RTI IN PRE-KINDERGARTENA discussion with Judy Carta & Charles Greenwood

Our objectives this afternoon

To give you A brief introduction to Center for Response

to Intervention in Early Childhood (CRTIEC) Preliminary findings regarding the national

status of RtI implementation in pre-kindergarten settings

Information about current RtI research in early childhood

Links to information and resources

CENTER FOR RESPONSE TO INTERVENTIONIN EARLY CHILDHOOD

CRTIEC

A New Research Initiative

to Promote Early Literacy and

Language

Our Key Partners

University of Kansas--IGDIs Charles Greenwood &

Judith Carta Dynamic Measurement

Group; Eugene, OR--DIBELS Ruth Kaminski

University of Minnesota-GGG Scott McConnell

Ohio State University—Interventions for early literacy and language Howard Goldstein

Division for Early Childhood-CEC

WHERE ARE WE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD WITH RTI?

Preliminary Survey Results

Survey of 619 Coordinators

To examine implementation status of RtI in Early Childhood across the states and territories

To find out where and how RtI approaches were being applied Settings where RtI is being implemented Specific RtI components being implemented Curriculum areas emphasized

To learn about greatest challenges to implementing RtI in early childhood settings

Entities Reporting (as of 3-11-2009)

31 States and Washington DC Bureau of Indian Affairs Guam Republic of Palau

Status of National EC RtI Implementation(Percentage of States/Territories

Reporting)

If some activities are underway in your state, in what settings?

And, in What Curriculum Areas?

Are there any promising, interesting, or innovative RtI models in your state that could be shared with other programs in other states?

Many challenges were identified for implementing RtI in Early Childhood

Percentage of respondents indicating area was a SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGE: Insufficient trained personnel

63.3% Lack of resources 56.7% Lack of Tier 2 and Tier 3 strategies

53.3% Lack of progress monitoring tools

53.3% Lack of knowledge for putting RtI model

together 46.7%

Other Areas were less challenging

Percentage of respondents indicating area was either NOT A CHALLENGE or SOME CHALLENGE:

Establishing collaborative relationships between early education and special education systems 50%

Lack of administrative support or leadership 43%

Summary of general trends from survey

States are beginning to have discussion about RtI and are introducing the concept in professional development.

Most likely programs to be implementing RtI are early childhood special education and state-funded pre-k programs.

Programs are applying RtI to early literacy/ language and social/behavioral areas

CRTIEC’S Goal

To develop and validate interventions and progress monitoring tools so that pre-kindergarten programs can find and intervene with young children showing the earliest signs of reading difficulties.

Core Components of RtI

Evidence-Based Tier 1 implemented with fidelity

Universal screening Evidence-Based Tier 2 and Tier 3

Interventions Progress monitoring Instructional decision-making

What we know about Tier 1

Need core curriculum that is evidence-based.

Must be implemented with high fidelity. Must be implemented frequently enough

for children to get adequate exposure.

Questions about Tier 1 in Pre-K

What constitutes an evidence-based curriculum in early literacy and language?

What skills should be taught and instructional strategies used to implement the curriculum?

How are instructional quality and quantity: Related to children’s growth in early literacy? Related to the proportion of children who require

more intensive levels of support in early literacy?

Challenges Related to Tier One in Pre-K

While some evidence-based curricula are available in early literacy and language, they are not implemented widely and quality of implementation is inconsistent.

Quality of personnel in early childhood settings is highly variable and degree of staff turnover is very high.

CRTIEC focus on Tier 1

Developing a tool to evaluate quality of Tier 1 curricula: How closely does it match up with research evidence in terms of WHAT is taught and HOW content is delivered?

Studying how Tier 1 quality dimensions (curriculum, instructional delivery, time devoted to instruction, and children’s exposure to curriculum) are related to children’s performance and growth in early literacy

Resources for Evidence-Based Tier One Curriculum in Early Literacy

What Works Clearinghouse: Early Childhood Education http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/Topic.aspx?tid=1

3.

Center for Early Literacy and Language: OSEP-funded TA Center http://www.earlyliteracylearning.org.

Preschool Curriculum Evaluation Study: IES funded study of 14 curricula to promote school readiness http://ies.ed.gov/ncer/pubs/20082009/index.asp

What we know about screening and progress monitoring

These concepts are not new to early childhood special education but are still new to many general early childhood settings.

Because there is no standard unified early childhood “system”, the universe of students that will be screened depends on what students are in the program (e.g., Head Start, public Pre-K, community child care).

While screening tools are available—not many progress monitoring tools yet exist that are sensitive to intervention effects over time.

Currently available tools for progress monitoring

Get it, Got it, Go: Web-based tools for screening and progress monitoring in early literacy and language—Scott McConnell and colleagues http://ggg.umn.edu.

mCLASS CIRCLE: Observational and assessment tools for progress monitoring on handheld devices—Susan Landry http://www.wirelessgeneration.com/solutions/mclass-circle.html?prod=mClass:CIRCLE

.

GGG Measures developed by CRTIEC

New measures being developed will focus on:Oral language/vocabularyPhonological awareness and

letter/sound correspondenceAlphabet knowledge and print

awarenessComprehension

Example of Proposed Comprehension Measure We are developing measures that will

require children to do the following: Make inferences or predictions about a

target picture. Put a series of target pictures in

chronological order. Provide the main idea of a target story. Choose the picture that corresponds to a

target sentence.

Phonological Awareness: Examples of Proposed Tools

• Detection of Sounds– Rhyming: Identify word that rhymes with target word.

Visual images are provided. Score is # correct in 2 minutes.

– Alliteration: Identify word that starts with the same sound as the target word. Target word will be an animal name, i.e.: Martin the Moose. Score is # correct in 2 minutes.

• Manipulation of Sounds– Sound Blending: Includes a continuum of blending

tasks including blending compound words, blending 2-syllable words, and blending beginning /ending sounds of words.

– Syllable Segmentation: Involves the child correctly clapping the syllable pattern of 2,3, 4-syllable words.

What we know about Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions in Pre-K

There are not many evidence-based interventions available (see Survey Results)

Skilled personnel to implement these interventions are scarce.

Time available in pre-kindergarten programs is limited (many programs are half-day.)

Oftentimes, children are only in pre-k for one year prior to kindergarten.

Current approaches being used for Tier 2 and Tier 3

Key idea is to supplement children’s exposure to the content—give them more opportunities to practice skills they are learning.

Children might get individual tutoring in specific content areas.

Children might get additional explicit instruction in small groups along with learning activities embedded across the day.

Children might get more exposure through skill-focused instruction delivered in listening centers.

CRTIEC is developing Skill Focused Listening Center Activities for Tier 2

• Skill Focused Activities - Tier 2 are designed to be independent of teacher instruction. Monitoring can be done by a paraprofessional.

• Supplemental, rather than substitute for Tier 1 curriculum in 4 major domains– Phonological Awareness– Print Awareness/Alphabet Knowledge– Vocabulary– Comprehension

• Follow a generalized developmental/hierarchical process based on previous evaluation of curricular skill implementation timelines. – For example, in the PA area, Storybook Script 1 would

focus on “Listening for Sounds: Same and Different,” whereas Storybook Script 10 would focus on “Identification of First Sounds in Words.”

How is the Tier 2 Intervention Delivered?

• Activities are designed to be administered in “listening centers” for which scripts are pre-recorded onto compact discs.

• Children listen using headphones and respond to the embedded interactive activities. Familiar characters (e.g., Sally the Sound Seal, Luke the Letter Lion) serve as the teaching “guide.”

• Pre-recorded scripts contain visual and auditory cues to increase children’s ability to complete the listening center each day with minimal adult assistance.– For example, a bell sound prompts children to turn the

book pages– Pictures/icons (e.g., kitten) appear in the reading books and

on written materials to serve as orienting cues, so when children are asked to follow along they can check whether they are in the right place.

How is learning maximized?

All scripts require active participation and responding from children by modeling answers, asking questions, and providing time for spoken, manipulative play, and drawn or printed responses.

Feedback is provided within the context of the recorded scripts so children can monitor whether they are responding correctly – (e.g., “Beetle. The first sound in beetle is /b/. Say beetle.

(pause) What is the first sound you hear in the word beetle? (pause) /b/. Great job. Tell me again, What is the first sound in beetle? (pause) /b/. Now back to our story… ’”).

Multiple embedded opportunities to respond– Each script will have 10 embedded opportunities to respond– Script is repeated 4X per week– Child has 40 practice opportunities practice per week

Example at http://www.crtiec.org/Presentations/OHtier2.html

CRTIEC is developing Tier 3 BRIEF Activities

Brief, reading-related activities that

are intense, engaging, and focused (BRIEF) Brief 5 - 20 minute small-group activities Reading-related activities in the domains

of: phonological awareness alphabet knowledge vocabulary and oral language comprehension

Tier 3 BRIEF Activities, cont.

Engaging Inclusion of movement, songs, games

appropriate for preschool children Inclusion of extension activities for

additional practice and integration of newly acquired skills/competencies in center activities

Focused Restricted scope and sequence of skills Focus on prerequisite and high-priority skills

CRTIEC has established an Early Childhood RtI Network

Help people keep up with what’s happening in RtI in early education

Learn about current research on progress monitoring and interventions in early literacy

Find out what local agencies are doing in RtI Sponsoring an annual summit on RtI in Early

Childhood.Join the Early Childhood RtI Network at

http://www.crtiec.org/aboutcrtiec/preschoolrti.shtml

Resources

Go to the CRTIEC website to find: Useful links to websites related to RtI in EC Current publications related to RtI in Early

Childhood Recent presentations

www.crtiec.org