1. Response to Intervention
PTA Meeting
Tuesday, December 11, 2012

2. How do we fund this? Use of general fund dollars Use of federal grant
Portion of 11 teachers’ salaries to support literacy and math instruction
Literacy intervention, ACHIEVE 3000
Supplies and materials
Required to update our parents yearly on how these funds are utilized

3. What is Response to Intervention?
Practice of
Providing high quality instruction/intervention matched to student needs
Using learning rate over time and level of performance
Making important educational decisions for all students
General Education support for students

4. Why are we focused on this now?
NYS school districts must establish practices and procedures for implementing District-wide initiatives that address Response to Intervention (RTI) for all students (Commissioner’s Regulations).
District Plans must be in place by June 30, 2012.

5. Why RTI?
Change in the way students are identified as learning disabled (IDEA reauthorization of 2004).
Of the six million children in special education, almost half are identified as learning disabled. This group has grown 300% since 1976.
Of those with “specific learning disabilities,” 80% are there because they haven’t learned to read.

6. RTI General Goals Improve student achievement
Provide early interventions for struggling learners
Be proactive rather than reactive
Make decisions based on the use of student data
Improve communication for all stakeholders
Provide teacher support through resources and training
Decrease number of special education referrals

7. RTI Academic and Behavioral Goals
Increase the number of students that meet or exceed state standards
Improve student performance on local assessments
Increase graduation rate
Decrease number of failures per class
Decrease the dropout rate
Improve on-task behavior
Decrease the number of behavior referrals
Decrease the number of suspensions

8. We are building on what we have always done . . .
K-12 interventions in Math and ELA
K-5 reading teachers
K-5 math teacher
6-12 support in ELA and Math through academic intervention, reading and writing labs, etc.
More structured approach based on three tiers on need

9. Three-Tier Intervention System (Academic and Behavioral)
Tier I – Interventions provided in the classroom by the classroom teacher (80-90% of students)
Tier 2 – Services delivered by teacher or academic support instructor (current academic intervention services) (5-15% of students)
Tier 3 – Further service needed as a result of additional analysis of results of progress monitoring (1-5% of students)

10. How did we do this work?
Work led by Susan Johnson, utilizing Teachers’ Center grant
Supported by Syracuse Teachers’ Center, Stephanie Pelcher
Created RTI Committee with Subcommittees in four key areas:
Policy
Forms
Assessments and Progress Monitoring
Interventions

11. RTI Committee Timeline
Kickoff meeting with Stephanie Pelcher, November 2011
Subcommittee meeting, December 2011
Subcommittee research, December 2011 through January 2012
Draft documents prepared and submitted for review, January 2012
Committee meeting to discuss subcommittee feedback, February 2012
Final draft documents submitted for review mid-March 2012
Final Committee meeting, March 2012
RTI Steering Committee formed, April 2012
Board of Education presentation, April 2012
Presentation to faculties, Stephanie Pelcher, June 5, 2012
Training of Student Support Team in Tier 3 problem-based intervention process, June 2012
Rollout to faculty, August 2012
Meetings of RTI Steering Committee, ongoing

12. RTI Subcommittees

13. Policy/Plan Subcommittee
Essential components of policy/plan:
Universal screening of all students in ELA and math
Scientific, research-based instruction in reading, math, and behavior
Progress monitoring to determine whether interventions result in student progress
Data from interventions will guide educational decisions
Student Support Team will be in place at each school to review student information and make decisions
Written notification will be sent to parents when students require Tier 2 and 3 interventions

14. Forms Subcommittee Goal: To create forms for use in Tier 3 Process
Reviewed several examples from other districts
Compiled a list of forms for creation and prioritized the list
Created the essential forms to be used to collect and review data, create a plan, and progress monitor interventions
Next Steps: Align forms with process outlined in Policy statements

15. Assessment and Progress Monitoring Subcommittee
Reviewed RTI plans of different school districts
Met with Carole Hayes, the ELA Coordinator at Caledonia- Mumford, who shared her school district's RTI plan
Examined what our District uses for assessment and progress monitoring
Organized the information to show
which assessments will be used
range of services within RTI
which assessments will monitor progress
who can deliver services

16. Interventions Subcommittee
Reviewed and compiled research-based interventions
Interventions compiled into separate elementary (K-5) and secondary (6-12) resources
Interventions contained in RTI Plan:
Organized into the areas of Reading/Writing, Mathematics, and Behavior Management
Accessible to District staff in both hard-copy and digital form
Include strategies that span all three tiers
Include both teacher-led programs and computer-based software
Extensive bibliography of published resources recommended for RTI teacher resource library

17. ACHIEVE 3000 Funded through federal grant
All students in grades K through 12 are engaging in intervention
TJC students participate three times per week
MS/HS students in ELA support participate three times per week
All MS/HS teachers are integrating ACHIEVE 3000 into instruction to infuse literacy
Computer adaptive program that identifies reading levels of all students and presents informational articles to students at their reading levels

18. Questions?