How Do We Define a Tier I (Classroom-Based) Intervention? Jim Wright www.interventioncentral.org

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How Do We Define a Tier I (Classroom-Based)
Intervention?Jim Wrightwww.interventioncentral
.org
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Essential Elements of Any Academic or Behavioral
Intervention (Treatment) Strategy

• Method of delivery (Who or what delivers the
  treatment?)Examples include teachers,
  paraprofessionals, parents, volunteers,
  computers.
• Treatment component (What makes the intervention
  effective?)Examples include activation of prior
  knowledge to help the student to make meaningful
  connections between known and new material
  guide practice (e.g., Paired Reading) to increase
  reading fluency periodic review of material to
  aid student retention. As an example of a
  research-based commercial program, Read Naturally
  combines teacher modeling, repeated reading and
  progress monitoring to remediate fluency
  problems.

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Interventions, Accommodations Modifications
Sorting Them Out

• Interventions. 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 is said to be research-based
  when it has been demonstrated to be effective in
  one or more articles published in peerreviewed
  scientific journals. Interventions might be based
  on commercial programs such as Read Naturally.
  The school may also develop and implement an
  intervention that is based on guidelines provided
  in research articlessuch as Paired Reading
  (Topping, 1987).

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Interventions, Accommodations Modifications
Sorting Them Out

• Accommodations. An accommodation is intended to
  help the student to fully access the
  general-education curriculum without changing the
  instructional content. An accommodation for
  students who are slow readers, for example, may
  include having them supplement their silent
  reading of a novel by listening to the book on
  tape. An accommodation is intended to remove
  barriers to learning while still expecting that
  students will master the same instructional
  content as their typical peers. Informal
  accommodations may be used at the classroom level
  or be incorporated into a more intensive,
  individualized intervention plan.

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Interventions, Accommodations Modifications
Sorting Them Out

• Modifications. A modification changes the
  expectations of what a student is expected to
  know or dotypically by lowering the academic
  expectations against which the student is to be
  evaluated. Examples of modifications are
  reducing the number of multiple-choice items in a
  test from five to four or shortening a spelling
  list. Under RTI, modifications are generally not
  included in a students intervention plan,
  because the working assumption is that the
  student can be successful in the curriculum with
  appropriate interventions and accommodations
  alone.

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Tier I Interventions
Tier I interventions are universalavailable to
all students. Teachers often deliver these
interventions in the classroom.Tier I
interventions are those strategies that
instructors are likely to put into place at the
first sign that a student is struggling. These
interventions can consist of -Effective
whole-group teaching management
strategies -Modest individualized strategies that
the teacher uses with specific students. Tier I
interventions attempt to answer the question Are
routine classroom instructional modifications
sufficient to help the student to achieve
academic success?
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Examples of Evidence-Based Tier I Management
Strategies (Fairbanks, Sugai, Guardino,
Lathrop, 2007)

• Consistently acknowledging appropriate behavior
  in class
• Providing students with frequent and varied
  opportunities to respond during instructional
  activities
• Reducing transition time between instructional
  activities to a minimum
• Giving students immediate and direct corrective
  feedback when they commit an academic error or
  engage in inappropriate behavior

Source Fairbanks, S., Sugai, G., Guardino, S.,
Lathrop, M. (2007). Response to intervention
Examining classroom behavior support in second
grade. Exceptional Children, 73, p. 290.
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RTI Listening to the Teachers Voice
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Reducing Problem Behaviors Through Good Academic
Management 10 Ideas

• Be sure that assigned work is not too easy and
  not too difficult
• Offer frequent opportunities for choice
• Select high-interest or functional learning
  activities
• Instruct students at a brisk pace
• Structure lessons to require active student
  involvement

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Reducing Problem Behaviors Through Good Academic
Management 10 Ideas (Cont.)

• Incorporate cooperative-learning opportunities
  into instruction
• Give frequent teacher feedback and encouragement
• Provide correct models during independent work
• Be consistent in managing the academic setting
• Target interventions to closely coincide with
  point of performance

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Maintaining Classroom Discipline (1947) Pt. 1 of
3 (412)
Source Internet Archive. Retrieved September 23,
2007, from http//www.archive.org/details/Maintain
1947
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Good Behavior Game(Barrish, Saunders, Wold,
1969)
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Sample Classroom Management Strategy Good
Behavior Game (Barrish, Saunders, Wold, 1969)

• The Good Behavior Game is a whole-class
  intervention to improve student attending and
  academic engagement. It is best used during
  structured class time for example, whole-group
  instruction or periods of independent
  seatworkDescription The class is divided into
  two or more student teams. The teacher defines a
  small set of 2 to 3 negative behaviors. When a
  student shows a problem behavior, the teacher
  assigns a negative behavior point to that
  students team. At the end of the Game time
  period, any team whose number of points falls
  below a cut-off set by the teacher earns a
  daily reward or privilege.
• Guidelines for using this intervention The Game
  is ideal to use with the entire class during
  academic study or lecture periods to keep
  students academically engaged The Game is not
  suitable for less-structured activities such as
  cooperative learning groups, where students are
  expected to interact with each other as part of
  the work assignment.

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Good Behavior Game Steps

• The instructor decides when to schedule the Game.
  (NOTE Generally, the Good Behavior Game should
  be used for no more than 45 to 60 minutes per day
  to maintain its effectiveness.)
• The instructor defines the 2-3 negative behaviors
  that will be scored during the Game. Most
  teachers use these 3 categories
• Talking Out The student talks, calls out, or
  otherwise verbalizes without teacher permission.
• Out of Seat The students posterior is not on
  the seat.
• Disruptive Behavior The student engages in any
  other behavior that the instructor finds
  distracting or problematic.

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Good Behavior Game Steps

1. The instructor selects a daily reward to be
   awarded to each member of successful student
   teams. (HINT Try to select rewards that are
   inexpensive or free. For example, student winners
   might be given a coupon permitting them to skip
   one homework item that night.)
2. The instructor divides the class into 2 or more
   teams.
3. The instructor selects a daily cut-off level that
   represents the maximum number of points that a
   team is allowed (e.g., 5 points).

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Good Behavior Game Steps

• When the Game is being played, the instructor
  teaches in the usual manner. Whenever the
  instructor observes student misbehavior during
  the lesson, the instructor silently assigns a
  point to that students team (e.g., as a tally
  mark on the board) and continues to teach.
• When the Game period is over, the teacher tallies
  each teams points. Here are the rules for
  deciding the winner(s) of the Game
• Any team whose point total is at or below the
  pre-determined cut-off earns the daily reward.
  (NOTE This means that more than one team can
  win!)
• If one teams point total is above the cut-off
  level, that team does not earn a reward.
• If ALL teams have point totals that EXCEED the
  cut-off level for that day, only the team with
  the LOWEST number of points wins.

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Good Behavior Game Troubleshooting

• Here are some tips for using the Good Behavior
  Game
• Avoid the temptation to overuse the Game. Limit
  its use to no more than 45 minutes to an hour per
  day.
• If a student engages in repeated bad behavior to
  sabotage a team and cause it to lose, you can
  create an additional team of one that has only
  one member--the misbehaving student. This student
  can still participate in the Game but is no
  longer able to spoil the Game for peers!
• If the Game appears to be losing effectiveness,
  check to be sure it is being implemented with
  care and that you are
• Assigning points consistently when you observe
  misbehavior.
• Not allowing yourself to be pulled into arguments
  with students when you assign points for
  misbehavior.
• Reliably giving rewards to Game winners.
• Not overusing the Game.

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Game Over
Answer Both teams won the Game, as both teams
point totals fell BELOW the cut-off of 5 points.
Question Which team won this Game?
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Tier I Ideas to Help Students to Complete
Independent Seatwork
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Independent Seatwork A Source of Misbehavior

• When poorly achieving students must work
  independently, they can run into difficulties
  with the potential to spiral into misbehaviors.
  These difficulties can include
• Being unable to do the assigned work without help
• Not understanding the directions for the
  assignment
• Getting stuck during the assignment and not
  knowing how to resolve the problem
• Being reluctant to ask for help in a public
  manner
• Lacking motivation to work independently on the
  assignment

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Elements to Support Independent Seatwork
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Building Positive Relationships With
StudentsJim Wrightwww.interventioncentral.org
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Avoiding the Reprimand Trap

• When working with students who display
  challenging behaviors, instructors can easily
  fall into the reprimand trap. In this
  sequence
• The student misbehaves.
• The teacher approaches the student to reprimand
  and redirect. (But the teacher tends not to give
  the student attention for positive behaviors,
  such as paying attention and doing school work.)
• As the misbehave-reprimand pattern becomes
  ingrained, both student and teacher experience a
  strained relationship and negative feelings.

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Sample Ideas to Improve Relationships With
Students The Two-By-Ten Intervention (Mendler,
2000)

• Make a commitment to spend 2 minutes per day for
  10 consecutive days in building a relationship
  with the studentby talking about topics of
  interest to the student. Avoid discussing
  problems with the students behaviors or
  schoolwork during these times.

Source Mendler, A. N. (2000). Motivating
students who dont care. Bloomington, IN
National Educational Service.
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Sample Ideas to Improve Relationships With
Students The Three-to-One Intervention (Sprick,
Borgmeier, Nolet, 2002)

• Give positive attention or praise to problem
  students at least three times more frequently
  than you reprimand them. Give the student the
  attention or praise during moments when that
  student is acting appropriately. Keep track of
  how frequently you give positive attention and
  reprimands to the student.

Source Sprick, R. S., Borgmeier, C., Nolet, V.
(2002). Prevention and management of behavior
problems in secondary schools. In M. A. Shinn, H.
M. Walker G. Stoner (Eds.), Interventions for
academic and behavior problems II Preventive and
remedial approaches (pp.373-401). Bethesda, MD
National Association of School Psychologists.
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Discussion Question
Why would a teacher at your school be very happy
to see an RTI model adopted? What is in it for
him or her?
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Common Student Problems What Works?
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How Do Schools Standardize Expectations for
Tier I Interventions? A Four-Step Solution

1. Develop a list of your schools top five
   academic and behavioral referral concerns (e.g.,
   low reading fluency, inattention).
2. Create a survey for teachers, asking them to jot
   down the good teaching ideas that they use
   independently when they encounter students who
   struggle in these problem areas.
3. Collect the best of these ideas into a menu. Add
   additional research-based ideas if available.
4. Require that teachers implement a certain number
   of these strategies before referring to your RTI
   Intervention Team. Consider ways that teachers
   can document these Tier I interventions as well.

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Activity Selecting the Best of the Best Tier I
Intervention Ideas
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Tier I Interventions List Activity

• Tables/rows count off by 4s
• Scan the intervention pages assigned to your
  number
• Select 2-4 TOP ideas from your reading that you
  feel should be on every teachers Tier I
  intervention list at your school
• Be prepared to share your ideas

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Reading Assignments

1. Defiance/Non-Compliance Part 1 pp.55-56
2. Defiance/Non-Compliance Part 2 pp.57-59
3. Hyperactivity pp. 60-62
4. Inattention pp. 62-65