1. Response to Intervention

2. Why care about RtI? Reason 1
Schools are about the business of teaching students skills
To be life-long learners
To lead productive adult lives

3. Why care about RtI? Reason 2
NCLB: all students must demonstrate proficiency on math and English language arts by the end of the school year
RtI reasearch indicates that 94-98% of all students can meet grade level benchmarks when provided with appropriate general education intervention

4. Why care about RtI? Reason 3
RtI supports quality implementation of special education via
Special education being part of a district’s overall intervention process
Assistance with child find
Alternative approach to SLD identification
May reduce the need for traditional standardized testing
May assist in timely ID of suspected disability
May assist in adverse impact determinations
Progress monitoring and problem solving strategies

5. What is RTI?
A tiered model that is used in place of the established discrepancy model for determining interventions for students struggling in school
It is a model that relies on data-based decision making
CBM provides a portion of the data needed to change instruction and intervention
Identifying and providing high quality instruction and research-based interventions matched to student needs
Talk about old LD criteria

6. What is RTI A district-wide process Identifies students
All buildings/grade levels will participate in the process
Identifies students
Not achieving to benchmark standards
And/or whose behavior is affecting educational performance
Uses a problem solving framework to address learning needs

7. RtI Core Principles Commit to effectively teaching all children
Intervene early
Support learning with a systematic multi-tier service delivery model
Use a problem-solving model to make instructional/intervention decisions
Use scientific, research-based interventions
Monitor student progress to inform instruction
Use data to make decisions
Use assessment for three different purposes

8. RTI Core Principles and Components
If we do this:
Use research-based, scientifically validated tiers of instruction and intervention
Scientifically based screening and progress monitoring to inform instruction and intervention
Use of data in the decision making process
We can get this:
Prevention and Early Intervention
Problem solving is building a better support system for general education
Every student is everyone’s responsibility

9. RTI Tiers Tier 1 80% Tier 3 5% Tier 2 15%
Warning, these levels are IDEAL levels, not necessarily where our school will be

10. Tier 1
Students with no supplemental interventions needed
All students in all settings
Preventive and Proactive
Tier 2
Students who are at-risk and need supplemental interventions
Generally small group instruction with additional or different curricula
Some students
High efficiency, rapid response
Tier 3
Students who are highly at risk and need intensive interventions
Generally one-on-one instruction
Can be, but not necessarily special education students
Assessment-based, high intensity
Generally of a longer duration
Tier 3 does not mean special education!
Information about how tiers are used together, if you get tier 2 you still get tier 3

11. We've started the intervention, what’s next?
Stay the course
If a student is successful, keep them in program as it is
If you think the student is ready to transition back to Tier 1 only services, gradually reduce the intervention and closely monitor their progress
If the student begins to have trouble again, go back to what was working
If they are doing well with no additional intervention services needed let them go back to Tier 1 only

12. RTI
Requires schools to use research-based curricula and intervention strategies at all levels
Be warned- many curriculums will call themselves research-based, but in fact are not
Example of research based and not research based

13. Which research is good?
Research conducted with a wide variety of ages, SES groups, states, students with varying ability levels
Studies that compare two or more programs at once
Multiple studies
Just one study is not enough
Large sample size
The more students in the study the better

14. RTI is the Problem Solving Model
Steps in the Model
What is the problem?
Why does the problem exist?
What should be done to address the problem?
Did the intervention work, and what’s next?

15. Problem Solving Model Problem Identification Problem Analysis
Is there a problem? What is it?
Plan Evaluation
Did Our Plan Work?
Problem Analysis
Why is it happening?
Plan Development
What shall we do about it?

16. RTI decision-making model (Problem-Solving Model)
CBM is a tool for making the following decisions:
Problem Identification
Is the difference between what is expected in the general education curriculum and how the student performs large enough to warrant further assessment?
Problem Certification
How severe is the problem?
Exploring Solutions
What are the goals for the intervention?
What is the content of the intervention?
What is the process of the intervention?
Evaluating Solutions
Is the student attaining the established goals?
If not, does the intervention require modification?
Problem Solution
Is the discrepancy still significant or can resources be reduced?

17. Problem-Solving Model dictates specific information to collect at each step
Problem-Solving Decision
Measurement activity
Specific Task
Problem Identification
Observe student differences between expected and actual performance
Peer-referenced or criterion referenced comparison
Problem Certification
Describe the magnitude of the difference between actual and expected performance
Survey Level Assessment (SLA)
Exploring Solutions
Determine options for annual goals
Write annual goal based on SLA
Evaluating Solutions
Monitor intervention implementation & changes in student performance
Collect progress monitoring data & compare with aimline
Problem Solution
Observe student difference between expected and actual performance
Repeat peer-referenced comparison and SLA

18. Tenets of the Problem-Solving Model and Response to Intervention (RTI)
Learning occurs as an interaction between the student and the environment
Problems are defined as a discrepancy between what is expected and what is occurring
All children will make progress with quality instruction
Because the outcomes of typically effective interventions cannot be predicted with certainty, we must measure progress & outcomes
Our job, as educational personnel, is to solve educational problems that students experience in schools.

19. Instructional Intervention Plan
Instructional Procedures:
Skills to be taught & teaching strategies (i.e. phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension).
Materials used
Workbook, Accelerated Reader, Picture cards, etc.
Arrangements
Small group vs. 1:1 teaching etc.
Time
Time allotted for skill instruction (i.e. 15 minutes)
Motivational Strategies
Praise, rewards, grades, etc.

20. Instructional Intervention Plan
Student Name: Teacher Name: Goal:
Instructional Procedures
Materials
Arrangements
Time
Motivational Strategies
Focus/Skill I Teaching Strategy

21. Interventions
Interventions must be implemented similarly to the way they were in research
If we deviate from the methods used in research we are not doing the same intervention, thus they are no longer research based
Interventions must be in place for 6-8 weeks before efficacy can be evaluated
Shorter periods of time cannot truly show change in a valid and reliable way
We need to 1. support and extend the critical elements of the core program 2. provide additional instruction in critical areas 3. provide more instruction or practice in the areas of need

22. Big Changes No Child Left Behind IDEIA Reauthorization 2004
Illinois Rules and Regulations
President’s Commission on Special Education Excellence
This gives us the opportunity to make significant changes in how we help our students!

23. IDEIA 2004
“the local education agency shall not be required to take into consideration whether a child has a severe discrepancy between achievement and intellectual ability”
“may use a process which determines if a child responds to scientific, research-based interventions”
If we suspect a student has a learning disability we have to consider, along with data, that the child was provided appropriate high-quality, research based intervention in general education settings
We must rule out lack of scientifically based instruction in Reading and Math, and lack of English proficiency

24. CBM CBM stands for Curriculum Based Measurement
It is a way to monitor students and get them the help they need as they need it
Is applicable in all academic areas and behavior

25. Problems with Most Traditional Assessments:
Too long
Too complicated
Too infrequent
Too hard to interpret
Too insensitive to progress
Too different from curriculum materials
Too vague for informing instruction
And likely out of touch with IDEIA 2004

26. Characteristics of Curriculum-Based Measures
Short
Simple
Frequent
Easy to interpret
Sensitive to progress
From your curriculum materials
Informs instructional decision making
Aligns with the IDEIA 2004 assessment requirements
Every minute spent on assessing takes time away from teaching. So assessments should be efficient and provide information that will guide instruction and improve student incomes.

27. History of Curriculum-Based Measurement (Deno, 2003)
The developers of CBM sought to establish a measurement system that:
teachers could use efficiently
would produce accurate, meaningful information that would easily measure progress
could answer questions about program effectiveness
would inform instructional decisions

28. CBM Critical Features
CBM is distinctive from curriculum-based assessment
Standardized and highly prescriptive
Reliable and Valid scores
Alternative forms of equal difficulty
Samples the year-long curriculum
Repeated measurement on a single task
Changes in performance on this task are then interpreted to reflect change in a student’s proficiency

29. “Big Ideas” about CBM
CBM are simple, efficient, valid tools for decision making in the basic skills areas
CBM are dynamic indicators of basic skills
Dynamic: Is sensitive to change over time
Indicators: General outcome measures
Basic Skills: Focus on basic skills because these are the most predictive of general academic achievement (e.g., reading, math, written expression, and spelling)

30. Basic Curriculum-Based Measures
Academic Area
Task & Administration Time
Scoring Units
Reading
Oral reading from passage for 1 minute
# of Words Read Correct
# of Errors
Math
Completion of computational problems for 2-5 minutes
# of Correct Digits
# Correct Problems
Written Expression
Writing a story given a story starter for 3 minutes
# of Words Written
# of Correct Writing Sequences
Spelling
Writing spelling words dictated every 5 seconds for 2 minutes
# of Correct Letter Sequences
# of Words Spelled Correctly
Go over the reading probe, handout #s 1 and 2

31. CBM is like a thermometer

32. What CBM can tell us about academic “health”
If we have a reading “problem” worth watching
If we have a serious “problem”
It gives us a goal for our intervention
If our intervention is effective
If our intervention is successful
End of year first grade student reading 30 Words Read Correct (WRC) Per Minute
End of year first grade student reading 10 WRC Per Minute
End of year first grade student reading 50 WRC Per Minute
First grade student’s reading is going up 2 words per week
Reading level is within “normal” range

33. Rationale for Using CBM
Strong Research Base - Over 30 years of CBM research has demonstrated that when teachers use CBM for instructional decision making:
Students learn more
Teacher decision making improves
Students are more aware of their performance
Teachers can write legally defensible IEP goals (Yell & Stecker, 2003)
Aligned with IDEIA and RTI

34. CBM AND PROGESS MONITORING
District Wide
Use benchmarks to monitor all students
3 times a year-fall, winter, and spring
Identify students at-risk
Classroom
Monitor students who are at-risk.

35. CBM progress monitoring procedures
Define the annual goal in measurable terms (Words read correct per minute)
Draw a goal line connecting the student’s initial performance to the end-of-year goal to illustrate the rate of progress by which the teacher expects the student to achieve.
Frequently administer CBM probes (2x per week, weekly, biweekly)
Plot the scores and apply standard decision-making rules to the graphed data.
When the student’s actual rate of progress is not as rapid as the anticipated rate of progress, the teacher implements an intervention likely to enhance student achievement

36. Progress Monitoring Graph
Talk about decision making and graphs, show Excel template and how easy it is to graph

37. Reasons for Progress Monitoring
Progress monitoring is conducted frequently and is designed to:
Estimate rates of student improvement
Identify students who are not demonstrating adequate progress
Compare the efficacy of different forms of instruction, and design more effective, individualized instructional programs for learners
CBM is formative – it informs instructional decisions

38. Reasons for using CBM to Write Goals
Measures performance and progress in the general curriculum (IDEIA 2004)
Produces ambitious, specific measurable goals (IDEIA 2004)
Allows for both summative and formative evaluation (IDEIA 2004)
Allows for frequent reports to parents that are easily understood (IDEIA 2004)
Decision-rules for making changes when students are unexpectedly not making progress (IDEIA 2004)
CBM procedures have been validated for use in writing observable and measurable goals and making statements about student’s progress in the general curriculum

39. Research Approved Curricula- Reading
REWARDS
Approved for Grades 4-12
Most appropriate for Tier 2 or 3
Collaborative Strategic Reading
Approved as Tier 1 for Grades 3-6
Approved as Tier 2 for Grades 7-12
REWARDS also has curricula specifically applied to Science and Social Studies reading passages. Be sure to match our curricula to the needs of our school population, take into account SES levels, if the students are alread fluent readers, etc.

40. Research Approved Curricula- Reading Cont.
Vocabulary Through Morphemes
Approved for Grades 4-8
Best for Tier 2
Six Minute Solution
Approved for Grades K – 9
Most appropriate for Tier 2 or 3

41. Research Approved Curricula- Math
I CAN Learn® Pre-Algebra and Algebra
Approved for Grades 6-12
Can be Tier 2 or Tier 3
Saxon Middle School Math
Approved for Grades K through 12
Can be Tier 1 or 2

42. CBM Materials & Resources
What Works Clearing House
Aimsweb / Edformation
DIBELS
INTERVENTIONS

43. Additional Resources PBIS Behavior Supports
Institute for Academic Success
Matching interventions to students
RtI Resources

44. More Resources National Center on Student Progress Monitoring
Consortium on Reading Excellence
Florida Center for Reading Research
Oregon Reading First Center
Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts