RtI:Response to InterventionResponse to Instruction

Kandy SmithTennessee State Improvement

GrantMay 2010

Tennessee State Improvement Grant

TN SIG

http://sig.cls.utk.edu/

Tennessee State Professional Development

Grant TN SPDG

Contact Information• Middle and West TN

Kandy Smithksmith90@utk.edu

• East TN

Gail Cook tcook8@utk.edu

Recent ERIC searchResponse to Intervention

• 299 results

• Adding “High School”• 18 results

• Adding “Middle School”• 13 results

Response to Instruction

• 91 results

• Adding “High School” • 5 results

• Adding “Middle School”• 3 results

Response to Intervention

• K-3• IDEA driven (as part of LD referral

process)• Additional time of day that student goes

out of room to receive instruction• Program• Three-tier model (Reading First

prototype)

Response to Instruction

• NCLB driven• Formative assessment• Differentiated instruction

In middle, high school

• Same as K-3 – what’s required:– Best-practice, research-based instruction– Benchmark assessments/universal

screenings to identify those students who are at-risk

– Ongoing progress monitoring to determine if intervention/instruction is proper treatment

– (cont.) From Webinar – “Introduction to High School RTI”, February 11, 2020, National Center on RtI

In middle, high school

• Same as K-3 – what’s required:– Interventions, additional instruction for

those who are at-risk/struggling– Data-based decision making– Additional intervention as necessary

From Webinar – “Introduction to High School RTI”, February 11, 2020, National Center on RtI

Program Availability

• Think Link• CompassLearning Odyssey • Language !• DIBELS, AIMSWEB (through 8th)• Study Island

• What Works Clearinghouse– http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/

Issues With Programs

• Costs/Sustainability• Technology Support• Time in the day• Credit for interventions• Instruction/intervention that’s separate

from curriculum– Research shows that most effective use of

a program is when it is then connected to classroom instruction/practice

More Effective

• Intervention/instruction based on curriculum standards

• In classroom with general education experts

• Meets legal requirements and provides best-practice instruction

BEST-PRACTICE, RESEARCH-BASED INSTRUCTION

Knowledge About Learners

• Millennial Generation (Carter, 2008)– Constructivists– Short attention spans– Technology– Student-directed learning

• Motivation

Instructional Setting

• Incorporate technology• Diversity in presentation• Large group instruction

– Effective, engaging– 10-minute segments

• Student-directed learning– Small groups– Stations

Content Area Literacy• Teaching literacy skills needed for

content area• Requiring reading/Supporting reading

– Comprehension: summarization, identifying main idea, using context clues• Graphic organizers• Foldables• Small group discussions

– Vocabulary• Tennessee Academic Vocabulary

BENCHMARK ASSESSMENTS/UNIVERSAL SCREENINGS TO IDENTIFY THOSE STUDENTS WHO ARE AT-RISK

Universal Screenings

• TCAP results from previous years• Programs mentioned earlier

DATA WE CAN HAVE: • TCAP practice tests• TN Academic Vocabulary

Data we can have…• Maze passages to determine which

students will struggle with classroom texts

• Qualitative Reading Inventory– Provides independent, instructional,

frustration level information concerning grade-level text

Do need reading ability levels for students and readability levels on text we use in our classrooms

Data we can have…• Tennessee Academic Vocabulary

– Give benchmark assessment of terms– Then teach, progress monitor/assess, re-

teach • Curriculum-based assessments

– Assess standards being taught

ONGOING PROGRESS MONITORING TO DETERMINE IF INTERVENTION/INSTRUCTION IS PROPER TREATMENT

Curriculum-based assessment

• English I– Standards:

• 3001.1.2 Apply a variety of strategies to correct sentence fragments and run-on sentences.

• 3001.1.9 Demonstrate understanding of common foreign words and phrases (e.g., RSVP, déjà vu, faux pas, du jour, bon voyage, alma mater, cum laude, femme fatale, esprit de corps, verbatim, E pluribus unum, prima donna, avant-garde, status quo, joie de vivre, carte blanche, caveat emptor, alpha and omega, tabula rasa, hoi polloi, ad nauseam).

Curriculum-based assessment• Formative assessment/exit ticket:

– Is the following a run-on sentence or a fragment? • When the hamburger fell off my tray and hit the floor.

– Add to the above to make it into a complete sentence.

– What does RSVP mean?

– If I call someone a “prima donna”, am I complimenting or putting her down? Explain your answer.

• (might even go to the EOC test for English I and pull questions – not same questions every time)

Tennessee Academic Vocabulary

• 8th grade social studies

33 words

Beginning of course• Have a list of these – kids copy word

and write what they know about it – not necessarily a set definition. For example:

• “Dictatorship” – student might write – “it’s when a person has total control; I know Hitler was a dictator.”

(cont.)

Beginning of course• While not a full definition (needs to

include idea of government), gives teacher and student an idea of where we’re starting –he’s pretty close

• Next step – – Would this be a dictatorship? – Which of these is and which is not? – Why not?

Gives teacher direction• Large group instruction

– All words can be introduced once and discussed

– All words can be included in quick reviews• Small group instruction

– Group kids according to their needs– Call them in small groups to learn, review

• Individual work on vocabulary– Vocabulary notebooks– Vocabulary expert cards

INTERVENTIONS, ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTION FOR THOSE WHO ARE AT-RISK/STRUGGLING

Intervention/Additional Instruction

• United Streaming, YouTube, textbook-based supports, ideas from – Have set-up– After the day’s lesson

• Kids who need more as determined by formative assessment

• Small group informal discussions, games

Call a small group of five students

• Everyone receives a set of same five/ten vocab words

• Teacher says a definition; students quickly put word they believe she has defined face down

• Teacher calls “show”; students flip over answers

• Could then do “fill-in-the-blank” sentences and students have to decide what word best completes the sentence.

Could eventually have kids write words on paper or whiteboards(with spelling counting some, perhaps)

DATA-BASED DECISION MAKING

Team Decisions

• Data-driven (summative and formative) • Efficient, effective discussions• Know what supports are available

– Use them as needed

• Medical treatment model– If this isn’t working, we try this…

ADDITIONAL INTERVENTION AS NECESSARY

Interventions

• Standard Treatment• Problem-Solving

• Interesting article about a high school in Colorado Springs, Colorado

–List/Gather all of your resources:• Programs, teachers, materials

–Organize those materials:• Which ones for Tier I, Tier II, etc.

–Make decisions about students based on data

–Track students – see if what you’re doing helps

• Interesting article about a high school in Colorado Springs, Colorado

–Might be productive to make a list of challenges – not to focus on but to be aware of

–Concentrate on 9th graders– If large numbers of kids need

intervention in a subject area, have to look at instruction

–Won’t work if only a few teachers are invested

RESOURCES

References

• Benner, S., Bell, S. & Broemmel, A. (2009) In R. Allington & A. McGill-Franzen (Eds.), Handbook of Reading Disabilities Research (pp. ). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

• Carter, T. (2008).Millennial expectations and constructivist methodologies: Their corresponding characteristics and alignment. Action in Teacher Education, 30(3), 3-10.

• Hall, L. (2005). Teachers and content area reading: Attitudes, beliefs, and change. Teaching and Teacher Education, 21, 403-414.

• Samuel, C. (2009). High schools try out RtI. Education Week, 28(19).

• Vaughn, S., Fletcher, J., Francis, D., Denton, C., Wanzek, J., Wexler, J., Cirino, P., Barth, A., Romain, M. (2008). Response to intervention with older students with reading difficulties. Learning and Individual Differences, 18, 338–345.