1. Response to Intervention www.interventioncentral.org RTI Teams: Improving Problem-Solving Through Effective Case Management Jim Wright www.interventioncentral.org

2. Response to Intervention www.interventioncentral.org

3. Response to Intervention www.interventioncentral.org Case Manager: Role Meets with the referring teacher(s) briefly prior to the initial RTI Team meeting to review the teacher referral form, clarify teacher concerns, decide what additional data should be collected on the student. Touches base briefly with the referring teacher(s) after the RTI Team meeting to check that the intervention plan is running smoothly. 3

4. Response to Intervention www.interventioncentral.org Case Manager: Tips If you discover, when you meet with a referring teacher prior to the RTI Team meeting, that his or her concern is vaguely worded, help the teacher to clarify the concern with the question “What does [teacher concern] look like in the classroom?” After the RTI Team meeting, consider sending periodic emails to the referring teacher(s) asking them how the intervention is going and inviting them to inform you if they require assistance. 4

5. Response to Intervention www.interventioncentral.org Case Manager: Pre-Meeting Prior to an initial RTI Problem-Solving Team meeting, it is recommended that a case manager from the RTI Team schedule a brief (15-20 minute) ‘pre-meeting’ with the referring teacher. The purpose of this pre-meeting is for the case manager to share with the teacher the purpose of the upcoming full RTI Team meeting, to clarify student referral concerns, and to decide what data should be collected and brought to the RTI Team meeting. 5

6. Response to Intervention www.interventioncentral.org Case Manager: Pre-Meeting Steps Here is a recommended agenda for the case manager-teacher pre-meeting: 1. Explain the purpose of the upcoming RTI Problem- Solving Team meeting: The case manager explains that the RTI Team meeting goals are to (a) fully understand the nature of the student’s academic and/or behavioral problems; (b) develop an evidence- based intervention plan for the student; and (c) set a goal for student improvement and select means to monitor the student’s response to the intervention plan. 6

7. Response to Intervention www.interventioncentral.org Case Manager: Pre-Meeting Steps 2. Define the student referral concern(s) in clear, specific terms.. The case manager reviews with the teacher the most important student referral concern(s), helping the teacher to define those concern(s) in clear, specific, observable terms. The teacher is also prompted to prioritize his or her top 1-2 student concerns. 7

8. Response to Intervention www.interventioncentral.org Case Manager: Pre-Meeting Steps 3. Decide what data should be brought to the RTI Team meeting. The case manager and teacher decide what student data should be collected and brought to the RTI Team meeting to provide insight into the nature of the student’s presenting concern(s). 8

9. Response to Intervention www.interventioncentral.org Case Manager: Pre-Meeting Steps 9

10. Response to Intervention www.interventioncentral.org RTI Problem-Solving Teams: Promoting Student Involvement Jim Wright www.interventioncentral.org

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14. Response to Intervention www.interventioncentral.org RTI: Promoting Student Involvent Schools should strongly consider having middle and high school students attend and take part in their own RTI Problem-Solving Team meetings for two reasons. First, as students mature, their teachers expect that they will take responsibility in advocating for their own learning needs. Second, students are more likely to fully commit to RTI intervention plans if they attend the RTI Team meeting and have a voice in the creation of those plans. 14

15. Response to Intervention www.interventioncentral.org RTI: Promoting Student Involvement Before the RTI Team Meeting. The student should be adequately prepared to attend the RTI Team meeting by first engaging in a ‘pre-meeting’ with a school staff member whom the student knows and trusts (e.g., school counselor, teacher, administrator). By connecting the student with a trusted mentor figure who can help that student to navigate the RTI process, the school improves the odds that the disengaged or unmotivated student will feel an increased sense of connection and commitment to their own school performance (Bridgeland, DiIulio, & Morison, 2006). 15

16. Response to Intervention www.interventioncentral.org RTI: Promoting Student Involvement A student RTI ‘pre-meeting’ can be quite brief, lasting perhaps 15-20 minutes. Here is a simple agenda for the meeting: Share information about the student problem(s). Describe the purpose and steps of the RTI Problem-Solving Team meeting. Stress the student’s importance in the intervention plan. Have the student describe his or her learning needs. Invite the student to attend the RTI Team meeting. 16

17. Response to Intervention www.interventioncentral.org RTI: Promoting Student Involvement During the RTI Team Meeting. If the student agrees to attend the RTI Team meeting, he or she participates fully in the meeting. Teachers and other staff attending the meeting make an effort to keep the atmosphere positive and focused on finding solutions to the student’s presenting concern(s). As each intervention idea is discussed, the team checks in with the student to determine that the student (a) fully understands how to access or participate in the intervention element being proposed and (b) is willing to take part in that intervention element. If the student appears hesitant or resistant, the team should work with the student either to win the student over to the proposed intervention idea or to find an alternative intervention that will accomplish the same goal. At the end of the RTI Team meeting, each of the intervention ideas that is dependent on student participation for success is copied into the School Success Intervention Plan. 17

18. Response to Intervention www.interventioncentral.org RTI: Promoting Student Involvement After the RTI Team Meeting. If the school discovers that the student is not carrying out his or her responsibilities as spelled out by the intervention plan, it is recommended that the staff member assigned as the RTI contact meet with the student and parent. At that meeting, the adult contact checks with the student to make sure that: the intervention plan continues to be relevant and appropriate for addressing the student’s academic or behavioral needs the student understands and call access all intervention elements outlined on the School Success Intervention Plan. adults participating in the intervention plan (e.g., classroom teachers) are carrying out their parts of the plan. 18

19. Response to Intervention www.interventioncentral.org RTI: Writing Interventions Jim Wright www.interventioncentral.org

20. Response to Intervention www.interventioncentral.org 20 "If all the grammarians in the world were placed end to end, it would be a good thing." – Oscar Wilde

21. Response to Intervention www.interventioncentral.org 21 Graham, S., & Perin, D. (2007). Writing next: Effective strategies to improve writing of adolescents in middle and high schools – A report to Carnegie Corporation of New York. Washington, DC Alliance for Excellent Education. Retrieved from http://www.all4ed.org/files/ WritingNext.pdf

22. Response to Intervention www.interventioncentral.org 22 The Effect of Grammar Instruction as an Independent Activity “Grammar instruction in the studies reviewed [for the Writing Next report] involved the explicit and systematic teaching of the parts of speech and structure of sentences. The meta-analysis found an effect for this type of instruction for students across the full range of ability, but …surprisingly, this effect was negative…Such findings raise serious questions about some educators’ enthusiasm for traditional grammar instruction as a focus of writing instruction for adolescents….Overall, the findings on grammar instruction suggest that, although teaching grammar is important, alternative procedures, such as sentence combining, are more effective than traditional approaches for improving the quality of students’ writing.” p. 21 Source: Graham, S., & Perin, D. (2007). Writing next: Effective strategies to improve writing of adolescents in middle and high schools – A report to Carnegie Corporation of New York. Washington, DC Alliance for Excellent Education.

23. Response to Intervention www.interventioncentral.org 23 Origins of the Latin Alphabet:Early Greek Alphabet Source: http://www.translexis.demon.co.uk/new_page_2.htm Boustrophedon: ‘ox trail’: Script alternates between left-to-right and right-to-left

24. Response to Intervention www.interventioncentral.org 24 "The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug." – Mark Twain

25. Response to Intervention www.interventioncentral.org 25 "Your manuscript is both good and original. But the part that is good is not original, and the part that is original is not good." – Samuel Johnson

26. Response to Intervention www.interventioncentral.org 26 Domains of writing to be assessed (Robinson & Howell, 2008): Fluency/Text Generation: Facility in getting text onto paper or typed into the computer. (NOTE: This element can be significantly influenced by student motivation.) Syntactic Maturity: This skill includes the: –Ability to discern when a word string meets criteria as a complete sentence –Ability to write compositions with a diverse range of sentence structures Semantic Maturity: Writer’s use of vocabulary of range and sophistication Source: Robinson, L. K., & Howell, K. W. (2008). Best practices in curriculum-based evaluation & written expression. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.), Best practices in school psychology V (pp. 439-452). Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.

27. Response to Intervention www.interventioncentral.org 27 5-Step Writing Process: (Items in bold are iterative): 1.Planning. The student carries out necessary pre-writing planning activities, including content, format, and outline. 2.Drafting. The student writes or types the composition. 3.Revision. The student reviews the content of the composition-in-progress and makes changes as needed. After producing an initial written draft, the student considers revisions to content before turning in for a grade or evaluation. 4.Editing. The student looks over the composition and corrects any mechanical mistakes (capitalization, punctuation, etc.). 5.Publication: The student submits the composition in finished form. Source: Robinson, L. K., & Howell, K. W. (2008). Best practices in curriculum-based evaluation & written expression. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.), Best practices in school psychology V (pp. 439-452). Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists. Domains of writing to be assessed (Robinson & Howell, 2008) :

28. Response to Intervention www.interventioncentral.org 28 Evaluating the Impact of Effect Size Coefficients 0.20 Effect Size = Small 0.50 Effect Size = Medium 0.80 Effect Size = Large Source: Cohen,J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nded.). Hillsdale,NJ:Erlbaum.

29. Response to Intervention www.interventioncentral.org 29 Elements of effective writing instruction for adolescents: 1.Writing Process (Effect Size = 0.82): Students are taught a process for planning, revising, and editing. 2.Summarizing (Effect Size = 0.82): Students are taught methods to identify key points, main ideas from readings to write summaries of source texts. 3.Cooperative Learning Activities (‘Collaborative Writing’) (Effect Size = 0.75): Students are placed in pairs or groups with learning activities that focus on collaborative use of the writing process. 4.Goal-Setting (Effect Size = 0.70): Students set specific ‘product goals’ for their writing and then check their attainment of those self- generated goals. Source: Graham, S., & Perin, D. (2007). Writing next: Effective strategies to improve writing of adolescents in middle and high schools – A report to Carnegie Corporation of New York. Washington, DC Alliance for Excellent Education. Retrieved from http://www.all4ed.org/files/WritingNext.pdf

30. Response to Intervention www.interventioncentral.org 30 Elements of effective writing instruction for adolescents: 5.Writing Processors (Effect Size = 0.55): Students have access to computers/word processors in the writing process. 6.Sentence Combining (Effect Size = 0.50): Students take part in instructional activities that require the combination or embedding of simpler sentences (e.g., Noun-Verb-Object) to generate more advanced, complex sentences. 7.Prewriting (Effect Size = 0.32): Students learn to select, develop, or organize ideas to incorporate into their writing by participating in structured ‘pre-writing’ activities. 8.Inquiry Activities (Effect Size = 0.32): Students become actively engaged researchers, collecting and analyzing information to guide the ideas and content for writing assignments. Source: Graham, S., & Perin, D. (2007). Writing next: Effective strategies to improve writing of adolescents in middle and high schools – A report to Carnegie Corporation of New York. Washington, DC Alliance for Excellent Education. Retrieved from http://www.all4ed.org/files/WritingNext.pdf

31. Response to Intervention www.interventioncentral.org 31 Elements of effective writing instruction for adolescents: 9.Process Writing (Effect Size = 0.32): Writing instruction is taught in a ‘workshop’ format that “ stresses extended writing opportunities, writing for authentic audiences, personalized instruction, and cycles of writing” (Graham & Perin, 2007; p. 4). 10.Use of Writing Models (Effect Size = 0.25): Students read and discuss models of good writing and use them as exemplars for their own writing. 11.Writing to Learn Content (Effect Size = 0.23): The instructor incorporates writing activities as a means to have students learn content material. Source: Graham, S., & Perin, D. (2007). Writing next: Effective strategies to improve writing of adolescents in middle and high schools – A report to Carnegie Corporation of New York. Washington, DC Alliance for Excellent Education. Retrieved from http://www.all4ed.org/files/WritingNext.pdf

32. Response to Intervention www.interventioncentral.org 32 Sentence Combining Students with poor writing skills often write sentences that lack ‘syntactic maturity’. Their sentences often follow a simple, stereotyped format. A promising approach to teach students use of diverse sentence structures is through sentence combining. In sentence combining, students are presented with kernel sentences and given explicit instruction in how to weld these kernel sentences into more diverse sentence types either –by using connecting words to combine multiple sentences into one or –by isolating key information from an otherwise superfluous sentence and embedding that important information into the base sentence. Sources: Saddler, B. (2005). Sentence combining: A sentence-level writing intervention. The Reading Teacher, 58, 468-471. Strong, W. (1986). Creative approaches to sentence combining. Urbana, OL: ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading and Communication Skill & National Council of Teachers of English.

33. Response to Intervention www.interventioncentral.org 33 Formatting Sentence Combining Examples

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37. Response to Intervention www.interventioncentral.org 37 Team Activity: Use of Sentence Combining as a Writing Strategy Across Content Areas… : Discuss the sentence-combining strategy discussed in this workshop. Brainstorm ways that schools can promote the use of this strategy across content areas to encourage students to write with greater ‘syntactic maturity’.

38. Response to Intervention www.interventioncentral.org Miscellaneous Slides 38

39. Response to Intervention www.interventioncentral.org RTI: Advanced Group: 15 January 2010 Networking Planning Time Technical Assistance: Reading intervention, writing intervention, RTI Problem-Solving Teams

40. Response to Intervention www.interventioncentral.org Networking Activity: Sharing RTI Status Appoint a spokesperson. Consider your school’s or district’s current state of RTI implementation. What is an area of relative strength that you would like to share with the group? What is your most significant current challenge moving forward? Has your school or district yet reached the RTI ‘tipping point’? 40

41. Response to Intervention www.interventioncentral.org HELPS Reading Program: www.helpsprogram.org HELPS (Helping Early Literacy with Practice Strategies) is a free program that targets student reading fluency skills. HELPS was developed by Dr. John Begeny of North Carolina State University. The program is an evidence-based intervention package that includes the following effective treatment components: adult modeling of fluent reading, repeated reading of passages by the student, phrase-drill error correction, verbal cueing and retell check to encourage student reading comprehension, and reward procedures to engage and encourage the student reader. HELPS can be used as an RTI intervention for reading fluency at Tiers 1 through 3. 41

42. Response to Intervention www.interventioncentral.org Team Planning Time As a team, use the next segment of the workshop to work on any aspect(s) of your RTI plan. Consider: –using your challenge(s) identified during the morning activity as a focal point for this planning activity. –networking with other teams to share ideas to address your planning question(s). –planning to roll out your next RTI element(s) by September 2010. 42