Response to Intervention – Tier 3 December 5, 2008 10:00 am Our session will start momentarily. While you are waiting, please do the following: Enter/edit your profile information by going to: Tools - Preferences - My Profile… Fill out the info on the “identity” tab and click “OK” To view the profile of another use, hover your mouse over his or her name in the participants window   Configure your microphone and speakers by going to: Tools – audio – audio setup wizard Confirm your connection speed by going to: Tools – preferences – connection speed

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The look of this pyramid reflects the RTI core foundation: Strong Tier 1 standards-based classroom instruction for all students Students needing additional interventions are supported in addition to Tier 1 instruction All students are in Tier 1 and few numbers require intervention in Tiers 2-4 RTI is the process of aligning appropriate assessment with purposeful instruction for all students. Based in the general education classroom where teachers routinely implement a strong and rigorous standards based learning environment. Tiered approach to providing layers of intervention to students needing support, systematically progress monitoring the student’s response to the intervention, and adjusting instruction and interventions appropriately based on student response

Why is this happening? Implement the plan What is the problem? What does the data show? Why is this happening? Curriculum Issue? Instructional Issue? Student Issue? What is our plan? What are we going to do? What interventions are needed? How will we measure success? Implement the plan Who will do what, where, when, and how often? How will fidelity of implementation be determined? Did the plan work? What does the data show?

Tier 3: SST-Driven Learning Tier 3 is a little different! It has legal parameters that Tier 1 and Tier 2 do not (yet) have.

1. It comes from: A 1984 commitment by the State of Georgia to Federal court- - that a Student Support Team would be in every public school in Georgia. ~ It is a permanent commitment ~ (see Appendices in DOE RTI Guide)

2. It has a State Board rule for it (see last Appendix in RTI Guide)

It requires a specific process It requires specific documentation With certain exceptions, referrals to Special Education must go through SST.

SST is a perfect fit as Tier 3 in the Georgia Pyramid of Interventions

How is Tier 3 different from Tier 2 ?

Tier 2 Non-negotiables NEEDS-BASED LEARNING: In addition to Tier 1, targeted students participate in learning that is different by including: Standard intervention protocol process for identifying and providing research based interventions based on need and resources. On-going progress monitoring to measure student response to intervention and guide decision-making. Sometimes in Tier 2, the intervention will be for a group or, but in fewer instances, for individuals.

Tier 2 interventions should be pre-planned, developed, and supported at the school level, thereby becoming “standard intervention protocols” that are proactively in place for students who need them.

Tier 2- Flexible Grouping Based on student performance Fluid movement Assessment data used to create groups Flexible time periods (one hour, one week, etc) Transfer of learning from flexible group to general instruction Within a standards-based classroom, flexible grouping may resemble other grouping strategies in that students are sitting together. To implement flexible grouping with fidelity, teachers would use assessment data, based on the GPS, to organize for instruction during a period on any given day. Flexible grouping, is the “how are they grouped?” part of grouping

Tier 3 Non-negotiables SST-DRIVEN LEARNING: In addition to Tier 1 and Tier 2, targeted students participate in learning that is different by including: Intensive, formalized problem solving to identify individual student needs. Targeted research based interventions tailored to individual needs. Frequent progress monitoring and analysis of student response to intervention(s).

The SST team’s Tier 3 activities investigate WHY the student has continued to struggle-- even with Tier 2 interventions-- and strive to correct or bypass the problem.

Data gathering and analysis are more stringent at Tier 3 than in lower tiers. Individualized interventions are used for significant periods of time, with adjustments as necessary to fine-tune the solution.

Any others you see have a local origin. IMPORTANT POINT: The only specified time in GA DOE rules for length of interventions is for eligibility for Specific Learning Disabilities services in Special Education ( 12 weeks ) Any others you see have a local origin.

Many students will be satisfactorily helped by the Tier 3/SST careful analysis and interventions. Their cases will revert to Tier 2 or Tier 1 with the benefit of key discoveries that have enabled the student to experience success.

Sometimes this may entail determination of eligibility for a Section 504 plan with needed accommodations that were discerned in the Tier 3 appraisal process.

Where proven Tier 3 interventions are unable to adequately resolve the problem, students may be referred for a full disability evaluation.

Congress clearly intended that students who are only “curriculum casualties” should not be labeled as having a disability.

Thus, the IDEA exclusionary factors must help shape the interventions and normal data gathering that occurs in Tiers 1, 2 and 3.

Examples of Tier 3 interventions – good and not so good:

Student is given extra work in specific area(s) of math weakness. INSUFFICIENT: Student is given extra work in specific area(s) of math weakness.

Much better: Student is given additional drill and practice on specific area(s) of weakness in math which were targeted after an analysis of several formative assessments and interviews with the student. Progress toward goal is graphed on a weekly basis.

INSUFFICIENT: Misbehaving student is moved to front of class. Teacher is directed to increase eye contact with student in order to decrease behavior incidents. Teacher is asked to keep data.

Much better: Data shared by teacher on the student’s classroom behavior after trying several behavioral strategies led the team to develop an individualized student behavior management plan. After five days of gathering baseline data, the teacher will implement the plan as developed. SST member is assigned to follow-up with teacher to answer any questions on data time sampling and to check fidelity of implementation.

Guiding Questions for Tier 3 Interventions: Is additional, individualized assessment data needed to further analyze students’ needs and plan appropriate interventions? Are interventions individualized based on students’ unique needs? Are interventions evidence-based and implemented with fidelity? Are timelines and specific criteria designated for provided interventions? Who is responsible for the delivery, monitoring and recording of the intervention results? Is frequent progress monitoring implemented according to pre-set timelines to determine responses to interventions?

Greater expectations/challenges for SST: Improving SST functioning, stability, data usage Establishing Best Practices, incl. for behavior Fitting smoothly into the Pyramid of Interventions Acclimating to new IDEA requirements Using proven interventions with fidelity Better results with English Language Learners 34

Student Support Team Association New resource for SST: SSTAGE Student Support Team Association for Georgia Educators www.sstage.org

Interventions Protocols from SERVE in the Guidance Document Are the interventions we are using (or thinking about using) Scientifically Proven, Evidenced Based, or Research Based?

ELA Interventions should include: familiarizing students with the structure of expository text; promoting content area vocabulary development; promoting word identification skills; building reading fluency; and emphasizing and directly teaching how, why, when, and where to use a repertoire of comprehension strategies.

Comprehension activating and using background knowledge—calling up pertinent background knowledge and using that knowledge to help understand what is being read. generating and asking questions—self-questioning throughout the reading of a text. making inferences—using background knowledge or information from the text to evaluate or draw conclusions during reading. predicting—using background information to make informed guesses. summarizing—pulling together, or synthesizing information in a text so as to explain what the text is about. visualizing—making mental images of a text as a way to understand processes or events that are encountered during reading.

5 Essential Components of Comprehension: Teacher Modeling Guided Practice Collaborative Practice Independent Practice Application

Correctly targeted and provide explicit instruction in the skill “Although commercially prepared programs and the subsequent manuals and materials are inviting, they are not necessary... A recent review of research suggests that interventions are research based and likely to be successful if they are: Correctly targeted and provide explicit instruction in the skill An appropriate level of challenge [provide] sufficient opportunities to respond to and practice the skill [provide] immediate feedback on performance Thus these [elements] could be used as criteria with which to judge the potential tier 2 interventions.” p.88 Source: Burns, M.K., & Gibbons, K. A. (2008). Implementing response to intervention in elementary and secondary schools. Routledge: New York.

Poor RTI Aimline= 1.50 words/week Training Notes: Dr. George M. Batsche Co-Director, Institute for School Reform Florida Problem-Solving/RtI Statewide Project University of South Florida Tampa, Florida Poor RTI Aimline= 1.50 words/week Training Notes: Steven’s performance on ORF is shown here. While he is making some progress, the rate of improvement over the 8 weeks is about 3 times slower than the target which is shown on the aimline. One can see that if the same trend was maintained he is unlikely to meet the winter benchmark. Trendline = 0.55 words/week

Positive RTI Aimline= 1.50 words/week Training Notes Dr. George M. Batsche Co-Director, Institute for School Reform Florida Problem-Solving/RtI Statewide Project University of South Florida Tampa, Florida Positive RTI Aimline= 1.50 words/week Training Notes This slide depicts the outcomes of the intensive strategic intervention effort. As seen in the trendline, Steven shows substantial improvement here and reaches a level of gain that is likely to lead to a successful winter benchmark. Again, the question of whether he would continue until the winter benchmark will be raised. Given that this would now be 16 weeks after starting tier 2 intervention, it is likely that the winter benchmark is about to occur so the team would likely leave him in the strategy until the benchmark was taken. Assuming he meets the benchmark, the team may ease him back to tier 2 strategies again to see if a less intense effort will sustain his progress. Trendline = 0.2.32 words/week

Upcoming Webinars December 8 – Tier 3 and Behavior December 10 – Progress Monitoring December 12 – Interventions Starting Time: 10:00 AM

Contact Information Frank Smith (fsmith@doe.k12.ga.us) John Wight (jwight@doe.k12.ga.us)