1. Marla Gardner, Ed.D. Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES
Building the SCDN Learning Community: Using the Critical Friends Model to Explore RTI – An Approach to Meet the Needs of All Students March 2008
Marla Gardner, Ed.D.
Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES

2. Agenda 2:15 – 2:30 Find a Critical Friend for the RTI sharing activity
2:30 – 2:45 Present Critical Friends Model
2:45 – 3:05 Critical Friends Conversation
3:05 – 3:20 Table Sharing/Record Initiatives
3:20 – 3:30 Debrief/Closing Comments

3. Why Critical Friends? Continue to develop our own Learning Community
Provide more professional development opportunities for members
Build our members’ capacity
Provide opportunities for members to interact with others outside of their immediate regions

4. Critical Friends Model
Purpose:
Provide a professional exchange in which individuals both clarify and stretch their thinking about what they are working on in a “safe but not necessarily comfortable environment.”
Role – Critical Friends:
Are advocates for the success of your work.
Bring a different perspective.
Are question askers not criticizers.
Are good listeners.
Are not outside experts.

5. The Critical Friends Process
A person describes the problem or a strategy s/he wants to try and requests feedback.
The Critical Friend asks questions in order to understand what is being described.
The Critical Friend provides feedback about what seems significant about the problem or strategy.
The Critical Friend raises questions and “nudges” the person to see the work from various perspectives.

6. Critical Friends Skills that Support Reflection & Decision Making
Active Listening Skills
Using Silence & Wait Time
Acknowledging
Paraphrasing
Summarizing
Interpreting/Inferring
Making eye contact
Using congruent body language (body language and facial expressions appropriate to what is being said)

7. Critical Friends Skills that Support Reflection & Decision Making
Questioning Skills
Clarifying Meaning
Testing Assumptions
Probing for Specificity
Asking Reflective Questions

8. Presenter: Planning Sheet for Examining an RTI Initiative
What do you want to accomplish related to RTI?
What concrete steps will you take to address the situation?
What obstacles do you anticipate?
How will you measure progress?

9. Critical Friend: Guiding Questions
Ask clarifying/probing questions like the following:
What do you hope to accomplish?
How will you know you have been successful?
What are the obstacles you anticipate?

10. Sharing RTI Initiatives with Your Table Group
Each person will take one minute to briefly describe a Response To Intervention initiative being planned or implemented
A recorder should complete the chart listing all of the initiatives shared at the table.
Once everyone at the table has shared, table members can ask follow-up questions about specific initiatives, if time allows.

11. Planning Phase (PP) or Implementation Phase (IP)
RTI Initiatives Directions: Select a recorder for each table and complete the form for each initiative shared.
RTI Initiative
Planning Phase (PP) or Implementation Phase (IP)
BOCES/CITY/
NETWORK
Contact Person

12. Critical Friends Debrief
How did this process help us to continue to build the SCDN learning community?
How might you use this process back in your region?