Department of Special Education August 3, 2010 iSTEEP Follow-up & Training Presented by: Raecheal Vizier, M.Ed. Special Education Program Effectiveness Liaison

Introduction “If You’re Riding A Horse and It Dies, Get OFF”

Why iSTEEP? “System to Enhance Educational Performance” 1. Identify or develop practices that have scientific merit. 2. Develop materials that make the practices "doable" and within reach of all types of schools. 3. Provide implementation services to help schools to use the practices with fidelity.

Benchmarking is the Universal Screening aspect of RTI. It allows teachers to see where their special education students performed in comparison to the whole school. Teachers can assess benchmarking data three times per year. Progress monitoring allows teachers to specifically monitor students on their targeted area of need (fluency, comprehension, etc.). This will allow teachers to determine if intervention is working and make adjustments as needed.

Identifying Needs Universal screening will be done by the RTI team using iSTEEP benchmarking materials for all middle school students and all 9 th grade high school students. The benchmarking maze is a 3 minute timed assessment which evaluates students reading comprehension skills.

Identifying “At Risk” Students After grading the benchmarking, data will be entered in the iSTEEP computer system. This will be done three times per year. (fall, winter, spring) The iSTEEP system will determine the placement of students in levels/zones: – Red (frustration)- lowest performers – Yellow (instructional)- performing at instructional level – Green (Mastery) performing above level

Special Education Component Get the school wide report identifying zones (red, yellow, green). Identify where your special education students are. Those who placed in the green and yellow zone will be monitored using the iSTEEP comprehension maze twice a month.

Progress Monitoring: Maze Teachers & trained paras will give the comprehension maze to students twice a month. Follow the instructions for Maze Assessment. It is a 3 minute timed maze (students do not receive modifications/accommodations on probes). The hard copies of all probes will be kept on file for each student, not in the IEP folder.

Maze Continued: All progress monitoring data will be placed into the iSTEEP computer system in a timely fashion each month. If you determine that the student didn’t do there best, repeat the maze (can’t do/won’t do). Follow instructions for that process. Once you are finished with benchmarking and you have determined the intervention program, teacher, how often, and time, you must complete the iSTEEP instructional planning worksheet. This must be done on all students.

Progress Monitoring: Fluency All red zone students will have to complete the middle school fluency probe. Teachers and trained paras will have to complete the “Finding the Reading Level” on all students who placed in the red (frustration) level. This is done one-on-one with each student. Start at Passage 5a and go down. Remember you must take the medium of three probes and following the guidelines on the form.

Fluency Continued: Once you have completed the “Score Entry Form Finding the Reading Level”, you have determine the oral reading fluency level to which probes will be done. You will need to complete the iSTEEP instructional planning worksheet outlining data, intervention program, teacher and time. Fluency probes will be done at least twice per month. Each students will complete three ORF probes and you will take the medium of the three scores.

Fluency Continued: The special education mandate is to progress monitor fluency twice a month. However, if any student is reading at or below a 3 rd grade level, you are encouraged to progress monitor those students weekly. You will need to carefully monitor these students progress. Data will be enter into the iSTEEP computer system in a timely fashion. Hard copies of progress monitoring probes will be kept on file not in IEP folders.

Data Driven Decisions The iSTEEP system allows you to collect, analyze, and print data in a timely fashion. Teachers should carefully monitor and assess students’ progress monitoring data points. Using the data, teachers determine whether program/strategy is working or if it needs to be changed. Once a student has three data points under the aim line, an adjustment must be made.

What do I do with data? Teachers are encouraged to review graphs with students in an effort encourage them to monitor their own progress (watch the points go up or down). Teachers are encouraged to send graphs home each nine weeks in report cards. Parents are more likely to understand a graph then written paperwork. Teachers should use graphs during IEP meetings, re-evals, RTI meetings etc. All graphs and reports should be printed and placed in the IEP folder at the end of each school year.

For Math… Follow the same procedures: – Benchmarking three times per year – Progress monitoring twice per month Basic facts or mixed probes – Input data in to iSTEEP computer system – Print graphs as noted before

Specific to High Schools Benchmark 9 th grade for reading and math Follow the same procedures as noted before. If students test out based on the benchmarking, then progress monitoring should occur through their intervention programs.

“You Know You’re a Teacher If…”

Closure iSTEEP Contact Person: Specific to each school (Literacy Coach/Interventionist) Questions Comments “You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives.” ~Clay P. Bedford