1. Helping the Older Struggling Learner: Making RTI Work at the Middle and High School Levels Jim Wright

2. Workshop Agenda RTI & Secondary Schools: Introduction
Creating Effective RTI Problem-Solving Teams
Assessment & Progress-Monitoring Across the Tiers
Building Classroom Teacher Capacity to Select & Implement Interventions
Promoting Student Engagement in the RTI Process
Preparing Your School for RTI Systems-Level Change

3. Secondary Students: Unique Challenges…
Struggling learners in middle and high school may:
Have significant deficits in basic academic skills
Lack higher-level problem-solving strategies and concepts
Present with issues of school motivation
Show social/emotional concerns that interfere with academics
Have difficulty with attendance
Are often in a process of disengaging from learning even as adults in school expect that those students will move toward being ‘self-managing’ learners…

4. Why Do Students Drop Out of School?: Student Survey
Classes were not perceived as interesting (47 percent)
Not motivated by teachers to ‘work hard’ (69 percent)
Failing in school was a major factor in dropping out (35 percent)
Had to get a job (32 percent)
Became a parent (26 percent)
Needed to care for a family member (22 percent)
Source: Bridgeland, J. M., DiIulio, J. J., & Morison, K. B. (2006). The silent epidemic: Perspectives of high school dropouts. Seattle, WA: Gates Foundation. Retrieved on May 4, 2008, from

5. Overlap Between ‘Policy Pathways’ & RTI Goals: Recommendations for Schools to Reduce Dropout Rates
A range of high school learning options matched to the needs of individual learners: ‘different schools for different students’
Strategies to engage parents
Individualized graduation plans
‘Early warning systems’ to identify students at risk of school failure
A range of supplemental services/’intensive assistance strategies’ for struggling students
Adult advocates to work individually with at-risk students to overcome obstacles to school completion
Source: Bridgeland, J. M., DiIulio, J. J., & Morison, K. B. (2006). The silent epidemic: Perspectives of high school dropouts. Seattle, WA: Gates Foundation. Retrieved on May 4, 2008, from

6. School Dropout as a Process, Not an Event
“It is increasingly accepted that dropout is best conceptualized as a long-term process, not an instantaneous event; however, most interventions are administered at a middle or high school level after problems are severe.”
Source: Jimerson, S., Reschly, A.L., & Hess, R. (2008). Best practices in increasing the likelihood of school completion. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds). Best Practices in School Psychology - 5th Ed (pp ). Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.. p.1090

7. Student Motivation & The Need for Intervention
“A common response to students who struggle in sixth grade is to wait and hope they grow out of it or adapt, to attribute early struggles to the natural commotion of early adolescence and to temporary difficulties in adapting to new organizational structures of schooling, more challenging curricula and assessment, and less personalized attention. Our evidence clearly indicates that, at least in high-poverty urban schools, sixth graders who are missing 20% or more of the days, exhibiting poor behavior, or failing math or English do not recover. On the contrary, they drop out. This says that early intervention is not only productive but absolutely essential.”
Source: Balfanz, R., Herzog, L., MacIver, D. J. (2007). Preventing student disengagement and keeping students on the graduation path in urban middle grades schools: Early identification and effective interventions. Educational Psychologist,42, 223–235. .

8. Five Core Components of RTI Service Delivery
Student services are arranged in a multi-tier model
Data are collected to assess student baseline levels and to make decisions about student progress
Interventions are ‘evidence-based’
The ‘procedural integrity’ of interventions is measured
RTI is implemented and developed at the school- and district-level to be scalable and sustainable over time
Source: Glover, T. A., & DiPerna, J. C. (2007). Service delivery for response to intervention: Core components and directions for future research. School Psychology Review, 36,

9. RTI ‘Pyramid of Interventions’
Tier 3: Intensive interventions. Students who are ‘non-responders’ to Tiers I & II may be eligible for special education services, intensive interventions.
Tier 1
Tier 2
Tier 3
Tier 2 Individualized interventions. Subset of students receive interventions targeting specific needs.
Tier 1: Universal interventions. Available to all students in a classroom or school. Can consist of whole-group or individual strategies or supports.

10. Tier I Instruction/Interventions
Are universal—available to all students.
Can be delivered within classrooms or throughout the school.
Are likely to be put into place by the teacher at the first sign that a student is struggling.
All children have access to Tier 1 instruction/interventions. Teachers have the capability to use those strategies without requiring outside assistance.
Tier 1 instruction/interventions encompass:
The school’s core curriculum and all published or teacher-made materials used to deliver that curriculum.
Teacher use of ‘whole-group’ teaching & management strategies.
Teacher use of individualized strategies with specific students.
Tier I instruction/interventions attempt to answer the question: Are routine classroom instructional strategies sufficient to help the student to achieve academic success?

11. Complementary RTI Models: Standard Treatment & Problem-Solving Protocols
“The two most commonly used RTI approaches are (1) standard treatment and (2) problem-solving protocol. While these two approaches to RTI are sometimes described as being very different from each other, they actually have several common elements, and both fit within a problem-solving framework. In practice, many schools and districts combine or blend aspects of the two approaches to fit their needs.”
Source: Duffy, H. (August 2007). Meeting the needs of significantly struggling learners in high school. Washington, DC: National High School Center. Retrieved from p. 5

12. RTI Interventions: Standard-Treatment vs. Problem-Solving
There are two different vehicles that schools can use to deliver RTI interventions:
Standard-Protocol (Standalone Intervention). Programs based on scientifically valid instructional practices (‘standard protocol’) are created to address frequent student referral concerns. These services are provided outside of the classroom. A middle school, for example, may set up a structured math-tutoring program staffed by adult volunteer tutors to provide assistance to students with limited math skills. Students referred for a Tier II math intervention would be placed in this tutoring program. An advantage of the standard-protocol approach is that it is efficient and consistent: large numbers of students can be put into these group interventions to receive a highly standardized intervention. However, standard group intervention protocols often cannot be individualized easily to accommodate a specific student’s unique needs.
Problem-solving (Classroom-Based Intervention). Individualized research-based interventions match the profile of a particular student’s strengths and limitations. The classroom teacher often has a large role in carrying out these interventions. A plus of the problem-solving approach is that the intervention can be customized to the student’s needs. However, developing intervention plans for individual students can be time-consuming.

13. Tier 2: Supplemental (Group-Based) Interventions (Standard Treatment Protocol)
Tier 2 interventions are typically delivered in small-group format. About 15% of students in the typical school will require Tier 2/supplemental intervention support.
Group size for Tier 2 interventions is limited to 4-7 students. Students placed in Tier 2 interventions should have a shared profile of intervention need.
The reading progress of students in Tier 2 interventions are monitored at least 1-2 times per month.
Source: Burns, M. K., & Gibbons, K. A. (2008). Implementing response-to-intervention in elementary and secondary schools. Routledge: New York.

14. Tier 3: Intensive Individualized Interventions (Problem-Solving Protocol)
Tier 3 interventions are the most intensive offered in a school setting.
Students qualify for Tier 3 interventions because:
they are found to have a large skill gap when compared to their class or grade peers; and/or
They did not respond to interventions provided previously at Tiers 1 & 2.
Tier 3 interventions are provided daily for sessions of 30 minutes. The student-teacher ratio is flexible but should allow the student to receive intensive, individualized instruction.
The reading progress of students in Tier 3 interventions is monitored at least weekly.
Source: Burns, M. K., & Gibbons, K. A. (2008). Implementing response-to-intervention in elementary and secondary schools. Routledge: New York.

15. RTI: Research Questions
Q: How Relevant is RTI to Secondary Schools?
The purposes of RTI have been widely defined as:
Early intervention in general education
Special education disability determination
How relevant is RTI at the middle or high school level?
Source: Fuchs, D., & Deshler, D. D. (2007). What we need to know about responsiveness to intervention (and shouldn’t be afraid to ask).. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 22(2),129–136.

16. Middle & High School: Lack of Consensus on an RTI Model
“Because RTI has thus far been implemented primarily in early elementary grades, it is not clear precisely what RTI might look like at the high school level.”
Source: Duffy, H. (August 2007). Meeting the needs of significantly struggling learners in high school. Washington, DC: National High School Center. Retrieved from p. 3

17. At the Federal Level: A ‘Hands-Off Approach to RTI Implementation
“There are many RTI models and the regulations are written to accommodate the many different models that are currently in use. The Department does not mandate or endorse any particular model. Rather, the regulations provide States with the flexibility to adopt criteria that best meet local needs. Language that is more specific or prescriptive would not be appropriate. For example, while we recognize that rate of learning is often a key variable in assessing a child’s response to intervention, it would not be appropriate for the regulations to set a standard for responsiveness or improvement in the rate of learning.” p
Source: U.S. Department of Education. (2006). Assistance to States for the education of children with disabilities and preschool grants for children with disabilities; final rule. 71 Fed. Reg. (August 14, 2006) 34 CFR Parts 300 and 301.

18. The Purpose of RTI in Secondary Schools: What Students Should It Serve?
Early Identification. As students begin to show need for academic support, the RTI model proactively supports them with early interventions to close the skill or performance gap with peers.
Chronically At-Risk. Students whose school performance is marginal across school years but who do not qualify for special education services are identified by the RTI Team and provided with ongoing intervention support.
Special Education. Students who fail to respond to scientifically valid general-education interventions implemented with integrity are classified as ‘non-responders’ and found eligible for special education.

19. RTI & Intervention: Key Concepts

20. Essential Elements of Any Academic or Behavioral Intervention (‘Treatment’) Strategy:
Method of delivery (‘Who or what delivers the treatment?’) Examples include teachers, paraprofessionals, parents, volunteers, computers.
Treatment component (‘What makes the intervention effective?’) Examples include activation of prior knowledge to help the student to make meaningful connections between ‘known’ and new material; guide practice (e.g., Paired Reading) to increase reading fluency; periodic review of material to aid student retention.

21. Core Instruction, Interventions, Accommodations & Modifications: Sorting Them Out
Core Instruction. Those instructional strategies that are used routinely with all students in a general-education setting are considered ‘core instruction’. High-quality instruction is essential and forms the foundation of RTI academic support. NOTE: While it is important to verify that good core instructional practices are in place for a struggling student, those routine practices do not ‘count’ as individual student interventions.

22. Core Instruction, Interventions, Accommodations & Modifications: Sorting Them Out
Intervention. An academic intervention is a strategy used to teach a new skill, build fluency in a skill, or encourage a child to apply an existing skill to new situations or settings. An intervention can be thought of as “a set of actions that, when taken, have demonstrated ability to change a fixed educational trajectory” (Methe & Riley-Tillman, 2008; p. 37).

23. Core Instruction, Interventions, Accommodations & Modifications: Sorting Them Out
Accommodation. An accommodation is intended to help the student to fully access and participate in the general-education curriculum without changing the instructional content and without reducing the student’s rate of learning (Skinner, Pappas & Davis, 2005). An accommodation is intended to remove barriers to learning while still expecting that students will master the same instructional content as their typical peers.
Accommodation example 1: Students are allowed to supplement silent reading of a novel by listening to the book on tape.
Accommodation example 2: For unmotivated students, the instructor breaks larger assignments into smaller ‘chunks’ and providing students with performance feedback and praise for each completed ‘chunk’ of assigned work (Skinner, Pappas & Davis, 2005).

24. Core Instruction, Interventions, Accommodations & Modifications: Sorting Them Out
Modification. A modification changes the expectations of what a student is expected to know or do—typically by lowering the academic standards against which the student is to be evaluated. Examples of modifications:
Giving a student five math computation problems for practice instead of the 20 problems assigned to the rest of the class
Letting the student consult course notes during a test when peers are not permitted to do so
Allowing a student to select a much easier book for a book report than would be allowed to his or her classmates.

25. RTI Intervention Teams in Middle & High Schools: Challenges and Opportunities Jim Wright

26. RTI ‘Pyramid of Interventions’
Tier 3: Intensive interventions. Students who are ‘non-responders’ to Tiers I & II may be eligible for special education services, intensive interventions.
Tier 1
Tier 2
Tier 3
Tier 2: Individualized interventions. Subset of students receive interventions targeting specific needs.
Tier 1: Universal interventions. Available to all students in a classroom or school. Can consist of whole-group or individual strategies or supports.

27. Tier 3: Intensive Individualized Interventions
Tier 3 interventions are the most intensive offered in a school setting.
Students qualify for Tier 3 interventions because:
they are found to have a large skill gap when compared to their class or grade peers; and/or
They did not respond to interventions provided previously at Tiers 1 & 2.
Tier 3 interventions are provided daily for sessions of 30 minutes. The student-teacher ratio is flexible but should allow the student to receive intensive, individualized instruction.
The reading progress of students in Tier 3 interventions is monitored at least weekly.
Source: Burns, M. K., & Gibbons, K. A. (2008). Implementing response-to-intervention in elementary and secondary schools. Routledge: New York.

28. Secondary Level: Classroom Performance Rating Form

29. Tier 3 Interventions Are Developed With Assistance from the School’s RTI (Problem-Solving) Team
Effective RTI Teams:
Are multi-disciplinary and include classroom teachers among their members
Follow a structured ‘problem-solving’ model
Use data to analyze the academic problem and match the student to effective, evidence-based interventions
Develop a detailed research-based intervention plan to help staff with implementation
Check up on the teacher’s success in carrying out the intervention (‘intervention integrity’)

30. The Problem-Solving Model & Multi-Disciplinary Teams
A school consultative process (‘the problem-solving model’) with roots in applied behavior analysis was developed (e.g., Bergan, 1995) that includes 4 steps:
Problem Identification
Problem Analysis
Plan Implementation
Problem Evaluation
Originally designed for individual consultation with teachers, the problem-solving model was later adapted in various forms to multi-disciplinary team settings.
Source: Bergan, J. R. (1995). Evolution of a problem-solving model of consultation. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 6(2),

31. Tier 3 Targets: Intervention, Curriculum, and Environment
“For [a tier 3] intervention to be effective and robust, it must focus on the specific needs of the student. It should also address the reason that the student is experiencing difficulty…. Rather than considering a [student] problem to be the result of inalterable student characteristics, teams are compelled to focus on change that can be made to the intervention, curriculum or environment that would result in positive student outcome. The hypothesis and intervention should focus on those variables that are alterable within the school setting. These alterable variables include learning goals and objectives (what is to be learned), materials, time, student-to-teacher ratio, activities, and motivational strategies.” p. 95
Source: Burns, M. K., & Gibbons, K. A. (2008). Implementing response-to-intervention in elementary and secondary schools. Routledge: New York.

32. RTI Problem-Solving Teams at the Secondary Level: The Necessary Art of ‘Satisficing’
“The word satisfice was coined by Herbert Simon as a portmanteau of "satisfy" and "suffice". Simon pointed out that human beings lack the cognitive resources to maximize: we usually do not know the relevant probabilities of outcomes, we can rarely evaluate all outcomes with sufficient precision, and our memories are weak and unreliable. A more realistic approach to rationality takes into account these limitations: This is called bounded rationality.” (Satisficing, 2008)
Source: Satisficing (2008). Wikipedia. Retrieved on July 2, 2008, from

33. How Is a Secondary RTI Team Like a MASH Unit?
The RTI Team must deal with complex situations with limited resources and tight timelines, often being forced to select from among numerous ‘intervention targets’ (e.g., attendance, motivation, basic skill deficits, higher-level deficits in cognitive strategies) when working with struggling students.
The ‘problem-solving’ approach is flexible, allowing the RTI Team quickly to sift through a complex student case to identify and address the most important ‘blockers’ to academic success.
Timelines for success are often short-term (e.g., to get the student to pass a course or a state test), measured in weeks or months.

34. The RTI Team: Definition
Teams of educators at a school are trained to work together as effective problem-solvers.
RTI Teams are made up of volunteers drawn from general- and special-education teachers and support staff.
These teams use a structured meeting process to identify the underlying reasons that a student might be experiencing academic or behavioral difficulties
The team helps the referring teacher to put together practical, classroom-friendly interventions to address those student problems.

35. RTI: Research Questions
Q: Does a ‘Problem-Solving’ Multi-Disciplinary Team Process Help Children With Severe Learning Problems?
The team-based ‘problem-solving’ process (e.g., Bergan, 1995) that is widely used to create individualized intervention plans for students has been studied primarily for motivation and conduct issues. There is less research on whether the problem-solving process is effective in addressing more significant learning issues.
Source: Bergan, J. R. (1995). Evolution of a problem-solving model of consultation. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 6(2), Fuchs, D., & Deshler, D. D. (2007). What we need to know about responsiveness to intervention (and shouldn’t be afraid to ask).. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 22(2),129–136.

36. Teachers may be motivated to refer students to the RTI Team because they…
can engage in collegial conversations about better ways to help struggling learners
learn instructional and behavior-management strategies that they can use with similar students in the future
increase their teaching time
are able to access more intervention resources and supports in the building than if they work alone
feel less isolated when dealing with challenging kids
have help in documenting their intervention efforts

37. Team Roles
Coordinator
Facilitator
Recorder
Time Keeper
Case Manager

38. RTI Team Consultative Process
Step 1: Assess Teacher Concerns 5 Mins
Step 2: Inventory Student Strengths/Talents 5 Mins
Step 3: Review Background/Baseline Data 5 Mins
Step 4: Select Target Teacher Concerns 5-10 Mins
Step 5: Set Academic and/or Behavioral Outcome Goals and Methods for Progress-Monitoring 5 Mins
Step 6: Design an Intervention Plan Mins
Step 7: Plan How to Share Meeting Information with the Student’s Parent(s) 5 Mins
Step 8: Review Intervention & Monitoring Plans 5 Mins

39. Secondary RTI Teams: Recommendations
Secondary RTI Teams should be multi-disciplinary, to include teachers, administration, and support staff (e.g., school psychologist, guidance counselors).
Fixed times should be set aside each week for the RTI Team to meet on student referrals.
Sufficient time (i.e., 30 minutes) should be reserved for initial student referrals to allow adequate discussion and intervention planning.

40. Secondary RTI Teams: Combining Consistency & Flexibility
Schools should ensure that RTI Teams follow a structured problem-solving model.
Schools do have flexibility in when and where they use the RTI problem-solving model. For example:
If a person (e.g., school psychologist, school administrator) is trained to facilitate an RTI Team meeting, that meeting can be scheduled during shared teacher planning times or during parent-teacher conferences.

41. Ideas to Empower Students to Take a Role in Their Own Intervention Plans Jim Wright

42. Intervention Responsibilities: Examples at Teacher, School-Wide, and Student Levels
Signed agenda
‘Attention’ prompts
Individual review with students during free periods
Take agenda to teacher to be reviewed and signed
Seeking help from teachers during free periods
Lab services (math, reading, etc.)
Remedial course
Homework club

43. Sample ‘Student Intervention Contract’

44. Promoting Student Involvement in Secondary School RTI Intervention Team Meetings
Train students in self-advocacy skills to participate at intervention team meetings (can be informal: e.g., conversation with Guidance Counselor)
Provide the student with different options to communicate needs, e.g.,:
Learning needs questionnaire
Personal interview prior to meeting
Advocate at meeting to support student
Ensure student motivation to take part in the intervention plan (e.g., having student sign ‘Intervention Contract’)

45. When Interventions Require Student Participation...
Write up a simple ‘Intervention Contract’ that spells out
What the student’s responsibilities are in the intervention plan
A listing of the educators connected to parts of the intervention plan that require student participation--and their responsibilities
A contact person whom the student can approach with questions about the contract
Have the student sign the Intervention Contract
Provide a copy of the Intervention Contract to the student and parents
Train the student to ensure that he or she is capable of carrying out all assigned steps or elements in the intervention plan

46. Small-Group Activity: Rate Your RTI Problem- Solving Team
Discuss the problem-solving team that your middle or high school uses to create individualized RTI intervention plans for students.
What are strengths of your team?
What are areas of your team’s functioning that could be targeted for improvement?
Effective RTI Teams:
Are multi-disciplinary and include teachers among their members
Follow a structured ‘problem-solving’ model
Use data to analyze the academic problem and match the student to effective, evidence-based interventions
Develop a detailed research-based intervention plan to help staff with implementation
Check up on the teacher’s success in carrying out the intervention (‘intervention integrity’)

47. Engaging the Reluctant Teacher: Seven Reasons Why Middle & High School Instructors May Be Reluctant to Implement Classroom RTI Literacy Interventions Jim Wright

48. ‘Teacher Tolerance’ as an Indicator of RTI Intervention Capacity
“I call the range of students whom [teachers] come to view as adequately responsive – i.e., teachable – as the tolerance; those who are perceived to be outside the tolerance are those for whom teachers seek additional resources. The term “tolerance” is used to indicate that teachers form a permissible boundary on their measurement (judgments) in the same sense as a confidence interval. In this case, the teacher actively measures the distribution of responsiveness in her class by processing information from a series of teaching trials and perceives some range of students as within the tolerance.” (Gerber, 2002)
Source: Gerber, M. M. (2003). Teachers are still the test: Limitations of response to instruction strategies for identifying children with learning disabilities. Paper presented at the National Research Center on Learning Disabilities Responsiveness-to-Intervention Symposium, Kansas City, MO.

49. Engaging the Reluctant Teacher: Seven Reasons Why Instructors May Resist Implementing Classroom RTI Literacy Interventions
Teachers believe that their ‘job’ is to provide content-area instruction, not to teach vocabulary and reading-comprehension strategies (Kamil et al., 2008).
Teachers believe that they lack the skills to implement classroom vocabulary-building and reading-comprehension strategies. (Fisher, 2007; Kamil et al., 2008).
Teachers feel that they don’t have adequate time to implement vocabulary-building and reading-comprehension strategies in the classroom. (Kamil et al., 2008; Walker, 2004).

50. Engaging the Reluctant Teacher: Seven Reasons Why Instructors May Resist Implementing Classroom RTI Literacy Interventions (Cont.)
Teachers are not convinced that there will be an adequate instructional ‘pay-off’ in their content-area if they implement literacy-building strategies in the classroom (Kamil et al., 2008).
Teachers are reluctant to put extra effort into implementing interventions for students who appear unmotivated (Walker, 2004) when there are other, ‘more deserving’ students who would benefit from teacher attention.
Teachers are afraid that, if they use a range of classroom strategies to promote literacy (e.g., extended discussion, etc.), they will have difficulty managing classroom behaviors (Kamil et al., 2008).

51. Engaging the Reluctant Teacher: Seven Reasons Why Instructors May Resist Implementing Classroom RTI Literacy Interventions (Cont.)
Teachers believe that ‘special education is magic’ (Martens, 1993). This belief implies that general education interventions will be insufficient to meet the student’s needs and that the student will benefit only if he or she receives special education services.

52. Team Activity: Engaging the Reluctant Teacher…

53. Building Teacher Capacity to Deliver Tier 1 Interventions: An 8-Step Checklist Jim Wright

63. Team Activity: Building Tier 1 Capacity
At your tables:
Consider the eight steps to building Tier 1 teacher capacity to deliver effective classroom interventions.
Discuss the strengths and challenges that your school or district presents in promoting Tier 1 interventions.
Be prepared to share your discuss with the larger group!

64. Ideas to Build Teacher Understanding and Support for RTI Jim Wright www.interventioncentral.org

65. Offer RTI information to teachers in a series of short presentations or discussion forums
A common mistake that schools make in rolling out RTI is to present their teachers with RTI information in a single, long presentation—with little opportunity for questions or discussion. Instead, schools should plan a series of RTI information-sharing sessions with teachers throughout the school year. Any large-group RTI training sessions (e.g., at faculty meetings) should be kept short, to ensure that the audience is not overwhelmed with large volumes of information. Consider using smaller instructional team or department meetings as a vehicle for follow-up presentations, discussion, and teacher questions about RTI.

66. Offer RTI information to teachers in a series of short presentations or discussion forums
ACTION STEP: Create a year-long RTI information-sharing plan. Determine what RTI information your school would like to present to staff, as well as the degree of faculty input and discussion needed. Then draft a year-long plan to communicate with staff about RTI. Each year, update the plan to keep faculty updated about implementation of the RTI model.

67. Present RTI as a coordinated, schoolwide approach to address long-standing teacher concerns about struggling students
Schools should consider framing RTI as a broad, schoolwide solution to help teachers to better instruct, motivate, and manage the behaviors of struggling learners. Teachers want fewer class disruptions, more uninterrupted instructional time, higher performing students, targeted supplemental academic help for students who need it, and better communication among educators about the needs of all students. As schools make the case for RTI, they should demonstrate how it will help teachers to manage the day-to-day challenges that they face in their classrooms.

68. Present RTI as a coordinated, schoolwide approach to address long-standing teacher concerns about struggling students
ACTION STEP: Get feedback from teachers about their classroom concerns. Find opportunities to engage teachers in productive discussions about what they see as the greatest challenges facing them as instructors. Note the teacher concerns that surface most often. For each teacher concern, generate ideas for how an RTI model in your school might help teachers with that issue. Craft these ideas for instructor support into ‘talking points’ and include them in your school’s RTI presentations.

69. Solicit teacher input when building your school’s RTI model
Teachers are a valuable resource that schools should tap when implementing RTI. When schools solicit teacher questions about RTI, include teachers on planning teams to help to develop the RTI process, and treat teacher objections or concerns about RTI as helpful feedback rather than stubborn resistance, those schools send the message that teachers are full partners in the RTI planning process.

70. Solicit teacher input when building your school’s RTI model
ACTION STEP: Include teachers on the RTI Leadership Team. One of the best ways to ensure that teachers have input into the RTI development process is to include teacher representatives on the RTI Leadership Team, the group that oversees the district’s implementation of RTI.

71. Link all significant school and district initiatives to RTI
RTI is a comprehensive, proactive model to identify and assist struggling students. Yet teachers may erroneously perceive RTI as just another ‘program’ that is likely to last for only a short time and then disappear. Any RTI training for staff should make the point that RTI is not a single-self contained program but is actually an all-inclusive and flexible framework for student support that encompasses all existing student support programs and strategies.

72. Link all significant school and district initiatives to RTI
ACTION STEP: Organized all school programs under the RTI framework. Schools should present RTI as an elastic multi-tier problem-solving framework. First, the school lists all of its significant current programs or initiatives intended to assess or intervene with students with academic or behavioral needs. The school then assigns each of the programs or initiatives to Tier 1, 2, or 3 in the RTI framework. The message for staff is that, while specific programs may come and go, the overarching RTI model is both adaptable and durable--and that much of the power of RTI rests on its potential to integrate a series of isolated programs into a larger unified and coordinated continuum of student support.

73. Monitoring Student Progress at the Secondary Level Jim Wright www
Monitoring Student Progress at the Secondary Level Jim Wright

74. RTI Literacy: Assessment & Progress-Monitoring
To measure student ‘response to instruction/intervention’ effectively, the RTI model measures students’ academic performance and progress on schedules matched to each student’s risk profile and intervention Tier membership.
Benchmarking/Universal Screening. All children in a grade level are assessed at least 3 times per year on a common collection of academic assessments.
Strategic Monitoring. Students placed in Tier 2 (supplemental) reading groups are assessed 1-2 times per month to gauge their progress with this intervention.
Intensive Monitoring. Students who participate in an intensive, individualized Tier 3 intervention are assessed at least once per week.
Source: Burns, M. K., & Gibbons, K. A. (2008). Implementing response-to-intervention in elementary and secondary schools: Procedures to assure scientific-based practices. New York: Routledge.

75. Local Norms: Screening All Students (Stewart & Silberglit, 2008)
Local norm data in basic academic skills are collected at least 3 times per year (fall, winter, spring).
Schools should consider using ‘curriculum-linked’ measures such as Curriculum-Based Measurement that will show generalized student growth in response to learning.
If possible, schools should consider avoiding ‘curriculum-locked’ measures that are tied to a single commercial instructional program.
Source: Stewart, L. H. & Silberglit, B. (2008). Best practices in developing academic local norms. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.), Best practices in school psychology V (pp ). Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.

76. Local Norms: Using a Wide Variety of Data (Stewart & Silberglit, 2008)
Local norms can be compiled using:
Fluency measures such as Curriculum-Based Measurement.
Existing data, such as office disciplinary referrals.
Computer-delivered assessments, e.g., Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) from
Source: Stewart, L. H. & Silberglit, B. (2008). Best practices in developing academic local norms. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.), Best practices in school psychology V (pp ). Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.

77. Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) www.nwea.org

78. Applications of Local Norm Data (Stewart & Silberglit, 2008)
Local norm data can be used to:
Evaluate and improve the current core instructional program.
Allocate resources to classrooms, grades, and buildings where student academic needs are greatest.
Guide the creation of targeted Tier 2 (supplemental intervention) groups
Set academic goals for improvement for students on Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions.
Move students across levels of intervention, based on performance relative to that of peers (local norms).
Source: Stewart, L. H. & Silberglit, B. (2008). Best practices in developing academic local norms. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.), Best practices in school psychology V (pp ). Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.

79. Local Norms: Supplement With Additional Academic Testing as Needed (Stewart & Silberglit, 2008)
“At the individual student level, local norm data are just the first step toward determining why a student may be experiencing academic difficulty. Because local norms are collected on brief indicators of core academic skills, other sources of information and additional testing using the local norm measures or other tests are needed to validate the problem and determine why the student is having difficulty. … Percentage correct and rate information provide clues regarding automaticity and accuracy of skills. Error types, error patterns, and qualitative data provide clues about how a student approached the task. Patterns of strengths and weaknesses on subtests of an assessment can provide information about the concepts in which a student or group of students may need greater instructional support, provided these subtests are equated and reliable for these purposes.” p. 237
Source: Stewart, L. H. & Silberglit, B. (2008). Best practices in developing academic local norms. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.), Best practices in school psychology V (pp ). Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.

80. Local Norms: Set a Realistic Timeline for ‘Phase-In’ (Stewart & Silberglit, 2008)
“If local norms are not already being collected, it may be helpful to develop a 3-5 year planned rollout of local norm data collection, reporting, and use in line with other professional development and assessment goals for the school. This phased-in process of developing local norms could start with certain grade levels and expand to others.” p. 229
Source: Stewart, L. H. & Silberglit, B. (2008). Best practices in developing academic local norms. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.), Best practices in school psychology V (pp ). Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.

81. Making Use of Existing (‘Extant’) Data

82. Extant (Existing) Data (Chafouleas et al., 2007)
Definition: Information that is collected by schools as a matter of course.
Extant data comes in two forms:
Performance summaries (e.g., class grades, teacher summary comments on report cards, state test scores).
Student work products (e.g., research papers, math homework, PowerPoint presentation).
Source: Chafouleas, S., Riley-Tillman, T.C., & Sugai, G. (2007). School-based behavioral assessment: Informing intervention and instruction. New York: Guilford Press.

83. Summative data is static information that provides a fixed ‘snapshot’ of the student’s academic performance or behaviors at a particular point in time. School records are one source of data that is often summative in nature—frequently referred to as archival data. Attendance data and office disciplinary referrals are two examples of archival records, data that is routinely collected on all students. In contrast to archival data, background information is collected specifically on the target student. Examples of background information are teacher interviews and student interest surveys, each of which can shed light on a student’s academic or behavioral strengths and weaknesses. Like archival data, background information is usually summative, providing a measurement of the student at a single point in time.

84. Formative assessment measures are those that can be administered or collected frequently—for example, on a weekly or even daily basis. These measures provide a flow of regularly updated information (progress monitoring) about the student’s progress in the identified area(s) of academic or behavioral concern. Formative data provide a ‘moving picture’ of the student; the data unfold through time to tell the story of that student’s response to various classroom instructional and behavior management strategies. Examples of measures that provide formative data are Curriculum-Based Measurement probes in oral reading fluency and Daily Behavior Report Cards.

85. Advantages of Using Extant Data (Chafouleas et al., 2007)
Information is already existing and easy to access.
Students are less likely to show ‘reactive’ effects when data is collected, as the information collected is part of the normal routine of schools.
Extant data is ‘relevant’ to school data consumers (such as classroom teachers, administrators, and members of problem-solving teams).
Source: Chafouleas, S., Riley-Tillman, T.C., & Sugai, G. (2007). School-based behavioral assessment: Informing intervention and instruction. New York: Guilford Press.

86. Drawbacks of Using Extant Data (Chafouleas et al., 2007)
Time is required to collate and summarize the data (e.g., summarizing a week’s worth of disciplinary office referrals).
The data may be limited and not reveal the full dimension of the student’s presenting problem(s).
There is no guarantee that school staff are consistent and accurate in how they collect the data (e.g., grading policies can vary across classrooms; instructors may have differing expectations regarding what types of assignments are given a formal grade; standards may fluctuate across teachers for filling out disciplinary referrals).
Little research has been done on the ‘psychometric adequacy’ of extant data sources.
Source: Chafouleas, S., Riley-Tillman, T.C., & Sugai, G. (2007). School-based behavioral assessment: Informing intervention and instruction. New York: Guilford Press.

87. Universal Screening at Secondary Schools: Using Existing Data Proactively to Flag ‘Signs of Disengagement’
“Across interventions…, a key component to promoting school completion is the systematic monitoring of all students for signs of disengagement, such as attendance and behavior problems, failing courses, off track in terms of credits earned toward graduation, problematic or few close relationships with peers and/or teachers, and then following up with those who are at risk.”
Source: Jimerson, S., Reschly, A.L., & Hess, R. (2008). Best practices in increasing the likelihood of school completion. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds). Best Practices in School Psychology - 5th Ed (pp ). Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.. p.1090

88. Mining Archival Data: What Are the ‘Early Warning Flags’ of Student Drop-Out?
A sample of 13,000 students in Philadelphia were tracked for 8 years. These early warning indicators were found to predict student drop-out in the sixth-grade year:
Failure in English
Failure in math
Missing at least 20% of school days
Receiving an ‘unsatisfactory’ behavior rating from at least one teacher
Source: Balfanz, R., Herzog, L., MacIver, D. J. (2007). Preventing student disengagement and keeping students on the graduation path in urban middle grades schools: Early identification and effective interventions. Educational Psychologist,42, 223–235. .

89. What is the Predictive Power of These Early Warning Flags?
Number of ‘Early Warning Flags’ in Student Record
Probability That Student Would Graduate
None
56% 1
36% 2
21% 3
13% 4 7%
Source: Balfanz, R., Herzog, L., MacIver, D. J. (2007). Preventing student disengagement and keeping students on the graduation path in urban middle grades schools: Early identification and effective interventions. Educational Psychologist,42, 223–235. .

90. ‘Elbow Group’ Activity: What Extant/Archival Data Should Your RTI Team Review Regularly?
Discuss the essential extant/archival data that your RTI Team should review as ‘early warning indicators’ of students who are struggling.
What process should your school adopt to ensure that these data are reviewed regularly (e.g., every five weeks) to guarantee timely identification of students who need intervention assistance?

91. Assessing Basic Academic Skills: Curriculum-Based Measurement

92. Curriculum-Based Measurement: Advantages as a Set of Tools to Monitor RTI/Academic Cases
Aligns with curriculum-goals and materials
Is reliable and valid (has ‘technical adequacy’)
Is criterion-referenced: sets specific performance levels for specific tasks
Uses standard procedures to prepare materials, administer, and score
Samples student performance to give objective, observable ‘low-inference’ information about student performance
Has decision rules to help educators to interpret student data and make appropriate instructional decisions
Is efficient to implement in schools (e.g., training can be done quickly; the measures are brief and feasible for classrooms, etc.)
Provides data that can be converted into visual displays for ease of communication
Source: Hosp, M.K., Hosp, J. L., & Howell, K. W. (2007). The ABCs of CBM. New York: Guilford.

93. Assessing Basic Academic Skills: Curriculum-Based Measurement
Reading: These 3 measures all proved ‘adequate predictors’ of student performance on reading content tasks:
Reading aloud (Oral Reading Fluency): Passages from content-area tests: 1 minute.
Maze task (every 7th item replaced with multiple choice/answer plus 2 distracters): Passages from content-area texts: 2 minutes.
Vocabulary matching: 10 vocabulary items and 12 definitions (including 2 distracters): 10 minutes.
Source: Espin, C. A., & Tindal, G. (1998). Curriculum-based measurement for secondary students. In M. R. Shinn (Ed.) Advanced applications of curriculum-based measurement. New York: Guilford Press.

94. Oral Reading Fluency Probe Sample http://www. rti2

95. Maze Probe Sample http://www.rti2.org/rti2/mazes

96. “…One way I have used the Maze in the past at the secondary level, is as a targeted screener to determine an instructional match between the student and the text materials. By screening all students on one to three Maze samples from the text and/or books that were planned for the course, we could find the students who could not handle the materials without support (study guides, highlighted texts, alternative reading material). …This assessment is efficient and it seems quite reliable in identifying the potential underachievers, achievers, and overachievers. The real pay back is that success can be built into the courses from the beginning, by providing learning materials and supports at the students' instructional levels.”
Lynn Pennington, Executive Director, SSTAGE
(Student Support Team Association for Georgia Educators) “ ”

97. Curriculum-Based Evaluation: Math Vocabulary
Format Option 1
20 vocabulary terms appear alphabetically in the right column. Items are drawn randomly from a ‘vocabulary pool’
Randomly arranged definitions appear in the left column.
The student writes the letter of the correct term next to each matching definition.
The student receives 1 point for each correct response.
Each probe lasts 5 minutes.
2-3 probes are given in a session.
Source: Howell, K. W. (2008). Best practices in curriculum-based evaluation and advanced reading. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.), Best practices in school psychology V (pp ).

98. Curriculum-Based Evaluation: Math Vocabulary
Format Option 2
20 randomly arranged vocabulary definitions appear in the right column. Items are drawn randomly from a ‘vocabulary pool’
The student writes the name of the correct term next to each matching definition.
The student is given 0.5 point for each correct term and another 0.5 point if the term is spelled correctly.
Each probe lasts 5 minutes.
2-3 probes are given in a session.
Source: Howell, K. W. (2008). Best practices in curriculum-based evaluation and advanced reading. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.), Best practices in school psychology V (pp ).

99. Assessing Basic Academic Skills: Curriculum-Based Measurement
Mathematics: Single-skill basic arithmetic combinations an ‘adequate measure of performance’ for low-achieving middle school students.
Websites to create CBM math computation probes:
Source: Espin, C. A., & Tindal, G. (1998). Curriculum-based measurement for secondary students. In M. R. Shinn (Ed.) Advanced applications of curriculum-based measurement. New York: Guilford Press.

100. Assessing Basic Academic Skills: Curriculum-Based Measurement
Writing: CBM/ Word Sequence is a ‘valid indicator of general writing proficiency’. It evaluates units of writing and their relation to one another. Successive pairs of ‘writing units’ make up each word sequence. The mechanics and conventions of each word sequence must be correct for the student to receive credit for that sequence. CBM/ Word Sequence is the most comprehensive CBM writing measure.
Source: Espin, C. A., & Tindal, G. (1998). Curriculum-based measurement for secondary students. In M. R. Shinn (Ed.) Advanced applications of curriculum-based measurement. New York: Guilford Press.

101. Breaking Down Complex Academic Goals into Simpler Sub-Tasks: Discrete Categorization

102. Identifying and Measuring Complex Academic Problems at the Middle and High School Level
Students at the secondary level can present with a range of concerns that interfere with academic success.
One frequent challenge for these students is the need to reduce complex global academic goals into discrete sub-skills that can be individually measured and tracked over time.

103. Discrete Categorization: A Strategy for Assessing Complex, Multi-Step Student Academic Tasks
Definition of Discrete Categorization: ‘Listing a number of behaviors and checking off whether they were performed.’ (Kazdin, 1989, p. 59).
Approach allows educators to define a larger ‘behavioral’ goal for a student and to break that goal down into sub-tasks. (Each sub-task should be defined in such a way that it can be scored as ‘successfully accomplished’ or ‘not accomplished’.)
The constituent behaviors that make up the larger behavioral goal need not be directly related to each other. For example, ‘completed homework’ may include as sub-tasks ‘wrote down homework assignment correctly’ and ‘created a work plan before starting homework’
Source: Kazdin, A. E. (1989). Behavior modification in applied settings (4th ed.). Pacific Gove, CA: Brooks/Cole..

104. Discrete Categorization Example: Math Study Skills
General Academic Goal: Improve Tina’s Math Study Skills
Tina was struggling in her mathematics course because of poor study skills. The RTI Team and math teacher analyzed Tina’s math study skills and decided that, to study effectively, she needed to:
Check her math notes daily for completeness.
Review her math notes daily.
Start her math homework in a structured school setting.
Use a highlighter and ‘margin notes’ to mark questions or areas of confusion in her notes or on the daily assignment.
Spend sufficient ‘seat time’ at home each day completing homework.
Regularly ask math questions of her teacher.

105. Discrete Categorization Example: Math Study Skills
General Academic Goal: Improve Tina’s Math Study Skills
The RTI Team—with teacher and student input—created the following intervention plan. The student Tina will:
Approach the teacher at the end of class for a copy of class note.
Check her daily math notes for completeness against a set of teacher notes in 5th period study hall.
Review her math notes in 5th period study hall.
Start her math homework in 5th period study hall.
Use a highlighter and ‘margin notes’ to mark questions or areas of confusion in her notes or on the daily assignment.
Enter into her ‘homework log’ the amount of time spent that evening doing homework and noted any questions or areas of confusion.
Stop by the math teacher’s classroom during help periods (T & Th only) to ask highlighted questions (or to verify that Tina understood that week’s instructional content) and to review the homework log.

106. Discrete Categorization Example: Math Study Skills
Academic Goal: Improve Tina’s Math Study Skills
General measures of the success of this intervention include (1) rate of homework completion and (2) quiz & test grades.
To measure treatment fidelity (Tina’s follow-through with sub-tasks of the checklist), the following strategies are used :
Approached the teacher for copy of class notes. Teacher observation.
Checked her daily math notes for completeness; reviewed math notes, started math homework in 5th period study hall. Student work products; random spot check by study hall supervisor.
Used a highlighter and ‘margin notes’ to mark questions or areas of confusion in her notes or on the daily assignment. Review of notes by teacher during T/Th drop-in period.
Entered into her ‘homework log’ the amount of time spent that evening doing homework and noted any questions or areas of confusion. Log reviewed by teacher during T/Th drop-in period.
Stopped by the math teacher’s classroom during help periods (T & Th only) to ask highlighted questions (or to verify that Tina understood that week’s instructional content). Teacher observation; student sign-in.

107. Monitoring Student Academic Behaviors: Daily Behavior Report Cards

108. Daily Behavior Report Cards (DBRCs) Are…
brief forms containing student behavior-rating items. The teacher typically rates the student daily (or even more frequently) on the DBRC. The results can be graphed to document student response to an intervention.

110. Daily Behavior Report Cards Can Monitor…
Hyperactivity
On-Task Behavior (Attention)
Work Completion
Organization Skills
Compliance With Adult Requests
Ability to Interact Appropriately With Peers

111. Daily Behavior Report Card:
Jim Blalock
May 5
Mrs. Williams
Rm 108
Daily Behavior Report Card:
Daily Version

112. Daily Behavior Report Card:
Jim Blalock
Mrs. Williams
Rm 108
Daily Behavior Report Card:
Weekly Version 40 60 60 50

113. Daily Behavior Report Card: Chart