Families & Schools Working Together to Close the Achievement Gap for ALL Students:

1. Families & Schools Working Together to Close the Achievement Gap for ALL Students: A Conversation with Families about their Important Rolein PA’s Standards Aligned System (SAS) & Response to Instruction & Intervention (RtII) Facilitated by: Dr. Jennifer Lillenstein, RtII Statewide Lead Consultant, PaTTAN Susan Spadafore, Educational Consultant, PaTTAN Kay Lipsitz, Executive Director, Parent Education Network (PEN)

2. Conversational Objectives: 1. Understanding thevalue of common core standards and 21st century teaching and learning… for your child, your child’s school, Pennsylvania and the Nation 2. Understanding the SAS-RtIIConnection and the important role you can play 4. Articulating the most important issue facing our children and the field of education today 5. Establishing practical ways that you can help your child and his/her school

3. 21stCentury Teaching & Learning: What Families Need to Know 21st century

4. Closing the Achievement Gap We have access to common core standards, research-based instruction and intervention and fair assessments.We also have a lingering achievement gap within many of our schools. WHY? A Little Background Info…President Obama/Reform

5. U.S. is one of only two OECD nations where today’s young people are not better educated than their parents United States (0) Source: 2007 OECD Education at a Glance, www.oecd.org/edu/eag2007. Note: data is for 2005.

6. Among OECD Countries, U.S.A. has the 4th Largest Gap Between High-SES and Low-SES Students U.S.A. PISA 2006 Results, OECD, table 4.8b

7. We hear things about students like: • They’re poor • Their parents don’t care • What else do you hear as a parent or community member? DonDeshler

8. What Works? Effective instruction/intervention practices + Effective implementation practices = Good outcomes for Kids

9. PA’s Got SAS and RtII (WHAT + HOW) Tier I of the RtII framework provides access to high quality standards based curriculum and instruction for all students. Research-validated interventions are implemented based on the type, level and intensity of student need. RtII organizes assessment practices and requires schools to use the four types of assessments to determine the effectiveness of curriculum/intervention and drive instructional adjustments. Examples, Summative: PSSA, PVAAS Benchmark: 4 Sight Diagnostic: GRADE, GMADE Formative: Formal and Informal (progress monitoring, ticket out the door) RtII organizes curriculum and instruction to ensure all students receive the standards aligned core curriculum. ALL staff (Gen, Sp Ed, Title, ESL) assume responsibility and an active role in instruction in the core curriculum High quality instruction is at the heart of RtII. The framework organizes instruction to ensure the use of high leverage, research-based instructional practices at each Tier. Processes are in place to ensure instructional fidelity. RtII requires the selection and use of materials and resources that align with standards based curriculum and research based standard protocols to address specific skill acquisition.

10. More about RtII…. • Response to Instruction and Intervention (RtII) is an array of procedures that can be used to determine if and how students respond to specific changes in instruction. RtII provides an improved process and structure for school teams in designing, implementing, and evaluating educational interventions. RtII

11. What Are the Essential Components of RtII? High-Quality, Standards-Aligned Instruction Positive Behavioral Support Universal Screening Tiers of Increasingly Intensive Support Collaboration Progress-Monitoring Parent Involvement

12. Virtual Visits Middle and High School RTI Action Network • Russell Middle School, Colorado Springs, CO • Tygard High School, Portland, Oregon http://www.rtinetwork.org/professional/virtualvisits

13. Universal Screening • Universal Screening is a step taken by school personnel early in the school year to determine which students are “at risk” for not meeting grade level standards. Universal screening can be accomplished by reviewing recent results of state tests, or by administering an academic screening test to all children in a given grade level. Those students whose test scores fall below a certain cut-off are identified as needing more specialized academic interventions.

14. QUESTIONS TO ASK ABOUT SCREENING • What tests does the school use to screen students for reading problems? • How many times are the tests given during the year? • Does the school use screening tests that measure decoding? fluency? reading comprehension? • What other areas are measured? • What are my child’s reading scores from the screening tests? • Did any of the screening tests show that my child needs extra help? What kind of help? • How do my child’s scores compare with other children who are at the same grade and age level? * TIP - You may want to keep a record of your child’s scores so that you can compare them with scores on future tests.

15. Progress Monitoring • Student Progress Monitoring is a scientifically based practice that is used to frequently assess students’ academic performance and evaluate the effectiveness of instruction. Progress monitoring procedures can be used with individual students or an entire class.

16. Elementary PM Example

17. Secondary Example – CDT’s

18. QUESTIONS TO ASK ABOUT PROGRESS MONITORING • What does the school use to find out whether my child is doing better after receiving extra help? Charting? More testing? A computer program? • What is being measured? • How often does my child’s teacher monitor my child’s progress? • Does the school have a chart that shows the results of the progress monitoring? • Does the progress monitoring information show that my child is making progress because of the extra instruction? • If my child is not making progress, how long will the teacher wait before moving my child to a different tier or making a change in instruction? * TIP – You could ask for a copy of the progress monitoring information on a regular basis so that you can follow your child’s progress.

19. Scientifically-Based What? • Scientific, Research-Based Instruction and Intervention refers to specific curriculum and educational interventions that have been proven to be effective –that is, the research has been reported in scientific, peer-reviewed journals.

20. Questions to Ask about Instruction & Intervention • What reading materials and methods of instruction are used in my child’s general education class? • How does the school know that the reading program is research-based? • Is my child receiving extra help (over and above the reading instruction in general education)? • Who is helping my child? • Do the teachers and staff helping my child have special training in reading?

21. Parents and RtII • Parents and RtII

22. What Role Does RtII Play in Special Education Eligibility? Effective instruction and progress monitoring. For students to be considered for special education services based on a learning disability, they first must have been provided with effective instruction and their progress measured through “data-based documentation of repeated assessments of achievement.

23. What Role Does RtII Play in Special Education Eligibility? Evaluation procedures. • The law gives districts the option of using RTI procedures as part of the evaluation procedures for special education eligibility. • RtI and Statistics

24. How Can Families Become More Involved in the RtII Process? • The hallmarks of effective home-school collaboration include open communication and involvement of parents in all stages of the learning process. • Being informed about your school’s RtII process is the first step to becoming an active partner.

25. Ask the Following Questions: • Does our school use an RtII process? (Be aware that your child’s school may call their procedures a “problem solving process,” or may have a unique title for their procedures, e.g., Instructional Support Team, and not use the specific RtII terminology.) • Are there written materials for parents explaining the RtII process? How can I become more involved? • What interventions are being used with students? Are the interventions and instructional strategies supported by research?

26. Families & Questions 4. How do teachers know that the instruction and intervention is being carried out as planned with my child or other students? 5. Can I get regular progress monitoring reports so I know how my child is responding to instruction and intervention? 6. At what point will I be informed of my due process rights under IDEA 2004, including the right to request an evaluation for special education eligibility?

27. What Are Next Steps in Implementing RtII Approaches? • Schools must be prepared to offer a variety of proven instructional strategies • Staff must be trained to measure student performance using methods that are sensitive to small increments of growth • Parents must be kept informed of these new procedures and made partners in the process. • Teams must determine how they will define an “adequate” response to instruction and intervention—how much progress over what period of time will be the benchmark to determine if an intervention is successful?

28. What Works??? Effective Instructional & Intervention Practices + Effective Implementation Practices = Good Outcomes for ALL Students

29. 2010-2011 Statewide Work Scope Where We’ve Been Present Algebra English Composition Elementary and Secondary Data-Analysis & Instructional Matching Background Knowledge Role & Function Colleges and Universities ESL/ELL RtII Middle School Learning Sites Partners & Research • Elementary School • Middle School RtII Learning Sites • ESL/ELL/RtII • SLD/RtII • Statewide Workgroup • Parent Engagement • Statewide Training • On-site Support • Colleges/Universities • Administrator Series

30. Resources for ParentsEnding RtIVideo A Parent’s Guide to Response to Intervention PaTTANRtI Parent Toolkit National Center on Response to Intervention National Research Center on Learning Disabilities The Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement

31. Recommended Resources 21st Century Skills • http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/ Gates Foundation • http://www.gatesfoundation.org/topics/Pages/high-schools.aspx Center on Instruction • http://www.centeroninstruction.org/ National Center on Response to Intervention • http://www.rti4success.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=8&Itemid=110 PA Standards Aligned System Portal • http://www.pdesas.org/ RtI Action Network • http://www.rtinetwork.org/Learn/Why/ar/RadarScreen

32. Resources World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment http://www.wida.us/ The IRIS Center http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/ Institute of Educational Sciences http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ies/index.html Florida Center for Reading Research http://www.fcrr.org/ National High School Center http://www.betterhighschools.org/topics/dropoutprevention.asp Achieve http://www.achieve.org/

33. Dr. Jennifer Lillenstein jlillenstein@pattan.net (717) 541-4960 Susan Spadafore sspadafore@pattan.net (717) 541-4960 Contact Information www.pattan.net Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Tom Corbett, Governor Pennsylvania Department of Education Thomas E. Gluck, Acting Secretary Amy Morton, Deputy Secretary Office of Elementary and Secondary Education John J. Tommasini, Director Bureau of Special Education Patricia Hozella, Assistant Director Bureau of Special Education