1

The Added Value of Measuring Growth within an RtI Framework

Vicki L. Collins & Janet K. Holt

Northern Illinois University

Imagine a World that Forgot to Consider Growth . . .

An Unsuspecting Pet Owner

Puppy Chap

Dog Chap

4

A Disgruntled Child?

5

A Crowded Shoe

6

Focus of this Presentation

Chronology of research leading to RtI

Key decisions within the RtI model

Why consider growth?

Illustrate early literacy growth patterns

Why does the metric matter?

Chronology of Research

1980 1990 2000

Deno, 1986

Fuchs & Fuchs, 1998

Fuchs et al., 1993

ISBE, 2009

NASDSE & CASE, 2006

IDEIA, 2004

PCESE, 2002

Good et al., 2001

NCLB, 2001Deno, 1986

Fuchs & Fuchs, 1998

Fuchs et al., 1993

8

Key RtI Decisions

Problem Identification

Diagnostic

Curriculum Effectiveness• Core• Supplemental

Current Practice

9

10

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90Lynne's Beginning Year Screening Results

Nu

mb

er o

f W

ord

s R

ead

Co

rrec

tly

Current Practice

10

M T W H F M T W H F M T W H F M T W H F M T W H F M T W H F M T W H F M T W H F M T W H F M T W H F M T W H FBaseline 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Lynne's Progress Monitoring GraphGoal: In 10 weeks, when given 1 minute to read aloud a randomly selected second grade

passage from AIMSweb, Lynne will read 60 words correctly.

Weeks

Nu

mb

er o

f W

ord

s R

ead

Co

rrec

tly

11

Why Consider Growth?

Improve decision-making accuracy

Minimize false positives and negatives

12

Our Methods for Studying Growth

Participants

Measures

Procedures

Data analysis

Early Reading Project

Supported by Project REAL

Initiated in 2004-2005

Designed to improve reading achievement and data based decision-making in grades k-2

Utilized DIBELS measurement system

14

Participants

Project YearGrade

Kindergarten First Second

1(2004-2005)

1 2

2(2005-2006)

3 1 2

3(2006-2007)

4 3 1

4(2007-2008)

4 3

15

DIBELS Measures

Phoneme Segmentation Fluency (PSF) Identify sounds in spoken language

Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF) Map sound to print and blend sounds in words

Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) Read connected text fluently

16

Procedures -- Data Collection

GradeTime of Year

Beginning Middle End

K PSF 1 PSF 2NWF 1

1 PSF 3NWF 2

PSF 4NWF 3ORF 1

PSF 5NWF 4ORF 2

2 NWF 5ORF 3 ORF 4 ORF 5

17

Procedures -- Scoring Accuracy

Training

Limited responsibility

Double scoring

Multilevel Growth Modeling

Times of measurement may vary across individuals (time unstructured)

All data are used (Do not need same # of observations/ person = unbalanced)

Can model change over time within-individuals and differences across individuals

Can readily incorporate time-varying covariates.

Growth Models

Previous studies assume linear growth Used polynomial growth models to determine if

curvilinear growth occurred in this sample on 3 fluency measures

Tested linear and quadratic models on PSF and NWF Identifies acceleration or deceleration patterns

Tested cubic pattern for ORF Identifies phases of growth

20

Early Literacy Growth Patterns

Phoneme segmentation fluency -- quadratic

Nonsense word fluency -- linear and quadratic

Oral reading fluency -- cubic

PSF BenchmarksPSF

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Middle K End K Beginning 1st Middle 1st End 1st

PSF

PSF Growth

-2 -1 0 1 20

10

20

30

40

50

Time Centered at Beginning of 1st Grade

PS

F

PSF Group Growth Pattern (Cohort 3)

NWF BenchmarksNWF

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

End K Beginning 1st Middle 1st End 1st Beginning 2nd

NWF

NWF Growth

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

NW

F

Random Sample of Individual NWF Growth Trajectories

-2 -1 0 1 2

Time Centered at the Middle of 1st Grade

ORF Benchmarks

ORF

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Middle 1st End 1st Beginning 2nd Middle 2nd End 2nd

ORF

ORF Growth

-2 -1 0 1 20

25

50

75

100

125

Time Centered at the Beginning of 2nd Grade

OR

F

ORF Group Growth Pattern (Cohort 3)

27

Why does the Metric Matter?

Captures the full continuum of possible student outcomes

Different conclusions can emerge from use of level, slope, or both metrics

Continuum of Possible Outcomes

*Dual discrepancy model

Study of Dual Classification System with ORF Data

Level of performance judged by traditional benchmarking system

Adequate growth judged by local norms Those in top 25% - Atypical high growth Those in bottom 25% - Atypical low growth Those in middle 50% - Typical growth

Growth by Level ClassificationPercent of Those Meeting Instructional Recommendations on ORF by Growth Designation

for the End of 2nd Grade

Growth Level

Atypical Low Typical

Atypical High IR Totals

IR Benchmark f 10 35 43 88

% 3.7 12.9 15.9 32.5

Strategic f 7 36 23 66

% 2.6 13.3 8.5 24.4

Intensive f 59 57 1 117

% 21.8 21.0 0.4 43.2

Growth Totals f 76 128 67 271

% 28.0 47.2 24.7 100.0

31

Intensive/Atypical High Growth

Atypical High Growth - Intensive Status

010

20304050

607080

90100

Beginning Middle End

2nd Grade

OR

F

32

Strategic/Atypical High Growth

Atypical High Growth & Strategic Status

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Beginning Middle End

2nd Grade

OR

F

33

Benchmark/Atypical Low Growth

Atypical Low Growth & Benchmark Status

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

Beginning Middle End

2nd Grade

OR

F

Decisions about Intervention Based on Metric

Decisions about Core Curricula Based on Metric

Recommendations for Improving Evaluations of Core Curricula

Determine percent of students . . .• progressing as expected• in need of intervention

Use existing standards to interpret each outcome (NASDSE & CASE, 2006)

Look at both percentages within and across years of schooling

Added Value of Considering Growth

When considered along with level data, it minimizes false positive and negative errors

When considered alone, it Illuminates whether adequate growth is occurring in all students

38

Next Steps

Determine if growth patterns are universal

Make methods for measuring growth of all students accessible

Establish criterion-based growth standards

Decipher variability in fluency measures

Imagine a World that Remembers to Consider Growth . . .