June 5, 2014 Michelle Burks - Elementary ELA Coordinator

 RSA is the Reading Sufficiency Act  The purpose it to require early childhood intervention and ensure that students are reading on grade level by 3 rd grade.  RSA is the OSDE mandating that we Screen, Monitor and Intervene with all students in grades K-3.  RSA is the OSDE requiring us schools to provide Response to Intevention (RTI).  RSA is the law

 We need to screen our students for reading difficulties.  Without the law many students would never be screened, progress monitored or tested at all.  Students need to be on grade level be for entering 4 th grade if it is within their cognitive abilities.  K-3 is a time where we learn to read, 4 th grade is the beginning of “reading to learn” and students need a strong foundation.

 It’s political  It’s additional red tape on something we are already doing  It has become overly complicated  It now has very steep consequences

Step 1: Screen all of your students (even students on an IEP). Step 2: Really dig deep into your screening results and make them worth your time. Step 3: Provide your struggling students with intervention and then monitor the progress of that intervention. Step 4: Document what you are doing.

 Good interventions are targeted, directed and intensive.  A good intervention is skill specific. Ex. Long vowels, digraphs, fluency rate, sight words…etc.  Pick one skill and work only on that skill during intervention until progress is made.  Progress monitor your interventions. Either by using STAR, DIBELS or a teacher created assessment.  Document your time and track what you are doing.

 Students who score in the Unsatisfactory range on the reading portion of the 3 rd OCCT will be retained by law IF they do not meet one of the 6 good cause exemptions (GCE).  As of May 2014 a committee can over ride the law and promote a student if they unanimously decide that is what is best for the child.  The committee must have: principal, parent, 3 rd grade teacher, 4 th grade teacher, reading specialist. The decision to promote must be unanimous.

 The OSDE requires us to choose an assessment, our is the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS)  DIBELS is our Universal Screening tool, meaning we screen every student with this assessment to gain a baseline.  We are required by law to benchmark our students 3 times per year and progress monitor at least monthly.

 It’s relatively short, and still provides you with oral reading information.  You are provided with a substitute teacher to assist you in your benchmark assessments three times per year.  It gives teachers valid information to determine if a child is AT RISK of a reading difficulty.  It’s just a screening tool, it is not the only assessment to use when making instructional decisions. (STAR, informal class assessments)  DIBELS give you a baseline.

 You can progress monitor after every 4 interventions?  Frequent progress monitoring can speed up the RTI Special Ed referral process.  You can progress monitor with out of level materials?  We receive RSA funds based on every student who does not meet the Fall Benchmark. Test them early, it only makes you look better in the end.

 It is the law that every child who does not meet the Fall and Winter benchmark be placed on an RSA Academic Performance Plan (APP).  This plan states: how the student performed, what you the teacher are going to do for them, what if any additional services the child will receive.  The APP must be signed by the parent in the fall and the spring and kept on file in the students cumulative record.  You must by law document your interventions.  Document, document, document

 You must enter your data into after every benchmark and progress monitoring.  You must notify parents of the students progress.  Explain DIBELS to your parents using the Parents Report.  If you have questions check the video tutorials.  Check the DISTRICT website for forms and information.

Questions, Comment, Concerns