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Minda Morren López, Ph.D. Texas State UniversityMinda.Lopez@txstate.edu

Edmund Gorman, Santa Fe Public Schoolsegorman@sfps.info

(Marie Mendoza, North East ISD, San Antonio, TX)

District context Dual Language Programs What is RTI? How this district is implementing RTI with Dual

Language students How a classroom teacher implements RTI with

Dual Language students Resources

Total enrollment: 67,361 Total ELLs: 8,284

Languages represented: 70+

Total on free and reduced lunch: 44.4%

Number of campuses: 65 Elementary campuses: 44

90/10 Dual Language programs: 14 No entry requirements, lottery for L1 English L1 Spanish have options for DL, Maintenance Bil & ESL

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The Two-Way Immersion/Dual Language Program in NEISD is an enriched education program that provides instruction for native English speaking and native Spanish speaking students.

In a Two-Way Immersion/Dual Language Program students receive instruction in both Spanish and English.

This model aims for biliteracy, bilingualism, high academic achievement in two languages, and multicultural understanding for all students.

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Language Distribution by Grade Level

Ideal classes are comprised of up to 50% native English speakers and up to 50% native Spanish speakers.

Hidden ForestThousand Oaks

Huebner

OAK MEADOW

Larkspur

HARMONY HILLS

Coker

DELLVIEW

Colonial Hills

West Ave

Castle Hills

Jackson-Keller

OLMOS

FOX RUN

RIDGEVIEW

Woodstone

Royal Ridge

MO

NT

GO

ME

RY

Windcrest

Camelot

El Dorado

SERNA

Northwood

Clear Spring

Northern Hills

STAHL

REDLAND OAKS

Regency Place

OAK GROVE

WALZEM

ETH

Steubing Ranch

Approved 2011-12 Bilingual Clusters

Dual Language – K-5

Colonial Hills

Dual Language - K-2 CokerEast Terrell HillsJackson-KellerStahlSteubing RanchWalzem

Wetmore

Longs Creek

WILSHIRE

Dual Language – K-2

Roan Forest Bilingual at Steubing Ranch (east of 281) or Coker (west of 281)Bulverde CreekCanyon RidgeCibolo GreenEncino ParkRoan ForestStone OakTuscany HeightsWilderness Oak

Dual Language – K-3El DoradoLarkspurOlmosRegency PlaceRidgeview

StoneOak

ROAN FOREST

Encino Park

Wilderness Oak Canyon

Ridge

Bulverde Creek

Cibolo Green

TUSCANY HEIGHTS

Hardy Oak

updated 10/13/2011

Bilingual Program Growth: 14%LEP Student Growth: 17.6%

What comes to mind when you hear “RTI”?

What does RTI look like in your district or school or classroom?

“I attended the RTI meetings and they were very specific about what should happen at Tier 1.. that was an aha moment for me… all the changes we have gone through [as a district] have really been discouraging for teachers, all the documentation part has been bogging us down… there has been a misconception of what the process looks like and it is a lot of work, and then to think that they [students] might not qualify [for special education]…” (Dual Language teacher, October 2011)

“RTI integrates high quality research based instruction, assessment, and intervention within a multi-level prevention system to maximize student achievement and to reduce behavior problems. With RTI, schools use data to identify students at risk for poor learning outcomes, monitor student progress, provide evidence-based intervention, and adjust the intensity and nature of those interventions depending on students’ responsiveness...”The National Center for Response to Intervention (NCRTI, 2010)

Response to Intervention (RTI) was first conceptualized by Stanley Deno in 1970 as a way to address the needs of all students through early identification and intervention (Buffman, A., Mattos, M., Weber, C., 2008)

IDEA was reauthorized in 2004 and attempted to ensure that all students receive high quality instruction and RTI became a part of the policy vocabulary (IDEA and NCLB) but left out research with emergent bilinguals

RTI was added to the federal law and was built around No Child Left Behind (2000) and the National Reading Panel findings (2000) and emphasized access to “effective, scientifically based instructional strategies and challenging academic content" (Public Law 107-110, p. 1439-1440)

State law requires that districts implement RTI and that interventions are in place before any special education referrals

Typically is made up of 3 tiers of instruction

Tier 1 – classroom instruction & interventions (80% of students should perform well with this)

Tier 2 – additional interventions (30 minutes daily in small group) (15% of students should perform well with this additional intervention)

Tier 3 – additional interventions with a specialist 1:1 or small group (0-5% of students may need this kind of intervention and if not effective may need Special Education services)

“Sometimes I don’t know where to start on RTI with my students.” (Dual Language teacher, February, 2012)

“I know we need to focus first and set the language issue [for assessing progress in reading], but then when you are looking at the Dual and ESL children, the measurement has to be separate” (Dual Language teacher, October, 2011)

“We need guidance – we need to know what kind of interventions are appropriate and effective for Dual Language students” (Dual Language teacher, September, 2011)

Assessment Diverse population

Students at various levels of biliteracy in both languages Students come in with and respond differently to literacy

instruction in both languages Language of instruction

Teacher competency in both languages and pedagogical knowledge Complexity of understanding how to teach reading

effectively in both languages to students learning in both languages

Complexity of knowing how to use assessments and interventions

Baca, 2009

Most teachers think of RTI as something used primarily to identify students for special education

Most teachers felt they lacked training and tools for appropriate interventions for bilingual populations

The district shifted RTI from Special Education to Curriculum Support/School Improvement at the Central Office Began holding informational meetings led by ELA and

Special Education specialists about RTI implementation district wide

Trainings attempted to shift the paradigm away from a focus on special education and interventions. Called for teachers to plan instruction to “response to individuals” and take into account the individual strengths and needs of each student

The ELL department began to plan effective RTI implementation for the students across the district 4,468 students are served in four programs at the

elementary level (as of 3/21/2012) One-Way Bilingual Education, Dual Language (Two

Way Immersion), Content-Based ESL, ESL Pull-Out and supplemental Newcomer Support Services

All Dual Language programs are strands within schools, some of those schools have multiple strands serving emergent bilinguals

“[we want to know more about] what kind of interventions we need for a child learning a second language, many teachers say they shouldn’t be in the [Dual Language] program and rather than have that be the answer, we want to be able to look at interventions” (Dual Language teacher, 10-17-2011)

“Because of lack of exposure they [teachers] are confusing the lack of skills with learning disability.” (Special education and bilingual teacher, February 23, 2012)

District providing training and support in understanding the intersections of disability, language acquisition, and literacy for principals, specialists, and teachers Principals of campuses serving emergent bilinguals have

mandatory monthly meetings with specific training for instructional needs and strategies

Teachers are involved in planning the staff development offerings--District and Campus Steering Committees for RTI and ELLs

Using district funds to assist in paying for master’s degrees in reading as part of a partnership with a local university

Catherine Collier trainings on distinguishing language from disability – including “Acculturation screen”

1. Conduct district and campus needs assessments

2. Identify research based literacy practices for instruction in Spanish and English

3. Identify practices that are not implemented regularly and effectively

4. Identify necessary resources

5. Develop action plans Professional development, administrative action, early

intervention services

6. Monitor the plansAdapted from Meadows Center/TEA materials found at http://buildingRTI.utexas.org/.

No universal screener yet. Spanish options: AIMSweb DIBELS I Station STAR

Utilize TPRI (state assessment), guided reading levels, IRIs (Informal Reading Inventories) and Fountas & Pinnell leveled system for progress monitoring

Supplement core literacy instruction Last for 4-6 weeks and are monitored for effectiveness Flexibility is needed across classrooms depending on

student need and teacher expertise Created “Roadmap” by and for teachers Additional training and support

Interventions that work for Spanish dominant students in Spanish reading vs. interventions that work for English dominant students in Spanish reading and vice versa

Should interventions occur in strongest language? (Baca, 2009) What does this mean for literacy instruction in DL programs?

Oral Language Development Language Experience Approach

Phonemic awareness Phonics

Contrastive analysis

Fluency Comprehension Vocabulary

important that learning high frequency words begins with words that are concrete and to which meaning can be attached (e.g. dog, boy, want) rather than more abstract words (than, what, if) (Escamilla, 2007)

Meadows Center (UT Austin)

Focus is to evaluate how core instruction and interventions are effective for a student

Students should be compared to other true peers (ELLs to ELLs; native English speakers to native English speakers) since their rate of progress cannot be compared across groups

Phonemic awarenessPhonicsFluencyComprehensionVocabulary

One for English and one for Spanish

Ed Gorman 4th/5th grade Dual Language Teacher Santa Fe Public Schools

Some teachers met and looked at grade levels and decided schedule according to subject area in “blocks” so they could share students across classes

Benefits for combo classes (science) Ease of “sharing” students (side effect—not “my

kids” – “our kids”) Instruction is more focused on individual

students’ needs and is data driven

RTI/ELL task force Involving teachers in the decision making level and

getting input into their needs Finding a universal screener in Spanish

IDEL (like DIBELS but Spanish), AIMSweb, TPRI, STAR

Partnership with a local University to offer onsite master’s degrees in reading with a specialization in ELLs Giving teachers the training they need to be more

successful in Tier 1 instruction

Paradigm shifting & More research Taking the conversation to the mainstream to improve

Tier 1 instruction for all

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To teach in a manner that respects and cares for the souls of our students is essential if we are to provide the necessary conditions where learning can most deeply and intimately begin.

- bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress

Universal Screeners (list of what is available in Spanish)

http://www.rti4success.org/screeningTools

Training and resources for RTI including Spanish interventions

http://buildingrti.utexas.org/rti/