Dr. Sharon Faber February 25, 2011
California League of Schools 1:15-3:30
Response to Intervention: What Is It and How Do We Do It?
“For these are all our children…We will all profit or pay for whatever they become.”
James Baldwin
Three Things to Remember About Teaching ALL Students Successfully
1. Successful teaching is an evolving process.
2. It is important to keep an open mind because new and promising ideas are constantly emerging.
3. When a strategy or method clearly increases student learning, it is essential to follow the practice as early as possible in the school year so that the students become accustomed to a specific way of thinking and acting.
“5” Guiding Questions to Improve Student Learning
1. What is it we want all students to learn?
2. How will we know when they know it?
3. How will we respond when they don’t learn?
4. How will we respond when they already know it?
5. How do we engage in relevant pedagogy and professional development to ensure that we are collectively answering these questions?
What is Response to Intervention (RTI)? What Does It Mean?
“…an early intervention and prevention process with the goal being to eliminate the future need for special education services for the child by intervening before a gap in academic achievement becomes too great. …it is not a retooling of the pre-referral/child study team process.” Lee County, Florida 2008 Response to Intervention Manual, http://studentservices.leeschools.net/pdf/RTI%20Manual-update8-27-08.pdf)
The History of RTI
· Public Law 94-142 in 1975 (Education for all Handicapped Children Act—EHA) changed name to IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) in 1990.
· IDEA 2004 authorizes the use of student responsiveness to scientifically researched interventions as an alternative to waiting until an IQ achievement discrepancy is established before students are considered for special education support. For a detailed history of the process and changes in the law, go to www2ed.gov/policy/speced/let/idea/history.html)
What RTI Means to Educators in the 21st Century
RTI is high quality instruction matched to student needs. The core of it is really differentiating instructional strategies for all students and providing those interventions that are research based.
· RTI is a process of providing high quality instruction and intervention matched to student need, and then frequently monitoring progress to adjust, revise, and inform instruction.
· RTI unifies your entire school or district in terms of looking comprehensively at the types of curriculum and interventions you have that work or don’t work and focusing on charting progress and connecting strategies to outcomes.
· In RTI, general educators collaborate with support staff—special educators, related service personnel, ELL teachers, Title I staff and administrators—and sometimes parents in problem solving for a student or group of students.
· A formal process is followed in which team members identify and analyze the problem, select the intervention, implement the intervention, monitor the response, and use monitoring data to determine next steps.
How Does RTI Work?
There are 3 levels of intensity or 3 Tiers:
Tier 1: (Universal strategies) All students are provided with evidence-based instruction and progress monitoring in general education classes. Quality instruction is provided for all students that is preventive and proactive, but even with the best core curriculum and teaching, some students will still struggle and need something extra. Tier 1 should address the needs of 80-85% of students.
Tier 2: (Strategic strategies) Students identified as being at risk after not responding to primary interventions participate in targeted group-based supplementary instruction that is high efficiency and rapid response—small groups with focused instruction to minimize learning gaps.
Tier 3: (Intensive strategies) Students who need more help get intensive, individualized interventions like one-on-one activities. Progress is assessment-based, high intensity, and longer duration.
Common Features of an RTI Model
School staff members:
· Provide all students with scientifically based instruction in general education settings.
· Screen students in academics and behavior to identify at-risk students.
· Implement scientifically based interventions—typically organized by increasing levels of intensity in at least three tiers—to address identified student difficulties.
· Conduct continuous monitoring of at-risk student performance for primary interventions, and more frequent monitoring (e.g., bi-weekly) for secondary and tertiary interventions.
· Use progress monitoring data as part of a formal problem-solving process to determine the effectiveness of interventions and to make any adjustments.
· Assess the fidelity with which instruction and interventions are implemented.
· Ensure that the RTI model includes provisions for referral for comprehensive evaluation, as appropriate.
Source: Bradley, R., Danielson, L., & Doolittle, J. (2007). Responsiveness to Interventions: 1997 to 2007. Teaching Exceptional Children. 39(5), 8-12.
What Are Intervention Strategies?
· Methods and techniques that regular education teachers use in the classroom to help the student succeed
Who Needs Intervention Strategies?
· Any student who is academically at risk for failure or who is not successful with the regular method of instruction
When Are Intervention Strategies Appropriate?
· Whenever a student is having difficulty learning
· Intervention strategies must be in place before a student can be referred for special education services.
Why Are Intervention Strategies Important?
· Not all students learn in the same way so most students benefit from intervention strategies that help them become more successful.
Simple Multisensory Teaching Techniques That Will Help Students Learn
1. Cite real life examples.
2. Integrate drawing, charts, illustrations, 3D objects, storytelling, drama, and humor into daily lessons.
3. Use games that require movement.
4. Make a comfortable reading area with a variety of books, comics, magazines, etc.
5. Have well-lit and dimly lit areas and include natural lighting
6. Use gestures and body movements to create mind-body connections to anchor information
7. Assign work with a varying degrees of depth and content mastery
8. Play music softly in the background of seat work
9. Use group activities and peer tutoring
10. Provide a clean clutter-free, organized classroom
11. Decorate with greens, blues, and earth tones; stimulate intellect with yellow
12. Provide rewards. Give verbal and nonverbal praise. Laugh often.
What Are Accommodations?
· Individualized strategies for student success
Who Needs Accommodations:
· Any student who is not being successful with the regular method of instruction;
When Are Accommodations Appropriate?
· When a student is having difficulty learning
Why Are Accommodations Appropriate?
· Not all students learn alike. Many students need accommodations to be academically successful.
Simple Accommodations That Will Help Students Learn
1. Differentiate instruction
2. Scaffold instruction—questions, study sheets, daily reviews, and drills
3. Reduce distractions
4. Provide alternate assignments and oral tests
5. Use hands-on activities
6. Give immediate, positive feedback
7. Provide tutoring and remediation
8. Make frequent contact with the student
9. Seat the student in the front, close to the teacher
10. Give short, clear directions
To Help ALL Students Learn, Try These Fast and Easy Instructional Strategies
Book/chapter/section Walk
Purpose—create interest, assess or activate prior knowledge, encourage personal connection to the text, require active participation with the text, expose students to critical text features, develop purpose for reading, develop key concepts, vocabulary, and general idea of text before reading
Steps:
· Before students read, preview and examine the parts of a book/story/article/chapter/section by systematically examining the various visual and text features.
· Show cover, opening page, first paragraph, or beginning section and ask students to make predictions regarding content.
· Quickly walk through the text, pointing out key information in the text.
· Point out text features that make the information delivery unique for your content—title, table of contents, introduction, summary, main headings, bold face or italics, first and last paragraphs, charts/pictures/graphs, source, date, author, glossary, and side bars.
· Use key vocabulary as you do the walk.
· Have students predict what the things you are pointing out will provide them as you go along. You may choose to record predictions.
· Return to predictions after reading.
Student Sample: Reading Guide After a Book/Chapter/Section Walk
1. What is the name of your text, chapter, and section?
2. On what page does the glossary begin?
3. What is used to help you practice problems, understand new words, create interest as you read?
4. Name some lessons/ideas/words from this book that will be a review for you.
5. What is a key concept in your book?
6. Where do you find a key concept?
7. Using the Table of Contents, name three new things that you will be learning.
Anticipation Guides: (Tierney, Readence, Dishner)
Purpose—activate prior knowledge, encourage personal connection to the text, require active participation with the text
Steps:
· List five to seven statements that:
· Address the major topics/themes/issues of the text
· Present important generalizations
· Are worth discussing and will encourage thinking/debate (make them argue!)
· Do not have clear cut or yes/no answers
· Are experience based if possible—works best when students have some but limited knowledge about the subject
Before reading:
· Students agree or disagree with the statements.
· Share answers with a partner.
· Ask the class with show of hands (signaling) on agree/disagree for each statement.
· Ask students to give reasons for their opinions.
· Do not correct answers.
During reading:
· Students take notes on the topics or issues.
· They document the location (page, column, paragraph, line) of confirming or conflicting information.
· They read critically and with a purpose.
· They try to examine the issues with an open mind/a fresh point of view.
After reading:
Review original responses, and see if students feel the same or have changed their thinking.
Use the following questions to guide discussion:
What information did we learn that we did not “anticipate” before we read?
What have we learned by reading this selection?
What was the most interesting, surprising, or unusual information you learned?
Do we still have other questions about the topic/text?
Do you trust the expertise/credentials of the author?
Anticipation Guide Statements
Opinion Statements
1. Algebra is relevant to me in my everyday life
Agree_____ Disagree______
Explain:
2. Jack was silly for selling his cow for a sack of “magic” beans.
Agree_____ Disagree______
Why:
Anticipation Guide Statements
1. There are cases when two negative numbers multiplied together do not yield a positive number.
True_____ False______
2. Amelia Earhart was the first person to fly across the Atlantic Ocean from the United States to Europe.
Yes_____ No______
Foldables and Flip books—easy way to take notes or deep vocabulary, key terms, content.
PIC: Purpose for the reading
Important ideas
Connection to prior knowledge
P / I / CPut your purpose for reading here / Write 3-4 important ideas, words, or concepts here / Write how what you already knew about the subject connected with what you learned
Eye focus—the slow teacher turn
Think alouds by teacher and students—metacognition
Learning Walls—are not cute posters or letters of the alphabet. They are intentional attempts to use the power of visualization as a part of a long term memory for students.
· Generate a list of essential words (the verbs from your standards), concepts, formulas, or whatever is critical that students know and remember in your content area
· Include only essential words, etc. and add information gradually
· Practice and refer to this information and how it can be used daily.
· Make sure that what you want them to know is used and spelled correctly in their work
· Create a chart/format/list for important information
· Try using the same color for words that share the same concept and change colors when the theme, chapter, area of study changes. Remember: the brain research shows that the brain thinks in odd numbers, color, location, and pattern.
· Place the information in a prominent place in your classroom. It does not have to be a wall.
Sorts—manipulation of content and vocabulary. You can sort anything. Sorting is a great activity to develop spelling, vocabulary, and comprehension skills. It creates active manipulation of the content and uses the mind-body connection as a part of the long term memory for students.
· Determine the purpose for the sort.
· Write the terms on cards or strips of paper.
· Place sets in zip-lock bags or envelopes.
· Students work in pairs or along to match or categorize them.
· Word/definition; word/antonym or synonym; questions/answers; cause/effect; alphabetically; sequentially, chronologically; meaning; form; function, etc.
Vocabulary Cards—is used to help students learn content-specific terms to increase depth and breadth of word knowledge to increase comprehension
· Demonstrate how to create a vocabulary card with students by writing a key term on the board and drawing a large, rectangular card-like frame around it so that it is in the center of the rectangle.
· In the corners of the card write a definition, characteristics, examples, and an illustration of the term (Note: You may require students to learn other information or demonstrate other applications with the terms, which would necessitate a modification of the card features described here.)
· Discuss with students how the card can be reviewed quickly and easily in preparation for tests, quizzes, and other activities with the word.
· Identify a list of key vocabulary terms from the lesson and have students write them in the center of a 3x5 index card. As material is covered and content is read, guide students as they fill out their cards with the required information.
· Once cards are completed, allow time for students to review their words individually and with a partner.
· Quiz students over the content of their cards with questions and tasks that require recall and understanding of all the information on the vocabulary cards.