meeting Time