Section 3: Writing Goals and Planning Interventions through the Grouping Process. Progress Monitoring and Goal Writing

Universal Screening Data (RTI) Write Individual Student Goals (RTI) Make Groups of Similar Students Individualize Goals after Groups are made Put these students into Groups/ Approach Goal-Writing Two Ways: Tip: Think about your school schedule, staff, and resources. Will grade- level teams refer students? Will an RTI Team meet with each classroom teacher? (Special Education) Can also be used to update annual IEP goals

Grouping students in a class: Initial items to consider Small group instruction: Focus on one or two key skill areas for students whose instructional needs are similar. Homogenous Groups: When students in 1 group have similar needs, they have more time to benefit from needed practice, feedback, and help with errors. - Lowest performing students need to be in smallest groups: Recommendation: (2-3) students. - Highest of students in need of intervention: Try groups of 5. *Note: if high % of students are in need of intensive intervention, classroom instruction should mirror what small-group interventions would be.

Nine-Step Process Step 1: 1.Rank Order Intervention Students Under ONE Indicator: In DIBELS & AIMSweb, we can rank-order students by their performance on one particular indicator/ probe (e.g. NWF, ORF, R-CBM.) Since students will likely have varying scores across probes that you’ve administered, you must only rank-order by a pre-selected measure. - Do all classrooms use the same indicator? - To determine this, consider which skill is being worked on the most at your particular grade level.

Suggested Reading Indicators for Rank-Ordering Students GradeTime of YearIndicator to Use for Ranking Beginning LNF/ LSF/ ISF KMiddle LSF/ ISF End PSF Beginning PSF/NWF 1Middle NWF End NWF Beginning NWF/ORF 2Middle ORF End ORF Beginning ORF 3Middle ORF End ORF *Suggestions recommended by AIMSweb and DIBELS

Selecting Indicator to Rank-Order For AIMSweb users, make sure you select your indicator by clicking on the appropriate tab/box. *R-CBM, MAZE, and M-CBM probes are available to administer at the 1 st grade- level. Although you may administer these probes, only use them to rank-order students if you are planning intervention groups for those skills.

Step Identify and set aside students who have met the Benchmark, or who scored within the “Average range” for that indicator: - DIBELS: Reached the Benchmark - AIMSweb: Performed at or above the 25 th %ile (within the green of a box-plot.)

Sample Class List Report Set aside the students who scored within the Average range, or at/above the 25 th %ile.

Step 3: 3. Form Group Among Lowest Students: Find students at the bottom of your list with similar scores (maybe 2-3 students). Students left to be grouped after Benchmark kids are set- aside.

Students Rank-Ordered by One Indicator: R-CBM score Group lowest 3 students with similar scores This student’s score does not fit well into a small group because it is so different from others. Consider: Does this student need individualized intervention? Does he/she fit into a group from another class?

Step 4 & 5 4. Form a Group Among Highest of Rank-Ordered Kids : – Look at your students who need some level of intervention. » Kids at top and bottom likely have very different skills sets, needs. » Since these students do not need the most intensive intervention, consider grouping 3-5 students. 5. If Needed, Place Remaining Intervention Students in a Group – Focus on the middle – What is similar about these kids? – Do you have other data to consider that will help decide which students may do better grouped together than others?

Sample List These 5 students have similar scores, and can be put into another small group

Step 6: 6. Refining Groups: Look for Students Who Need Practice with an excluded skill: – You have pre-selected a measure to use in rank-ordering student scores (i.e. NWF) – Is there another group of students who are missing a particular skill? (If your data clearly indicate that a group of kids has poor letter naming skills, or poor oral reading fluency, you may be able to form another group. – This secondary group would meet in addition to all other groups.

Looking at another Indicator: Nonsense Word Fluency Suppose you notice that some students need help with an excluded skill. Although 2 nd graders are monitored for Reading Fluency (R-CBM), you know two students with weak phonics skills. You administer Nonsense Word Fluency probes to these two students and find that they are well below target. These two students would benefit from additional phonics intervention. NWF- Sounds Correct Average range for 2 nd Gr. 2 Students performing <10 th %ile. …..….. Student A Student B

Step 7: 7. Look for any students who may have been missed: – Kids perform differently on different days. – Do you have any students who made Benchmark/ Average range, but who you know (from other sources of data, i.e. classroom performance) that they are inconsistent, or would benefit from additional intervention? » Can you explain the discrepancy? » Behavior? Attendance? Attention?

Step 8: 8.Find any exceptionally high students: Kids who would be high above Benchmark, (e.g. 80th or 90th %ile) may benefit from enrichment. Consider enrichment activities that others kids can engage in. This may happen while you see lower groups for intervention.

Step 9: Defining the Instructional Purpose 9. After all groups are formed: – Write an instructional focus for each group. – Schedule a progress-monitoring schedule. – Group 1: Lowest performing students: (Sally, Ben & Johnny) » Group 1 will focus on solidifying phonics skills that are not established at this time, including basic principles of short and long vowel sounds, as well as th, sh, and ch blends. » If you group students and then define the instructional purpose of the intervention they are receiving, you can expedite writing RTI plans.

Pros & Cons Pros of Grouping Students First: – Teachers can monitor who they see for small group instruction – Group membership remains flexible over time – Easy to set-up progress monitoring schedule – Timely way to respond to student needs Can plan one intervention for all students w/similar deficits Writing RTI plans for a group is consistent (time-saving!), and you can still individualize goals. Cons of Grouping Students First: – Less emphasis on the individual student – Team may not focus on important background information. – If progress monitoring is not well-implemented, student may fall through the cracks

Questions? For additional information, please see: (Go to  Downloads  Benchmark) I've DIBEL'd Now What? By Susan L. Hall, Ed.D. WOVSED contacts: Cindy Elliott: Monica Girten: Jen Accord: Stacey Potkin: