Understanding Response to Instruction and Intervention (RtII) The School District of Philadelphia RtII District Leadership Team in collaboration with the Office of Family and Community Engagement Understanding Response to Instruction and Intervention (RtII) Special Presentation for Parents

Agenda Overview of Response to Instruction and Intervention (RtII) RtII: Academic Instruction Partnership in Literacy RtII for English Language Learners RtII and Special Education RtII: Behavioral Health Support Importance of Daily Attendance Parent’s Role in RtII Questions and Answers

What is Response to Instruction and Intervention (RtII)? A multi-level, proactive process to provide all students effective, targeted support in the areas of academics, behavior, discipline and attendance A data-driven model to enable early identification and strategic interventions for students at academic or behavioral risk A shared, collaborative, data-driven decision-making process

Key Elements of RtII Quality Standards-Based Core Curriculum RtII School Leadership Team Time for Collaboration Universal Screening Evidence-based Interventions Progress Monitoring Documentation and Accountability System Home and School Partnership for Learning

Important Terms Universal Screening School-wide use of assessments and student data to determine if each student is on track or if he or she needs additional support with building academic skills, improving behavior and attendance.

Screeners Screeners are tools used to assess ALL students: Academic Instruction: Aimsweb (Pearson) – grades K-5 STAR (Renaissance Learning) – grades 6-12 Behavioral Health Support (BHS) – variety of indicators

Interventions Interventions are additional steps, programs and services that schools use to help students get on track. In order to be used as part of RtII, the interventions must be research-based.

Important Terms Progress Monitoring Using short, targeted assessments to see if the intervention is working.

Examples of Progress Monitoring

Examples of Progress Monitoring

Tiers (Levels) of RtII Tier 1 – High quality curriculum and instruction for all students Tier 2 – Targeted interventions and support based on students’needs Tier 3 – More intensive and individualized interventions

Example of Movement between the Levels of RtII RtII Tier 2 RtII Tier 1 Screeners Progress Monitoring Intervention

Behavioral Health Support (BHS) RtII Areas of Focus Literacy Behavioral Health Support (BHS) Math RtII in our district has 3 areas of focus: Literacy, Math, and Behavior Health Support. Literacy and Math are the academic areas. We want to know how students are doing in literacy and math in all of the subject areas. Literacy and math somehow touches all subjects. For example, in Science students may have to add, subtract, divide and/or multiply. In Social Studies, students have to understand and comprehend what they are reading. We understand that if a student is struggling in their reading or math classes, this may impact their success in their other subject areas.

RtII: Academic Instruction Office of Curriculum and Assessment RtII: Academic Instruction

RtII Academics in A Nutshell Proactive Student Support Process for General Education Students Identify Students in Need Address the Students’ Needs Monitor Students’ Progress Revisit Students for Academic Success RtII – Response to Instruction and Intervention is a national initiative to support all students in the classroom. The overall goal is to be proactive by supporting our students before the ability to learn becomes critical. This means strengthening academic support for general education students. We want to decrease the number of students who fall below grade-level expectations. We want to lower, when possible, the number of students needing an IEP. That begins in the general education classroom. Because we want all students to be able to meet the standards and expectations of our school district and PA Department of Education, we have to be proactive. To be proactive, we identify, address, monitor and revisit our students for both progress and success.

RtII Model for Academic Instruction 2+ years below grade-level (chronically under-performing) Tier 3 Few students at this level Within 2 years below grade-level Intensity of Interventions Tier 2 Some students at this level Just at or above grade-level Tier 1 Most students at this level

Tiers of RtII Tier 1: Classroom Instruction / Effective Teaching (All Students) Tier 2: Additional Intervention (~15% of Students) Tier 3: Intensive Intervention (~5% of Students) Tiers 2 and 3 are in conjunction with Level 1 instruction. If a school discovers that the majority of their students are Tier 2 and/or Tier 3, then the school may choose strengthen Tier 1 for all students. Tier 1: Strategies, often called Interventions Tiers 2 & 3: Intervention Programs In this case, building-wide intervention programs would be assessable for all students.

Tier 1 Strategies Strategies/Interventions are used in our schools. Strategies are best educational practices that intervene to support students to decrease learning gaps. Strategy Examples: Guided Reading, Tutoring, Small-Group Instruction Intervention Product Examples: Study Island, Reading Eggs, First in Math

Tier 2  3 Intervention Programs Examples Evidence-based Accelerated Reader/Math Achieve 3000 Corrective Reading/Math Lexia Voyager Reading/Math Research-based Closes achievement gaps

What Does this Look Like in Your School? School Leadership Teams meet often to share student progress & success in the classroom Students are assessed at least 3 times a year to find out who is at Tier 1 or needs Tier 2 or Tier 3 support Students are grouped according to their needs for intense strategies (Tier 1) and intervention programs (Tiers 2 and 3)

What Does this Look Like in Your School? (continued) Teachers, as a team, use data to decide the intervention product or program, students need Teachers create intervention plans for our students if… They are Tier 1 needing intense intervention because they are showing signs of being at-risk for falling below grade level or at-risk for receiving a “F” for a marking period They are Tier 2 (within 2 years below grade-level) / Received an “F” for a marking period grade They are Tier 3 needing an intervention plan because they are 2 or more grade levels behind / Received a “F” for a marking period grade

Online Interventions Module for Literacy and Math Intervention plans are recorded in the Online Interventions Module Records the team of teachers/staff supporting the student Records who is delivering the intervention Records if the student is making progress Parents can request a meeting with teachers / staff to discuss their students’ RtII placement and details of their child’s RtII plans.

RtII: Partners in Literacy Office of Early Childhood Education RtII: Partners in Literacy

Home  School Partnerships You and your child’s school are partners in the learning process. Parent involvement increases your child’s learning and their achievement. You and your child’s school are partners in the learning process. Parent involvement increases your child’s learning and their achievement. Encouraging learning at home and reinforcing what is taught at school is a critical component of parent involvement.

Home  School Partnerships Reading is one of the most important skills your child will ever learn. Mastering reading will prepare your child to be successful in school and in life.

Home  School Partnerships You are your child’s first teacher Talk with your child and ask your child questions Read to your child and let your child read to you You are your child’s first teacher. There are many things you can do at home to help your child get ready to read. Talking or communicating with your child is one of the most important things you can do. Children who do not hear a lot of conversation and are not encouraged to talk often have difficulties learning to read.  

Five Essential Components of Reading There are five essential components of reading. These are the skills children must acquire to be able to read on level by the beginning and end of third grade before they transition into fourth grade.

Five Essential Components of Reading Phonemic Awareness: Recognizing and using individual sounds to create words. Phonics: Realizing the relationship between written letters and spoken sounds. Fluency: Developing the ability to read a sentence, paragraph or text accurately and quickly. Vocabulary: Learning the meaning of words by themselves and in sentences along with their pronunciation. Comprehension: Understanding what sentences, paragraphs, and stories are trying to tell us. Making sense of what we hear and read. Phonics involves the relationship between sounds and written symbols, whereas phonemic awareness involves sounds in spoken words. Therefore, phonics instruction focuses on teaching sound-spelling relationships and is associated with print. Most phonemic awareness tasks are oral. Despite these different focuses, phonics instruction and phonemic awareness instruction are connected. In fact, phonemic awareness is necessary for phonics instruction to be effective. Before students can use a knowledge of sound-spelling relationships to decode written words, they must understand that words (whether written or spoken) are made up of sounds. Phonemic awareness is the understanding that a word is made up of a series of discrete sounds. Without this insight, phonics instruction will not make sense to students.

What Do I Do If I Believe that My Child is Struggling? Support your child at home Talk with your child’s teacher: Attend parent-teacher conferences Make a list of specific questions to ask about your child’s progress Ask for regular progress reports in your child’s areas of difficulty Celebrate when progress is made; ask questions when there is little or no progress If your child is struggling (such as a child falling behind because he reads more slowly than his peers), has trouble staying focused or at any time you wonder how things are going at school, you are encouraged to: talk with your child’s teacher asking the problem-solving questions; ask for progress reports on how your child is responding to the instruction that he or she is getting in the area of difficulty; discuss strategies that are working at home and in school or elsewhere to further engage the partnership; celebrate when it is working and ask more questions when it is not working as well as you expected; and make a list of specific questions.

Questions You Can Ask Your Teachers Is my child successful? How will I know? If not, why and what can we do differently? If needed, how is additional help going to be provided for my child? By whom, how often, for how long? What can I do to help with the interventions for my child? How will I know if the interventions are working? Make a list of specific questions to ask about your child’s progress when you meet with the teachers, counselor, specialists and principal. Interventions are strategies to help your child with specific skill and areas of concerns.

RtII for English Language Learners Office of Multilingual Curriculum and Programs RtII for English Language Learners

Office of Multilingual Curriculum and Programs Our vision is “Accelerating Academic Achievement for English Language Learners”. We want to close the achievement gap between native English speakers and English language learner (ELL) students We also want to help their families to support their academic success and cultural integration. The Office of Multilingual Curriculum and Programs oversees English for Speakers of Other Language (ESOL) and Bilingual programs in the School District of Philadelphia. Our major goal is to accelerate the academic and social progress of our ELLs by supporting and monitoring schools and being more responsive and supportive to families. We want to ensure that all students who are English Language Learners (ELLs), including immigrant children and youth, attain English proficiency, develop high levels of academic achievement, and meet the same academic standards as all children are expected to meet.

How the Office of Multilingual Curriculum and Programs Supports RtII Train teachers and RTII Champions on effective teaching for English Language Learners Support teachers in identifying students who need Tier II and Tier III interventions and in choosing interventions that are proven to be successful with students who are learning English. Each learning network has a Multilingual Manager who is available to teachers when they need assistance. There is also a district level curriculum specialist who serves on the RTII leadership team.

Where do English Language Learners fit? Tier 3 Few students at this level Tier 2 Some students at this level Tier 1 ALL English Language Learners at this level Notice here that all ELLs are in tier 1 along with their native English speaking peers. This placement is because ALL students should have access to the same standards based core curriculum and instruction. ESOL services are considered an integral part of core instruction and are not “intervention”. This is why you cannot decline ESOL services for your child if he or she is identified as eligible for support. Your child should be receiving sheltered instruction that enables him or her to learn academic language and content at the same time. Core Curriculum and Instruction for ALL students includes sheltered instructional practices and Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Instruction for English Language Learners

Best Practices for English Language Learners at Tier I The Office of Multilingual Curriculum and programs expects a strong core program that: Encourages social and academic language acquisition in both ESOL and general education classes. Includes differentiated instruction and grading based on their English Proficiency level Includes culturally responsive teaching- You can help teachers be more responsive by sharing information about your child with his/her teacher

RtII Levels 2 and 3 Tier 3 Few students at this level Tier 2 Some students at this level ALL English Language Learners at this level

Tier II Interventions for English Language Learners It is not recommended that students receive interventions just because they are learning English. Teachers take the following steps: Determine whether a student is making adequate progress in English Determine if a student is making progress in literacy and math when compared with other students who are learning English – NOT compared with native English speakers! Find a good balance between ESOL instruction and Interventions because student needs to continue developing language. Interventions should also be supplemented with activities to accelerate overall language development

How can I help my child succeed? Maintain the use of your native language at home. If your child is literate in your native language it will help her/him learn English! Read with your child at home – in the language that you are most comfortable with. Talk about what you are reading – it will help your child become a more active reader. Schedule times for reading and homework, if possible. Routines are important. Ask questions and share information about your child with school staff. The more we know, the better we can serve your child’s needs at school. The district can help by providing interpreters and translations of documents.

Who Can I Contact with Questions? Your child’s ESOL teacher is an expert on language acquisition, and should also be a member of the school’s RTII team. They will be a great resource for you. Your child’s classroom teacher can answer questions about instruction. Your school’s RTII Champion will be able to answer questions about the RTII process. Your learning network’s Multilingual Manager can answer questions too.

RtII and Special Education Office of Specialized Services RtII and Special Education

Consideration for special education evaluation may occur at any time RtII and Special Education All three levels of RtII are part of a comprehensive educational system. RtII the levels should not be viewed as categorical placements or as “gates” to special education supports and services. However, referral for special education evaluation should be considered if data demonstrate continued lack of response to instruction and intervention. Tier 3 Consideration for special education evaluation may occur at any time Tier 2 Tier 1 Intervention

RtII and Special Education All special education students’ Individual Education Plan (IEP) goals are addressed through their IEP, which includes all the extra services and interventions this student needs to succeed. While an IEP may include some of the same interventions used in RtII, it is a very different process. If the student is not achieving the goals set forth in the IEP, the IEP team must revisit the IEP.

RtII: Behavioral Health Support Office of Student Support Services RtII: Behavioral Health Support Targeted and Intensive Intervention for Improving Student Attendance, Behavior, and School Climate

RtII Behavioral Health Support Addresses student attendance, behavior, and school climate issues Supports are provided based on the student’s greatest area of need or concern. There are (3) levels of support These are the three (3) major revisions to the RtII system as it relates to behavior, discipline and attendance. The District is moving away from a discipline RtII model that is separate from the Attendance and Behavior Health RtII models. Directing intervention toward the under lining reason or ‘root cause’ for misbehavior and absenteeism… unmet social emotional need. Addressing the root-cause versus the disruptive behavior will allow for greater implementation of less restrictive and less punitive consequences. Adheres to SAP mandate by utilizing a team approach for addressing issues related to drugs, alcohol and unidentified behavioral health issues. 44

Level I: School-wide Prevention School Provides: Clear set of positive expectations and rules that promote appropriate behaviors throughout the school environment.

Level II: Targeted Support Provides additional support for students who continue to struggle with attendance or behavior within Level I Students can receive support within a group or individually Level 2: • intervention programs need to be both Independently research based and evidence based • includes students who need support in addition to the regular classroom instruction • the provider is suggested to be someone other than the classroom teacher however it can be the classroom teacher (dependent upon staffing at the school) • is usually given in a group setting but can be on an individual basis, if staffing permits 46

Level III: Intensive Support Focus is on the individual student that is struggling with attendance or behavior within Levels I and II Includes referrals for support services provided by external community-based organizations. At Level 3 the focus is on an individual student and the supports that will lead to his or her success in school. These supports will look different for each individual but will have some elements in common:   •Parental participation and consent, especially when ‘non-school’ district administrated intervention, services or programs are in place or being referred. •Systems Planning team coordinates decision rules/referrals for this level of service and progress monitors •Individual team developed to support each student •Individual plans may have array of interventions/services •Plans can range from one to multiple life domains •System in place for each team to monitor student progress A student at this level may be in treatment and/or returning from an ‘out of district placement’, alternative education program or treatment facility. They may also be students in need of a placement or in need of an assessment or screening to assist with determining the appropriate Level III intervention. The parent or guardian and a group of professionals from the social services sector and the educational sector will decide the form and intensity of the intervention that will be needed to ensure success collectively. 47

Please contact your RTI/SAP Specialist For assistance or more information… Please contact your RTI/SAP Specialist

Importance of Daily Attendance Starting in kindergarten, too many absences can cause children to fall behind in school. Students can still fall behind if they miss just a day or two days every few weeks*. Absences and latenesses can affect the whole classroom if the teacher has to slow down learning to help children catch up. Being late to school may lead to poor attendance. Level 2: • intervention programs need to be both Independently research based and evidence based • includes students who need support in addition to the regular classroom instruction • the provider is suggested to be someone other than the classroom teacher however it can be the classroom teacher (dependent upon staffing at the school) • is usually given in a group setting but can be on an individual basis, if staffing permits * Attendance in Early Elementary Grades: Association with Student Characteristics, School Readiness and Third Grade Outcomes, Applied Survey Research. May 2011. 49

RtII Model for Attendance Interventions are generated with a referral to Truancy Court Intensive and comprehensive interventions are coordinated and monitored by the School District, DHS, and Family Court School age students with 10 or more unexcused /illegal absences Tier 3 Few students at this level Parent Notification (C-31) Parent conference School works with the family to eliminate barriers to attendance Students with 3 or more unexcused/ illegal absences Tier 2 Some students at this level Clear attendance expectations shared with all students Tier 1 All students at this level

Please contact your Attendance Coordinators For Attendance and Truancy Support… Please contact your Attendance Coordinators Learning Networks 1 - 4 Kelly Aichele 215-400-6972 kaichele@philasd.org Learning Networks 5 - 8 Maurice West 215-400-5442 mwest@philasd.org

What can we do as parents to help our students succeed? Home  School Partnerships What can we do as parents to help our students succeed?

Questions ?