In Partnership with The

In Partnership with the

GeorgiaDepartment of Education

SSTAGE Presents

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

7:30 -8:15 a.m. Registration, Continental Breakfast and Exhibit Area open for interaction

8:15 – 9:45 a.m.Session 1Workshops

Room A / Little MillMiddle School and the Journey Through RTI
Middle School Level / Join us on our journey as we guide you over pitfalls to the treasures hidden within the RTI Pyramid. Follow, as we wind our way through student placement & intervention scheduling, the search for appropriate programs & the tools that will monitor progress & drive instructional change, establishment of fidelity, and the building of accountability teams. Come along as we attempt to discover the treasures of success for our most needy students and their families.
Little MillMiddle School, ForsythCounty / Cheryl Riddle, Assistant Principal; Robin Clark, School Psychologist/Intervention Specialist; Dawn Hudson, Graduation Coach; Cindy Evans, Reading Literacy teacher; Kim DeRose, Title 1 Reading teacher; and Arthur Wilbert, Title 1 Math teacher
Room B / Math and Reading RTI at the High School Level
High School Level / WareCountyHigh School in Southeast Georgia has developed a reading and math Response to Intervention program that employs two full time interventionists. Employing creative scheduling techniques within a 4X4 block system and by maintaining a high level of flexibility and ingenuity, the WCHS 9th grade students are universally screened, exposed to research-based classroom instruction, and progress monitored. Computer based interventions are employed at tiers II and III as well as small group instruction while still allowing these students exposure to regular classroom curriculum and learning. The school principal and members of the RTI team will discuss in detail this innovative program.
WareCountyHS, WareCounty / Joe Brasfield, Principal; David Hitt, Assistant Principal; Susan Barrow, Reading RTI Interventionist; and Ronzie Patterson, Math RTI Interventionist
Room C & D / It’s All About the Children: Rigorous Learning through the Clayton County Pyramid of Intervention
School System Level / Clayton County Public Schools has developed a problem solving model for response to intervention that focuses on an area cluster organization that supports principals, teachers, and parents. Academic Galleries, P4 Plan, and Step Function design are examples of the many promising practices focused on building instructional leadership capacity through the pyramid of intervention. ClaytonCounty initiatives are creating sustainable professional learning school-based teams that meet regularly to determine if progress is made using the RigorMeter.
ClaytonCounty / Dr. Mandy Condit, Coordinator of Psychological Services, Tier 3 SST, and 504; Dr. Diana Dumetz Carry, Chief Academic Officer; Dr. Audrey Greer, Mathematics Coordinator; Dr. Ebony Thomas, Language Arts Coordinator; and Dr. Natasha Jefferson, Coordinator of Testing and Assessment
Room G / Behavior Screening in Response to Intervention
Special Interest / The purpose of this session is to describe the role of universal behavior screening in comprehensive applications of RTI. Two measures designed for universal behavior screening will be described, followed by a summary of research of the psychometric properties of the measures, correlations with academic (CRCT, CBM) and behavioral variables, and teacher preference. The session will conclude with an example of how universal screening may be used in a behavioral RTI model.
Presenters / Dr. Amy L. Reschly,Associate Professor, School Psychology Program, UGA; and Dr. Kathleen King-Vogel
Room H / The ESOL Student and the RTI Process: A Model That Works!
Special Interest / Throughout the language acquisition process there are still indicators that an ESOL student may have additional learning needs. The value of progress monitoring and providing for identification of those students with possible learning challenges is important. Ware County Schools is in its second full year of implementation of the ESOL Student & the RTI process. Using the dynamic Pyramid of Interventions, modified for ESOL services, all students are served and provided with a quality education.
Presenters / Dr. Carolina Faust, System ESOL Coordinator and Dr. Theresa Martin, RTI Coordinator, WareCountySchools
Room I & J / Key Elements of Best Practices for RTI are Collaboration, Cooperation, and Effective Communication - Strategies for Improving all Three Areas in Your School
Elementary Level / If the purpose of an RTI program is to catch struggling students early, then collaboration, cooperation and effective communication is essential. Our RTI program uses the resources, knowledge and the expertise of special education to assist general education and EIP teachers to improve student outcomes. Our presentation will provide examples and suggestions from our RTI Strategy Team in order to utilize resources and personnel within your building effectively.
Liberty ES, CherokeeCounty / Victoria Thom, Assistant Principal, Special Education Administrator; Dr. Erin Poindexter, SST Chair; Emily Weber, EIP Teacher; and Lauren Roach, Special Education

9:45am – 10:00 a.m.Break

10:00 – 11:30 a.m. Session 2 Workshops

Room A / Now What is Your Excuse? (Starfish)
High School Level / The program is an academic intervention designed to eliminate superficial excuses and barriers that retard the accruing of credits. The program targets students primarily in tier II of the Pyramid of Interventions. The ingenious design of the program is inclusive of all students by allowing any student facing an academic challenge to become a candidate for the program. The program’s immediate intervention procedures serve to reduce student failure, reduce the loss of credits, curtail student drop out, and increased the graduation rate.
Carrollton HS, CarrolltonCity / Mark Albertus, Principal; and Aprill Jones-Byrd, Assistant Principal/Graduation Coach
Room B / Response to Intervention: The Power of Data
Elementary Level / The presentation will provide participants with an example of how BelmontHillsElementary Schoolsupports the Response to Intervention process from the administrative level. Many structures for success have been established including roles, data management system, research-based instructional strategies, and an organizational framework to support success. The majority of students needs are met at Tiers 1 and 2, very few move to Tier 3 and fewer to Tier 4. Students are continually grouped and regrouped for remediation and or acceleration.Over 40% of the students are served through the ESOL program, 48%through the Early Intervention Program and 8% arein Special Education programs.
Belmont Hills ES, CobbCounty / Stacey Abbott, Assistant Principal; and Diane Hart, K-12 Supervisor of Learning Systems and Programs at Central Office
Room C & D / RTI & the Preschool Classroom: A Model for Recognition and Response
Special Interest / The presentation focuses on the connection between RTI and the preschool classroom. The session will open with a description of how the RTI process and procedures are outlined throughout the school year. Beginning with professional learning surrounding assessment data and its interpretation and response, the session will then follow the course of the school year, highlighting various activities which promote understanding of the RTI process and its delivery/challenges within the preschool-based learning environment.
Presenters / Suzanne Kennedy, Principal; Zeke Alejandro, Instructional Coach; and Kim Jeffrey, Speech and Language Pathologist
CollegeHeights Early ChildhoodLearningCenter, CitySchools of Decatur
Room G / Establishing PositiveSchool Culture: Implementing and Sustaining Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS)
Special Interest / Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is the application of evidence-based strategies and systems to assist schools to increase academic performance, decrease inappropriate behavior, and establish positive school cultures. PBIS is not a packaged curriculum, intervention, or practice, rather a framework for selecting and implementing a continuum of evidence-based practices. In Georgia, over 200 school teams have been trained in PBIS implementation. The participants in this session will be provided with an overview of PBIS, practitioner experiences with implementing PBIS, and readiness activities for districts who may be interested in establishing PBIS.
Presenters / Dr. Jasolyn Henderson, Program Specialist, Positive Behavior Supports, Office of Standards, Instruction, and Assessment at Georgia Department of Education; Allison Oxford, Murray County Schools; Spencer Gazaway, Murray County Schools; Kraig Howell, Butts County Schools; Sandy Bonner, Thomasville City Schools and Mary Friessen, Thomasville City Schools
Room H / RTI: It’s Just a Matter of Time
System Level / Participants will gain an understanding of how a rural school system streamlined their instructional day to include a 30-minute daily enrichment and intervention (I/E) period in grades 1-12 that provides dedicated time and resources for RTI. The system also incorporated the use of district-wide benchmark assessments to provide GPS content- related interventions and enrichment during the I/E period. This initiative has given all schools the capacity to overcome students’ skill deficits through the RTI framework while also providing support to students lacking GPS content mastery.
LincolnCounty / Brian Campbell, Assistant Superintendent for Instruction; Britt McKinney, Instructional Coach; Christie Mattison, Elementary Assistant Principal; Howie Gunby, Middle School Assistant Principal; and Brittany Barden, High School Special Education Teacher
Room I & J / Together We Can!
Middle School Level / During this session, we will provide an overview of the RTI process at Woodstock Middle School (WMS). Included in this discussion, will be both Cherokee County School District (CCSD) and WMS expectations and decision point guidelines for student identification. The primary focus will be the structure and organization of WMS RTI committee and its working relationship with the other faculty and staff of the school. This committee along with differentiation and best practices professional learning has led to a more effective RTI process.
WoodstockMS, CherokeeCounty / Joey Moss, Assistant Principal and Kim Eidson, RTIBuilding Chair

11:30 – 1:00 p.m. Lunch Athena Ballroom (Rooms E& F) 2010SSTAGE STAR Award Presentations

1:00 –1:15pm Break

1:15 – 2:00 p.m. Session 3 Workshops

Room C & D / Moving Forward with RTI/POI from the State and National Perspective
GaDOE Special Session / Updates on the Department’s efforts to integrate Response to Intervention,the Georgia Pyramid of Interventions, and SSTwill be shared, along with what’s happening at the national level.
Presenters / Albert Patrick "Pat" Blenke, Program Manager & Academic Standards Leadership and Kim Anderson, Policy and External Affairs/ SERVE
Room I & J / GaDOE Resources to Support RTI/POI, Instruction and Assessment
GaDOESpecial Session / The Department of Education continues to build resources for schools and systems to coordinate their Response to Intervention (RTI) initiatives. Are you taking advantage of the resources available to you and colleagues?.
Presenters / Shaun Owen, Academic Standards

2:00 – 2:15 p.m. Break

2:15 – 3:45 p.m. Session 4 Workshops

Room A / Speech -The Big Unknown in RTI
System Level / CCSD has a district wide plan to screen, assess, and meet needs of students in grades prek-5th with speech- language concerns. Participants will leave with strategies and tools to support students with these concerns as they move through the POI. Participants will also learn research-based strategies to accommodate needs of students with IEPs who exhibit deficits in other areas not already addressed. Examples, tools, and strategies to implement RTI specific to the needs of students with speech/ language concerns will be provided.
ClarkeCounty / Ashly Albritton, District RTI Coordinator and Janice Barnard, Lead Speech Language Pathologist
Room B / Creating and Implementing A School-Wide Response to Intervention Period
Elementary Level / In a classroom full of students with diverse needs, teachers are challenged to tailor instruction so every student learns. The focus of this workshop is to explore the process of creating and implementing a forty minute intensive instructional block at the beginning of each day. This block is used to support and extend student learning. You will learn how to design a school-wide intervention time to support the RTI process.
Villa Rica ES,
CarrollCounty / Dr. Marissa Ogando, Assistant Principal and Sally Ganey, Instructional Coach
Room C & D / Assessment Mapping: Supporting Teaching, Learning, and RTI
Special Interest / When MadisonCounty began implementing RTI, we approached student assessment in multiple ways, using various sources (e.g., universal screening, progress monitoring, etc.) to guide decision-making. Since then, we have added numerous assessments without taking time to examine which assessments best measure performance and purging unnecessary assessments. In order to meet accreditation standards and facilitate continuous school improvement, we have set about comprehensively evaluating our practices through an assessment mapping process. Using surveys from district personnel, we plan to develop a core set of terms and reasonable district-wide assessment plan. This process should assist educators in using common terminology and the most effective data to guide instructional conversations, RTI meetings, PLCS, and school-level planning.
Presenters / Debbie Williamson, RTI/504 Coordinator & School Psychologist, MadisonCountySchools, and Courtney Glueck, School Psychology Doctoral Student, University of Georgia
Room G / Establishing PositiveSchool Culture: Implementing and Sustaining Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS)
Special Interest
(repeat session) / Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is the application of evidence-based strategies and systems to assist schools to increase academic performance, decrease inappropriate behavior, and establish positive school cultures. PBIS is not a packaged curriculum, intervention, or practice, rather a framework for selecting and implementing a continuum of evidence-based practices. In Georgia, over 200 school teams have been trained in PBIS implementation. The participants in this session will be provided with an overview of PBIS, practitioner experiences with implementing PBIS, and readiness activities for districts who may be interested in establishing PBIS.
Presenters / Dr. Jasolyn Henderson, Program Specialist, Positive Behavior Supports, Office of Standards, Instruction, and Assessment at Georgia Department of Education; Allison Oxford, Murray County Schools; Spencer Gazaway, Murray County Schools; Kraig Howell, Butts County Schools; Sandy Bonner, Thomasville City Schools and Mary Friessen, Thomasville City Schools
Room H / Solving the Puzzle of Incorporating Math into RTI
Elementary Level / In this workshop, you will acquire new ideas and strategies to boost student math performance within the context of the Pyramid of Interventions. At Tier 1, innovative school-wide programs and strategies will be presented. Moving on to Tiers 2 and 3, specific research-based interventions will be shared. Our school’s practices at Tier 4 will be briefly mentioned. At the conclusion of this workshop, we hope you will share our belief that the whole system of interventions and use of AIMSWEB probes has revolutionized our instructional program which works harmoniously to create a framework of support for all students.
Johnston ES,
CherokeeCounty / Gena Hood, Principal; Tina Word, RtIBuilding Level Chair; and Ashley Watson, Early Intervention Specialist
Room I & J / Improving Outcomes in Secondary Math with GRASP –A Universal Screening Tool for Math (and Reading)
Special Interest / The West Georgia RESA has supported 31 school systems in using different tools and products to identify students in need of intervention and to track progress of the interventions. GRASP was created as an inexpensive, user-friendly system to assist educators in identifying students in need of intervention, provide initial diagnostic information about student’s specific needs, and track the progress of individuals and groups of students. This session will share the ongoing progress of middle and high schools using the math assessment of GRASP.
Presenters / Rachel Spates, Assistant Director, West Georgia RESA and TBA

SSTAGE DRAFTConference Agenda Page 1 DRAFT revision 12-1-10