CDE MTSS Overview Slides Fall 2014 Now we would like to spend a little time talking about how we view what MTSS means in our state by taking you through the evolution of MTSS in Colorado. MTSS: Evolutions

One Perspective on History CDE MTSS Overview Slides Fall 2014 One Perspective on History Our education system has grown up through a process of “Disjointed Incrementalism” Gifted Special Ed K-12 Education General Ed The Education System’s Programmatic Evolution Migrant Title 1 This graphic from Reynolds represents historically what education looked like and what he referred to as “disjointed incrementalism.” As you can see, each special program/population has its own self contained circle overlapping with general education. This represents the idea that if a student was identified in one of these areas, they would typically leave the general classroom and go to another place to receive specific services for a specific amount of time and then return to their general education classroom and pick up where they left off. ELA At Risk Reynolds, 1988

CDE MTSS Overview Slides Fall 2014 Unintended Effects Conflicting programs Conflicting funding streams Redundancy Lack of coordination across programs Nonsensical rules about program availability for students Extreme complexity in administration and implementation of the programs Confusion for students, families, and stakeholders Some unintended effects of this model could include some of these points listed here. Typically there was little focus on strategically planning and coordinating efforts to benefit students by increasing efficiency and effectiveness due to staff and programs acting in a self contained manner.

CDE MTSS Overview Slides Fall 2014 Old System Thinking Title Gifted General Education Special Education Sea of Ineligibility Migrant Then there was also the notion that if a student didn’t meet the criteria of a program and didn’t fit into a specific category or group, they could be caught in the “sea of ineligibility” and not get their needs addressed appropriately. Notes: Graphic clarification – consider varied audiences and their perceptions of proportionality (sizes of circles); people may wonder about representation (#s of students in circles as “ratios”) At Risk ELA Adapted from RtI Innovations Conference Presentations

CDE MTSS Overview Slides Fall 2014 Bridging the Gap EVERY ED Intensive Supports Targeted Supports Then Response to Intervention (RtI) from the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or Idea IN 2004. It provided a way to bridge the gap and provide appropriate supports for students. This idea changed ‘systems thinking’ from waiting for students to fail and then pursuing a special education evaluation to a prevention lens that focused on appropriately addressing the needs of struggling students before they failed. Universal Supports Adapted from RtI Innovations Conference Presentations

CDE MTSS Overview Slides Fall 2014 Bridging the Gap “EVERY ED” = Every Kid! Intensive Supports Targeted Supports RtI was a preventative way to provide struggling students with systematic, targeted supports administered with fidelity to attempt to resolve learning difficulties. There was an emphasis on data, specifically measuring ongoing student progress to drive decision making about next steps. So if students could be provided with targeted supports with fidelity and data was used to monitor their progress and drive decision making about next steps, this could improve student outcomes and possibly reduce special education referrals and evaluations. Instead of focusing on a discrepancy formula to determine eligibility for a learning disability, now schools could establish an RtI multi-tiered approach for early identification and support of students who were struggling. The goal was to catch students early and attempt to resolve learning difficulties utilizing systematic, targeted supports before data indicated a need to pursue a special education referral and evaluation. Also, this data could be used as body of evidence in determining eligibility for a student with a learning disability. Then the idea of supporting every student at the level they needed to be successful to accomplish the goal of working to improve student outcomes for every student became the foundation for creating an intentional, preventative focused, overall system to support all (every) students otherwise known as a multi-tiered system of supports. (MTSS). Universal Supports Adapted from RtI Innovations Conference Presentations

CDE MTSS Overview Slides Fall 2014 So taking the notion of different levels of support to a next step or evolution in our thinking, here you see the traditional RtI triangle on its side delineating not only tiered instruction, but layered, tiered instruction that can increase with intensity. Specifically, Universal (Tier 1) instruction and supports, if designed and delivered well, should meet the needs of most students. The goal of the Universal tier is to promote positive skill development, prevent problems from emerging, allow for student growth, and reduce the need for supports at subsequent tiers. Even with effective Universal instruction and supports, some students will need Targeted (Tier 2) interventions and supports. The goal of the Targeted tier is to supplement the Universal tier and improve outcomes for this small percentage of students. Example: Small group, more time or more explicit focus on key concepts (BX/Academic). When Universal and Targeted supports are designed and delivered well, there will still be a few students who will need Intensive (Tier 3) interventions and supports. The goal of the Intensive tier is to enhance existing supports to improve individual academic and/or behavioral outcomes. Example: Could be greater frequency, duration and intensity of instruction and progress monitoring for bx or academic growth to occur. Sidenote: In our APR Indicator 5 data – we annually report FAPE in the LRE for SWD. For the 2012 school year, 72.3% (n= 55,300) of school-aged SWD are in the regular class at least 80% of the time. What implications does this have for classroom instruction within your setting?

Colorado Special Education Data CDE MTSS Overview Slides Fall 2014 Colorado Special Education Data Note that (in CO) 80% of SWD are in the LRE for at least 72% of the instructional day. Potential prompt: What might the this imply in relation to how we ensure layered supports for every student within our system? Source: Part B FFY Annual Performance Report for Special Education

Considerations for Looking at your Data CDE MTSS Overview Slides Fall 2014 Considerations for Looking at your Data Consider looking at Cohorts of students over several years. Look at achievement data for Special Populations by school and by classroom if necessary. Contrast high-performing schools with lowest performers Identify those with high impact needs (FRL, ELL, etc.) When high turnover of staff occurs- use climate survey as a gauge for staff morale. Get more information by including ODR’s, truancy, S/E For at-risk populations use attendance, behavior and achievement/grades regularly. Here are some possible questions that you might think about.

Explicit connections (UIP/RDA) CDE MTSS Overview Slides Fall 2014 Explicit connections (UIP/RDA) Continuous Improvement Processes Unified Improvement Planning (UIP) Systems Implementation (“every ed”) Results Driven Accountability (RDA) Collaborative and specialized services (“special ed”) Here are a couple of acronyms and links.

CDE MTSS Overview Slides Fall 2014 Special Education within a MTSS This fact sheet explores the benefits of a well-integrated MTSS for Students with Disabilities. Colorado has identified 6 essential components of a Multi-Tiered system of Supports. This fact sheet explores the connection of special education to each of these components.  

CDE MTSS Overview Slides Fall 2014 Resource Providers collect tool & distribute to tablemates. Text Activity Consult: Special Ed. & MTSS Fact Sheet Steps for Text Rendering: Individually: Quietly review this text. Note: How is this fact sheet organized? Highlight 1-2 phrases that you want to remember from this document. Think about: Why is this document important or beneficial? When facilitator gives you the signal, find someone from another table. Introduce yourselves, and take turns sharing your notes. Partner Talk Timekeeper: You have 5 mins. for steps 1-4. You have 5 mins. for step 5-6. This is a protocol slide.

Busting Myths #1: National View CDE MTSS Overview Slides Fall 2014 Busting Myths #1: National View 1990s: Pre Referral policies 2000s: RtI gets to the tipping point 2010s: RtI morphs into MTSS -RtI Action Network So, how is Colorado different? Now, to give some context regarding RtI and MTSS let’s look first at the National evolution- These bullets from RtI Action Network provide us with the national view’s “historical evolution” of RtI > MTSS. We acknowledge some of the progression, and we value what we’ve learned from our national partners. We, however, have emphasized that in Colorado, we take a different stance. Click for animation, and say: In Colorado, we’d like to bust that myth… (click to next slide)

Context for the Conversation So please note, RtI will not go away; it is a process under the umbrella of MTSS. We like how the RtI Action Network has been able to say that RtI is a “process,” and MTSS is a “framework”. We can agree with that, but… We also want to be able to recognize that we had viewed RtI a certain way in CO. MTSS is an organizational framework to address the needs of every student; whereas, RtI was (exclusively) the process for supporting struggling students or identifying students with learning disabilities. Inconsistent implementation of RtI (nationally and in CO). Colorado always defined RtI as a broad systems change, but it wasn’t always “played out” that way. Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) has been active in Colorado over 12 years. Successful implementation efforts regarding these two efforts were separate at the state level—we wanted to leverage the strengths of PBIS implementation into an integrated effort of MTSS at the state level. Emphasis on whole system versus interventions What we know through evidence gathered through implementation across the country is that heavy emphasis was put on “interventions” and less on universal instruction. It became apparent that there was a need to look more comprehensively at the whole system.

CDE MTSS Overview Slides Fall 2014 The Evolution of RtI in Colorado This Fact Sheet provides information about the evolution, history, and implementation of two sustainable systems change frameworks, Response to Intervention (RtI) and Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). This document describes the transition from the separate and distinct RtI and PBIS implementation efforts of the past to the development of the integrated CO MTSS framework. NOTE: This is like our other Fact Sheet. You can see that there are parallel visual displays and language embedded. All of our fact sheets are on our website.