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BethanyCommunitySchool

Response to Intervention Guidelines

Committee Members:

Kristin Gagnon

Maureen Galla

Heather Peck

Linda Vassallo

Erin Watson

Karen Proto

Tim Charron

Rob Spino

Mary Federico

8/20/08

What is RTI?

Response to Intervention (RTI) is a regular education initiative. RTI is the practice of (1) providing high-quality instruction/intervention matched to student needs and (2) using learning rate over time and level of performance to (3) make important educational decisions.

BethanyCommunitySchool follows the core principals of the response to intervention model including:

  • the belief that we can effectively teach all children
  • the importance of intervening early
  • the use of a multi-tier model of service delivery
  • the use of a problem-solving method to make decisions within a multi-tiered model
  • the use of research-based, scientifically validated instruction/interventions
  • the monitoring of student progress to inform instruction
  • the use of data to make decisions

The use of RTI improves services by:

  • Increasing the success rate of students receiving instruction in the general education setting,
  • Providing research-based instruction as an early intervention to students,
  • Providing critical data needed to design, implement and monitor instructional interventions,
  • Reducing the time that additional instructional supports are delivered to students,
  • Reducing the number of referrals to special education.

The following diagram illustrates the three tiers of the RTI model:

Tier Iis at the top of the figure and reflects the general education curriculum. This tier is designed for and provided to all students in each grade level. Tier 1 is comprehensive and universal. Student progress is monitored by the classroom teacherthrough benchmark assessments or weekly if identified at-risk.

Tier II is the middle section of the figure and represents those students who need more intensive and specific instruction in order to be successful in school. These students participate in BethanyCommunitySchool’s supplemental support program. Student progress is monitored weekly at this level.

Tier III activities include comprehensive assessment to identify whether a student has a specific disability and meets the criteria for special education. Student progress at this level is monitored on a regular basis.

The 3 tiers of the RTI process are further defined in a series of steps listed below. The RTI steps are adapted from Response to Intervention: Principles and Strategies for Effective Practice (Brown-Chidsey & Steege, 2005).

Tier I /
  1. Implement scientifically based general education instructional methods. Verify accuracy of instructional procedures with integrity assessment.

  1. Collect benchmarks of all students’ performance at least three times during the school year.

  1. Identify which students scored below the benchmark target(s).

  1. Provide individual and/or small group intervention activities and differentiated instruction within the classroom for those students who score below the benchmark target(s). Progress monitoring should focus on modifications and interventions put in place.

Tier II /
  1. Provide daily scientifically based small-group instruction to students with scores below benchmark target(s) who do not respond to classroom interventions.

  1. Monitor student progress toward the benchmark(s), using daily/weekly assessments and data graphing for 15 sessions.

  1. Review, revise, and/or discontinue small-group instruction based on student performance and progress toward the benchmark(s) at the end of the 15 sessions. For those students making adequate progress, cycle back to step six.

  1. For students not yet showing evidence of progress toward meeting the benchmark(s) by the end of the first 15 sessions, increase the intensity, duration, and/or frequency of instruction and continue to monitor progress for up to another 15 sessions.

  1. Review, revise, and/or discontinue small-group instruction, based on student performance and attainment of benchmark(s) at the end of the second 15 sessions. For those students making adequate progress, cycle back to step six.

Tier III /
  1. For students not yet showing evidence of meeting the benchmark(s) after significant interventions at steps 5-9, initiate a comprehensive evaluation to determine whether the student has a disability and is eligible for special education services.

  1. IEP team determines whether student has a disability and meets the criteria for special education services; if the student is eligible for special education, an IEP is developed and becomes the student’s new instructional program.

Tier I

1. Implement scientifically-based general education instructional methods. Verify accuracy of instructional procedures with integrity assessment.

BethanyCommunitySchool implements a variety of research-based and curriculum-based instructional programs in language arts and math. The tables below identify the publisher/author, instructional strategies, and targeted skills.

Kindergarten
Language Arts
Publisher/ Author / Instructional Strategies / Targeted Skills
Growing Readers
by Kathy Collins / Readers’ Workshop:
Oral Reading, Partner Reading / Independent Reading, Building Reading Stamina, Decoding, Fluency, Comprehension
Reading with Meaning
by Debbie Miller / Shared Reading, Modeling / Responding, Making
Predictions, Making
Connections, and other
comprehension strategies
Mondo Publishing, Wright Group / Guided Reading / Decoding, Fluency, Comprehension
Constructing Meaning
by Nancy Boyles / Whole Group, Small Group / Comprehension
Writers Workshop
by Ralph Fletcher / Writers’ Workshop/
Process / Brainstorming, Draft, Edit/revise, Publish/Share
No More Letters of the Week / Explicit/Direct Instruction,
Reading Wall / Phonological Awareness,
Letter ID and Sound
CSDE Phonological Awareness Module / Whole Group / Phonological Awareness
Pre- primer Dolch Words / Sight Words
Zaner Bloser / Whole Group / Handwriting
HBJ / Whole Group / Grammar
Math
Publisher/ Author / Instructional Strategies / Targeted Skills
Wright Group/McGraw-Hill, Everyday Mathematics / Whole Group/Direct Instruction;
Small Group / Number and Numeration; Operations and Computation; Data and Chance; Measurement and Reference Frames; Geometry; Patterns, Functions and Algebra
Wright Group, Growing with Math / Whole Group/Direct Instruction;
Small Group / Basic Concepts
First Grade
Language Arts
Publisher/ Author / Instructional Strategies / Targeted Skills
Growing Readers
by Kathy Collins
On Solid Ground
By Sharon Taerski / Readers’ Workshop:
Oral Reading, Partner Reading / Independent Reading, Building Reading Stamina, Decoding, Fluency, Comprehension
Reading with Meaning
by Debbie Miller / Shared Reading, Modeling / Responding, Making
Predictions, Making
Connections, and other
comprehension strategies
Mondo Publishing, Wright Group, Sunshine / Guided Reading / Decoding, Fluency, Comprehension
Teacher Created / Literacy Centers / Reinforcement of literacy skills
Constructing Meaning
by Nancy Boyles / Whole Group, Small Group / Comprehension
Writers Workshop
by Lucy Caulkins / Whole Group, Small Group, Individual Conferences / Choosing Topic, Sketching Ideas, Writing Process
Teacher Created Spelling Program / Small Group / Study and practice of sight words and word families
Cast-a-Spell / Whole Group / Study and practice of sounds, sight words and word families
Zaner Bloser / Whole Group / Handwriting
HBJ / Whole Group / Grammar
Math
Publisher/ Author / Instructional Strategies / Targeted Skills
Wright Group/McGraw-Hill, Everyday Mathematics / Whole Group/Direct Instruction;
Small Group / Problem Solving; Number and Counting; Operation and Number Models; Algorithms; Data and Chance; Geometry; Measurement; Reference Frames; Estimation, Mental Arithmetic, and Number Sense; Patterns, Sequences, Functions and Algebra
Second Grade
Language Arts
Publisher/ Author / Instructional Strategies / Targeted Skills
Growing Readers
by Kathy Collins / Readers’ Workshop:
Oral Reading, Partner Reading / Independent Reading, Building Reading Stamina, Decoding, Fluency, Comprehension
Reading with Meaning
by Debbie Miller / Shared Reading, Modeling / Responding, Making
Predictions, Making
Connections, and other
comprehension strategies
Mondo Publishing, Wright Group, Sunshine / Guided Reading / Decoding, Fluency, Comprehension
Constructing Meaning
by Nancy Boyles / Whole Group, Small Group / Comprehension
Writers Workshop
by Lucy Caulkins / Whole Group, Small Group, Individual Conferences / Choosing Topic, Sketching Ideas, Writing Process
Teacher Created Spelling Program / Small Group / Study and practice of sight words and word families
Cast-a-Spell / Whole Group / Study and practice of sounds, sight words and word families
Zaner Bloser / Whole Group / Handwriting
HBJ / Whole Group / Grammar
Math
Publisher/ Author / Instructional Strategies / Targeted Skills
Wright Group/McGraw-Hill, Everyday Mathematics / Whole Group/Direct Instruction;
Small Group / Problem Solving; Number and Counting; Operation and Number Models; Algorithms; Data and Chance; Geometry; Measurement; Reference Frames; Estimation, Mental Arithmetic, and Number Sense; Patterns, Sequences, Functions and Algebra
  1. Collect benchmarks of all students’ performance at least three times during the school year.

BethanyCommunitySchool’s classroom teachers collect a variety of benchmarks in language arts and math to monitor students’ progress. The tables below outline the assessments and the times of year that they are completed.

Kindergarten benchmarks

Reading

Assessment / times of year
Concepts about print / Sept., Nov., Feb., May
Letter id / Sept., Nov., Feb., May
Letter/Sound ID / Sept., Nov., Feb., May
Dibels Initial Sound Fluency / Sept., Jan.
Dibels Letter Naming Fluency / Sept., Jan., May
Dibels Phoneme Segmentation Fluency / Jan., Mar., May
Dibels Nonsense Word Fluency / Jan., Mar., May
Reading Informal Running Record / Feb., Apr.
DRA Level / Dec., Feb., May

Writing

Assessment / times of year
Language Arts Writing Assessment / Sept., Jan., June

Math

Assessment / times of year
unit tests / upon completion of each unit
***Further assessments under development

Grade 1 benchmarks

Reading

Assessment / times of year
Informal Running Record / Oct., April
DRA Level / Sept., Nov., Feb., May
Dibels Letter Naming Fluency / Sept.
Dibels phoneme Segmentation Fluency / Sept., Jan., May
Dibels Nonsense Word Fluency / Sept., Jan., May
Dibels Retell Fluency / Jan., May
Dibels Oral Reading Fluency / Jan., May

Writing

Assessment / times of year
Dictation / Sept., May
Ganske Developmental Spelling / Sept., Jan., May
Word Pattern Survey / Sept.
Writing Assessments – Units of Study / Sept., Dec., May
Writing Prompt Personal Narrative / Feb., Apr.

Math

Assessment / times of year
Unit Tests / Upon Completion of Each Unit
***Further assessments under development

Grade 2 benchmarks

Reading

Assessment / times of year
Forming a General understanding;
Developing an Interpretation;
Making Reader/Text Connections;
Examining Content & Structure / Jan., May
DRA Level / Sept., Nov., Feb., May
Dibels Nonsense Word Fluency / Sept.
Dibels Retell Fleuncy / Sept., Jan., May
Dibels Oral Reading Fluency / Sept., Jan., May

Writing

Assessment / times of year
Word Pattern Survey / Sept., May
Writing Assessments – Units of Study / Upon Completion of each Unit of Study
Writing Prompt – Narrative / Nov. – Personal Narrative; Feb. & May – Fictional Narrative

Math

Assessment / times of year
Unit Tests / Upon Completion of Each Unit
***Further assessments under development
  1. Identify which students scored below the benchmark target(s).

BethanyCommunitySchool has benchmark targets at various points in the school year, which are listed in the tables below.

GRADE LEVEL DRA BENCHMARKS AND CEILINGS

Grade / September / November / February / End of
Year / Ceiling
K / 2 / 4 / 18
1 / 4 / 8 / 12 / 18 / 28
2 / 18 / 20 / 24 / 28 / 38

DIBELS Benchmarks K-2

ISF / LNF / PSF / NWF / ORF
K - Sep / 8 / 8
K - Jan / 25 / 27 / 18 / 13
K-May / 40 / 35 / 25
1-Sep / 37 / 35 / 24
1-Jan / 35 / 50 / 20
1-May / 35 / 50 / 40
2-Sep / 50 / 44
2-Jan / 68
2-May / 90

***Need to insert table for writing benchmarks

Math benchmark is 70% on each unit of study

  1. Provide small group intervention activities and differentiated instruction within the classroom for those students who score below the benchmark target(s). Continue to monitor progress via benchmarks.
  • Classroom teachers meet with the RTI team (administrator, curriculum coordinator, supplemental skills teacher, special education teacher) after benchmark assessments have been completed to review benchmarks, identify at-risk students, plan interventions for targeted areas, determine duration of classroom support, type of progress monitoring and expected outcome with support in place.
  • The Tier 1 documentation form will be completed by the classroom teacher at the RTI meeting.
  • An Alternative Strategies resource list is available for classroom-based intervention ideas for those students requiring differentiation.
  • Follow-up meeting will be held with the RTI team to review progress.

Tier II

  1. Provide daily scientifically based small-group instruction to students with scores below benchmark target(s) who do not respond to classroom interventions.
  • For students who continue to fall below benchmarks despite classroom interventions teachers refer students to the Supplemental Support Program (SSP) by completing the SSP Referral form.
  • Students are serviced through BethanyCommunitySchool’s Supplemental Support Program either individually or in a small group setting depending on student need. The following tables indicate the skills targeted and the types of interventions.

BCS Grade K Supplemental Support Reading Program

Pre-Reading Skill Area / Activities / Activity Source / Materials
Phonological
Awareness / Rhyming
  • songs
  • pictures
  • rhyme production
  • auditory identification
Identifying and sorting initial and final sounds
  • picture cards
  • objects
  • matching picture tobeginning sound(worksheets, word wheels)
Segmenting
  • clapping out words in a sentence
Syllable awareness
  • clap out syllables
Following directions/listening games
Blending
  • compound words (ex. Cup, cake =cupcake)
  • syllables(ex. Ti-ger= tiger)
Speaking sounds into ear piece / Road to the Code
Explode the Code / Teacher-made
Alphabet Knowledge
and
Writing / Review of letter introduced in class:
  • Class-generatedpattern books with target letter incorporated (i.e. B is for ______)
  • Letter matching (upper and lower case)
  • Name writing(first, last)
  • Name puzzle
  • Letter formation
  • Practice (whiteboard, clay, shaving cream, pencil and paper,etc.)
  • Sentence structure (capital at the beginning, punctuation at the end, proper spacing, etc.)
/ No More Letter of the Week / Teacher-made
Print Awareness / Left to right, swoop down to next line, tracking one to one correspondence / Shared reading

BCS Grade 1 Supplemental Support Reading Program

Reading Skill Area / Activities / Activity Source / Materials
Fluency / Repeated reading of texts:
  • support texts withpictures, repetitive phrases,rhyme and rhythm
  • decodable texts (vocab.is limited to words withsounds that students havepracticed
/ Reading Recovery
Wilson Reading
Read Naturally / Leveled trade books (Rigby, Wright Group, MCP, Sundance, Scott-Foresman)
Teacher-made
Word Study:
Decoding strategies,
Word Recognition,
and
Spelling
(explicit instruction in phonics and word analysis – decodeable words and sight words) / Picture, sound, word andspelling sorts (sorting wordand picture cards into groups according to sound and/or pattern)
Building words and blending sounds
Repeated review of words, letters, and sounds todevelop automaticrecognition and retrieval
Creation of a wordcollection (or word bank) topromote vocabulary development, ownership of known words, and automaticrecognition
Use of rhyming pictures to aid in the memorization ofphonetically irregular highfrequency words
Sentence writing to practice sentence form, listening for sounds in words and spelling / Words Their Way
Making Words
Wilson Reading
TLC Reading Program
Book Buddies Tutoring Program (Univ. of VA)
BCS Teachers
Reading Recovery / Words Their Way
Teacher-made
Plastic letters, letter tiles
Teacher-made word books and flashcards
Teacher-made word cards and games
Teacher-made cards
Teacher-made writing books
Comprehension / Making predictions
Asking questions
Re-telling of events anddetails in sequence
Comparing andcontrasting / Reading with Meaning -
(D. Miller)
Mosaic of Thought –
(E. Keene, S. Zimmerman)
Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) / Teacher-made
Teacher-made re-telling “kits” with objects corresponding to text

***Need to insert Supplemental Support Grade 1 Math Program

BCS Grade 2 Supplemental SupportReading Program

Reading Skill Area / Activities / Activity Source / Materials
Fluency / Repeated reading of texts:
  • trade books
  • decodeable texts (vocab.is limited to words with sounds that students havepracticed)
  • poetry
  • reader’s theater
Speed reading drills and speedsorting activities – single words with target pattern(s) and/or sight words / Reading Recovery
Wilson Reading
Read Naturally
Book Buddies Tutoring Program (Univ. of VA)
Wilson Reading
Words Their Way / Trade books
Teacher-made
One-Minute Reader
Various
Teacher-made word books and flashcards
Word Study:
Decoding strategies,
Word Recognition,
and
Spelling
(explicit instruction in phonics and word analysis – decodeable words and sight words) / Picture, sound, word andspelling sorts
Building words and blending sounds
Repeated review of words, letters, and sounds todevelop automaticrecognition and retrieval
Creation of a wordcollection to promotevocabulary development,ownership of known words, and automatic recognition
Use of rhyming pictures to aid in the memorization ofphonetically irregular highfrequency words
Sentence writing to practice sentence form, listening for sounds in words and spelling / Words Their Way
Making Words
Wilson Reading
TLC Reading Program
Book Buddies Tutoring Program (Univ. of VA)
BCS Teachers
Reading Recovery / Words Their Way
Teacher-made
Letter tiles
Teacher-made word books and flashcards
Teacher-made word cards and games
Teacher-made cards
Composition books
Comprehension / Genre study
Connecting, picturing, wondering, guessing, noticing strategies
Think-alouds
Graphic organizers to organize and compare information / Book Buddies Tutoring Program (Univ. of VA)
Reading with Meaning - (D. Miller)
Mosaic of Thought – (E. Keene, S. Zimmerman)
Reading with Meaning - (D. Miller)
Think-Alongs – Steck-Vaughn
Multiple sources / Teacher-made
Copies of Think-Along workbooks
KWL, story map, Venn diagrams, event flow chart, main idea anddetail chart

***Need to insert Supplemental Support Grade 2 Math Program