The Role of the LSSP in Response to Intervention Andrea Ogonosky, Ph.D., LSSP, NCSP Licensed Psychologist ESC 4 Summer Assessment Institute (832)

Agenda Technical Adequacy of Process Team Membership/Leadership NASP Recommendations Multiple Sources of Data Staff Knowledge

Technical Adequacy The District Guidance Document

RtI: Problem Solving Assessment 80% 15% 5% Interventions Universal Screening Progress Monitoring Diagnostics Progress Monitoring Diagnostics Grade Level Instruction/ Support Student Instructional Level Supplemental Interventions 90 min per week additional Student Instructional Level Supplemental Interventions 120 min per week additional

Pair and Share Have you ever felt like this? Why? What has been your greatest challenge with your district RtI process? On a scale of 1-5 where is your district as far as implementing a true problem solving process centered around Tier 1? Do you continue to hear staff refer to RtI as a referral process or a documentation journey on the road to special education? When are you called in to consult? Are you a valued member of a campus or district team?

RtI Foundations for Success 1.Multiple Tiers of Instruction and Assessment 2.Using Data: Balanced Assessments 3.Technology 4.Highly Qualified Staff

The strongest processes that show sustained student growth are those that go beyond technical adequacy…. They are ones that promote a cultural responsiveness to the learning needs of all students (think Tier 1- 80%) and are not dependent on a rote “decision rule” of six points on a graph.

Let’s start at the beginning…. RtI Is not simply implementing a different type of problem solving. It also involves giving up certain beliefs in favor of others. Systems will need to change…. This includes Service Delivery of SPED Personnel 8

Collaborator Ideally, RTI is neither a general education nor a special education initiative, but rather a total school initiative with the goal of optimizing instruction for all students… Within this framework for identifying and supporting students who experience difficulties, collaboration among educational professionals and with students and their families is imperative for RTI to be successful.

According to Schrage (1995) "Collaboration is the process of shared creation: Two or more individuals with complementary skills interacting to create a shared understanding that none had previously possessed or could have come to on their own" Following Schrage’s reasoning, we might ask: What is needed to create this type of shared understanding in your school/district?

Team Membership (Preventative) Actively seek out to be an “Ad Hoc” member of the team Enthusiastically volunteer information to aid in Tier 1 PBIS Emphasize the value of having you consult way before a referral is initiated. Offer to aid in the development of the academic and behavioral progress monitoring tools. Provide mini-skill lessons on understanding various aspects of behavior change. Design a resource library of simple but effective behavior strategies. Volunteer to run a lunch bunch social skills group.

Leadership The road to student success begins here….

Critical Leadership in RtI Strong Leader Focused on Ongoing RtI Vision Well versed in District RtI Philosophy Uses ongoing evaluation of needs to drive resource allocation and professional development

Ensure fidelity by having meaningful conversations with staff about data. Create a culture of common values and work together to achieve common goals. Provide clear staff expectations Creatively allocate limited resources to ensure personnel have access to necessary supports.

Essential Tasks for Both Gen Ed and SPED Team Study and plan ongoing RtI development. Embed data based decisions across all systems Use hybrid model of problem solving.

NASP: Expand Role on Systems Level Identify and analyze existing information to aid in the implementation of multi-tiered systems of support. Work with your district leaders to identify key stakeholders within the community to help facilitate change. Conduct needs assessments for campus administrators with regard to PBIS and Tier 1 ICEL issues. Volunteer to help develop local norms. Work with pilot projects. Provide information regarding community and national mental health initiatives and grants. Ensure ongoing communication with administration, school board, teachers, and parents.

Campus Culture

Resiliency: Over 40% of teachers do not make it to their 5 th year of teaching- many leave by year 3. Encouragement of Innovation: PD to support advances in technology. Teachers reinforced and encouraged for “thinking outside the box”. Quality of Student teacher relationships

The most important aspect of a strong RtI process is the richness of the conversations that occur because of the layers of multiple occurring data sources.

Mutual Respect- Question Is there a culture of mutual respect? What are your barriers? What can you do to help with the emotional group think that sometimes happens when discussing student with behavioral difficulties?

NASP: Role as Team Collaborator Engage in ongoing consultation regarding implementation issues as well as individual student needs. Be an “Ad Hoc” member. Collaborate on the development of team procedures and processes. Identify team training needs. Serve as liaisons to parents. Volunteer to provide support in academic and behavior progress monitoring.

Underscoring a Problem “Most teachers just do not possess the skills to collect data, draw meaningful conclusions, focus instruction and skill building, and appropriately follow up to assess results. That is not the set of skills we were hired to do.” How can you help to ensure fidelity of data?

Align Behavioral Data Sources Universal Screening Progress Monitoring Does the data tell a clear and concise story of the student’s learning and behavior? If there is inconsistency team must investigate why Review integrity of instruction Align to student needs Student variables

Components Addressed When Using Multiple Data Sources The interrelationship between classroom achievement and cognitive processing criteria Classroom achievement Academic Deficit (RtI) Cognitive Processing Behavior

Data to Consider Referral Question Test Selection Interpretation DiagnosticsPMSummative

Problem Identification Is the Tier 1 Core curriculum effective? (District Data) The percentage of students (aggregated or sub-groups) meeting proficiency on the state standards as measured by the statewide assessment. Universal Screening Trends

Characteristics of a Strong Data Team  Process of Collecting Meaningful Data  Culture of Collaboration  There is a process to measure where students are in the curriculum.  There is a RtI plan in the school district to help students who are not achieving or who are excelling.

Problem Identification Review existing information Determine student’s functional level Identify initial concerns Analyze multiple data sources Operationally define the problem

Problem Identification School level: The percentage of students who are being referred for disciplinary infractions. Who are the students? Do the data suggest a sub-group? Has their risk level increased (benchmark to strategic or strategic to intensive)? Is a clear pattern of behavior/ types of referrals evident?

Problem Identification Grade level: Students in certain grades are not making adequate social, emotional, behavioral progress. Has the staff been provided adequate professional development and training on the PBIS curriculum? Has fidelity of implementation been addressed? Can root causes be identified? Class level: Is there a pattern within a classroom of increased discipline referrals? Are the interventions matched to student needs?

Existing Data Review Determine the Student’s Current Classroom Status: Academic Progress and Work Samples Teacher Describes and quantifies concerns Review of Records Parent Contact(s) Medical Information Classroom Observations (ICEL)

The two most common reasons for less than expected rate of student progress are: 1. A mismatch between instruction and learner needs 2.Fidelity of implementation

Determine Student Functional Levels Identify assets and weaknesses Identify Critical Life Events, Milestones, Circumstances (Positive and Negative) Identify medical and/or physiological sources of concern Identify academic variables such as “speed of acquisition” or retention of information Identify issues of attendance, transitions, motivation, access to instruction

Professional Judgment Interpretation Issues

Suspected Disability? ID: What to look for in the data: Screening: Below cut score across the board Diagnostics: Focused Skill deficits and patterns across many areas (mostly pattern of weaknesses) Progress Monitoring: ROI would be slow and possible have a downward trend, not variable, slope is evident (not flat-line) Outcome: STAAR failure pervasive, Unit and District assessments in bottom percentile

Suspected ID/ Slower Cognitive Processing: I: Student instructional level significantly below grade level, often times manipulatives, graphic organizers needed, slow (not variable) progress, well below grade level expectations. C: Curricular mismatch is evident across academic areas E: Student performs best in environment that is highly structured, highly organized, rules posted, high degree of task analysis needed L: Student demonstrates adaptive skill weaknesses, difficulty with use of learning strategies independently, social skill weaknesses

Reminder (ID) Children with ID will not likely display a flat cognitive profile on comprehensive assessments of cognitive abilities ID is usually evident when data indicates there is one (or more) impaired cognitive ability with high centrality that lower the functioning of the whole system As a group, students identified with ID have lower scores on all CHC factors

Suspected Disability SLD: What to look for in the data: a.Data that shows appropriate instruction and data-based documentation of progress in some academic areas b.Does not achieve adequately for age or meet state-approved grade-level standards Does not make sufficient progress …response to scientific, research-based intervention… Screening: District Cut Score on US (Should be above in some areas) Diagnostics: Reading, Math, Writing Progress Monitoring: Grades, formative assessments, unit tests, district common assessments, RtI CBM’s (ROI)- variable data results, however grade expectations in some areas Outcome: Summative Assessments, Report card grades, STAAR, Review objectives met/not met

Suspected SLD: I: Grade level in some areas, below grade level in others C: Differentiated strategies based upon learning style will vary depending on academic area E: Student displays differing degrees of AE based upon content and delivery, performs better in small group with instruction aligned to learning preferences L: Most often demonstrates increased off task behaviors in area of weaknesses, family history may include learning problems, medical history positive for certain “red flags”, development is positive for specific deficit and skill acquisition.

Professional Judgment: Test Selection Based Upon Multiple Sources “Pick the battery that best fit the student and the referral concern” (Misak, 2013) Focus selection of narrows dependent on data related to Tiered instruction on specific skill deficits. Do you have enough fidelity to do this? Does RtI team give you enough data? What is sufficient for ROI data pts? Norms? Comparison to peers?

Reminder All G’s are involved in all learning – What is required for learning determines involvement of each and will differ. Some G’s (Gc, Gf) affect learning across all academic areas. Within each G, specific narrow abilities are more directly related to specific academic skills – these narrow abilities need to be measured for LD patterns.

FIE Test Selection Review RIOT/ICEL and all RTI data- determine reason for referral Carefully select measures- watch for variance Do not want to use too many measures Need to measure the appropriate narrow abilities Also may need to measure constructs such as executive function, orthographic processing, etc. Select a core battery and the relevant tests to give and then supplement appropriately

Converge Data Reason for Referral Historical Data RtI Data Multiple Sources FIE Test Battery Professional Judgment Recommendations

FIE Language Reason for Referral Student was referred for a comprehensive Full and Individual Evaluation by the campus RTI committee. Student has participated in Tiers 1, 2 and 3 intensive instruction and intervention in the area of basic reading skills and comprehension and continues to evidence poor progress within grade level and instructional level curriculum.

Achievement Data In addition to reporting your review of assessment data, include such data as: US: Student participated in district-wide screening on Aimsweb BOY scores indicate…. Or Scan and import data Scan and or report PM data:

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