Response to Intervention Surveying the Landscape in Tennessee Kathy Strunk, Ph.D. Tennessee State Improvement Grant TN DOE, Division of Special Education OSEP Project Directors’ Conference July 2007

Tennessee’s Systems Change Approach for “Building a TN RTI Road Map”  FUELING UP Emphasis on collaboration among General (including Reading First and Federal Programs (Title I) and Special Ed, Higher Ed, Other Grant Projects, Parents, and Professional Education Organizations

Tennessee’s Systems Change Approach for “Building a TN RTI Road Map”  THE JOURNEY BEGINS (Slow! Construction Zone!!!) 1st STOP: Leadership Lane 2nd STOP: RTI Bank 3rd STOP: RTI Training Institute

1st Stop of the Journey: Leadership Lane Leaders’ houses have one big table for collaborative planning and decision-making that serves as a top-down model General and Special Education Representatives at both state and local levels live here First houses built belong to SEA level reps Building phase moves on to Directors of Schools, Instructional Supervisors, Principals, District Team of Teachers TN Higher Ed Leaders residing here bring dialogue related to preservice RTI training

2 nd Stop of the Journey: RTI Bank We are making deposits (resources include people, time, and money) and are encouraging everyone to invest! Bring everyone to the board meeting and think creatively to leverage resources Tennessee’s critical investment lies with the SIG & IRIS partnership---emphasis is on professional development Examples of TN deposits: 15% of IDEA for Early Intervening Services Reading First Resources Title Resources Increase in At-Risk Funding Current Year Growth Funds Contracts with Retired Teachers

3 rd Stop of the Journey: RTI Training Institute RTI Online Modules The Tennessee State Improvement Grant and the Vanderbilt IRIS Center for Faculty Enhancement, both OSEP-funded projects, formed a partnership to develop online RTI Modules The IRIS Center For Faculty Enhancement Tennessee State Improvement Grant Office of Special Education Programs

3 rd Stop: RTI Training Institute TN SIG & IRIS Center RTI Online Modules Module I: RTI: Overview Module II: RTI: Assessment Module III: RTI: Reading Module IV: RTI: Putting it all Together Module V: RTI: RTI for Administrators (July 2007) Module VI: RTI: What is Tier 3? (December 2007)

3 rd Stop: RTI Training Institute Tennessee RTI Trainers “Train the Trainer” events with IRIS Center June 2006, January 2007, Fall 2007 Same Collaborative Representation emphasized Evaluation / Follow Up with Trainers Smaller team of “Core RTI Trainers” available anywhere in the state Master Calendar At least one Gen Ed and One Sp Ed trainer Standardized Electronic “RTI Trainers’ Suitcase” Evaluation / Follow Up with Trainers is more manageable Future Trainings will continue to include parents, professional organization representatives, others as identified

Tennessee’s Systems Change Approach for “Building the TN RTI Road Map”  FUELING UP AGAIN Emphasis on the learning curve  TN will collect data from all districts  Knox and Hamilton Counties have had state-approved RTI plans (RTI may be used for identification of SLD) in place for 4-6 years  Hardeman County is just getting started

Tennessee’s Systems Change Approach for “Building the TN RTI Road Map”  THE JOURNEY CONTINUES The fog is clearing… RTI Oversight Committee  Training on TN’s Standard for Specific Learning Disabilities  RTI District Implementation Plan  Data Collection and Management  Learning how to define “Non-responsiveness”

Contact Information Kathy Strunk