Practices from Two Reading First Schools with Strong Intervention Outcomes

1. Practices from Two Reading First Schools with Strong Intervention Outcomes Elizabeth Crawford, MS, CCC-SLP Dr. Joseph Torgesen Florida Center for Reading Research Dr. Ella Barnes Mr. Raymond King Orange County School District

2. Agenda • Introduction • Effective Interventions: What do we know from research? • 7 Common Traits and Examples from 2 schools • Two Principals’ Summaries • Questions and Answers • Concluding Thoughts

3. Why must we work at the school level to provide effective interventions? • Children enter school with very diverse instructional needs • Some children may require instruction that is 4 or 5 times more powerful than the rest of the students • The classroom teacher, alone, may not be able to provide sufficiently powerful instruction to meet the needs of all students

4. What do we know about the characteristics of effective interventions? • They always increase the intensity of instruction - they accelerate learning “By the fifth year, I was convinced high performance reading was about more time and better use of that time. Students who were behind needed more direct instruction. Some of them started getting 60 to 90 minutes extra each day for a total of 180 to 210 minutes a day. We spent that time on the sub-skills they hadn’t mastered” David Montague-Kennewick, Washington

5. What do we know about the characteristics of effective interventions? • They always increase the intensity of instruction - they accelerate learning • They always provide many more opportunities for re-teaching, review, and practice • They are focused carefully on the most essential learning needs of the students.

6. How were effective schools identified? We first identified the RF schools that had the highest Index of Effectiveness for Interventions (EI) across grades K-3 combined • The EI (Effectiveness of Intervention) Index indicates the percentage of students who began the year at some level of risk for reading difficulties, based on their DIBELS performance, but who grew rapidly enough to meet grade level expectations by the end of the year as measured by the DIBELS tests.

7. Once the schools with the highest EI percentiles were identified, four criteria were used to identify 10 schools for visits: • an ECI index score above the 60th percentile • at least 50 students per grade level • percentage of minority students above the state Reading First average of 66% • percentage of students qualifying for free and reduced lunch above the state Reading First average of 74%

8. Data on 2 Schools Meeting the Effective School Criteria for consecutive years

9. 7 Common Traits Observed in Successful Schools • Strong Leadership • Positive Belief and Teacher Dedication • Data Utilization and Analysis • Effective Scheduling • Professional Development • Scientifically Based Intervention Programs • Parent Involvement

10. Strong Leadership • Characterized by extensive knowledge of: • Children • Reading programs • Data • Schedules • Teachers’ needs • Involved in every aspect of their school’s reading program • Leadership was provided by principals, reading coaches and/or literacy teams

11. Leadership Examples • Lake Gem • You have to “know your children” • Principal knows about different reading programs available, understands the needs of his children/teachers and how to interpret the data to inform decisions for his school. • Builds his budget around reading intervention needs • Steven Covey and Tom Peters – helpful resources for this leader

12. Leadership Examples • Winegard • Principal stresses the importance of reaching all children, understands her teachers’ needs and understands the children’s needs • She feels her teachers work extremely hard and volunteer their time so she supports them in any way she can • Ruby Payne and Ron Clark – helpful resources for this leader • A quote from Ruby Payne that this leader follows is "No significant learning takes place without a significant relationship."

13. Positive Belief and Teacher Dedication • Despite… teachers at successful schools believed ALL their students could read • language barriers • limited support at home • low socioeconomic status • Teachers raised the bar, not lowered it • Teachers committed to extra hours (planning, workshops, after school programs, etc.) to meet the needs of ALL of their students

14. Positive Belief Examples • Lake Gem and Winegard • School Wide belief that all children can read • Support (in the form of enough personnel, time to meet as a grade level, training, etc.) is provided to teachers in order to meet the goal of reaching every child

15. Data Utilization and Analysis Key characteristics of Data meetings: • Held on a regular basis (bi-weekly or monthly) • Attendees were able to make school level decisions and could make changes - usually principal • Systems/worksheets used for structure • Follow-up • Data compiled from multiple sources

16. Data Utilization and Analysis Examples • Lake Gem • Monthly data meetings with each grade level (principal attends all meetings) • Resource teachers meet twice a week • Spring Data used to hire intervention teachers and forms the foundation for the budget

17. Data Utilization and Analysis Examples • Winegard • Meet as a team three times a year to discuss DIBELS • Meet monthly to discuss the children using the data they have available, both formal and informal • Principal attends all meetings

18. Effective Scheduling • Teachers wanted, “More Time!” An efficient schedule allows for: • An uninterrupted period of time for reading instruction (90 minutes or more) • Specific times when intensive reading interventions will be provided • The most efficient use of support staff to help provide intensive interventions • A common planning time to facilitate grade-level meetings

19. Scheduling Examples • Lake Gem • provides intervention in a ‘push in’ model • Children who need supplemental or intensive instruction get 90 minutes plus 45 minutes a day of reading • reduced student travel time to intervention classes • increased coordination between the regular classroom and intervention teacher • provided additional learning opportunities for the regular classroom teacher who is able to occasionally observe the intervention teacher working with a group of struggling readers

20. Scheduling Examples • Winegard • Children who need supplemental or intensive intervention receive 90 minutes +45 minutes a day • Some 3rd grade children also receive 30 minutes 2x/week on top of the above services • In K and 3rd grade, resource teachers provide iii, while in 1st and 2nd the classroom teachers provide the iii • No more than 7 children in a group and fewer if the needs are intensive

21. Professional Development • It takes more knowledge and skill to teach students who struggle in learning to read than it does to for students who find it easier to learn • Considerations when developing a professional development plan: • A combination of personnel to deliver trainings • High teacher turn-over rate • Time consumption from Coaches • Training for ‘Special Area’ teachers • Differentiated Professional Development for teachers • Follow up training

22. Professional Development Examples • Lake Gem • Has publisher of specific programs used in school provide trainings as well as follow up model lessons • Coaches also provide trainings, especially to the resource teachers in the iii programs • Winegard • District provides training in CRP • Reading Coach provides training in iii programs

23. Scientifically Based Intervention Programs • Published Intervention Programs • Materials drawn from several sources • Computer-based programs

24. Program Examples • Lake Gem • CRP = Open Court • iii = Reading Mastery, Corrective Reading • Technology = Read Naturally, Success Maker • Winegard • CRP = Houghton Mifflin • iii = Voyager Passport and Read Well, some grades have Elements of Reading: Vocabulary and Fluency • Technology = Read 180 in after school program

25. Parent Involvement • Make the parents feel “welcome” at the school and feel that they are a vital part of their child’s education • Can be challenging when parents speak limited English • Need to think “outside of the box” to plan a parent night • provide food and babysitting services • offer two meeting times – one during the day and one in the evening • bring the meeting to the communities

26. Parent Involvement Examples • Lake Gem • Parent Nights • Winegard • Parent Nights • Principal explains to parents, “I would put my only daughter in any one of these classrooms so I would put your child in there too.”

27. Resources available free to all schools, principals and teachers • Four documents related to this presentation are available at www.fcrr.org/Interventions • Complete report • Executive summary for complete report • “Principal’s guide to intensive interventions for struggling readers in Reading First schools” • A Principal’s Action Plan Outline for Building a Successful School-wide Intervention System • To download over 300 independent student learning activities for K-3 classrooms, and 4th and 5th grade activities go tohttp://www.fcrr.org/activities/ • To find objective, teacher-written reviews of commercially available intervention programs and materials, go to: http://www.fcrr.org/FCRRReports/

28. Lake Gem Elementary Mr. Raymond King – Principal • Free and Reduced Lunch = 77% • Minority Students = 90% • LEP = 22% • Total number of students = 804

29. Winegard Elementary Dr. Ella Barnes – Principal • Free and Reduced Lunch = 84% • Minority Students = 88% • LEP = 66% • Total number of students = 649

30. Questions and Discussion

31. A Principal’s Action Plan Outline for Building a Successful School-wide Intervention System • How do you bring some of these ideas back to your school? • What areas are your school’s strengths and what areas are weaknesses? • See handout

32. Concluding Thoughts • All 7 of the traits are important – they work interactively and cumulatively to sustain a successful program • Even these relatively successful schools still have a long way to go in preventing reading difficulties in all students • The place to start is with the things you have the most control over – leadership, scheduling, use of data, strong programs and professional development • To make this complex system work, knowledgeable leaders and dedicated teachers need to work together to establish a school culture focused on high standards and confidence that goals can be achieved

33. Remember… “Improvement is a process, not an event.” (p.254) Elmore, R.F. (2004). School reform from the inside out: Policy, practice, and performance. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.

34. Thank You • To download this presentation please visit the Science of Reading section of www.fcrr.org after the leadership conference.