RTI: Big Ideas (Secondary Level)

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RTI Big Ideas(Secondary Level)
Michele Farah, Ph.D. Literacy Consultant Oakland
Schools Michele.Farah_at_oakland.k12.mi.us

• Diane Katakowski
• Speech Language Consultant
• Oakland Schools
• Diane.Katakowski_at_oakland.k12.mi.us

Susan M. Koceski, Ph.D. School
Psychologist Oakland Schools Susan.Koceski_at_oaklan
d.k12.mi.us
www.oakland.k12.mi.us
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• In a small town, a group of fishermen gathered
  down at the river. Not long after they got there,
  a child came floating down the rapids calling for
  help. One of the group on the shore quickly dived
  in and pulled the child out.

Minutes later another child came, then another,
and then many more children were coming down the
river. Soon everyone was diving in and dragging
children to the shore, then jumping back in to
save as many as they could.
In the midst of all this frenzy, one of the
fisherman was seen walking away. Her peers were
irate. How could she leave when there were so
many children to save? After long hours, to
everyones relief, the flow of children stopped,
and the group could finally catch their breath.
At that moment, their friend came back. They
turned on her and angrily shouted HOW COULD YOU
WALK OFF WHEN WE NEEDED EVERYONE HERE TO SAVE THE
CHILDREN?
http//miblsi.cenmi.org/
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• She replied, It occurred to me that someone ought
  to go upstream and find out why so many kids were
  falling into the river. What I found is that the
  old wooden bridge had several planks missing, and
  when some children tried to jump over the gap,
  they couldnt make it and fell through into the
  river. So I got someone to fix the bridge.

http//miblsi.cenmi.org/
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NASDSE Definition of RtI
The practice of providing high quality
instruction and intervention matched to student
needs using data over time to make important
educational decisions for ALL learners.
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Current State in General

• Unaligned, nonsensical delivery systems
  (title-one, general education, special education)
• Low achievement- especially in lower poverty
  areas
• Over-representation of minorities in special
  education
• Poor growth when students with special education
  are compared with their non-disabled peers (AYP)
• Disproportionate numbers of high incident
  disabilities (LD, SLI) and inconsistencies from
  states to states, county to county, district to
  district
• Overly dependent system on student processing
  problems
• Current State Group Activity

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Three major ways that schools move towards an RTI
Framework

• Data trends indicate a compelling need-
• Data indicates a need for improvement in reading
  or math that has unacceptable percentages of
  students failing
• Administrative Mandate-
• Administration mandate to change service delivery
  system
• Legal mandates
• Desire to Use RTI option for Special Education
  Eligibility for students with learning
  disabilities (IDEA 2004)
• Out of Compliance with special education and
  cited for corrective action
• Corrective action from AYP status

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Principles of Response to Instruction

• Shared responsibility for student achievement in
  which general and special educators collaborate
  and support one another across all tiers.
• RTI is a framework, not a program. The
  ingredients can be combined in many ways so that
  implementation may look different in different
  buildings, even within the same district.
• Early Intervention as soon as a students
  performance indicates that they are off
  track.
• Problem-Solving focused on curriculum,
  instructional, environment, and learner variables
  that can be controlled in contrast to student
  deficits.
• Using school-wide and grade-level data to
  evaluate instructional effectiveness at multiple
  levels (school, grade, classroom, small-group,
  individual).

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RTI Model TIER I - 80 TIER II - 15 TIER
III - 5
Universal Screening at regular intervals for all
students using curriculum-based measurement
TIER 3 (5 of Students) Intensive Intervention

TIER 2 (15 of Students) Strategic
Intervention
Scientifically research-based instruction that is
matched to student need to promote attainment of
grade-level benchmarks
Problem Solving occurs at all Tiers of
Instruction and involves collaborative ,
data-based decision making
TIER 1 (80 of Students) Core Instruction
Services for students with IEPs
Oakland Schools www.oakland.k12.mi.us
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Moving towards a RTI Model Early,
strategic, and explicit instruction designed to
meet the needs of all students.
The Model TIER I - 80 TIER II - 15 TIER
III - 5
More likely
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ESSENTIAL INFRASTRUCTURE OF RTI

• Multi-Tiered Continuum of Support (Models have
  3-5 tiers)
• Universal Screening/Progress Monitoring for Slow
  Responders
• Problem-Solving Process Implemented at grade
  level, small groups, individual students
• Scientifically-Based Core Curriculum Evaluation
  of the effectiveness of core curricula
• Research-based Interventions Instructional
  strategies and supplemental interventions based
  on empirical research studies on effectiveness
• Professional Development Ongoing and embedded to
  the school improvement plan and goals

Why RTI is not spelled D-I-B-E-L-S
Screening/progress monitoring is only one of many
essential ingredients
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What RTI is not.

• a way to blame or evaluate teachers for poor
  results with students.
• a two tier system (General education v. special
  education) retrofitted as a three-tier system
  (General education, title one, special
  education).
• a pre-referral system bide your time, fill out
  a form, talk about data. then get the referral
  into special education.
• a box to check on the MET form The student has
  been given opportunities to learn.
• using the same old tools that are not aligned
  with instruction.
• just taking more data and putting it in the
  students file
• a way to lower psychologists FTE by eliminating
  IQ

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Turn and Talk

• How is this description of RTI similar to your
  current understanding?
• In what ways is it different?

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Problem Solving Process
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What is the relationship betweenRTI and SAT?
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Myths to be dispelled for RTI Secondary to have a
chance

• It is fruitless to spend time money on
  struggling adolescents because they have passed
  the point at which instruction or intervention
  can make a difference.
• Instruction that works with young children will
  be equally effective for older students.
• Literacy is not the job of secondary educators.
• Little can be done for students who are not
  motivated to engage in learning.

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Key questions when exploring RTI at Secondary
Level
Question Answer "Look Fors"
Do we believe that all students can learn? Teachers have high expectations for ALL students. Teachers describe differentiated instruction to meet the needs of learners in their classes. "Laziness" is not frequently offered as an explanation of poor performance.
Is our school committed to scientifically based instruction? Programs/techniques used are based on research with adolescents. Instruction is differentiated for students. A system for checking fidelity of instruction exists. Assessment data are gathered and reviewed on a regular basis. Classroom instruction changes as a result of data analysis. Programs/classes are structured to meet the needs noted in assessment. Students participate in different programs/classes based on assessment results.
Student Success Initiatives, Inc, 2008
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Key questions when exploring RTI at Secondary
Level
Question Answer "Look Fors"
Do we have a school wide approach to literacy? Literacy assessment data are gathered on at least an annual basis. For students experiencing reading difficulty, problems in comprehension, fluency and word recognition are identified. The school improvement plan specifically addresses literacy. Each teacher can explain her role with literacy. Teachers are supported with high quality professional development that advances literacy in the content areas. We offer a variety of services in varying degrees of intensity to address literacy needs. When we address student literacy needs we differentiate, word recognition, fluency, and comprehension problems.
Who is involved in RTI at our school? RTI leaders are from across general and special education. Speech-language pathologists, school psychologists, reading specialists and literacy coaches are centrally involved. All educators can explain the school's approach to RTI, as well as the rationale. Parents understand their children's involvement in RTI at the school. School level administrators are actively engaged in leading the effort and providing necessary resources.
Student Success Initiatives, Inc, 2008
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Phase One Build Consensus

• Estimated timeframe 3-9 months
• Establishing school-wide consensus of a need to
  improve student engagement and achievement for
  all students by implementing RTI
• Actions
• Establish a compelling need for school-wide
  framework for areas of need.
• Establish building leadership team and rationale
  for building adoption of RTI framework.
• Create alignment between the building culture and
  the culture required to successfully implement
  RTI.
• Reengineer resources (people, time, money) to
  provide sufficient support for the long term
  implementation of this framework.
• Establish district leadership commitment towards
  the objectives of a 3-Tier (RTI) literacy
  framework. Make an action plan.

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Phase One Build Consensus (Secondary)

• Some middle schools have found success by
  building consensus through simultaneous
  infrastructure and implementation
• Actions
• Commitment to achieving the school mission,
  vision and student outcome goals (which arise
  from the compelling need)
• Work collaboratively to continually improve
  systems, practices and outcomes
• Utilize a data-based planning and problem-solving
  process to guide improvement efforts
• Allocate resources to provide students with
  multi-tiered instruction matched to their needs

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Phase One continuedKnow your Compelling needs

• Current State Group Activity with Data
• Revisit handout

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Turn and Talk
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Phase Two Build infrastructure and Initial
Implementation

• Estimated Timeframe 6-18 months
• Developing the structures, elements and resources
  required to support the critical elements of RTI
  using a tiered model of support
• Actions
• Train and implement universal screening
• Institute a problem solving process at the grade
  level, small groups, individual students
• Evaluate effectiveness of core curriculum and
  make adjustments based on ongoing data
• Review current interventions and incorporate
  Instructional strategies and supplemental
  interventions based on empirical research studies
  on effectiveness
• Make a professional development plan for the
  building and for individuals to fill essential
  knowledge.

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Phase Two Build infrastructure and Initial
Implementation (Secondary)

• Multi-tier interventions at secondary level
  address student skill deficits AND simultaneously
  support student success within courses.
• When designing multi-tier interventions, it is
  important to begin with the idea that the purpose
  of all instruction (Tier 1, 2, and 3) is to
  ensure students achieve core (Tier 1)
  instructional goals and expectations.

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Phase Two Build infrastructure and Initial
Implementation (Secondary)

• The 3 goals of multi-tier intervention programs
  at Middle School level are
• Promote and maintain high levels of student
  engagement within all tiers of instruction.
• Accelerate learning to close knowledge skill
  gaps, and
• Prevent new gaps from happening (i.e., provide
  just in time instruction aligned with core
  instruction to ensure access and achievement with
  current grade level/course content)

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Phase Two Build infrastructure and Initial
Implementation (Secondary)

• Actions
• Effectively-functioning, regularly-meeting
  school-based leadership team
• Effective teaming organization that allows school
  teams to work together as a system to accomplish
  school goals
• Assessment for a variety of purposes and data
  systems that provide needed data for systematic
  problem-solving and differentiated instruction to
  meet specific student needs
• Master schedules that allow for multi-tiered
  instruction during the school day (e.g.
  Intervention/ Enrichment block)
• Professional development and coaching to support
  teams in data-based problem solving

Turn and Talk
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HOW DO TIER II AND TIER III DIFFER?
Tier II instruction Tier III instruction
Focus Narrow range then core instruction Narrow range then core instruction
Daily instruction Minimum of 30 minutes ( Tier I) Minimum of 30 minutes twice a day ( Tier I)
Duration 10 - 12 weeks (1 or 2 rounds) Often considerably greater than 10-12 weeks
Group size 1 3 to 5 13, 12, 11
Ongoing progress monitoring every 2 weeks every 1-2 weeks
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Phase Three Sustained Implementation

• Estimated timeline 1-4 years
• Adjusting programs, supports, and resources to
  institutionalize RTI practices
• Add additional grade levels over time
• Action planning- review, modify, and recommit
  annually based on data and SIP
• New staff orientation and training
• Report progress to stakeholders
• Attend to school culture and sustained consensus.

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Most Common Mistakes When Beginning an RTI-MTSS
Initiative

1. Lack of understanding of a compelling need for
   the initiative. Implementing without being
   clearly focused on solving a defined problem.
2. Ignoring staff attitudes, beliefs, and values of
   those who will actually implement the change.
   Successful reform processes must include
   attention to belief systems and shifts in school
   culture.
3. Principal or leadership permission does not equal
   commitment.
4. Too much too soon too many grade levels, too
   many priority areas.
5. Competing initiatives without prioritization and
   communication
6. Prematurely focused on interventions (Tier II
   III) while ignoring core classroom instruction
   (Tier I).
7. Spending too much time on finding the perfect
   intervention program, leaving out the data, and
   not matching instruction to the needs of children
   in the building.
8. Moving too quickly through building
   infrastructure to implementation.

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Next Steps for your team

• Communicate your compelling need to organize
  within an RTI framework
• Staff and Stakeholders
• Plan for data analysis at all levels
• school-wide,
• grade-level,
• small groups,
• individual students
• Develop and communicate an action plan that is
  grounded in your school improvement process
• Other

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QA and Resources