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Building a Successful and Sustainable RtI Framework
Margie McGlinchey; Ph.D.
Kimberly St. Martin; M.A.
Agenda
• Integration of RtI and School Improvement
• Creating Systems to Support Implementation– Establishing a Leadership Team– Developing a Communication and Integration
Plan– Creating Work Groups
• Avoiding Roadblocks
Why Focus on School Improvement
• Every school/district regardless of what state you live in develops an improvement plan (school improvement or strategic plan) that at a minimum includes:– Summary of data (outcome, process, screening,
progress monitoring)– Establishment of goals/objectives– Strategies for achieving goals/objectives– Action plan for implementing strategies– Plan to frequently monitor progress of meeting goals
School Improvement: The Big Umbrella
• Both of these processes (school improvement and RtI) are in essence the same– Providing high quality
instruction/intervention matched to student needs
– Using learning rate over time and level of performance to make important educational decisions
School Improvement: The Big Umbrella
• Bottom Line: RtI and school improvement are about the relentless pursuit to find something, anything that will work for students
• It is a way of doing business!
• But, school improvement (plans, process) have been anything but relentless…
Selecting the Right Things to Focus Energy
• Selection of improvement strategies and actions that result in the use of interventions, practices, materials is a critical factor in the district/school’s ability to improve student outcomes
• More regarding selection in our next session.
“Knowing the right thing to do is the central problem of school improvement. Holding schools accountable for their performance depends on having people in schools with the knowledge, skill, and judgment to make the improvements that will increase student performance” (Elmore, 2003, p. 9).
Stakeholder Involvement
• Principals can utilize building staff meetings, professional development days, grade level data-driven meetings for staff to collaborate in the process of developing, evaluating, and modifying the school improvement plan– Tool: “Steps for Involving Staff in the School
Improvement/RtI Process”
More than Just a Pretty Document!
• Staff need to be actively involved in the process of creating a workable, usable school improvement plan
• To make the plan usable, goals, objectives need to be SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, timely)
“Teasing Out” Effective RtI Components
Examples Non Examples
Utilize the Effective Data Driven Meeting process to assist grade level staff in using data to review the core reading program in alphabetic principle
Implementing RtI in order to improve reading achievement
Use a PBIS framework by defining, teaching, monitoring, acknowledging behavioral expectations in all non-classroom settings. Utilize consistent correction procedures and handling of consequences to minimize misbehavior in non-classroom settings.
Implementing PBIS at the schoolwide level
Actively Using the Plan• Data decision rules are applied to the grade level
goal just as they are applied to student progress monitoring data.
• Successes (upward trend towards meeting goal/ objective) are celebrated!
• Adjustments are made to the strategies and action steps as necessary if data has plateaued or trending downwards. (Don’t wait until the next plan is being created!)
• This process can be done three times per year (minimum)
Activity• Think about your school improvement plan and the
example provided• To what extent is RtI integrated into the building
and district school improvement plan• To what extent are the goals, strategies, and
actions monitored (by the leadership team and communicated to all staff) throughout the school year
• To what extent do you systematically share progress towards goals as an administrative team?
Plan for Effective School Leadership
• Develop a purposeful community • Establish a strong leadership team• Distribute some leadership responsibilities to the
team• Continue to select the right work to focus energy
and effort• Identify whether the work (implementation of RtI)
will be perceived as first or second order change• Align the leadership style to the type of change
Creating a Purposeful Community
• There exists a shared belief that ALL kids can learn and the collective group shares ownership in achieving the goals
• All assets from staff are developed and fully utilized in order to achieve the desired outcomes
• The goals and priorities that are accomplished MATTER to the entire staff (collective community)
• The staff have clearly defined and agreed upon processes for doing business (i.e. norms)
Fostering a Purposeful Community
• Nine of the 21 leadership responsibilities are the sole responsibility of the principal in order to establish the foundation necessary for a purposeful community:– Optimizer -Relationships– Affirmation -Communication– Ideals/Beliefs -Culture– Visibility -Input– Situational Awareness
Establishing or Re-Establishing a STRONG Leadership Team
• The principal plays a crucial role in establishing a leadership team
• The effectiveness of the team needs to be evaluated and adjusted as necessary
Establishing or Re-Establishing a STRONG Leadership Team
– Defining effectiveness:• Broad representation (individuals who are respected,
influential, hard working, and have content area knowledge/skill)
• Volunteers• Big picture thinkers who understand the connections
of RtI/school improvement to initiatives• “Doers” who divide tasks from trainings equally
amongst the team• Adhere to collectively established norms
(agreements)
Developing the Leadership Team
• Examples of Training Sessions for the Team:– First and Second Order Change
– RtI
– Evidenced based reading research, findings of the National Reading Panel
– Positive Behavior Instructional Supports
– “Crucial Conversations”
– Strategies to influence people (“Influencer”) in order to promote consensus and buy-in
– Meeting mechanics
– Data analysis
Leading the Leadership Team• Ensures Leadership Team meeting time is well-
spent
• Clearly defines roles and responsibilities
• Distributes some leadership responsibilities throughout the team
• Establishes an accountability framework and communication loop so tasks are completed timely, efficiently, and communicated to all
• Adapts leadership style accordingly
Leading the Leadership Team
• Plan for team and principal turnover– Build capacity not only within the staff but
even within the team (i.e. data guru should be intentional about teaching others how to understand data)
– Institutionalize systems and practices
Example Leadership Team Activity• Your principal had an opportunity to Read through the “Meeting Structure
& Roles and Responsibilities” document on Tuesday. Today, we need names next to the roles.
– Everyone independently read the document
– Put an asterisk next to responsibilities that need further clarification
– Identify who would best fill each role
– Identify any responsibilities listed under your “title” that you do not feel comfortable fulfilling
– Discuss those with the group and identify WHO will fulfill those random responsibilities.
– If you accepted any miscellaneous responsibilities, rewrite those miscellaneous responsibilities under your “title.”
– Are there roles/responsibilities not reflected on this document? If so, identify what they are and who will meet those responsibilities
Activity
• Review the document entitled, “Building Leadership Team…Roles and Responsibilities”
• If you are working towards RtI implementation are these responsibilities being consistently accounted for by members of your building leadership team?
• If you do not have a building leadership team, review the roles and responsibilities and think about identifying possible people to fulfill the roles and responsibilities.
ExampleCommunication and Integration Flow Chart
Beh. Team
District SIT
Lit. Team
Math Team
School Improvement Leadership: Management of RtI(incl. members from initiatives
work group chairs, etc.)
All Staff GRADE LEVELS/DEPARTMENTS
• SIT provides priorities for action• Work Groups provide monthly data and action reports to SIT.
•SIT provide info, training, and reminds staff ofpriorities.•Staff informs SIT of needs
•SIT identifies and passes along GL issues to appropriate GL.•GL reports back on action taken, results, & needs.
Literacy RtI Team
Schoolwide Behavior Work Group
Content Literacy Work Group
Bldg. Leadership Team/SIT/RtI Management Team
Attends RtI trainings to learn how to use/implement practices, understand data sources relevant to PBS and literacy, and how to develop systems at multiple to support the implementation towards SIT literacy goals, objectives and behavior SIT strategies
Meets 1 x per month to look at all schoolwide data, discuss status on action items, next steps
Receives priorities from leadership team. Meets to develop a plan to implement schoolwide PBS strategies in both non-classroom and classroom settings
Receives priorities from leadership team. Meets to develop a plan to carry-out those priorities. This group is also referred to as the “worker bees”
Meets to support staff in using literacy intervention programs. Team analyzes intervention grouping progress monitoring data to problem-solve the lack of growth. Fidelity checks, on-going training and support, suggestions for alternatives to scheduling, intervention program, and system considerations occurs as well
Role of Workgroups
• The leadership team cannot do everything
• Workgroups allow the work to be equally distributed across staff
• The workgroup are in essence the “doers” or “worker bees”
• They carry-out the necessary tasks and report back to leadership team on needs and status of implementation
Activity• Map out your building’s infrastructure (depict how RtI
systems, practices are being managed throughout) by drawing a flow chart
• Identify the core leadership team, function of that team, and the frequency in which the team meets
• Identify any workgroups/committees that exist in the building– Use the “Committee Matrix” document to assist you
• How do the workgroups interface with the core leadership team?
• Where are the gaps?
Avoiding Roadblocks
• Intentionally build a purposeful community– Think critically about how you perform the 9
leadership responsibilities and how your staff would perceive your demonstration of the responsibilities
– The work you are about to embark on or are currently in the process of doing is predicated on having a shared purpose amongst staff members
Avoiding Roadblocks• As the principal, be well-versed in how to
manage second-order change. Apply the leadership responsibilities that are necessary for second-order change and remember the responsibilities that are negatively associated with that level of change– Even just setting the expectation of work-groups
meeting on a regular basis may be perceived as a second order change
Avoiding Roadblocks
• Select the right things to focus efforts– There are opposing philosophies that all claim
to be “scientifically-research based.” For that reason you need to know what constitutes scientifically-research based and how to see through the data
– Seek answers, seek answers, seek answers– Ask questions, ask questions, ask questions
Avoiding Roadblocks
• Time is always going to be an issue
• Determine how much time you have available to meet outside of the school day– Before school, after school, staff meeting time
• Establish with staff a schedule of when the core leadership team and subgroups will meet
• Ensure that minutes from all teams/workgroups are disseminated in a timely fashion
Avoiding Roadblocks
• There must be a clearly defined purpose for each team. People don’t want to meet for the sake of meeting and if they view their tasks as important, they are more likely to remain motivated to move forward
• As the leader, force yourself to turn the school improvement plan into a workable, useable document
Avoiding Roadblocks
• Prioritize your time so you actually attend the leadership team meetings. You are a member of the team and need to engage in the development process as well
• Be honest about how effective the team is in adhering to deadlines and performing their assigned responsibilities. Affirm what is and is not working well!
Thank You!
Margie McGlinchey, Co-director Michigan Integrated Behavior Learning Support Initiative (MiBLSi)
Kim St. Martin, MiBLSi Lead Technical Assistance Provider
MiBLSi Website:
http://www.cenmi.org/miblsi/Home.aspx