Dr. Denise P. Gibbs, Director Alabama Scottish Rite Foundation Learning Centers

1. Implementing Alabama's RtI Framework: Problem Solving Teams Overview STUDENT SUCCESS PST RtI Dr. Denise P. Gibbs, Director Alabama Scottish Rite Foundation Learning Centers Christine R. Spear, Education Administrator Alabama Department of Education

2. The portion of this presentation provided by Dr. Gibbs is being provided today at no cost by the Alabama Scottish Rite Foundation. The philanthropy of the Alabama Scottish Rite Foundation began in the 1950’s in Alabama and continues today. The mission of the Alabama Scottish Rite Foundation is to provide help to Alabama Schools as they work with students who struggle in reading -particularly those students with dyslexia.

3. Everybody works together! Problem solving process

4. Problem Solving Process • To bring the problem solving process “to life”, schools may need to: • Replace their current BBSST process with a Problem Solving Team (PST) process • There will be marked differences in the “new” PST process and the “old” BBSST process • These differences are necessary to meet current, Federal and State requirements.

5. Two important distinctions between BBSST and PST processes • Interventions NOT Accommodations • Do NOT start the process over each year – continuous assistance

6. Interventions NOT Accommodations • The accommodations which have been recommended by the BBSST in the past will NOT meet the scientific, research-based intervention requirements included in current Federal and State laws and regulations. • The PST must recommend interventions and must not recommend accommodations!

7. Continuous Intervention Services • When students begin the intervention process (Tier II or Tier III), they will continue in that process until they have attained grade-level standards and skills or until they are referred to the next tier or level. • The work of the Problem Solving Team with a student may continue from one grade to the next based upon data analysis and intervention outcomes.

8. Problem Solving Team Details

9. Problem Solving Team Purpose The PST will ensure that: • (1) students receive interventions matched to their identified needs • (2) appropriate progress monitoring tools are utilized to provide evidence of students’ response to intervention • (3) progress monitoring data are used to make timely instructional decisions which maximize student outcomes.

10. Number of Problem Solving Teams needed per school? • To be locally determined • Important considerations • The number of PSTs needed per school will be determined by the number of students receiving interventions. • No PST should be expected to manage more students than can be responsibly and effectively reviewed and monitored.

11. Problem Solving Team Structure? • To be locally determined • Some suggestions • Grade-level PSTs • Across grade level PSTs (K-2, 3-5, etc) • Teacher team PSTs • Departmental PSTs • Other • Good to involve as many school personnel as possible on teams.

12. Frequency and duration of Problem Solving Team meetings? • To be locally determined • Important considerations • Each student’s data should be reviewed at least monthly • Progress reports to parents should be sent regularly • Generally, duration should not exceed one hour. • It may work well to meet weekly and to review ¼ of the students each week.

13. Possible Problem Solving Team Members? • Classroom teachers. • Intervention teachers (Title teachers, SPED, Paraprofessionals, etc). • Instructional Coaches (Reading, Literacy, Math, Graduation, etc). • Special Education teachers. • School Counselor • Administrator (principal or assistant principal).

14. Problem Solving Team Member Roles? • Chairperson • Which students will be discussed and in what order • Notify members • Secretary • Note decisions made and generate parent letters • Timekeeper • Keep discussions on track and timely • Data person • Present and explain graphs

15. Problem Solving Team’s Work and Responsibilities

16. Utilization of screening data Provision of research-based tiers of instruction and intervention Consistent decision making Specific intervention selection Intervention plan and goal setting Progress monitoring tool selection Progress monitoring schedule Progress monitoring data review Progress reports to parents Transitions out of interventions Ten important things PSTs need to ensure

17. Screening Data • The PST ensures that academic and behavior screening data are gathered and utilized, as well as other important information to determine student needs for interventions and to verify the effectiveness of the school's Tier I instruction.

18. Screening to determine IF intervention is needed • For elementary students, ALL students should be screened at the beginning of school (also referred to as benchmark testing). • For secondary students, schools could: • Screen all students (as in elementary schools) • screen all entering students • complete a records review and then “screen” students below a designated level

19. Screening Tools • A few of the peer-reviewed screening tools • AIMSWEB (reading, math, spelling, written expression – behavior coming soon! pre K-12 * ) • DIBELS (reading K-6) • STEEP (reading and math K-12 *) • STAR (early literacy, math, reading) • Independent, peer-review of screening and progress monitoring tools • www.rti4success.org

20. Instruction and Intervention Consistency • The PST ensures that tiers of scientific, research-based instruction and intervention are provided with fidelity. • Outcomes - 80%, 15%, 5% • Principal’s walkthroughs grades K-3 • Principal’s walkthrough grades 4-12

21. Decision Rules • The PST ensures that decisions to move students through the tiers are made with consistency based on the school system's established criteria. Examples – Intervention will be considered if students achieve screening scores: • Below “arbitrary” percentile scores (25th, 10th, etc) • Which do not predict success on “high stakes tests”

22. Selecting appropriate interventions • The PST ensures that screening data and additional assessment data as needed are used in selecting specific interventions to meet individual student intervention needs. • One size does NOT fit all! • Intervention Plan for each student needing intervention

23. Appropriate progress monitoring tools • The PST will ensure that appropriate progress monitoring tools are selected to measure the student's response to the intervention.

24. Progress monitoring schedule • The PST ensures that student progress monitoring is conducted on a schedule specified by the school or school system (generally, progress should be monitored weekly).

25. Review of data • The PST reviews each student's accumulated progress monitoring data on a specified schedule (generally, each student should be reviewed monthly). • Sample progress graphs • Student Intervention Documentation

26. Progress reports to parents • The PST ensures that parents of students receiving intervention are provided with regular data-based intervention progress reports. • Sample parent report

27. Success! • The PST ensures that, as students transition out of interventions as a result of academic or behavior gains, their progress continues to be monitored for a reasonable period (generally 12 weeks) to ensure a smooth transition into tiers of reduced instructional or behavioral support.

28. Administration and Supervision

29. PROBLEM SOLVING TEAM'S ADMINISTRATION AND SUPERVISION • The principal has the responsibility to ensure and document that all PST procedures are implemented with fidelity. • The principal has the responsibility to ensure that all tiers of instruction and intervention are provided with fidelity. • Maintaining all records of walkthroughs and observations is one of the methods which should be utilized by the principal in documenting the fidelity of instruction and intervention implementation.

30. SYSTEM-LEVEL COORDINATION • LEA Problem Solving Team Facilitator • Ensure the fidelity of the PST process. • Ensure consistent documentation of the work of all PSTs across the LEA.

31. THANK YOU! gibbsdenise@aol.com cspear@alsde.edu