Title: RTI for High Schools: The Teacher as 'First Responder' to Help Struggling Students Jim Wright www.interventioncentral.org
1RTI for High Schools The Teacher as 'First
Responder' to Help Struggling StudentsJim
Wrightwww.interventioncentral.org
2In a completely rational society, the best of us
would be teachers and the rest of us would have
to settle for something less. -Lee Iacocca
3Workshop PPTs and handout available
athttp//www.interventioncentral.org/coppellisd
4Workshop Agenda
5Response to Intervention An Introduction for
Middle and High SchoolsTopics What RTI Looks
Like at the Secondary Level
6Secondary Students Unique Challenges
- Struggling learners in middle and high school
may - Have significant deficits in basic academic
skills - Lack higher-level problem-solving strategies and
concepts - Present with issues of school motivation
- Show social/emotional concerns that interfere
with academics - Have difficulty with attendance
- Are often in a process of disengaging from
learning even as adults in school expect that
those students will move toward being
self-managing learners
7School Dropout as a Process, Not an Event
- It is increasingly accepted that dropout is
best conceptualized as a long-term process, not
an instantaneous event however, most
interventions are administered at a middle or
high school level after problems are severe.
Source Jimerson, S., Reschly, A.L., Hess, R.
(2008). Best practices in increasing the
likelihood of school completion. In A. Thomas
J. Grimes (Eds). Best Practices in School
Psychology - 5th Ed (pp. 1085-1097). Bethesda,
MD National Association of School
Psychologists.. p.1090
8Student Motivation The Need for Intervention
- A common response to students who struggle in
sixth grade is to wait and hope they grow out of
it or adapt, to attribute early struggles to the
natural commotion of early adolescence and to
temporary difficulties in adapting to new
organizational structures of schooling, more
challenging curricula and assessment, and less
personalized attention. Our evidence clearly
indicates that, at least in high-poverty urban
schools, sixth graders who are missing 20 or
more of the days, exhibiting poor behavior, or
failing math or English do not recover. On the
contrary, they drop out. This says that early
intervention is not only productive but
absolutely essential.
Source Balfanz, R., Herzog, L., MacIver, D. J.
(2007). Preventing student disengagement and
keeping students on the graduation path in urban
middle grades schools Early identification and
effective interventions. Educational
Psychologist,42, 223235. .
9What Are the Early Warning Flags of Student
Drop-Out?
- A sample of 13,000 students in Philadelphia were
tracked for 8 years. These early warning
indicators were found to predict student drop-out
in the sixth-grade year - Failure in English
- Failure in math
- Missing at least 20 of school days
- Receiving an unsatisfactory behavior rating
from at least one teacher
Source Balfanz, R., Herzog, L., MacIver, D. J.
(2007). Preventing student disengagement and
keeping students on the graduation path in urban
middle grades schools Early identification and
effective interventions. Educational
Psychologist,42, 223235. .
10What is the Predictive Power of These Early
Warning Flags?
Number of Early Warning Flags in Student Record Probability That Student Would Graduate
None 56
1 36
2 21
3 13
4 7
Source Balfanz, R., Herzog, L., MacIver, D. J.
(2007). Preventing student disengagement and
keeping students on the graduation path in urban
middle grades schools Early identification and
effective interventions. Educational
Psychologist,42, 223235. .
11What previous approach to diagnosing Learning
Disabilities does RTI replace?
- Prior to RTI, many states used a Test-Score
Discrepancy Model to identify Learning
Disabilities. - A student with significant academic delays would
be administered an battery of tests, including
an intelligence test and academic achievement
test(s). - If the student was found to have a substantial
gap between a higher IQ score and lower
achievement scores, a formula was used to
determine if that gap was statistically
significant and severe. - If the student had a severe discrepancy gap
between IQ and achievement, he or she would be
diagnosed with a Learning Disability.
12Target Student
Dual-Discrepancy RTI Model of Learning
Disability (Fuchs 2003)
13Essential Elements of RTI (Fairbanks, Sugai,
Guardino, Lathrop, 2007)
- A continuum of evidence-based services available
to all students" that range from universal to
highly individualized intensive - Decision points to determine if students are
performing significantly below the level of their
peers in academic and social behavior domains" - Ongoing monitoring of student progress"
- Employment of more intensive or different
interventions when students do not improve in
response" to lesser interventions - Evaluation for special education services if
students do not respond to intervention
instruction"
Source Fairbanks, S., Sugai, G., Guardino, S.,
Lathrop, M. (2007). Response to intervention
Examining classroom behavior support in second
grade. Exceptional Children, 73, p. 289.
14RTI Pyramid of Interventions
15RTI Tier 1 General-Education Classroom
InterventionFocus of Inquiry Because the
teacher is the Tier 1 (classroom) RTI first
responder who can potentially assist any
struggling student, schools should prepare
necessary resources and define clear guidelines
for how to implement Tier 1 interventions.
16RTI Pyramid of Interventions
17RTI Support Tier 1 Core Instruction
- Tier 1 core instruction is considered to be
universal because all students receive it and
benefit from it. - Core instruction should include the elements of
explicit instruction, a structured method for
instructional delivery that is more likely to be
effective with struggling students. - To judge whether core instruction is adequate,
RTI schools use screening instruments (e.g.,
reading fluency comprehension probes math
computation fluency probes, math concepts and
applications measures) to assess classwide math
performance three times yearly. If at least 80
percent of students attain or exceed the
screeners performance benchmark, core
instruction is considered to be adequate.
Sources Lembke, E. S., Hampton, D., Beyers, S.
J. (2012). Response to intervention in
mathematics Critical elements. Psychology in the
Schools, 49(3), 257-272. Wright, J. (2012). RTI
Success in Secondary Schools A toolkit for
middle and high schools. Port Chester, NY
National Professional Resources, Inc.
18RTI Support Tier 1 (Classroom) Intervention
- Tier 1 interventions are intended for red flag
students who struggle in the content area(s) and
require additional individualized teacher support
during core instruction. To successfully
implement Tier 1 interventions, a middle or high
school teacher will need - Clear criteria to identify Tier 1 intervention
students (e.g., students who are failing the
course on a 5-week grade report). - Research-based strategies to address the
students academic (and perhaps motivational)
deficits. - A streamlined form to document the Tier 1
intervention plan. - The ability to collect and interpret classroom
data to judge whether the Tier 1 intervention is
working. - Guidelines for how long to implement the Tier 1
intervention before seeking additional RTI help
for the student.
Sources Wright, J. (2012). RTI Success in
Secondary Schools A toolkit for middle and high
schools. Port Chester, NY National Professional
Resources, Inc.
19RTI Tier /32 Supplemental InterventionsFocus
of Inquiry Tier 2/3 interventions occur above
and beyond core instruction, usually in
small-group format. Tier 2 interventions are
often off-the-shelf standard-protocol programs
that match common student intervention needs in
a school. Tier 3 interventionsare typically
overseen by the buildingRTI Problem-Solving Team.
20RTI Pyramid of Interventions
21RTI Support Tier 2/3 Supplemental Interventions
- Tier 2/3 interventions SUPPLEMENT core
instruction. - Students are identified for Tier 2/3 services
based on objective data sources such as universal
screeners that allow the school to predict each
students degree of risk for academic failure. - In a typical school, 10-15 of students may
require Tier 2 interventions in a given academic
area. - Interventions at Tier 2 are monitored at least
twice per month. Interventions at Tier 3 are
monitored weekly. - Each Tier 2/3 intervention should last at least
6-8 instructional weeks.
Sources Wright, J. (2012). RTI Success in
Secondary Schools A toolkit for middle and high
schools. Port Chester, NY National Professional
Resources, Inc.
22RTI Support Tier 2/3 Supplemental Interventions
- Each Tier 2/3 intervention plan shows evidence
that - Instructional programs or practices are
evidence-based. - The intervention has been selected because it
logically addresses the area(s) of academic
deficit for the target student. - The student-teacher ratio in the group provides
adequate student support Tier 2 up to 7
students Tier 3 up to 3 students. NOTE The
instructional ratio for students engaged in
computer-delivered Tier 2/3 instruction is 11. - Students enrolled in the Tier 2/3 intervention
group have the same shared intervention need(s). - The intervention provides contact time adequate
to the student academic deficit. Tier 2
interventions occur a minimum of 3-5 times per
week in sessions of 30 mins or more Tier 3
interventions occur daily in sessions of 30 mins
or more (Burns Gibbons, 2008).
Sources Wright, J. (2012). RTI Success in
Secondary Schools A toolkit for middle and high
schools. Port Chester, NY National Professional
Resources, Inc.
23Common Core State Standards Supporting
Different Learners in Reading
- The Standards set grade-specific standards but
do not define the intervention methods or
materials necessary to support students who are
well below or well above grade-level
expectations. No set of grade-specific standards
can fully reflect the great variety in abilities,
needs, learning rates, and achievement levels of
students in any given classroom. However, the
Standards do provide clear signposts along the
way to the goal of college and career readiness
for all students.
Source National Governors Association Center for
Best Practices and Council of Chief State School
Officers. (2010). Common Core State Standards for
English Language Arts Literacy in
History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical
Subjects.. Retrieved on September 23, 2012, from
http//www.corestandards.org/ p. 6.
24Common Core State Standards Supporting
Different Learners in Reading
- It is also beyond the scope of the Standards to
define the full range of supports appropriate for
English language learners and for students with
special needs. At the same time, all students
must have the opportunity to learn and meet the
same high standards if they are to access the
knowledge and skills necessary in their posthigh
school lives.
Source National Governors Association Center for
Best Practices and Council of Chief State School
Officers. (2010). Common Core State Standards for
English Language Arts Literacy in
History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical
Subjects.. Retrieved on September 23, 2012, from
http//www.corestandards.org/ p. 6.
25Defining Tier 1 Classroom InterventionTopics
Teacher as Interventionist 6 Steps Definition
of Core Instruction/Academic Intervention/Accommod
ation/Modification Direct Instruction
Checklist
26The Key Role of Classroom Teachers as Tier
1Interventionists in RTI 6 Steps
- The teacher defines the student academic or
behavioral problem clearly. - The teacher decides on the best explanation for
why the problem is occurring. - The teacher selects research-based
interventions. - The teacher documents the students Tier 1
intervention plan. - The teacher monitors the students response
(progress) to the intervention plan. - The teacher knows what the next steps are when a
student fails to make adequate progress with Tier
1 interventions alone.
27pp. 7-9
28Defining Core Instruction, Intervention,
Accommodation and Modification p. 22
29Core Instruction, Interventions, Instructional
Adjustments Modifications Sorting Them Out
- Core Instruction. Those instructional strategies
that are used routinely with all students in a
general-education setting are considered core
instruction. High-quality instruction is
essential and forms the foundation of RTI
academic support. NOTE While it is important to
verify that good core instructional practices are
in place for a struggling student, those routine
practices do not count as individual student
interventions.
30Core Instruction, Interventions, Instructional
Adjustments Modifications Sorting Them Out
- Intervention. An academic intervention is a
strategy used to teach a new skill, build fluency
in a skill, or encourage a child to apply an
existing skill to new situations or settings. An
intervention can be thought of as a set of
actions that, when taken, have demonstrated
ability to change a fixed educational trajectory
(Methe Riley-Tillman, 2008 p. 37).
31Core Instruction, Interventions, Instructional
Adjustments Modifications Sorting Them Out
- Instructional Adjustment. An instructional
adjustment (accommodation) is intended to help
the student to fully access and participate in
the general-education curriculum without changing
the instructional content and without reducing
the students rate of learning (Skinner, Pappas
Davis, 2005). An instructional adjustment is
intended to remove barriers to learning while
still expecting that students will master the
same instructional content as their typical
peers. - instructional adjustment example 1 Students are
allowed to supplement silent reading of a novel
by listening to the book on tape. - instructional adjustment example 2 For
unmotivated students, the instructor breaks
larger assignments into smaller chunks and
providing students with performance feedback and
praise for each completed chunk of assigned
work (Skinner, Pappas Davis, 2005).
32Teaching is giving it isnt taking away.
(Howell, Hosp Kurns, 2008 p. 356).
Source Howell, K. W., Hosp, J. L., Kurns, S.
(2008). Best practices in curriculum-based
evaluation. In A. Thomas J. Grimes (Eds.), Best
practices in school psychology V (pp.349-362).
Bethesda, MD National Association of School
Psychologists..
33Core Instruction, Interventions, Instructional
Adjustments Modifications Sorting Them Out
- Modification. A modification changes the
expectations of what a student is expected to
know or do in core instructiontypically by
lowering the academic standards against which the
student is to be evaluated. Examples of
modifications - Giving a student five math computation problems
for practice instead of the 20 problems assigned
to the rest of the class - Letting the student consult course notes during a
test when peers are not permitted to do so
34RTI Are Modifications Occurring in Core
Instruction for General-Ed Students?
- In your elbow groups, discuss the difference
between instructional adjustment
(accommodation) and modification (p. 22). - Are there times in your classroom or school when
it is difficult to avoid modifying math core
instruction for a general-education student?
Discuss these challenging situations.
35Motivation Deficit 1 The student is unmotivated
because he or she cannot do the assigned work.
- Profile of a Student with This Motivation
Problem The student lacks essential skills
required to do the task.
Handout pp.10-12
36Motivation Deficit 1 Cannot Do the Work
- Profile of a Student with This Motivation Problem
(Cont.)Areas of deficit might include - Basic academic skills. Basic skills have
straightforward criteria for correct performance
(e.g., the student defines vocabulary words or
decodes text or computes math facts) and
comprise the building-blocks of more complex
academic tasks (Rupley, Blair, Nichols, 2009). - Cognitive strategies. Students employ specific
cognitive strategies as guiding procedures to
complete more complex academic tasks such as
reading comprehension or writing (Rosenshine,
1995). - Academic-enabling skills. Skills that are
academic enablers (DiPerna, 2006) are not tied
to specific academic knowledge but rather aid
student learning across a wide range of settings
and tasks (e.g., organizing work materials, time
management).
37Motivation Deficit 1 Cannot Do the Work (Cont.)
- What the Research Says When a student lacks the
capability to complete an academic task because
of limited or missing basic skills, cognitive
strategies, or academic-enabling skills, that
student is still in the acquisition stage of
learning (Haring et al., 1978). That student
cannot be expected to be motivated or to be
successful as a learner unless he or she is first
explicitly taught these weak or absent essential
skills (Daly, Witt, Martens Dool, 1997).
38Motivation Deficit 1 Cannot Do the Work (Cont.)
- How to Verify the Presence of This Motivation
Problem The teacher collects information (e.g.,
through observations of the student engaging in
academic tasks interviews with the student
examination of work products, quizzes, or tests)
demonstrating that the student lacks basic
skills, cognitive strategies, or
academic-enabling skills essential to the
academic task.
39Motivation Deficit 1 Cannot Do the Work (Cont.)
- How to Fix This Motivation Problem Students who
are not motivated because they lack essential
skills need to be taught those skills.
Direct-Instruction Format. Students learning
new material, concepts, or skills benefit from a
direct instruction approach. (Burns,
VanDerHeyden Boice, 2008 Rosenshine, 1995
Rupley, Blair, Nichols, 2009).
40(No Transcript)
41Motivation Deficit 1 Cannot Do the Work (Cont.)
- How to Fix This Motivation Problem When
following a direct-instruction format, the
teacher - ensures that the lesson content is appropriately
matched to students abilities. - opens the lesson with a brief review of concepts
or material that were previously presented. - states the goals of the current days lesson.
- breaks new material into small, manageable
increments, or steps.
42Motivation Deficit 1 Cannot Do the Work (Cont.)
- How to Fix This Motivation Problem When
following a direct-instruction format, the
teacher - throughout the lesson, provides adequate
explanations and detailed instructions for all
concepts and materials being taught. NOTE Verbal
explanations can include talk-alouds (e.g., the
teacher describes and explains each step of a
cognitive strategy) and think-alouds (e.g., the
teacher applies a cognitive strategy to a
particular problem or task and verbalizes the
steps in applying the strategy). - regularly checks for student understanding by
posing frequent questions and eliciting group
responses.
43Motivation Deficit 1 Cannot Do the Work (Cont.)
- How to Fix This Motivation Problem When
following a direct-instruction format, the
teacher - verifies that students are experiencing
sufficient success in the lesson content to shape
their learning in the desired direction and to
maintain student motivation and engagement. - provides timely and regular performance feedback
and corrections throughout the lesson as needed
to guide student learning.
44Motivation Deficit 1 Cannot Do the Work (Cont.)
- How to Fix This Motivation Problem When
following a direct-instruction format, the
teacher - allows students the chance to engage in practice
activities distributed throughout the lesson
(e.g., through teacher demonstration then group
practice with teacher supervision and feedback
then independent, individual student practice). - ensures that students have adequate support
(e.g., clear and explicit instructions teacher
monitoring) to be successful during independent
seatwork practice activities.
45(No Transcript)
46Activity Core Instruction Fidelity Checks
- Lembke et al (2012) recommend that schools
periodically use teacher self-, collegial, or
administrative checks to ensure that strong
explicit core instruction is occurring in
mathematics classes. - Review the Direct Instruction Format checklist
that appears on page 11 of your handout. - Discuss how your school could use this or a
similar checklist to conduct occasional core
instruction fidelity checks to verify strong
Tier 1 math instruction.
Source Lembke, E. S., Hampton, D., Beyers, S.
J. (2012). Response to intervention in
mathematics Critical elements. Psychology in the
Schools, 49(3), 257-272.
47Academic Interventions and Classroom
Accommodations Starter Set Topics Sample
Intervention Ideas for Reading, Writing, and
Academic Support Skills Accommodation Ideas
Suitable for General-Education Classrooms
48Academic Interventions ExamplesReading
ComprehensionCore Writing StrategiesSentence
Combining
49Promoting Student Reading Comprehension Fix-Up
Skills pp. 13-15
50Reading Comprehension Fix-Up Skills A Toolkit
- Good readers continuously monitor their
understanding of informational text. When
necessary, they also take steps to improve their
understanding of text through use of reading
comprehension fix-up skills. - Presented here are a series of fix-up skill
strategies that can help struggling students to
better understand difficult reading assignments
51Reading Comprehension Fix-Up Skills A Toolkit
(Cont.)
- Student Strategy Promoting Understanding
Building Endurance through Reading-Reflection
Pauses (Hedin Conderman, 2010). The student
decides on a reading interval (e.g., every four
sentences every 3 minutes at the end of each
paragraph). At the end of each interval, the
student pauses briefly to recall the main points
of the reading. If the student has questions or
is uncertain about the content, the student
rereads part or all of the section just read.
This strategy is useful both for students who
need to monitor their understanding as well as
those who benefit from brief breaks when engaging
in intensive reading as a means to build up
endurance as attentive readers.
52Reading Comprehension Fix-Up Skills A Toolkit
(Cont.)
- Student Strategy Identifying or Constructing
Main Idea Sentences (Davey McBride, 1986
Rosenshine, Meister Chapman, 1996). For each
paragraph in an assigned reading, the student
either (a) highlights the main idea sentence or
(b) highlights key details and uses them to write
a gist sentence. The student then writes the
main idea of that paragraph on an index card. On
the other side of the card, the student writes a
question whose answer is that paragraphs main
idea sentence. This stack of main idea cards
becomes a useful tool to review assigned
readings.
53Reading Comprehension Fix-Up Skills A Toolkit
(Cont.)
- Student Strategy Linking Pronouns to Referents
(Hedin Conderman, 2010). Some readers lose the
connection between pronouns and the nouns that
they refer to (known as referents)especially
when reading challenging text. The student is
encouraged to circle pronouns in the reading, to
explicitly identify each pronouns referent, and
(optionally) to write next to the pronoun the
name of its referent. For example, the student
may add the referent to a pronoun in this
sentence from a biology text The Cambrian
Period is the first geological age that has large
numbers of multi-celled organisms associated with
it Cambrian Period.
54Reading Comprehension Fix-Up Skills A Toolkit
(Cont.)
- Student Strategy Apply Vocabulary Fix-Up
Skills for Unknown Words (Klingner Vaughn,
1999). When confronting an unknown word in a
reading selection, the student applies the
following vocabulary fix-up skills - Read the sentence again.
- Read the sentences before and after the problem
sentence for clues to the words meaning. - See if there are prefixes or suffixes in the word
that can give clues to meaning. - Break the word up by syllables and look for
smaller words within.
55Reading Comprehension Fix-Up Skills A Toolkit
(Cont.)
- Student Strategy Reading Actively Through Text
Annotation (Harris, 1990 Sarkisian et al.,
2003). Students are likely to increase their
retention of information when they interact
actively with their reading by jotting comments
in the margin of the text. Using photocopies, the
student is taught to engage in an ongoing
'conversation' with the writer by recording a
running series of brief comments in the margins
of the text. The student may write annotations to
record opinions about points raised by the
writer, questions triggered by the reading, or
unknown vocabulary words.
56A Sampling of Accommodation Ideas
57Accommodations Sampling
- Here is a sampling of accommodations for
Instruction taken from this application - -- Pages 26-30 (items 17-37) from the
accommodations section of the workshop handout.
58Instructional Adjustments/Accommodations
Instruction
- ADJUST INSTRUCTIONAL MATCH. Verify that the
student possesses the required skills to
understand course instruction and complete
academic tasks assigned as in-class work or
homework. If necessary, provide additional
instruction (e.g., via tutoring sessions with a
peer or instructor) or other supports to enable
the student to meet academic expectations.
1
Source Kern, L, Clemens, N. (2007). Antecedent
strategies to promote appropriate classroom
behavior. Psychology in the Schools, 44(1), 65-75.
59Instructional Adjustments/Accommodations
Instruction
- CHUNK CLASSWORK AND INCLUDE BREAKS. Break up
lectures or student work sessions into smaller
chunks and include brief breaks to sustain
student attention.
2
Source Barkley, R. A. (2008). 80 classroom
accommodations for children or teens with ADHD.
The ADHD Report, 16(4), 7-10.
60Instructional Adjustments/Accommodations
Instruction
- CLASS NOTES CREATE GUIDED NOTES. Prepare a copy
of notes summarizing content from a class lecture
or assigned readingwith blanks inserted in the
notes where key facts or concepts should appear.
As information is covered during lecture or in a
reading assignment, the student writes missing
content into blanks to complete the guided notes.
3
Source Konrad, M., Joseph, L. M., Eveleigh,
E. (2009). A meta-analytic review of guided
notes. Education and Treatment of Children, 32,
421-444.
61Instructional Adjustments/Accommodations
Instruction
- CLASS NOTES PROVIDE A STUDENT COPY. Provide a
copy of class notes to allow the student to focus
more fully on the lecture and class discussion.
This strategy can be strengthened by requiring
that the student highlight key vocabulary terms
appearing in the prepared notes as they are
brought up in the lecture or discussion.
4
Source International Dyslexia Association.
(2002). Accommodating students with dyslexia in
all classroom settings. Retrieved from
http//www.interdys.org/
62Instructional Adjustments/Accommodations
Instruction
- CLASS NOTES PROVIDE LECTURE OUTLINE. Make up an
outline of the lecture to share with students.
Encourage students to use the elements of the
outline to help to structure their class notes
and to ensure that their notes do not omit
important information.
5
SourceInternational Dyslexia Association.
(2002). Accommodating students with dyslexia in
all classroom settings. Retrieved from
http//www.interdys.org/
63Instructional Adjustments/Accommodations
Instruction
- INCREASE OPPORTUNITIES TO RESPOND. Provide the
student with increased classroom opportunities
for active academic responding. Examples of
active student responding are reading aloud,
responding in writing or orally to a teacher
question, and collaborating with a peer to solve
a math problem.
6
SourceKern, L, Clemens, N. (2007). Antecedent
strategies to promote appropriate classroom
behavior. Psychology in the Schools, 44(1), 65-75.
64Instructional Adjustments/Accommodations
Instruction
- INTERSPERSE LOW- AND HIGH-INTEREST ACTIVITIES.
When structuring a lesson, switch between
less-appealing and more-appealing activities in
short spans to hold student interest.
7
Source Barkley, R. A. (2008). 80 classroom
accommodations for children or teens with ADHD.
The ADHD Report, 16(4), 7-10.
65Instructional Adjustments/Accommodations
Instruction
- LECTURE SUMMARIZE OFTEN. When lecturing, review
and reinforce student understanding through
repetition, paraphrase, and frequent
summarization of important points.
8
Source Beech, M. (2010). Accommodations
Assisting students with disabilities. Florida
Department of Education. Retrieved from
http//www.fldoe.org/ese/pdf/accomm-educator.pdf
66Instructional Adjustments/Accommodations
Instruction
- LECTURE TIE INFORMATION TO COURSE READINGS. When
presenting important course concepts during
lecture, explicitly link that content to page
references in the course text or other assigned
readings that also cover that information. In
class notes, also link important information to
the course text by page number.
9
Source Beech, M. (2010). Accommodations
Assisting students with disabilities. Florida
Department of Education. Retrieved from
http//www.fldoe.org/ese/pdf/accomm-educator.pdf
67Instructional Adjustments/Accommodations
Instruction
- MATCH WORK TO PEAK ENERGY PERIODS. Schedule the
most challenging academic subjects, tasks, or
activities when students energy levels are
highest (e.g., at the start of the day or class
period).
10
Source Barkley, R. A. (2008). 80 classroom
accommodations for children or teens with ADHD.
The ADHD Report, 16(4), 7-10.
68Instructional Adjustments/Accommodations
Instruction
- PREPARE READING GUIDES. Develop reading guides
to help students to better access demanding texts
in the course or content area. Reading guides
provide a general map of the text, summarize main
ideas and key details presented, and offer tips
and pose questions to alert the reader to
important content. Depending on student needs,
reading guides can deal broadly with whole
sections of a text or focus more specifically on
chapters or sub-chapters.
11
Source International Dyslexia Association.
(2002). Accommodating students with dyslexia in
all classroom settings. Retrieved from
http//www.interdys.org/
69Instructional Adjustments/Accommodations
Instruction
- PREPARE WEEKLY HOMEWORK ASIGNMENTS. Share weekly
listings of upcoming homework assignments with
the student. Also, ensure that these homework
assignments are shared with the students
parent(s), to help them to support their childs
homework completion.
12
Source Barkley, R. A. (2008). 80 classroom
accommodations for children or teens with ADHD.
The ADHD Report, 16(4), 7-10.
70Instructional Adjustments/Accommodations
Instruction
- SET A REASONABLE HOMEWORK QUOTA. Limit homework
to a manageable amount of work. Use this formula
to estimate an appropriate homework load 10
minutes times the students grade level equals an
appropriate TOTAL time devoted to nightly
homework.
13
Source Barkley, R. A. (2008). 80 classroom
accommodations for children or teens with ADHD.
The ADHD Report, 16(4), 7-10.
71Instructional Adjustments/Accommodations
Instruction
- TEST ALLOW EXTRA TIME. For tests that evaluate
student knowledge or skills but do not formally
assess speed/fluency with fixed time limits,
allow all students a reasonable amount of
additional time if needed.
14
Source Nelson, J. (2000). Student preferences
for adaptations in classroom testing. Remedial
Special Education, 21, 21, 41-52.
72Instructional Adjustments/Accommodations
Instruction
- TEST ALLOW OPEN-BOOK/OPEN-NOTES. In situations
in which students are being tested on their
ability to apply rather than memorizecourse
information or concepts, allow students full
access to their textbooks and/or notes during the
test.
15
Source Nelson, J. (2000). Student preferences
for adaptations in classroom testing. Remedial
Special Education, 21, 21, 41-52.
73Instructional Adjustments/Accommodations
Instruction
- TEST EVALUATE MORE FREQUENTLY. Assess student
mastery of course content frequently (e.g.,
weekly) through shorter quizzes in place of
lessfrequent, more-comprehensive tests. More
frequent, smaller assessments can make study more
manageable for students, build strong habits of
continual study and review, and provide more
formative assessment information for the teacher.
16
Source Nelson, J. (2000). Student preferences
for adaptations in classroom testing. Remedial
Special Education, 21, 21, 41-52.
74Instructional Adjustments/Accommodations
Instruction
- TEST HIGHLIGHT KEY WORDS IN DIRECTIONS. When
preparing test directions, highlight key words or
phrases in bold or underline to draw student
attention.
17
Source Nelson, J. (2000). Student preferences
for adaptations in classroom testing. Remedial
Special Education, 21, 21, 41-52.
75Instructional Adjustments/Accommodations
Instruction
- TEST PRACTICE UNDER TEST CONDITIONS. Create
practice tests that mimic the actual test in
format and environmental conditions (e.g., with
time limits). Have the student complete practice
tests to build endurance, reduce test anxiety.
18
Source Beech, M. (2010). Accommodations
Assisting students with disabilities. Florida
Department of Education. Retrieved from
http//www.fldoe.org/ese/pdf/accomm-educator.pdf
76Instructional Adjustments/Accommodations
Instruction
- TEST PROVIDE EXTRA SPACE. Format tests with
extra space to write answers. This formatting
change has two advantages (1) it can accommodate
students who have difficulty writing in small
spaces due to fine-motor issues, and (2) it can
result in a neater test that looks less crowded
and therefore less intimidating.
19
Source Nelson, J. (2000). Student preferences
for adaptations in classroom testing. Remedial
Special Education, 21, 21, 41-52.
77Instructional Adjustments/Accommodations
Instruction
- USE GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS. Select the graphic
organizer(s) (e.g., outline, chart, or other
visual representation) most appropriate to help
the student to better understand course content
by noting key ideas, recording important details,
making specific connections between concepts,
etc. To adequately use graphic organizers,
students should first be explicitly trained in
their use. Teachers should also require that
students turn in completed organizers
periodically to monitor their use and
effectiveness.
20
Source International Dyslexia Association.
(2002). Accommodating students with dyslexia in
all classroom settings. Retrieved from
http//www.interdys.org/
78Instructional Adjustments/Accommodations
Instruction
- USE WHITEBOARDS FOR STUDENT RESPONDING. Reduce
impulsive responding and increase student
participation by providing all students with
small white boards and markers. The teacher (1)
poses a question, (2) directs students to write
their answers on whiteboards, and then (3)
prompts all students in unison to hold up their
whiteboards for teacher review.
21
Source Barkley, R. A. (2008). 80 classroom
accommodations for children or teens with ADHD.
The ADHD Report, 16(4), 7-10.
79Activity Finding Accommodations For Your
Classroom
- In your groups
- Glance over the accommodations ideas that appear
on pp. 23-38 of your handout. - Identify at least 2 ideas from this list that you
think might be helpful to use with students in
your classroom.
80AccommodationFinder http//www.interventioncentral
.org/tools/accommodationfinderThis application
allows the user to browse a set of 60 classroom
accommodations to put together a unique plan for
a struggling learner.
81Graham, S., Perin, D. (2007). Writing next
Effective strategies to improve writing of
adolescents in middle and high schools A report
to Carnegie Corporation of New York. Washington,
DC Alliance for Excellent Education. Retrieved
from http//www.all4ed.org/files/WritingNext.pdf
82The Effect of Grammar Instruction as an
Independent Activity
- Grammar instruction in the studies reviewed
for the Writing Next report involved the
explicit and systematic teaching of the parts of
speech and structure of sentences. The
meta-analysis found an effect for this type of
instruction for students across the full range of
ability, but surprisingly, this effect was
negativeSuch findings raise serious questions
about some educators enthusiasm for traditional
grammar instruction as a focus of writing
instruction for adolescents.Overall, the
findings on grammar instruction suggest that,
although teaching grammar is important,
alternative procedures, such as sentence
combining, are more effective than traditional
approaches for improving the quality of students
writing. p. 21
Source Graham, S., Perin, D. (2007). Writing
next Effective strategies to improve writing of
adolescents in middle and high schools A report
to Carnegie Corporation of New York. Washington,
DC Alliance for Excellent Education.
83- Elements of effective writing instruction for
adolescents - Writing Process (Effect Size 0.82) Students
are taught a process for planning, revising, and
editing. - Summarizing (Effect Size 0.82) Students are
taught methods to identify key points, main ideas
from readings to write summaries of source texts. - Cooperative Learning Activities (Collaborative
Writing) (Effect Size 0.75) Students are
placed in pairs or groups with learning
activities that focus on collaborative use of the
writing process. - Goal-Setting (Effect Size 0.70) Students set
specific product goals for their writing and
then check their attainment of those
self-generated goals.
Source Graham, S., Perin, D. (2007). Writing
next Effective strategies to improve writing of
adolescents in middle and high schools A report
to Carnegie Corporation of New York. Washington,
DC Alliance for Excellent Education. Retrieved
from http//www.all4ed.org/files/WritingNext.pdf
84- Elements of effective writing instruction for
adolescents - Writing Processors (Effect Size 0.55) Students
have access to computers/word processors in the
writing process. - Sentence Combining (Effect Size 0.50) Students
take part in instructional activities that
require the combination or embedding of simpler
sentences (e.g., Noun-Verb-Object) to generate
more advanced, complex sentences. - Prewriting (Effect Size 0.32) Students learn
to select, develop, or organize ideas to
incorporate into their writing by participating
in structured pre-writing activities. - Inquiry Activities (Effect Size 0.32) Students
become actively engaged researchers, collecting
and analyzing information to guide the ideas and
content for writing assignments.
Source Graham, S., Perin, D. (2007). Writing
next Effective strategies to improve writing of
adolescents in middle and high schools A report
to Carnegie Corporation of New York. Washington,
DC Alliance for Excellent Education. Retrieved
from http//www.all4ed.org/files/WritingNext.pdf
85- Elements of effective writing instruction for
adolescents - Process Writing (Effect Size 0.32) Writing
instruction is taught in a workshop format that
stresses extended writing opportunities,
writing for authentic audiences, personalized
instruction, and cycles of writing (Graham
Perin, 2007 p. 4). - Use of Writing Models (Effect Size 0.25)
Students read and discuss models of good writing
and use them as exemplars for their own writing. - Writing to Learn Content (Effect Size 0.23)
The instructor incorporates writing activities as
a means to have students learn content material.
Source Graham, S., Perin, D. (2007). Writing
next Effective strategies to improve writing of
adolescents in middle and high schools A report
to Carnegie Corporation of New York. Washington,
DC Alliance for Excellent Education. Retrieved
from http//www.all4ed.org/files/WritingNext.pdf
86Classroom Academic Instruction/Interventions
Syntax/Grammar
87Sentence Combining (pp. 16-18)
- Students with poor writing skills often write
sentences that lack syntactic maturity. Their
sentences often follow a simple, stereotyped
format. A promising approach to teach students
use of diverse sentence structures is through
sentence combining. In sentence combining,
students are presented with kernel sentences and
given explicit instruction in how to weld these
kernel sentences into more diverse sentence types
either - by using connecting words to combine multiple
sentences into one or - by isolating key information from an otherwise
superfluous sentence and embedding that important
information into the base sentence.
Sources Saddler, B. (2005). Sentence combining
A sentence-level writing intervention. The
Reading Teacher, 58, 468-471. Strong, W. (1986).
Creative approaches to sentence combining.
Urbana, OL ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading and
Communication Skill National Council of
Teachers of English.
88Formatting Sentence Combining Examples
89(No Transcript)
90(No Transcript)
91(No Transcript)
92Discussion Interventions and Writing
- In your groups, discuss how teachers can use a
strategy like sentence combining in their classes
to reinforce course content as well as strengthen
student writing skills
93Where to Find High-Quality Tier 2/3 Intervention
Programs for Middle High School Students
94What Works Clearinghouse http//ies.ed.gov/ncee/ww
c/This website reviews core instruction and
intervention programs in mathematics, as well as
other academic areas. The site reviews existing
studies and draws conclusions about whether
specific intervention programs show evidence of
effectiveness.
95Best Evidence Encyclopedia http//www.bestevidence
.org/This site provides reviews of
evidence-based math and reading programs. The
website is sponsored by the Johns Hopkins
University School of Education's Center for
Data-Driven Reform in Education (CDDRE) .
96National Center on RTI Instructional
Intervention Tools Chart http//www.rti4success.or
g/instructionToolsSponsored by the National
Center on RTI, this page provides ratings to
intervention programs in math, reading, and
writing.Users can sort their search by subject
and grade level.
97Doing What Works http//dww.ed.gov/This website
is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education
and offers specific guidelines for how to teach
effectively across disciplines. The site has a
section devoted to math and science, including
pragmatic recommendations for putting into
classroom practice the specific recommendations
of the National Math Advisory Panel Report of
2008.
98Methods of Classroom Data Collection Starter
SetTopics How to Structure Data Collection
Baseline, Goal, Progress-Monitoring Examples of
Teacher-Friendly Methods of Data Collection
(Behavior Ratings Global Skills Checklists)
99Interventions Potential Fatal Flaws
- Any intervention must include 4 essential
elements. The absence of any one of the elements
would be considered a fatal flaw (Witt,
VanDerHeyden Gilbertson, 2004) - Clearly defined problem. The students target
concern is stated in specific, observable,
measureable terms. This problem identification
statement is the most important step of the
problem-solving model (Bergan, 1995), as a
clearly defined problem allows the teacher or RTI
Team to select a well-matched intervention to
address it. - Baseline data. The teacher or RTI Team measures
the students academic skills in the target
concern (e.g., reading fluency, math computation)
prior to beginning the intervention. Baseline
data becomes the point of comparison throughout
the intervention to help the school to determine
whether the intervention is effective.
Source Witt, J. C., VanDerHeyden, A. M.,
Gilbertson, D. (2004). Troubleshooting behavioral
interventions. A systematic process for finding
and eliminating problems. School Psychology
Review, 33, 363-383.
100Interventions Potential Fatal Flaws (Cont.)
- Performance goal. The teacher or RTI Team sets a
specific, data-based goal for student improvement
during the intervention and a checkpoint date by
which the goal should be attained. - Progress-monitoring plan. The teacher or RTI Team
collects student data regularly to determine
whether the student is on-track to reach the
performance goal.
Source Witt, J. C., VanDerHeyden, A. M.,
Gilbertson, D. (2004). Troubleshooting behavioral
interventions. A systematic process for finding
and eliminating problems. School Psychology
Review, 33, 363-383.
101The Structure of Data Collection
- Teachers can use a wide variety of methods to
assess student academic performance or behavior. - However, data collection should be structured to
include these elements baseline, the setting of
a goal for improvement, and regular
progress-monitoring. - The structure of data collection can be thought
of as a glass into which a wide variety of data
can be poured.
102Classroom Data Collection 6 Sample Methods
103- Existing data. The teacher uses information
already being collected in the classroom or
school that is relevant to the identified student
problem. Examples of existing data include
grades, attendance/tardy records, office
disciplinary referrals, homework completion.
1
104Existing Data Example
- Example Mrs. Berman, a high-school social
studies teacher, selected grades from weekly
quizzes as one measure to determine if a
study-skills intervention would help Rick, a
student in her class. Prior to the intervention,
the teacher computed the average of Ricks most
recent 4 quiz grades. The baseline average quiz
grade for Rick was 61. Mrs. Smith set an average
quiz grade of 75 as the intervention goal. The
teacher decided that at the intervention check-up
in six weeks, she would average the most recent 2
weekly quiz grades to see if the student reached
the goal.
105- Behavioral Frequency Count. In a behavioral
frequency count, an observer (e.g., the teacher)
watches a students behavior and keeps a
cumulative tally of the number of times that the
behavior is observed during a given period.
Behaviors that are best measured using frequency
counts have clearly observable beginning and end
pointsand are of relatively short duration.
Examples include student call-outs, requests for
teacher help during independent seatwork, and
raising ones hand to make a contribution to
large-group discussion. - TIP Instead of trying to tally all behaviors
observed, teachers can make frequency count more
manageable by tallying the number of times that
they must approach a student to redirect that
student from a problem behavior.
2
106Sample Behavior Frequency Count Form (Available
on Conference Web Page)
107Behavioral Frequency Count/Behavioral Rate
Example
- Example Ms. Stimson, an 8th-grade teacher, was
concerned at the frequency that a student, Alice,
frequently requested teacher assistance
unnecessarily during independent seatwork. To
address this concern, the teacher designed an
intervention in which the student would first try
several steps on her own to resolve issues or
answer her questions before seeking help from the
instructor. Prior to starting the intervention,
the teacher kept a behavioral frequency count
across three days of the number of times that the
student approached her desk for help during a
daily 20-minute independent seatwork period
(baseline). - Ms. Stimson discovered that, on average, the
student sought requested help 8 times per period
(equivalent to 0.4 requests for help per minute).
Ms. Stimson set as an intervention goal that,
after 4 weeks of using her self-help strategies,
the students average rate of requesting help
would drop to 1 time per independent seatwork
period (equivalent to 0.05 requests for help per
minute).
108- Work Products. Student work products can be
collected and evaluated to judge whether the
student is incorporating information taught in
the course, applying cognitive strategies that
they have been taught, or remediating academic
delays. Examples of work products are math
computation worksheets, journal entries, and
written responses to end-of-chapter questions
from the course textbook.Whenever teachers
collect student work products, they should also
assess the performance of typical peers in the
classroom. Work products can be assessed in
several ways to yield objective numeric data. For
example, the teacher can estimate the percentage
of work completed on an assignment or the
accuracy of the work actually completed--or use a
rubric to assess quality of writing or other
student work.
3
109Work Products Example
- Example Mrs. Franchione, a social studies
teacher, identified her eighth-grade student,
Alexandria, as having difficulty with course
content. The student was taught to use question
generation as a strategy to better identify the
main ideas in her course readings. - Mrs. Franchione decided to assess Alexandrias
student journal entries. Each week, Mrs.
Franchione assigned students 5 key vocabulary
terms and directed them to answer a social
studies essay question while incorporating all 5
terms. She also selected 3 typical students to
serve as peer comparisons.. Mrs. Franchione
decided to assess Alexandrias journal entries
according to the following criteria - Presence of weekly assigned vocabulary words in
the student essay - Unambiguous, correct use of each assigned
vocabulary term in context - Overall quality of the student essay on a scale
of 1 (significantly below peers) to 4
(significantly above peers).
110- Rating scales. A scale is developed with one or
more items that a rater can use to complete a
global rating of a behavior. Often the rating
scale is completed at the conclusion of a fixed
observation period (e.g., after each class
period at the end of the school day). Here is an
example of a rating scale item Brian focused his
attention on teacher instructions, classroom
lessons and assigned work. 1Poor 2Fair 3Good.
4
111Monitoring Student Academic or General
BehaviorsBehavior Report Cards
112Behavior Report Cards (BRCs) Are
- brief forms containing student behavior-rating
items. The teacher typically rates the student
daily (or even more frequently) on the BRC. The
results can be graphed to document student
response to an intervention.
113Behavior Report Cards Can Monitor Many Behaviors,
Including
- Hyperactivity
- On-Task Behavior (Attention)
- Work Completion
- Organization Skills
- Compliance With Adult Requests
- Ability to Interact Appropriately With Peers
114Behavior Report Card Maker
- Helps teachers to define student problem(s) more
clearly. - Reframes student concern(s) as replacement
behaviors, to increase the likelihood for success
with the academic or behavioral intervention. - Provides a fixed response format each day to
increase the consistency of feedback about the
teachers concern(s). - Can serve as a vehicle to engage other important
players (student and parent) in defining the
problem(s), monitoring progress, and implementing
interventions.
115Behavior Report Card Maker www.interventioncentral
.org
116Behavior Report Card Maker www.interventioncentral
.org Example Daily Report Card
117Behavior Report Card Example
- Example All of the teachers on a 7th-grade
instructional team decided to use a Behavior
Report to monitor classroom interventions for
Ray, a student who presented challenges of
inattention, incomplete work, and occasional
non-compliance. They created a BRC with the
following items - Ray focused his attention on teacher
instructions, classroom lessons and assigned
work. - Ray completed and turned in his assigned class
work on time. - Ray spoke respectfully and complied with adult
requests without argument or complaint. - Each rating items was rated using a 1-9 scale
- On average, Ray scored no higher than 3
(Never/Seldom range) on all rating items in all
classrooms (baseline). The team set as an
intervention goal that, by the end of a 6-week
intervention to be used in all classrooms, Ray
would be rated in the 7-9 range (Most/All of the
Time) in all classrooms.
118- Global skill checklist. The teacher selects a
global skill (e.g., homework completion
independent seatwork) and breaks that global
skill down into a checklist of component
sub-skills--a process known as discrete
categorization (Kazdin, 1989). An observer
(e.g., teacher, another adult, or even the
student) can then use the checklist to note
whether a student successfully displays each of
the sub-skills on a given day.
5
119Academic Survival Skills Checklistspp. 19-21
120Academic Survival Skills Checklists A Tool to
Help Students to Manage Their Own Learning
- Students who would achieve success on ambitious
state standards must first cultivate a set of
general 'academic survival skills' that they can
apply to any coursework (DiPerna, 2006). - Examples of academic survival skills include the
ability to study effectively, be organized, and
manage time well. - When academic survival skills are described in
global terms, though, it can be difficult to
define them. For example, two teachers may have
different understandings about what the term
'study skills' means.
Source DiPerna, J. C. (2006). Academic enablers
and student achievement Implications for
assessment and intervention services in the
schools. Psychology in the Schools, 43, 7-17.
121Academic Survival Skills Checklists A Tool to
Help Students to Manage Their Own Learning (Cont.)
- A solution is to complete a 'task analysis' of a
given global academic-survival skill, dividing
that larger skill into a checklist of component
sub-skills (Kazdin, 1989). With a checklist
that breaks a global academic survival skill into
components, a teacher can judge whether a student
possesses the essential building-block strategies
that make up a larger global 'survival skills'
term. Teachers have access to good sources of
information to verify what academic survival
skills a student possesses, including direct
observation interviews (of the student, past
teacher, or parent) and student work products.
SourceKazdin, A. E. (1989). Behavior
modification in applied settings (4th ed.).
Pacific Gove, CA Brooks/Cole.
122Academic Survival Skills Checklist Study Skills
Example p. 19
Source Academic Survival Skills Checklist Maker.
(2012). Retrieved from http//www.interventioncent
ral.org/tools/academic-survival-skills-checklist-m
aker
123Academic Survival Skills Checklist Study Skills
Example
Source Academic Survival Skills Checklist Maker.
(2012). Retrieved from http//www.interventioncent
ral.org/tools/academic-survival-skills-checklist-m
aker
124Academic Survival Skills Checklist Study Skills
Example
Source Academic Survival Skills Checklist Maker.
(2012). Retrieved from http//www.interventioncent
ral.org/tools/academic-survival-skills-checklist-m
aker