Multi-Tiered Intervention Provision: Service Delivery & Student Eligibility

1. Multi-Tiered Intervention Provision:Service Delivery & Student Eligibility Nebraska Department of Education Response-to-Intervention Consortium

2. Overview • The importance of a multi-tier model • Examples of multi-tier models for academic and behavioral supports • The use of multi-tier models within the existing school infrastructure • Guidelines for making data-based decisions about the provision of services (including special education)

3. Importance of the Multi-Tier Model • Based on the Public Health Model of prevention and early intervention • More cost effective solution than waiting to intervene • Capitalizes on promoting protective factors and reducing risk before more extensive problems arise

4. Multi-Tier Model Characteristics • Provides a framework for serving students with various levels of need • Key components • Universal screening of all students to identify those at risk • Use of rules to guide evidence-based instruction/intervention and eligibility decisions • Ongoing intervention delivery and monitoring of student progress

5. Intensive Intervention Intensity of Intervention Decision rules Supplementary Intervention Decision rules General Instruction 3-Tier Model • A prevention/early intervention model for serving all students before they fall significantly behind • Instruction/intervention is provided in response to students’ increasing needs • Designed to meet the needs of all students • Involves use of data-based decisions to guide instruction/intervention delivery within each tier

6. Rationale for a 3-TierReading Support Model • Promotes early identification of students in need of additional assistance • Accommodates supplemental instruction for students with early reading difficulties • Provides for intensive instruction targeting those at risk of reading failure • Accommodates continuous curriculum-based progress monitoring of all students

7. Example: 3-Tier Reading Model Tier I Instruction/Intervention • Core research-based reading program • Involves Big 5 reading components identified by the National Reading Panel Screening • Curriculum-based screening each fall, winter, and spring • Decision rules used to identify at-risk students eligible for Tier 2/Tier 3 intervention

8. Grade 1 - Tier I (> 1.5 hrs daily, universal) Instruction Phonemic awareness (e.g., phoneme segmentation) Alphabetic principal (e.g., blending & word construction) Fluency (e.g., monitored oral reading) Comprehension (e.g., pre-, concurrent-, post-strategy instruction) Vocabulary (e.g., direct instruction, concept-word association practice) Screening Curriculum-based screening each Fall, Winter, & Spring Example: 3-Tier Reading Model(e.g., UT Center for Reading & Language Arts; Vaughn, 2003)

9. Example: 3-Tier Reading Model Tier II • Instruction/Intervention • Small-group supplementary instruction in addition to classroom instruction • Progress Monitoring • Curriculum-based monitoring of student progress in response to Tier 2 intervention • Decision rules used to identify students’ response to intervention and Tier eligibility

10. Grade 1 - Tier II (> 30 min. daily for at least 10 wks., eligible based on screening/progress monitoring data) Instruction Additional guidance/practice in small group (3-5 students) Content: Phonemic awareness (e.g., phoneme segmentation) Alphabetic principal (e.g., blending & word construction) Fluency (e.g., monitored oral reading) Comprehension (e.g., pre-, concurrent-, post-strategy instruction) Vocabulary (e.g., direct instruction, practice with concept-word associations) Progress monitoring Curriculum-based progress monitoring every 1-2 weeks to determine Tier 2 or 3/ other-service eligibility Example: 3-Tier Reading Model(e.g., UT Center for Reading & Language Arts; Vaughn, 2003)

11. Example: 3-Tier Reading Model Tier III • Instruction/Intervention • Intensive and individualized research-based instruction in addition to classroom instruction • Progress Monitoring • Curriculum-based monitoring of student progress in response to Tier 3 intervention • Decision rules used to identify students’ response to intervention and Tier/SLD eligibility

12. Grade 1 - Tier III (> 30 min. twice daily for at least 10 wks., eligible based on screening/progress monitoring data) Instruction Individualized guidance/practice (1-3 students) Increased examples, duration, and instructional scaffolding Content: Phonemic awareness (e.g., phoneme segmentation) Alphabetic principal (e.g., blending & word construction) Fluency (e.g., monitored oral reading) Comprehension (e.g., pre-, concurrent-, post-strategy instruction) Vocabulary (e.g., direct instruction, practice with concept-word associations) Progress monitoring Curriculum-based progress monitoring every 1-2 weeks to determine Tier 2 or 3/ other-service eligibility Example: 3-Tier Reading Model(e.g., UT Center for Reading & Language Arts; Vaughn, 2003)

13. Research Example: Intervention within a 3-Tier Reading ModelVaughn, Linen-Thompson, & Hickman (2003) • Participants • 45 2nd-grade students identified by Texas Primary Reading Inventory as at-risk for reading disabilities • Instruction/Intervention • Core classroom instruction • 10 or 20 wks of daily intervention in small-groups (3 students): • Fluency (5 min) • Phonemic Awareness (5 min) • Instructional-level reading (10 min) • Word analysis (10 min) • Writing (3-5 min) • Data-based decision rules for “responsiveness” • Texas Primary Reading Inventory: 5 of 8 words read correctly • Test of Oral Reading Fluency: median > 55 correct WPM with <5 errors • Fluency reading: 50 correct WPM for at least 3 weeks

14. Research Example: Intervention within a 3-Tier Reading ModelVaughn, Linen-Thompson, & Hickman (2003) • Results • At 10 weeks: 10 students met criteria • At 20 weeks: 14 additional students met criteria • At 30 weeks: 10 additional students met criteria • Conclusions/Discussion • After a maximum of 30 weeks of intervention, 34 of the 45 at-risk students met responsiveness criteria • 23 of the 24 students who met criteria after 20 weeks continued to make progress in the classroom without supplemental instruction

15. 3-Tier Reading Model: Summary • Provides a framework for a continuum of services for all students • Addresses the needs of students at-risk before they fall significantly behind in the classroom • Encourages accountability and data-based decision-making through screening and progress monitoring

16. Importance of a 3-Tier Behavioral Support Model • Helps to clarify and increase awareness of behavioral norms • Provides a framework for a range of supports for students with behavioral or social-emotional difficulties • Decreases the risk for behavior problems • Is more cost effective and less time intensive than waiting to intervene

17. 3-Tier Behavioral Support Model Tier I: Universal Support • Instruction/Intervention • Proactive, universal interventions that target all students • Positive Behavioral Supports • Establishing and teaching rules and routines for the school environment • Altering the physical arrangement (e.g. separating students with challenging behaviors) • Goal: • Promote students’ social and academic readiness • Prevent the acquisition of norm-violating behaviors • Screening • Students are screened through teacher nomination or school archival data (e.g. office referrals) to determine which students need more intensive intervention

18. 3-Tier Behavioral Support Model Tier II: Targeted Support • Instruction/Intervention • Targeted behavioral supports, such as: • a “social skills club” • a “check in/check out” procedure • planned behavior education • rearrangement of environment • Goal: • Decrease access to situations where problem behavior might occur • Establish effective pro-social repertoires • Progress Monitoring • Direct observations and review of school archival data

19. 3-Tier Behavioral Support Model Tier III: Individualized Support • Instruction/Intervention • Intensive, individualized, and comprehensive interventions, including functional assessment practices to guide planned behavior education and rearrangement of environment • May involve collaboration with family & community agencies • Goal • Reduce the intensity, frequency, and complexity of the problem behavior patterns • Provide pro-social replacement behaviors • Progress Monitoring • Direct observations and review of school archival data

20. Guidelines for Making Data-Based Decisions • Regular screening and progress monitoring should be conducted with sufficient frequency to produce a reliable indication of a students’ performance • Specific data-based decision rules should be established to determine eligibility for services within each Tier of intervention • Across all levels of the tiers, evidence-based interventions should be delivered for a minimum of 24 sessions prior to determining their cumulative effectiveness • Within tiers, evidence-based interventions should be delivered based on their appropriate fit to students’ needs • Services provided within each tier should be carried out with documented integrity

21. Guidelines for Making Data-Based Decisions • For Specific Learning Disability verification: • Each building should identify how to address the relationship between Tier III and special education placement • A minimum of two interventions/intervention phases should be provided before a student is considered as having a SLD • Nebraska Department of Education will be providing additional guidelines to schools and districts for using RTI to identify students with SLD

22. Additional Resources • 3-Tier Reading Supports • Vaughn Gross Center for Reading and Language Arts: http://www.texasreading.org/utcrla/materials/ Provides access to professional development guides, training academies, videos, CD-ROMs, and booklets that cover various topics related to effective, research-based reading instruction/interventions. • Big Ideas in Beginning Reading: http://reading.uoregon.edu/ Provides access to resources on the five big ideas of early literacy. Includes instructional information and examples. • 3-Tier Behavioral Supports • OSEP Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports:www.pbis.org/main.htm Provides access to resources related to implementing School-Wide Positive Behaviorial Support within a 3-Tier model.