What is going on in Literacy Policy

1. What is going on in Literacy Policy Stimulus, RTI, and Title I

2. What are the big Issues? • Economic stimulus • What does it mean for educators • What is it? • How does it work? • What’s going on with IDEA/NCLB/ELL • RTI • ELL

3. continued • When will NCLB be rewritten? • What is all this budget talk and changes in education with the new Congress and Administration? • What’s going to happen down the road… • Where can I get more information?

4. NAEP Reading ’71 - ’04 ages 9, 13, 17

6. NAEP Math ’73 - ’04ages 9, 13, 17

7. Poverty Children in poverty 2006: 17% By ethnicity Black: 33% Hispanic: 27% White: 10% By family structure Female-headed home: 42% Married couple: 8%

8. Speaking of English Children 5-17 who speak language other than English at home 1979: 8.5% 2006: 20.3%

9. Source: National Center For Education Statistics (NCES), Common Core of Data, 2005-06 School Year

12. $44 Billion to States March 31 State Stabilization - $32.5 billion (67%) IDEA, Parts B & C - $6.1 billion (50%) Title I, Part A - $5 billion (50%) Vocational Rehabilitation - $270 million (50%) Homeless youth - $70 million (100%) Independent Living - $52.5 million (100% of formula monies; $87.5 million in competitive grants to follow) Impact Aid - $40 million (100% of formula monies; $60 million in competitive grants to follow)

13. The following funds will be made available beginning in fall 2009, based on the quality of the applications submitted through a competitive grant process. Guidelines for these funds will be posted shortly: o Teacher Incentive Fund ($200 million). o Teacher Quality Enhancement ($100 million). o Statewide Data Systems ($250 million).

14. Mississippi http://www.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/statetables/09recoverybystate.pdf

15. Obama Plan for Teachers • Recruit Teachers: new Teacher Service Scholarships that will cover four years of undergraduate or two years of graduate teacher education, including alternative programs for mid-career recruits in exchange for teaching for at least four years in a high-need field or location. • Prepare Teachers: require all schools of education to be accredited. Obama and Biden will also create a voluntary national performance assessment so we can be sure that every new educator is trained and ready to walk into the classroom and start teaching effectively. Create Teacher Residency Programs that will supply 30,000 exceptionally well-prepared recruits to high-need schools. • Retain Teachers: will expand mentoring programs that pair experienced teachers with new recruits. They will also provide incentives to give teachers paid common planning time so they can collaborate to share best practices. • Reward Teachers: promote new and innovative ways to increase teacher pay that are developed with teachers, not imposed on them.

16. Early Childhood • Obama campaign – major emphasis on early child development • Budget proposal for 2010 – has funds for early childhood • House Hearings – two hearings week of March 16th • Head Start – increased funding and new emphasis on literacy

17. Obama Plan for El/Sec • Reform No Child Left Behind: will improve the assessments used to track student progress to measure readiness for college and the workplace and improve student learning in a timely, individualized manner. • Support High-Quality Schools and Close Low-Performing Charter Schools: double funding for the Federal Charter School Program to support the creation of more successful charter schools. • Make Math and Science Education a National Priority: will recruit math and science degree graduates to the teaching profession and will support efforts to help these teachers learn from professionals in the field. • Address the Dropout Crisis: address the dropout crisis by passing legislation to provide funding to school districts to invest in intervention strategies in middle school -- strategies such as personal academic plans, teaching teams, parent involvement, mentoring, intensive reading and math instruction, and extended learning time. • Expand High-Quality Afterschool Opportunities: will double funding for the main federal support for afterschool programs, the 21st Century Learning Centers program, to serve one million more children. • Support English Language Learners: support transitional bilingual education and will help Limited English Proficient students get ahead by holding schools accountable for making sure these students complete school.

18. What is RTI? • Response to Intervention (RTI) is a multi-tiered approach to help struggling learners. Students' progress is closely monitored at each stage of intervention to determine the need for further research-based instruction and/or intervention in general education, in special education, or both.  (From RTI Action Network)

19. RTI essential components • : • High-quality, classroom instruction. All students receive high-quality, research-based instruction in the general education classroom. • Ongoing student assessment. Universal screening and progress monitoring provide information about a student’s learning rate and level of achievement, both individually and in comparison with the peer group. These data are then used when determining which students need closer monitoring or intervention. • Tiered instruction. A multi-tier approach is used to efficiently differentiate instruction for all students. The model incorporates increasing intensities of instruction offering specific, research-based interventions matched to student needs. • Parent involvement. Schools implementing RTI provide parents information about their child’s progress, the instruction and interventions used, the staff who are delivering the instruction, and the academic or behavioral goals for their child.

20. Tiered instruction – basic model • Tier 1: High-Quality Classroom Instruction, Screening, and Group Interventions • Within Tier 1, all students receive high-quality, 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 and behavioral baseline and to identify struggling learners who need additional support. Students identified as being “at risk” through universal screenings and/or results on state- or districtwide tests receive supplemental instruction during the school day in the regular classroom. • Tier 2: Targeted Interventions • Students not making adequate progress in the regular classroom in Tier 1 areprovided with increasingly intensive instruction matched to their needs on the basis of levels of performance and rates of progress. Intensity varies across group size, frequency and duration of intervention, and level of training of the professionals providing instruction or intervention. These services and interventions are provided in small-group settings in addition to instruction in the general curriculum. In the early grades (kindergarten through 3rd grade), interventions are usually in the areas of reading and math. • Tier 3: Intensive Interventions and Comprehensive Evaluation • At this level, students receive individualized, intensive interventions that target the students’ skill deficits. Students who do not achieve the desired level of progress in response to these targeted interventions are then referred for a comprehensive evaluation and considered for eligibility for special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA 2004). The data collected during Tiers 1, 2, and 3 are included and used to make the eligibility decision.

21. RTI – a multi-leveled intervention • Core instruction for all students; • Universal screening; • Increasingly intensive instructional interventions for students who need extra help; and, • Progress monitoring.

27. What is accepted in NCLB • Goal of closing the achievement gap • Disaggregating data • Serving all children (integrating elements of IDEA with ESEA) • Public school choice and SES • Accountability • Teachers are the key

28. Areas of no agreement • What will work beyond HQT • How to build in assessments that inform instruction • What should be the role of the federal government in middle and high school reform • How much SES and public school choice • How will RTI be integrated into NCLB • How to use “new 21st Century tools”

29. What is also going to be pushed • National Standards in all subject areas. • Increased support for charter schools. • National commission/committee on early childhood • New research agendas on school improvement • High School reform – 50% of all dropouts come from 2000 high schools • Universal Pre-K HR 555/Pre-K Act HR 702

30. Other areas to watch • Funding in regular appropriations • Regulations and guidance • How will 20% set aside for SES be managed in the stimulus? • Relationship of early childhood to adolescence • Relationship of RTI and ELL with Title I • How reading will be defined? • How scientifically based/evidence based is defined

31. Looking far ahead… beyond the next reauthorization • Data systems allow for more individual attention • Increased use of technology for communications/monitoring/connecting • More alternatives for more students • More flexibility from federal programs – for students with many needs

32. More information • Stimulus: www.ed.gov • Legislation: http://thomas.loc.gov • What it means: www.reading.org • www.titlei.org • RTI – www.rtinetwork.org/www.reading.org