RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION Malissa Patrick and Kim Thorndycraft February 25, 2010

WE BELIEVE…  School is powerful  We can effectively teach all children

WE BELIEVE…  Reading difficulties can be identified early, and through targeted intervention, can be prevented  Intervention will begin with a problem solving approach at the first sign of need

WE BELIEVE…  The vast majority of students will succeed within the general education curriculum.  Supplemental interventions will be added to meet the needs of those students who are not progressing as expected.

WE BELIEVE…  There is no magical one size fits all program.  It is recognized that what works for one student may NOT work for all students.

WE BELIEVE…  Title I and Special Education are services not places.  These services are part of a continuum of services designed to meet the needs of all students.  These services are provided to students in addition to the core curriculum that is delivered in the general education classroom based on the need and response to instruction.

WE BELIEVE…  Some children can be “difficult to teach” but all children can learn.  A team will use its skills to unlock each child’s potential to achieve.

RTI will help us to achieve our “We Believe” statements

Why RTI?  Eliminates a “wait to fail” situation  Has the potential to reduce the number of students referred for special education services  Provides more instructionally relevant information than traditional assessments

What Is RTI?  RTI is a collaborative process of instruction, assessment, and intervention. It is designed for the early identification of students who are struggling in reading. RTI revolves around providing targeted instructional interventions with regular progress monitoring.

8 Core Principles

1. We Can Effectively Teach All Children  It is our responsibility to identify the curricular instruction and environmental conditions that enable learning.

2. Intervene Early  Highly effective universal interventions in K-3, informed by progress monitoring, enjoy strong empirical support for their effectiveness with at-risk students.

3. Multi-Tier Model of Service Delivery  Multiple tiers of increasingly, intense, scientific, research based interventions that are matched to student need.

4. Problem-Solving Approach  Five basic steps:  1- Definition of the problem  2- Analysis of the problem  3- Development of the plan  4- Implementation of the plan  5- Evaluation of the plan

5. Researched-Based Instruction/Intervention  No child left behind requires the use of scientifically based curricula and interventions to ensure that students are exposed to curriculum and teaching that has demonstrated effectiveness.

6. Progress Monitoring  The use of progress monitoring assessments can be collected frequently and should be sensitive to small changes in student learning.

7. Data Driven Decision Making  Decisions in RTI practice are based on professional judgment informed directly by student performance data.

8. Three Purposes of Assessment  1- Screening applied to all children to identify those not making academic progress at expected rates  2- Diagnostics to determine what children can and cannot do in important academic domains  3- Progress monitoring to determine if academic interventions are producing desired effects

RTI-Three Tier Model

TIER 1 Three Basic Components 1.High-quality program of instruction aligned with essential skills of reading into 90 minute ELA block 2.Ongoing assessment of students to determine instructional strengths and needs 3.Ongoing professional development for instructional staff

Tier 1 Classroom Instructional Practices  Flexible grouping for differentiation of instruction  Research-based classroom intervention designed to achieve grade-level content expectations  6 to 8 weeks minimum of prescriptive interventions

TIER 2  Provides research-based, intensive prevention services and/or designed interventions targeting the individual needs of students  Goal is to meet the needs of students whose performance level AND rate of progress continue to lag behind

TIER 2 Basic Features of Instruction  30 minutes a day, 5 days a week  Small groups (3 to 5 students)  Same ability grouping  Progress is monitored every two weeks

TIER 2 Process  The problem solving process often occurs during grade level meetings or school-wide “RTI team” meetings  After 6 to 8 weeks the team decides if an intervention should be continued or altered, allowing at least 3 weeks for it to take effect  A student should not stay at Tier 2 for more than a year

Tier 2 Planning  Determine who will provide the supplemental instruction  Evaluate and select materials  Determine criteria for entering and exiting Tier 2 instruction  Students enter when the assessment system indicates below benchmark  Students exit when the assessment system indicates back on grade level

What Should the Supplemental Instruction Look Like?  Systematic and explicit  Modeling  Multiple examples  Feedback to individual students  Multiple opportunities to participate and respond  Paced to match each student’s skill level

TIER 3  Tier 3 is provided for students who meet both the low achievement AND the insufficient response to Tier 2 interventions  Insufficient response will be defined by a committee (typically 2 to 3 trials of evidence based strategies lasting 6 to 8 weeks)

Tier 3 Intensive Intervention  Specifically designed reading instruction that extends beyond the time allocated for Tier 1 and Tier 2  Supplements 90 minutes of Tier 1 instruction

Tier 3 Basic Features of Instruction  Two 30-minute sessions a day, 5 days a week  Smaller groups of students (3 students)  Same ability grouping  Progress is monitored every two weeks

Who Provides Tier 3 Supplemental Instruction?  Options  Specialized reading teacher  External interventionist  Special education teacher

What should Tier 3 instruction look like?  Repeated opportunities for practice and review  Additional correction and feedback  Increased time on-task  Drill repetition and practice review  Tasks broken down into smaller steps  Learning made visible  Prompts and cues

Differences between Tier 2 and Tier 3 Tier 2 Instruction Tier 3 Instruction Daily Instruction 30 minutes (+Tier 1) 30 minutes twice a day (+Tier 1) Duration weeks (1-2 rounds) weeks (possible several rounds) Group size 1:3 to 5 1:3 Ongoing Progress Monitoring every 2 weeks

DATA…DATA…DATA

© 2005, Dynamic Measurement Group Reading Trajectories of Low and Middle Readers Grades 1-6 Words Per Minute

© 2005, Dynamic Measurement Group Summary: What Do We Know?  Reading trajectories are established early.  Readers on a low trajectory tend to stay on that trajectory.  Students on a low trajectory tend to fall further and further behind. UNLESS …

© 2005, Dynamic Measurement Group We CAN Change Trajectories  Identify students early.  Focus instruction on Big Ideas of literacy.  Focus assessment on indicators of important outcomes.  Use assessment information to impact instruction to improve outcomes for students

What Are DIBELS? Dynamic 98.6 Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills © 2005, Dynamic Measurement Group

Relevant Features of DIBELS l Measure Basic Early Literacy Skills: Big Ideas of early literacy l Efficient and economical l Standardized l Replicable l Familiar/routine contexts l Technically adequate l Sensitive to growth and change over time and to effects of intervention © 2005, Dynamic Measurement Group

Focus Instruction on Big Ideas What are the Big Ideas of early reading?  Phonemic awareness  Alphabetic principle  Accuracy and fluency with connected text  Vocabulary  Comprehension © 2005, Dynamic Measurement Group

Why focus on BIG IDEAS?  Intensive instruction means teach less more thoroughly  If you don’t know what is important, everything is.  If everything is important, you will try to do everything.  If you try to do everything you will be asked to do more.  If you do everything you won’t have time to figure out what is important. © 2005, Dynamic Measurement Group

DIBELS Assess the Big Ideas © 2005, Dynamic Measurement Group

Letter Naming Fluency is an Added Indicator of Risk* DIBELS™ Measure Indicator of Risk Letter Naming Fluency Note: Letter Naming is not a Big Idea of early literacy; it is not the most powerful instructional target thus there are no benchmark goals nor progress monitoring materials for LNF. © 2005, Dynamic Measurement Group

DIBELS Benchmark Goals  Initial Sound Fluency:  Phoneme Segmentation Fluency:  Nonsense Word Fluency:  DIBELS™ Oral Reading Fluency: –35 sounds per minute by Spring Kindergarten –25 sounds per minute by Winter Kindergarten –50 sounds per minute by Winter First Grade with at least 15 words recoded –40 words correct per minute by Spring First Grade –90 words correct per minute by Spring Second Grade –110 words correct per minute by Spring Third Grade –118 words correct per minute by Spring Fourth Grade –124 words correct per minute by Spring Fifth Grade –125 words correct per minute by Spring Sixth Grade DIBELS 2005

DIBELS Assessment  Two types of assessment: 1- Benchmark assessment: All students 3 times per year 2- Progress Monitoring: Students who need support more frequently

Where Are We Now?

Quality Classroom Instruction Quality/ Standardized/ Documented/ Interventions Intensive Instruction Instruction Consultation Teams Gravois, 2006 Starting point is the “match” between the students’ entry skills and the quality of instruction within the classroom (tier 1). Focus is to support high quality instructional practices (regardless of students’ assignment to tier). Recognizes that principles of quality instruction are the same regardless of tier. Recognizes assignment (or lack of assignment) of student to a tier does not resolve the need for teacher support. Recognizes that measures of student progress are necessary, yet alone are insufficient to improve teacher and student performance. Instructional Consultation Teams

Livingston County Referral Trend

Special Education Population

Referral Patterns

2009 ELA MEAP DATA Percent Proficient