1. Dr. Denise P. Gibbs, Director Alabama Scottish Rite Foundation
STUDENT
SUCCESS
RtI
SPED
Dr. Denise P. Gibbs, Director
Alabama Scottish Rite Foundation
Learning Centers

2. This presentation is being provided today at no cost by the Alabama Scottish Rite Foundation. The philanthropy of the Alabama Scottish Rite Foundation began in the 1950’s in Alabama and continues today. The mission of the Alabama Scottish Rite Foundation is to provide help to Alabama Schools as they work with students who struggle in reading -particularly those students with dyslexia.

3. Alabama’ RTI Framework
Two documents for download at alsde.edu (special links)
Response to Instruction: Alabama Core Support For All Students
A Problem Solving Team Process

4. Questions from SPED Coordinators
Screening questions
What are some examples of universal screeners?
What areas must be screened?
When do you screen?

5. Screening: What and When
Screen basic math and reading skills
For K-3 students, ALL students should be screened 3 times per year.
For grade 4-12 students, schools could:
Screen all students (as in K-3)
screen all entering students
complete a records review and then “screen” students below a designated level

6. A few of the peer-reviewed screening tools
AIMSWEB (reading, math, spelling, written expression pre K-12) Aggregate Growth Scores
DIBELS (reading K-6)
STEEP (reading and math K-12)
Independent, peer-review of screening and progress monitoring tools

7. A look at some reading and math screening probes
R-CBM
Mazes
Math Computation
Math Concepts and Applications

8. System-wide intervention criteria
School systems will need to determine the screening outcomes which will result in intervention consideration and referral to one of the problem solving teams.
If score is below ___ then student will be reviewed by the appropriate problem solving team
Could choose “arbitrary percentile score”
Could choose score which predicts success on high stakes test like ARMT or ASGHE

9. Screening and Progress Monitoring
Need to select a screening tool which also has some useful progress monitoring tools “built into their package”
Progress should be monitored weekly
Incorrect progress monitoring tool use is a “deal breaker”

10. Questions from SPED Coordinators
Tier questions
Define Tier II and Tier III.
Who would be in Tier II?
Examples of class set-up for Tier II
Amount of intervention times for Tier II
Intervention strategies for Tier II
How long in Tier II before you move to Tier III?
What does Tier II look like?
How is Tier III different from activities in Tier II?

11. Elementary Tier Model (K-3)
Plus Special Education
? % 5%
Tier 3
Intensive Intervention 60 minutes
Intervention 30 minutes per day in the classroom
Tier 2
15%
Comprehensive Core 90 minutes per day reading 60 minutes per day math
Tier 1
80%

12. Academically, what should Tier 1 include for elementary students?
MINIMUM of 90 minutes in reading and 60 minutes in math of uninterrupted core instruction
NRP and NMAP suggest a combination of whole and small group differentiated instruction
The five big ideas from the NRP and critical benchmarks from NMAP!

13. Tier 2 for elementary students….
Additional small group instruction
Best when provided by classroom teacher
At least weeks in duration**
Frequent progress monitoring
May need additional rounds of Tier 2 if “adequate progress” is being made
May need to move to Tier 3 if “inadequate progress” is being made

14. Tier 3 for K-3 students Intensive intervention
Does not replace or supplant (Tier 1) but may replace Tier 2
Designed to meet identified student needs in math, reading, and behavior
Student will miss something
Decide what will be missed
Schedule for success!
Who might provide this intervention?
Title I; reading, math, or behavior interventionists; SPED; Para; Classroom teacher, etc

15. Intensive Intervention classes
Grade 4-12 Tier Model
Plus Special Education
? %
Tier 3 5%
Intensive Intervention classes
Differentiated strategy instruction in content classes small group-intentional groupings
Tier 2
15%
Tier 1
80%
Core instruction=Strategy instruction in content classes whole and small group

16. About Grades 4-12 Tier 1 Students learn how to learn
Strategic teaching in ALL classes
Some time for students to work with peers daily in ALL classes
Encourages student engagement
Students become active participants in the learning process
Students “make their own meaning”

17. About Grades 4-12 Tier 2 Differentiated strategic teaching
Teacher explicitly models strategies with students and scaffolds as needed
Opportunities for peer-tutors and heterogeneous grouping (weaker with stronger and teacher rotates among groups)
Opportunities for homogeneous grouping (weak come together and teacher works with that group)

18. About Grades 4-12 Tier 3
Intensive intervention classes for students who need them (math, reading, and behavior)
Reading – Word-level interventions and comprehension interventions
Math – Computation and problem solving interventions
Behavior- small group sessions/classes
Scheduling options
Grade specific intervention times
Acceleration block

19. Questions from SPED Coordinators
Intervention questions
Intervention strategies for Tier II
Examples of Tier III interventions

20. Some ideas from K-3 Intervention Research
Scammacca, N., Vaughn, S., Roberts, G., Wanzek, J., & Torgesen, J. K. (2007).
All of the effective Tier 2 interventions included training in:
phonological awareness
decoding, and word study
guided and independent reading of progressively more difficult texts
writing exercises
engaging students in practicing comprehension strategies while reading text.

21. An intervention study illustrating effective Tier 2 options….

22. Early Interventions in Reading (Torgesen and Mathes, 2005)
120 lessons, 40 minutes, 3-5 students
Mathes, et al 2005 study ….
Excellent gains after 91 hours of instruction
Only 1% of the students were reading below the average range (30th percentile)!
Intervention students had steeper rates of improvement than typical readers on word reading, passage fluency, and phonological awareness.
Published by SRA

23. Responsive Reading Instruction (Denton and Hocker, 2006)
40 minute lessons; 3 students
Mathes, et al 2005 study ….
Excellent gains after 91 hours of instruction
Only 7% of the students were reading below the average range (30th percentile)!
Intervention students had steeper rates of improvement than typical readers on word reading, passage fluency, and phonological awareness.
Published by Cambrium Learning

24. Tier 3 Literacy Interventions
No standard treatment protocols at this level….one size will not fit all!
Word-level interventions
Comprehension/Vocabulary interventions

25. Word-level Interventions Emphasize (Simmons & Kame'enui, 2004)
Phonemic awareness (prerequisite skills)
Letter sound correspondence
Regular word reading (using decoding skills)
Regular word reading in text (lots of text!)
Irregular word reading
Advanced word analysis
All six syllable types
Prefixes and suffixes

26. Comprehension/Vocabulary Interventions Emphasize
Magnificent seven (Pearson, et al., 1992)
Making connections to prior knowledge
Inferring and predicting
Asking questions
Determining important ideas and summarizing
Visualizing
Synthesizing and retelling
Monitoring and clarifying understanding of text and vocabulary

27. Examples of Tier 3 Word-Level Interventions
LANGUAGE!
Project Read
Slingerland
Spalding Writing Road to Reading
S.P.I.R.E.
Take Flight
Wilson Reading System

28. Examples of Tier 3 Comprehension/Vocabulary Interventions
Corrective Reading: Comprehension
Language for Learning
Language for Thinking
Text Talk
Voyager Passport and Voyager Journeys
AMP Reading System

29. Questions from SPED Coordinators
RTI and SPED eligibility questions
When should referral be to SPED?
What must SPED look for in RTI information before accepting a referral?

30. When should referral be to SPED?
When the process has been followed with consistency and documentation shows the need for more intensive interventions.
Some valuable documentation forms
Student Intervention Documentation Form
K-3 walkthrough
4-12 walkthrough

31. One more thing from Denise…SPED after RTI?
LRE will be impacted!
How will we use inclusion?
Need for DIRECT services
Intensive, intensive intervention if Tiers did not result in success!
Probably some 1:1
Must have homogeneous grouping if not 1:1
Ongoing progress monitoring

32. THANK YOU! gibbsdenise@aol.com
RTI for Middle and High School: Structures and Strategies for Literacy Success (2009)