Santa Rosa and the RTI Model: Making it ALL work ?

1. January 23, 2008 ~ RTI Symposium Region 8 Santa Rosa and the RTI Model: Making it ALL work? Lori Thomas-Hicks Principal, Santa Rosa Academic Academy lthomas-hicks@atas.k12.ca.us

2. Quote “We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make, which over time add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.” ~ Marian Wright Edelman ~

3. Translation “ The small differences we make for a child at the beginning of his educational career, will determine the big differences he can make for the rest of his life.” ~ Lori Thomas-Hicks ~

4. Response To Intervention RTI is the practice of providing high-quality instruction and intervention matched to student need, monitoring progressfrequently to make decisions about change in instruction, differentiation or goals and applying child response data to important educational decisions. (NASDSE, 2005)

5. Elements of RTI • High Quality Core Instruction for ALL students School-wide (Universal Access) • Accurate Diagnostic Assessment that guides a system of Problem Solving • Interventions that Match the needs of the population (Differentiation) • Meaningful Progress Monitoring • Goal setting and Systems change

6. Quote “ Every person (or organization) is perfectly aligned for the results he/she gets.” ~ Kukic ~

7. 3-Tier System How can we structure the environment to support this system?

8. Effective RTI Model Screening Assessments Diagnostic Assessments Progress Monitoring Assessments

9. 1. Universal Access “Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction, and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives.”~ Willa A Foster~

10. Fluency Deficit ~ Benchmark Level Desired 70 wpm Current Performance 32 wpm Peer Average 40 wpm Difference (GAP) 8 wpm Peer GAP from Benchmark 30 wpm Time Until Next Benchmark 10 weeks What do you do?

11. As A Matter Of Fact… It is no longer legal to identify students for special education unless the instructional environment has been assessed for effectiveness. So, lets review some of those effective strategies…

12. 5 Years of Professional Development • Differentiation • Assessment to Drive Instruction • Active Engagement Strategies/Management • Explicit Academic Vocabulary Instruction • Relationship Building

13. Utilize Effective Instructional Strategies • Vocabulary + Realia + Student Friendly Definition + Meaningful Sentence + Examples/non-Examples = Understanding • Reading can only be monitored if it is aloud. SSR must be replaced with “Whisper or Partner Reading with a purpose.”

14. Utilize Effective Instructional Strategies • Active Engagement and Interaction is essential. A discussion question, at a minimum, should be placed after every 5-7 minutes of input. • Guided Practice is not something you do if there is time… it is essential for understanding. Don’t mistake modeling (in-put) with guided practice (practice).

15. 2. Assessment • District Assessment (Universal) • DIBELS • SRI ~ Comprehension • Benchmarks • Unit & Grade-level Assessments • Site Assessments (Diagnostic) • Writing Samples • Fluency • EISS Continuum • VADS • VMI • Motivational Survey • Time on Task • Student Assessment Folders (Monitoring) The tools for Progress Monitoring.

16. Quality Core Intervention Monitor Screening Assessments Diagnostic Assessments Progress Monitoring Assessments

17. 3. Differentiated Intervention • Master Schedule ~ Maximizing Resources • Uninterrupted Blocks of Core Instruction with Extended Guided Practice for SOME • Walk-2-Learn (School-Wide Differentiation) for ALL, Some & FEW • Workshop or Push-in (Grade-Level or Standard Differentiation) for ALL, SOME, & FEW • Collaboration (Early Release & Planning Time)

19. Differentiated Intervention Cont’ • Extended Guided Practice: Push-in and/or pull-out support is offered to students after direct instruction of new learning occurs in math and reading. This is an opportunity for GATE and/or high achieving students to receive extension activities in order to challenge higher level thinking. It is also an opportunity for students needing additional assistance to receive support in order to be success. • Workshop: Workshop is a time of classroom differentiation built in for every teacher and student. Every teacher receives 30 minutes of daily support during Workshop so that the needs of all students can be met through differentiation. Students work on Focus or Must Do activities in an effort to solidify concepts and facilitate independent learning skills. They are also able to work on supplemental assessment and May Do activities that strengthen existing skills and standards. It is also a perfect time for small groups of students to receive targeted and/or intensive intervention.

20. Differentiated Intervention Cont’ • Walk 2 Learn: Walk to Learn is … a 30-minute block of instruction when ALL students receive differentiation based on skill need. Students receive extension, re-teach, or reinforcement of specific skill areas related to the grade level standards. Groups are made by the classroom teachers, based on district benchmark and ongoing classroom assessment data. Sessions correlate with grade level planning days and reporting periods. Standards recently addressed include: fluency, comprehension, phonics, writing, study skills, listening and speaking. • Kindergarten Extension Program: Although this program is implemented by the kindergarten classroom teachers, it is made possible through the additional support of learning center staff during the regular kindergarten day. The learning center staff support in each classroom for one and a half hours per day enables all kindergarten teachers to instruct in the morning, and offer an extended day for identified students.

21. View from the Top! Few Some ALL

22. Quote “Our choice is not between sending them down the hall or doing nothing… We can differentiate in the regular classroom.” ~ Carol Ann Tomlinson ~

23. Translation “Our choice is not between new learning and remediation… We can design a system that effectively addresses both without the stigma of being sent down the hall or increasing the achievement gap.” ~ Lori Thomas-Hicks ~

24. Progress Monitoring Data Based Decision Making • Example: Fluency Deficit ~ Benchmark Level Desired 70 wpm Current Performance 12 wpm Peer Average 60 wpm Difference (GAP) 48 wpm Time Until Next Benchmark 10 weeks

25. Quote “The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.” ~ Michelangelo ~

26. 4. Progress Monitoring Goal Intensive PEER 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 WCPM Supplemental Instruction Needed Baseline 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 WEEKS

27. 5. Decision Making Process Family Support Team (FST) & Concern for Kids Days: • FST (Family Support Team) Comprehensive Team • Strengths, Concerns, Interventions, Desired Outcome, Action Plan, Time-line, Follow-up • Family Advocate ~ Latino Liaison • Probation • School Psychologist • Concern for Kids • Weekly Learning Center Meeting • Scheduled Grade-level Meetings Be a Professional Learning Community!

29. Concern for Kids Spreadsheet

30. 6. Goal Setting and Systems Change “The best predictor of the severity of a problem is how well a person responds to the intervention provided… However, the biggest reason why intervention is not successful is that it is not implemented properly or effectively.” ~ Tilly ~

31. “If you treat a (child) as he is, he will remain as he is. But if you treat him as if he were what he ought to be and could be, he will become what he ought to be and could be.” ~ Goethe ~

32. “Real learning does not happen until students are brought into relationship with the teacher, with each other, and with the subject. We cannot learn deeply and well until a community of learning is created in the classroom.” ~ Parker Palmer ~

33. Or,Is this just the beginning for you? The End