The Academically Misunderstood: Creating Systems that Understand and Meet Instructional Need

1. The Academically Misunderstood: Creating Systems that Understand and Meet Instructional Need Gregory J. Benner, Ph.D. University of Washington, Tacoma Email: gbenner@u.washington.edu Telephone: (253) 692-4621 Fax: (253) 692-5612

2. Big Picture Objectives The academically misunderstood: Who are they? Systems that understand and meet instructional need Features of supplemental instruction

3. Academic Systems Behavioral Systems • Intensive, Individual Interventions • Individual Students • Assessment-based • High Intensity • Intensive, Individual Interventions • Individual Students • Assessment-based • Intense, durable procedures • Targeted Group Interventions • Some students (at-risk) • High efficiency • Rapid response • Targeted Interventions • Some students (at-risk) • High efficiency • Rapid response • Individual or Group • Universal Interventions • All students • Preventive, proactive • Universal Interventions • All settings, all students • Preventive, proactive Designing School-Wide Systems for Student Success 1-5% 1-5% 5-10% 5-10% 80-90% 80-90%

4. Understanding • Have you ever been misunderstood? • In what ways are students with behavioral problems misunderstood? • Key idea: Solutions to academic and/or behavioral problems start with understanding them.

5. Story “The Dinosaur that Drove a Dumptruck”

6. The Real Story: Access to the Core Instruction Program Varies Across Schools All Students 80% Some Students 15% A Few Students 5%

7. Difficult to think this way in schools serving large disadvantaged populations To Achieve Greater Success—Think!! Some Few

8. Effect Size Difference in Total Language ED Population General Population ES=1.2

9. Pathway Analysis(Nelson, Benner, & Neill, 2006)

10. Most Influential Rapid Naming ES: .51 Behavior ES: .46 Literacy Outcomes Phonological ES: .42 Memory ES: .30 IQ ES: .28 Least Influential Demographic ES: -.01 From the Research Literature(Nelson, Benner, & Gonzalez, 2003)

11. The Best of Times • Randomized controlled trials of intensive fluency instruction on neurological functioning • Increased activity in the left hemisphere regions of the brain after instruction • Maintained more than one year after • Reading (Shaywitz et al., 2004) • Math (Delazer, Domahs, Bartha, Brenneis, Locky, & Trieb, 2004) • “Actual shift in brain activation patterns as untrained math facts are learned (Delazer et al., 2003)”

12. Fluency: The True Definition of Mastery Fluency = Accuracy + Speed = Automatic or “Second Nature” Response = True Mastery of Basic Skills and Composite Performance 12

13. Everybody Needs Fluency

14. Even, Ray Charles • ROBERT SIEGEL: You practice a lot? • RAY CHARLES: Whenever I can. I don’t -- I don’t practice as much as I would like to, because I’m not around a big piano all the time. But I try to, you know, I try to practice a little bit every day for the most part. • ROBERT SIEGEL: And when you practice, I mean, do you practice the tunes that you’ll be playing at the next concerts......? • RAY CHARLES: Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no..... • ROBERT SIEGEL: I guess the answer is no, you’re saying? • RAY CHARLES: No. No. I practice things like scales and chords and movement of my hands and things like that, because, I mean, I -- what I’m going to play on stage, I know. What I’m practicing for is to try to improve what I might play, you know. You gotta practice. I mean you gotta keep your fingers loose, you gotta keep your mind active, you know, because what your mind thinks of -- the question is: what your mind thinks of, can your fingers play it? • ROBERT SIEGEL: Right.

15. Systems that Understand: Matching Instruction to Need

16. An Achievable Outcome with Well Selected and Implemented Supplemental Programs All Students 95% A Few Students 3-5%

17. How do you spell student success? Supplemental Instruction

18. How Much Does High Quality Supplemental Instruction Matter? • 281 middle school students • Screening criteria (conducted spring prior to intervention year) • Median DIBELS ORF score fell in the “at-risk” category participated: 5th (<103), 6th (<104), 7th (<125), and 8th (<125). • Corrective Reading Decoding Placement Test • Ensure that the Corrective Reading Decoding strand was appropriate for addressing their word reading skill problems • Establish homogenous groups and place students in the appropriate level (B1, B2, or C) Reference: Benner, G. J., Nelson, J. R., Stage, S. A., & Ralston, N. C. (2008). Fidelity of Implementation: Influence on the Effects of a Reading Intervention for Middle School Students Experiencing Reading Difficulties. Manuscript in Progress.

19. School Demographics • School 1: Rural, 75 participants • Enrollment: 222 • 53% free/reduced, 14% special education services • Ethnic breakdowns: 51% Caucasian, 46% American Indian/Alaskan Native, 3% Hispanic, 1% African American. • School 2: Rural, 63 participants • Enrollment: 250 • 60% free or reduced, 12% special education services, 10% ELL • Ethnic breakdowns: 58% Caucasian, 24% Hispanic, 14% American Indian/Alaskan Native, 2% Asian American, 1% African American. • School 3: Urban, 143 participants • Enrollment: 585 • 59% free or reduced lunch, 14% special education services, 3% ELL • Ethnic breakdowns: 55% Caucasian, 23% African American, 15% Hispanic, 5% Asian American, 3% American Indian/Alaskan Native.

20. Project BERS Intervention Plan • Tier IV: Students with Severe Reading Problems • Corrective Reading B1 (65 Lessons) then B2 (65 Lessons) & Rewards (20 Lessons) • Tier III: Students with Moderate Reading Problems • Corrective Reading B2 (65 Lessons) then Rewards (20 Lessons), and C1(125 Lessons) • Tier II: Students with Mild Reading Problems • Rewards (20 Lessons) then Corrective Reading C1 (125 Lessons) • Tier I: Average or Above Average Readers • Rewards Plus in Science and Social Studies

21. Project BERS Progress Monitoring Plan • Tier IV: Students with Severe Reading Problems • Every week • 3rd Grade DIBELS ORF (3 probes) • DIBELS NWF (2 probes) • Tier III: Students with Moderate Reading Problems • Every two weeks • 4th Grade DIBELS ORF (3 probes) • DIBELS NWF (2 probes) • Tier II: Students with Mild Reading Problems • Every two weeks • 6th Grade DIBELS ORF (3 probes) • 6th Grade MAZE CBM (1 Probe)

22. BAM-III

23. Outcomes

24. School 3 (14 Teachers) Fidelity and Gain 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% Fidelity Percentage 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Broad Reading Gain

26. An Example of the Importance of Implementation

27. Overview of Tier III Pilot Reading Mastery—Language Strand Tier III, ELL, and Sped (as needed) grades 3-5 in 3 high need elementary schools Reading Mastery—Reading Strand Tier III: Grades K-2 Corrective Reading—Decoding Strand Tier III: Grades 3-5

30. Example Expectations: Large and Small Group Demonstrate learner position: Students’ backs are against the back of the chair, feet are on the floor in front of the chair, and hands are together on desk/lap. Look at the focus of instruction: Students’ eyes are on the instructional materials, teacher, or peer. Answer on signal: Students start and stop on teacher signal (group and individual). Responses are teacher-initiated and subject focused: Students’ responses are only teacher-initiated and subject focused. Use classroom voice: Students use six-inch voices.

31. Teacher Students 15 pts. 30 pts.

32. Outcomes • 36 kids with behavior, reading, and language difficulties (n = 36) • Word Meaning (Language): • 12th to 24th percentile • Word Recognition: • 17th to 30th • Silent Reading Comprehension • 13 to 23rd • Spelling • 17th to 27th

33. Effective Supplemental Instruction • Diagnose well • Daily fluency CBA. • Graphing—kid takes ownership • High quality programs implemented well (small things—big gains) • Fluency teaching • Manage behavior during instructional situations

34. Book Nelson, J. R., Benner, G. J., & Mooney, P. (2008). Instructional practices for students with behavioral disorders: Strategies for reading, writing, and math. New York: Gilford Press.