RTI Framework: Measurement

1. RTI Framework:Measurement Welcome Everyone!

2. Informal Agenda Quick Trip With Jo Beck on navigating WebEx Who you are and what you hope to get out of being a cohort RTI/Measurement Follow-up/contact information

3. What is RtI? • RtI is the practice of: • Providing high quality instruction/intervention matched to student needs • Using learning rate over time and level of performance to • Make important educational decisions. • NASDSE, 2005

4. Fundamental Assumptions • All the students are all our responsibility • All students can make progress when given the amount and kind of support needed • Teaching to the middle doesn’t meet all students needs. • Therefore, we must use our resources in new, different and collaborative ways to ensure each student is as successful as possible!

5. 3 Components & 3 Tiered System • RtI is a process comprised of 3 main components: • Evidenced Based Instructional Practices • System of Universal Screening and Progress Monitoring • Problem Solving as a decision making system to determine who gets what interventions, when and by whom

6. Why a Pyramid? An aerial view- emphasizing that all students need a strong foundation in core instruction and that all students are part of the same educational system. Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3

7. What is not RtI • It’s not a prescription • It’s not a program, curriculum, strategy, or intervention - some would say this is a paradigm shift • RtI is a model that requires your school structure & resources be used in ways that improve individual student needs. • RtI requires 3 components, and a tiered instructional framework, but it’s going to look different in your school than how it looks in mine.

8. Measurement We need different measurements for different purposes In our schools we need a variety of measures to provide different kinds of information When there is concern of too much assessment, we need to determine if we have multiple measures for the same purpose

9. Purposes of Assessments Screening Instructional planning (e.g. diagnositc, mastery monitoring) Monitoring student progress toward important outcomes (e.g reading achievement Evaluation (summative) Activity: Assessment Purposes

10. Assessments

11. Universal Screening Key feature in our Problem Solving model, which is an RTI model - we don’t wait for students to be referred Instead, the data tell us who is not on track for being proficient - this serves the screening purpose - much the same as height/weight charts serve as screening measure We use a measurement system that is reliable, valid, simple, quick, inexpensive, easily understood, can be given frequently, and is sensitive to growth

12. Frequent Progress Monitoring • Students who meet screening benchmarks don’t need to be monitored frequently • However, students not at benchmark, need their progress assessed frequently (weekly/biweekly) to determine if the interventions we use are moving the student closer to the proficiency goal • You need a tool that is reliable and valid and sensitive to growth for this purpose

13. What tools are available for this purpose? We want a tool we can use for both screening and progress monitoring General Outcome Measures (GOMs) are the best tool we have at this time - also referred to as Curriculum Based Measurement (CBMs) GOMs are like a thermometer; a thermometer provides an indicator of overall health but it doesn’t say what’s wrong with you if your temp. isn’t normal

14. CBM: An Index of Academic Health 1 From Markell, et al., 2007

15. We don’t weigh the cows to see how much they weigh.. (We don’t test kids to see what their test scores are) Source: Robert Wedl & Slide: Lisa Stewart

16. CBM’s CBMs measure reading proficiency which is highly correlated with major reading assessments - which assess reading comprehension This is our goal for students - proficient readers read with comprehension Since we need a time efficient measure, and since fluency is such a good predictor of reading comprehension, this is the most efficient & valid measure to determine it students progress is on track to make proficiency standards

17. The Beauty of Predictive Validity We don’t need to wait until 3rd grade to see who didn’t learn to be a proficient reader We can predict in Kindergarten and 1st grade who is not on track to meet the 3rd grade proficiency goal! This is a major goal- screen all students with CBMs and/or Early Literacy measures, and provide interventions to those who are not on track so we can change their trajectories In order to provide the best matched intervention to student needs we need additional instructional planning information

18. Measures that can be used for screening and progress monitoring Sorting is the screening purpose Screening isn’t perfect, we may miss some students, but that’s why we collect other data in schools as this helps us confirm or question the screening results for a particular student (discussion of appropriate tools for Screening - several but for progress monitoring, very few that are reliable and valid/refer to Nation Center on Student Progress Monitoring

19. Measurement Potential Pitfalls • Confusion about which measures are for which purposes • This does not make one assessment better or worse than another. THEY ARE JUST FOR DIFFERENT PURPOSES!

20. As you begin the process… • What the States Have Learned concerning RTI Implementation (InForum Research Article: • General Barriers to Implementation • Insufficient Teacher Training • Lack of Intervention Resources • Lack of data, knowledge, and skills for tracking/charting

21. My Contact Information • Phone #-1-307-655-9541 • E-mail: heimbaugh@sheridan.k12.wy.us