Workshop Agenda

1. ‘Doing More With Less’: Using Research Findings & Internet Resources to Make RTI Work in Challenging Budgetary TimesJim Wrightwww.interventioncentral.org

2. Download PowerPoints and Handouts from this workshop at:http://www.interventioncentral.org/NYASP.php

3. Systems Change in a Time of Limited Resources Linking Assessment to Intervention Building Teacher Understanding and Support for RTI Tools and a Framework for Analytic (‘Instructional’) Assessment Workshop Agenda

4. Implementing Response to Intervention in Secondary Schools: Key Challenges to Changing a SystemJim Wrightwww.interventioncentral.org

5. RTI: Research Questions Q: What Conditions Support the Successful Implementation of RTI? RTI requires: • Continuing professional development to give teachers the skills to implement RTI and educate new staff because of personnel turnover. • Administrators who assert leadership under RTI, including setting staff expectations for RTI implementation, finding the needed resources, and monitor ingthe fidelity of implementation. • Proactive hiring of teachers who support the principles of RTI and have the skills to put RTI into practice in the classroom. • The changing of job roles of teachers and support staff (school psychologists, reading specialists, special educators, etc.) to support the RTI model. • Input from teachers and support staff (‘bottom-up’) about how to make RTI work in the school or district, as well as guidance from administration (‘top-down’). 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.

6. Preventing Your School from Developing ‘RTI Antibodies’ • Schools can anticipate and take steps to address challenges to RTI implementation in schools • This proactive stance toward RTI adoption will reduce the probability that the ‘host’ school or district will reject RTI as a model

7. Middle & High School RTI: Targeting the Reform of Classroom Practices “Restructuring efforts that appear promising are those that focus on changing what happens within classrooms, specifically on improving curriculum and instruction; however, programs typically welcomed by districts are those that accommodate the district and school.” 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. 1085-1097). Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.. p.1090

8. Role of ‘School Culture’ in the Acceptability of Interventions “…school staffs are interested in strategies that fit a group instructional and management template; intensive strategies required by at-risk and poorly motivated students are often viewed as cost ineffective. Treatments and interventions that do not address the primary mission of schooling are seen as a poor match to school priorities and are likely to be rejected. Thus, intervention and management approaches that are universal in nature and that involve a standard dosage that is easy to deliver (e.g., classwide social skills training) have a higher likelihood of making it into routine or standard school practice.” Source: Walker, H. M. (2004). Use of evidence-based interventions in schools: Where we've been, where we are, and where we need to go. School Psychology Review, 33, 398-407. pp. 400-401

9. Barriers in Schools to Innovations in Interventions “Factors that have been identified as barriers to … acceptance and implementation by educators [of effective behavioral interventions for at at-risk students] include characteristics of the host organization, practitioner behavior, costs, lack of program readiness, the absence of program champions and advocates within the host organization, philosophical objections, lack of fit between the program's key features and organizational routines and operations, and weak staff participation.” Source: Walker, H. M. (2004). Use of evidence-based interventions in schools: Where we've been, where we are, and where we need to go. School Psychology Review, 33, 398-407. p. 400

10. ‘Scaling Up’: Four Stages of RTI DevelopmentJim Wrightwww.interventioncentral.org

11. RTI Development: Four Stages of ‘Scaling Up’ • Preparation. Planning activities & creating readiness in the school system for the RTI component. • Initial Implementation. Bringing the component into the school setting. • Institutionalization. Institutionalizing the RTI component as a part of routine school and district practices. • Ongoing Development/Updating. Ensuring that the RTI component stays current with changing revisions in state and federal guidelines and emerging findings in RTI research. Source: Ervin, R. A., & Schaughency, E. (2008). Best practices in accessing the systems change literature. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.), Best practices in school psychology V (pp. 853-873). Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.

13. RTI Implementation Planning Sheet: Example“GOAL: Creating Consistent Use of Effective Tier 1 Academic Strategies in Content-Area Classrooms” Stage 1: Preparation: List any preparation steps such as development of materials or staff training. Examples of Preparation Tasks: • Inventory Tier 1 Interventions Already in Use • Create a Standard Menu of Evidence-Based Tier 1 Intervention Ideas for Teachers

14. RTI Implementation Planning Sheet: Example“GOAL: Creating Consistent Use of Effective Tier 1 Academic Strategies in Content-Area Classrooms” Stage 2: Initial Implementation: Describe the tasks required to actually implement the goal. Examples of Initial Implementation Tasks: • Train Teachers to Write Specific, Measureable, Observable ‘Problem Identification Statements • Establish Tier 1 Coaching and Support Resources • Provide Classroom (Tier 1) Problem-Solving Support to Teachers • Create Formal Guidelines for Teachers to Document Tier 1 Strategies

15. RTI Implementation Planning Sheet: Example“GOAL: Creating Consistent Use of Effective Tier 1 Academic Strategies in Content-Area Classrooms” Stage 3: Institutionalization: Once the goal is initially carried out successfully, devise a plan to weave various activities that support the goal into the day-to-day institutional routine of the school. Examples of Institutionalization Tasks: • Develop Decision Rules for Referring Students from Tier 1 to Higher Levels of Intervention

16. RTI Implementation Planning Sheet: Example“GOAL: Creating Consistent Use of Effective Tier 1 Academic Strategies in Content-Area Classrooms” Stage 4: Ongoing Development/Updating: The RTI model is steadily evolving as new research indicates better methods for data collection, intervention planning, etc. The RTI Implementation Plan should include Ongoing Development/Updating tasks--ongoing activities to ensure that the district’s practices confirm to best practices over time. Examples of Ongoing Development/Updating Tasks: • Set Up a System to Locate Additional Evidence-Based Tier 1 Intervention Ideas

17. RTI Steering Committee: Using the Four Stages of ‘Scaling Up’ in Planning • First, the RTI Steering Committee selects a series of ‘RTI Implementation Goals.’ These goals should be more general, global goals that will require attention through all stages of the RTI implementation process. • The RTI Steering Committee then takes each of the general RTI Implementation Goals and breaks the global goal into a series of specific subtasks. Subtasks are sorted by stage of implementation.

18. Engaging the Reluctant Teacher: Seven Reasons Why Middle & High School Instructors May Be Reluctant to Implement Classroom RTI Literacy InterventionsJim Wrightwww.interventioncentral.org

19. ‘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.

20. 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).

21. 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).

22. 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.

23. Ideas to Build Teacher Understanding and Support for RTIJim Wrightwww.interventioncentral.org

24. 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.

25. 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.

26. 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.

27. 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.

28. 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.

29. 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.

30. 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.

31. 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.

32. Building Teacher Capacity to Deliver Tier 1 Interventions: An 8-Step Checklist Jim Wrightwww.interventioncentral.org

43. RTI & Issues Relating to Student Assessment & Progress-MonitoringJim Wrightwww.interventioncentral.org

44. Use Time & Resources Efficiently By Collecting Information Only on ‘Things That Are Alterable’ “…Time should be spent thinking about things that the intervention team can influence through instruction, consultation, related services, or adjustments to the student’s program. These are things that are alterable.…Beware of statements about cognitive processes that shift the focus from the curriculum and may even encourage questionable educational practice. They can also promote writing off a student because of the rationale that the student’s insufficient performance is due to a limited and fixed potential. “ p.359 Source: Howell, K. W., Hosp, J. L., & Kurns, S. (2008). Best practices in curriculum-based evaluation. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.), Best practices in school psychology V (pp.349-362). Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.

45. Formal Tests: Only One Source of Student Assessment Information “Tests are often overused and misunderstood in and out of the field of school psychology. When necessary, analog [i.e., test] observations can be used to test relevant hypotheses within controlled conditions. Testing is a highly standardized form of observation. ….The only reason to administer a test is to answer well-specified questions and examine well-specified hypotheses. It is best practice to identify and make explicit the most relevant questions before assessment begins. …The process of assessment should follow these questions. The questions should not follow assessment. “ p.170 Source: Christ, T. (2008). Best practices in problem analysis. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.), Best practices in school psychology V (pp. 159-176). Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.

46. 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. .

47. What is the Predictive Power of These Early Warning Flags? 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. .

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

49. 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.

50. 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..