Response to Intervention Development and Implementation of a Model Aimed at Ensuring the Success of All Students

1. Response to InterventionDevelopment and Implementation of a Model Aimed at Ensuring the Success of All Students Oak Hills Elementary School Leslie Heilbron - Principal Beth Ruben – Literacy Specialist Debby West – Science Specialist/Classroom Teacher

2. Road Map for Today • An Issue • Literacy Center Model • Challenges • Implementation • Assessments • RtI 3 Tier Model • Evidence Based Results • Questions and Discussion

3. Oak Hills Elementary School • Demographics • One of 3 elementary schools in the Oak Park Unified School District • 365 students in Kindergarten through Fifth grades • Staff • 22 teachers • 17 paraprofessionals

4. The Facts • In 2002, 38% of our fifth graders were not proficient in Language Arts content standards • In 2003, 22% of our fifth graders were not proficient in Language Arts content standards

5. Children who are destined to be poor readers in fourth grade almost invariably have difficulties in kindergarten and first grade. Joseph K. Torgesen

6. We Have A Problem Video Clip

7. We needed a decision making process that carefully examined school-wide, classroom, and individual student progress in instructional and curricular efforts. Response to Intervention

8. Oak Hills Elementary School • Literacy Center Model • Focuses on phonemic awareness, comprehension and reading fluency • Instruction is 5 days/week during Language Arts instructional block • Early intervention is critical for identifying and supporting at risk students

9. Oak Hills Elementary School • Literacy Center Model • Identification and Service Delivery • Collaborative Identification/Monitoring Process • Principal develops Watch List • reviews standardized testing • disaggregates data to identify at risk students • Assessments • entire school population • identify students with needs

10. Oak Hills Elementary School • Literacy Center Model • Grade Level Team Meetings • Five formal meetings/yearly • Qualification standards are fluid • Lower 10% of the general student population

11. Reading Research The National Research Council (NRC), a group of experts convened to examine reading research and address the serious national problem of reading failure, concluded in their landmark report Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998) that most reading problems can be prevented by providing effective instruction and intervention in preschool and in the primary grades.

12. Research Shows Children who are destined to be poor readers in fourth grade almost invariably have difficulties in kindergarten and first grade. We now have the tools to reliably identify the children who are likely destined for this reading failure. Joseph K. Torgesen

13. Failure is Not an Option Video Clip

14. I wonder how many childrens’ lives might be saved if we educators disclosed what we know to each other. Roland Barth

15. The Current Truth In 2008, 94% of our fifth graders were proficient in Language Arts content standards.

16. Definition Response to Intervention (RTI) is a multi-tier approach to the identification and support of students with learning and behavior needs. The RTI process begins with high-quality instruction and universal screening of all children in the general education classroom

17. Components of Our SystemWhat do we need to make this happen? Video Clip

18. Challenges • Transforming the School Culture • School Leadership • Effective Scheduling • Building Collaborative Teams • Timeline of Implementation

19. Transforming the School Culture • School Leadership • Develop a school schedule that allows for adequate intervention • Provide personnel • Provide programs and materials • Oversight

20. Transforming the School Culture • Effective Scheduling • Uninterrupted blocks of instruction • Scheduled intensive intervention times • Common planning times • Grade level planning and meeting • Professional development

21. Block Schedule and Common Planning Time

23. Transforming the School Culture Purposes of Collaborative Teams • To address the needs of all students through collaborative decision making • To analyze date and to assist the classroom teacher

24. Transforming the School Culture Collaborative Teams • Meet on a regular basis to address the needs of struggling students • May change to meet the needs of specific students

25. Timeline of Implementation See Pull Out

26. Implementation For RTI to work well, the following essential structures must be implemented with fidelity

27. Implementation • Quality, scientifically based classroom instruction • All students receive high-quality, research-based instruction in the general education classroom.

28. Implementation • Powerful instruction involves • Resources • Instructional time • Smaller instructional groups • Skill • Systematic instructional sequences • Guided practice • Feedback

29. Implementation • Ongoing student assessment • Universal screening and progress monitoring • Individually and in comparison with their peer group • Decisions regarding students’ instructional needs are based on multiple data points taken in context over time

30. Responding to Individual Needs • All students are tested for placement at the beginning of the school year • Students are moved to higher or lower instructional groups or into the Literacy Program depending on individual performance as assessed by within-program assessments and formal assessments • Grade-level team meetings are held weekly (informally at common planning time) and formally five times yearly where the grouping and movement of students can be discussed • Decisions for group movement are predominantly data driven, but teacher judgment has a role as well.

31. Assessments

32. Assessments Assessments Supporting a 3 Tier Model • Screening • Diagnostic • Benchmark • Progress Monitoring • Informal/Formal Assessments

33. DIBELS Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills • Description: DIBELS are a set of standardized, individually administered measures of early literacy development. They are designed to be short (one minute) fluency measures used to regularly monitor the development of pre-reading and early reading skills. There are benchmark and progress monitoring assessments. • Grades: K-6

34. DIBELS • Assessment: One on one assessment that takes 10-15 minutes per student and is recommended three (3) times a year. There are 20 progress monitoring assessments available for more frequent monitoring. • Kindergarten: • Initial Sounds; Letter Naming; Phoneme Segmentation; Nonsense Word Fluency • First Grade: • Letter Naming; Phoneme Segmentation; Nonsense Word Fluency; Oral Reading Fluency • Second to Sixth Grade: • Oral Reading Fluency

35. DIBELS • Reading Component Addressed: Retell fluency for comprehension. • Publisher: University of Oregon • Contact:http://dibels.uoregon.edu/

36. SRI Scholastic Reading Inventory • Description: Assesses student reading levels and monitors reading progress. Helps identify struggling readers, plan for instruction, and gauges the effectiveness of curriculum. • Grades:1-12 • Assessment: Three (3) times a year

37. SRI • Reading Component Addressed:Reading levels • Publisher: Scholastic • Contact: http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/sri/overview.htm

38. Academic Resources Ventura County Office of Education http://www.vcoe.org/cici/ResponseToInterventionRtI/AcademicResources/tabid/2098/Default.aspx

39. Implementation • Tiered instruction • A tiered approach is used • Differentiates instruction for all students • Instruction intensifies providing specific, research-based interventions matched to student needs

40. Characteristics of a 3 Tier Model

41. Tier One High-Quality Classroom Instruction • all students receive high-quality, scientifically based instruction • provided by qualified personnel (to ensure that their difficulties are not due to inadequate instruction) • all students are screened on a periodic basis • to establish an academic baseline • to identify struggling learners who need additional support. • Students not showing adequate progress are moved to Tier 2.

42. Reading Research A central theme of this body of reading research is that quality reading instruction is powerful! Waiting for students to be ready to learn to read doesn't work. Some people seem to be looking for the "miracle of the month club" when it comes to helping students with reading problems, but there are no quick fixes. Noninstructional strategies such as having students read through colored overlays or do eye exercises have little or no research support, but studies of reading instruction have consistently shown that nearly all students can be taught to read (Felton, 1993; Jenkins & O'Connor, 2002; Mathes et al., 2005; Vaughn et al., 2006).

43. Response to Intervention (RtI) provides us with an opportunity to deliver appropriate and scientifically validated reading instruction to all students through a three-tier model.

44. While we understand the need for a strong core-reading program (Tier 1), interventions for Tier 2 and Tier 3 students remain more difficult to implement.

45. Our model is an example of how one empirically supported program was implemented within a three-tier model for K-5 students.

46. Reading Research • In Title I: Compensatory Education at the Crossroads (Erlbaum, 2005), the impact of coordinating remedial reading instruction with the classroom reading instruction was researched. • They found that when reading teachers and classroom teachers used a reading curriculum (curriculum, not program) that was the same or similar, they increased the achievement levels of all students and reduced the achievement gap between struggling readers and their normally progressing peers.

47. Tier Two • Tier One nonresponders participate in small group instruction with peers who share similar instructional strengths and weaknesses • Adequate response to Tier Two intervention is assessed using: • school-based and curriculum driven assessments • DIBELS and SRI

48. Oak Hills Elementary School 1010 Kanan Road Oak Park, California 91377 December 2008 To The Parents Of____________________, Oak Hills Elementary School is committed to meeting the learning needs of every student. This is particularly true in the area of reading and language arts. According to recent assessment data, there is an indication that your son/daughter would benefit from intervention support. We would like to offer a program that would involve your student working in a small group with Mrs. Ruben, a teacher from our Literacy Team, during the school day. The groups will meet five days a week while your child’s class is involved in the same academic subject. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Sincerely, Leslie Heilbron Principal

49. Request for Literacy Services Date: ___________________________ Student: ________________________ Grade: __________________________ Teacher: ________________________ Latest SRI Score: _________________ Date: _______________________ Dibels Score: ____________________ Has the student been retained? _________________________________ EL Student? ________________ Primary Language: ________________ Concerns: ____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ Strengths: ____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________

50. Tier Two • Reading Intervention at Tier 2 Must include: • Instructional explicitness • Instructional design that eases the learning challenge • A strong conceptual basis for procedures that are taught • An emphasis on drill and practice • Cumulative review as part of drill and practice • Motivators to help students regulate their attention and behavior and to work hard