1. Responsiveness to Instruction (RtI): How Do We Begin?
Yonna Acuff, M.Ed., NBCT
Giancarlo Anselmo M.S., S.S.P., NCSP
Sandy Hamrick, M.A., NBCT

2. Overview Who we are and where we have come from
Current system for training
Mistakes made along the way
What RtI looks like in Cleveland County

3. Two Major Things You Can Expect
Number 1
Starting a process that tries to match the correct level of instruction with the level of need for every child in your school
Number 2
Mistakes

4. In the Beginning…
In , department heads from CCS began research behind RtI
Reading Materials
The RTI Guide: Developing and Implementing a Model in Your Schools, J.E. McCook , 2006
RESPONSE to Intervention Policy Considerations and Implementation, National Association of State Directors of Special Education, Inc., 2006
Site Visits
Horry County Schools, SC
New Hanover County Schools, NC

5. In the Beginning cont…
Discussion with Susan Davis, SLD Consultant with DPI
Two Day RtI Overview presentation by Dr. Tom Jenkins
Met with all Principals and Selected EC and Regular Ed personnel

6. District Core Team
After research was completed, the decision was made to begin implementation
A five member, interdisciplinary team was appointed
Regular Education Teacher
School Counselor
School Psychologist
EC Program Specialist/Diagnostician
Curriculum Coordinator

7. District Core Team
Attended the eight day training provided by NC Department of Public Instruction
In conjunction with administrators from the 2 pilot schools, the team developed local paperwork and a training protocol specific to Cleveland County

8. Overall Implementation and Expansion
2006/2007: RTI procedures were piloted in two elementary schools
One large school (700 students) Springmore Elementary
One small school (300 students) Casar Elementary
2007/2008: implementation expanded into two more larger elementary schools
Fallston Elementary (600 students)
Union Elementary (600 students)
2008/2009: we have expanded to two more schools
-Jefferson Elementary (300 students)
-Grover Elementary (500 students)

9. Training Protocol
Using NCDPI’s training materials, as well as additional resources, a four session training series was created:
Training Module 1, RtI Overview
Training Module 2,Tier 1
Training Module 3, Tier 2
Training Module 2, Tier 3 Training for PST Team members.

10. Training cont.
Training sessions were scheduled after school during staff meetings from 3:00-4:30 pm.
Training Module 1 is held in the Spring prior to Fall implementation.
Training Module 2 is held in August or Early September.
Training Module 3 is held in October or Early November.
Training Module 4 is conducted by two members from the Core Team during a designated PST Team meeting.

11. RtI Overview Training
Introduce staff members to the concept of Response to Instruction, including changes within IDEA Regulations.
Create awareness about the 4 Tier process the school will be implementing the following school year.

12. Tier 1 Training Discuss the 7 Step Problem Solving Process
Explain the Tier 1 of the 4 Tier Model in detail
Review the use of Curriculum Based Measures and how to enter a child in Tier 1
Teach how to complete Tier 1 paperwork and the processes involved
Provide examples and discuss possible outcomes

13. Tier 2 Training Briefly review Tier 1
Review the 7 Step Problem Solving Model
Talk about what may necessitate a child moving from Tier 1 to Tier 2 using Progress Monitoring Data
Teach how to complete Tier 2 paperwork and the processes involved
Provide examples for review and discussion

14. Tier 3 Training
Core Team Members meet with the school’s Problem Solving Team (PST) to discuss each team member’s role
Coordinator
Time Keeper
Note taker
Review the paperwork for Tier 3
Discuss who will provide instruction for Tier 3 students

15. What is the Best Way to Train a Problem Solving Team
First Year Training
Consisted of training teams using PowerPoints from state training
Trained teams from two schools at once
Second Year Training
Trainings consisted of sitting down with each PST team and going over case studies
Cases from their own schools were used to help them go through the process
MISTAKES
Trainings this year much more successful and helpful.

16. How PST Team Changed MISTAKES Last Year Principal School psychologist
EC teacher
Diagnostician
Teacher of student
Regular ed teacher
Title 1 reading specialist
Counselor
Social worker
Parent
This Year
Principal
School Psychologist
Case Colleague
Title 1/Interventionist
Parent
Teacher of student
Diagnostician
Others used as needed
MISTAKES
Across district different makeups. Not mandating
Case colleague in some cases is also the Title I person
Staffing early in the week involves everyone- we have just shaved it down for when parents come into meet

17. School Wide Support For Process
Showing how the Discrepancy model was probably not the best model in order to catch students early
Studies done at local level showing legitimacy of Curriculum Based Data
CBM not an easy sell,

18. Correlation Studies looking at EOG and CBM Assessments
EOG and ORF correlation coefficients
3rd grade: .69
4th grade: .59
5th grade: .53
EOG and Maze Fluency correlation coefficients
3rd grade: .61
4th grade: .63
5th grade: .63

19. Correlation Studies Looking at District Performance on EOG and CBM Assessments
EOG and Skill Builder Word Problem probes correlation coefficients
3rd grade: .64
4th grade: .49
5th grade: .60

20. Cleveland County Schools EOG/CBM data 2007

21. 1st Year Implementation
Make it take it offered, brought in tom jenkins, more intervention training done by teachers.
Trainings mostly done after school. This year strarted transitioning to more before school started and at the end of the year for some. Also want to go in and work with SSMT teams at end of this year.

22. Teacher Supports Teachers have been trained on all tiers of process
CBM training provided by school psychologists
Teachers each received intervention notebooks
Intervention training
Teachers are assigned case colleagues from the Problem Solving Team to help with procedures, paperwork, or interventions starting at Tier I
All the ways we tried to help our teachers so they didn’t feel overwhelmed

23. Roles of Case Colleague
Case colleague meets with teacher at the beginning of Tier 1/Tier 2 to help with paperwork, interventions, and answer any other questions that arise
Case colleagues also meet with teachers every other week to check in on progress
Case colleagues also meet with teachers at the end of Tier 2
Case colleagues are in charge of setting up PST Team meeting if moving to Tier 3
Form to complete during this process.

24. Teachers Teaching Teachers
Intervention training done in the middle of the year
90% of training was done by teachers who had shown great ability to run interventions in their classrooms and differentiate instruction
Training went very well and most teachers were very receptive to ideas from other teachers
Worked out great. Made sure teachers we were choosing were running sound interventions. They would come up talk about what they were doing, how they fit it into their day, and progress they had seen.

25. Students Entering Tier 1
First Year
K-2 Students entered Tier I in reading based on DIBELS data
All other subject areas and grades 3-5 where based on teacher discretion
Second Year
All Children K-5 went through screening process at RtI schools
MISTAKES
Trainings this year much more successful and helpful.

26. Screening All RTI Schools K-5th Grade
All students are screened three times a year using either DIBELS, Skill Builder probes, or Aims Web Maze Fluency probes
Teachers have been shown data and given recommendations on who needs to enter Tier 1
Teachers have been shown what skill to teach and what to use to progress monitor each child
Maze fluency being used two different ways. Team approach except for dibels in K-2 teachers scoring all group admins except for written expression. All individual done by group. Discrete trial for everything except dibels.

27. Curriculum Based Measurements
Teachers have been taught to use CBM’s for progress monitoring
Training was done by school psychologists during planning times broken up over several weeks
Nearly all instruction is tracked using CBM data
Data is not graphed or charted until child enters Tier 3, unless teacher chooses to graph data

28. Timelines Beginning of the year benchmark assessment
Targeted students enter Tier 1 based on information from class and assessments
Plan is written with help of parent and usually Case Colleague
Teachers intervene in specific area for 4-6 weeks
Dialogue continues with Case Colleague
Process will repeat with Tier 2 only more people are generally involved
School psychologist, counselor, social worker, reading person

29. Local Norm Project Hybrid between DIBELs and Skill Builder Probes
Local norm sample consisted of 576 across 1st-5th grades
More than 100 students per grade
DIBELS data was from approximately 400 students per grade K-2

30. Sample From 1st and 2nd Grade

31. School Approach to Interventions
ONE OPTION
Each grade level has an intervention period built into the daily schedule
Fluid time when any student in that grade level can go to another teacher to receive intervention
Students not on intervention plan receive challenge enrichment activities – gifted teacher can consult with staff about activities
Can be hard to schedule but has great results and great teacher feedback
Seen done during sustained silent reading and this works well

32. Fidelity and Integrity Checks
Case Colleague meeting form
Interventions are observed before a child moves to a new tier
Intervention observation form is used
Before placement is considered third party is looking over Tier III process to make sure everything has been done properly

37. Where is Cleveland County Going From Here?
With the implementation of RtI in 6 Elementary Schools, we are now going to proceed with adding other Elementary Schools in addition to a Middle School for There is also one High School in our district that is interested in pursuing RtI implementation.
In order to continue building capacity, we recognize that an additional Core Training Team would be beneficial to our process.

38. Instruction/Intervention Questions to Ask
What is my school’s core curriculum?
Is my core curriculum research based?
Florida center for reading research
fcrr.org

39. Interventions/Instruction Questions to Ask
What do you have available at your school?
What programs do you have?
What resources can teachers easily access?
Are your supplemental programs research based instruction?
Who can supply interventions if they need to be supplied outside the classroom?
Who will do progress monitoring?

40. Implementing RtI is Like Eating an Elephant
You can start anywhere you like
You have to eat the whole thing
You aren’t going to eat it all in one sitting
It is going to take a whole lot of
friends to help get the job done

41. mail.clevelandcountyschools.org/~ganselmo
RTI/Intervention Resources: Cleveland County Schools

42. Questions