Connecting Evidence-Based Instructional Practices to RTI

William Baker

pow2@mac.com

Agenda

• RTI Basics Review

• What’s in the Courts

• Math

• Writing

• Reading

Primary Prevention:

School-/Classroom-

Wide Systems for

All Students,

Staff, & Settings

Secondary Prevention:

Specialized Group

Systems for Students with

At-Risk Behavior

Tertiary Prevention:

Specialized

Individualized

Systems for Students with

Intensive Needs

~80% of Students

~15%

~5%

CONTINUUM OF

SCHOOL-WIDE

SUPPORT

RTI Review

• Five basic parts

– Screening

– Tiered Level of Instruction

– Progress Monitoring

– Data-Based Decision Making

– Fidelity

Four Step Process

Step 1: Screening (Responsibility: General

Education and Special Education)

Step 2a: Implementing General Education (Tier 1;

Responsibility: General Education)

Step 2b: Monitoring Responsiveness to General

Education (Responsibility: General Education and

Special Education)

Four Step Process (continued)

• Step 3a: Implementing a Supplementary, Diagnostic Instructional Trial (Tier 2; (Responsibility: General Education and Special Education)

• Step 3b: Monitoring Responsiveness to a Supplementary, Diagnostic Instructional Trial (Tier 2; Responsibility: General Education and Special Education)

• Step 4: Designation of Disability, Classification of Disability, and Special Education Placement (Responsibility: Special Education)

Commissioner’s Rules

(9) Learning disability.

(A) Prior to and as part of the evaluation described in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph and 34 CFR, §§300.307-300.311, and in order to ensure that underachievement in a child suspected of having a specific learning disability is not due to lack of appropriate instruction in reading or mathematics, the following must be considered:

Commissioner’s Rules

(i) data that demonstrates the child was provided appropriate instruction in reading (as described in 20 USC, §6368(3)), and/or mathematics within general education settings delivered by qualified personnel; and

Commissioner’s Rules

(ii) data-based documentation of repeated assessments of achievement at reasonable intervals, reflecting formal evaluation of student progress during instruction. Data-based documentation of repeated assessments may include, but is not limited to, response to intervention progress monitoring results, in-class tests on grade-level curriculum, or other regularly administered assessments.Intervals are considered reasonable if consistent with the assessment requirements of a student's specific instructional program.

Commissioner’s Rules

(B) A student with a learning disability is one who:

(i) has been determined through a variety of assessment tools and strategies to meet the criteria for a specific learning disability as stated in 34 CFR, §300.8(c)(10), in accordance with the provisions in 34 CFR, §§300.307-300.311; and

(ii) does not achieve adequately for the child's age or meet state-approved grade-level standards in oral expression, listening comprehension, written expression, basic reading skill, reading fluency skills, reading comprehension, mathematics calculation, or mathematics problem solving when provided appropriate instruction, as indicated by performance on multiple measures such as in-class tests; grade average over time (e.g. six weeks, semester); norm- or criterion-referenced tests; statewide assessments; or a process based on the child's response to scientific, research-based intervention ; and

Commissioner’s Rules

(I) does not make sufficient progress when provided a process based on the child's response to scientific, research-based intervention (as defined in 20 USC, §7801(37)), as indicated by the child's performance relative to the performance of the child's peers on repeated, curriculum-based assessments of achievement at reasonable intervals, reflecting student progress during classroom instruction ; or

Commissioner’s Rules

(II) exhibits a pattern of strengths and weaknesses in performance, achievement, or both relative to age, grade-level standards, or intellectual ability , as indicated by significant variance among specific areas of cognitive function, such as working memory and verbal comprehension, or between specific areas of cognitive function and academic achievement.

Why do you write FIEs?

• Establishing eligibility

• Documenting intervention efforts

• Or?

– “Determining why a child has not responded to research-based interventions requires a comprehensive evaluation.”

• Comments to the Federal Regulations 2006

RTI in the Courts

• General education process for identification

• Child Find

• Parent Requests

Web Resources

• What Works Clearinghouse

• Intervention Central

• Florida Center for Reading Research

• National Center for Accelerating Student Learning (CASL)

A Familiar Sounding Problem

• Ana’s car gets 25 miles per gallon of gas. Nick’s car gets 17 miles per gallon of gas. And Sara’s car gets 12 miles per gallon of gas. How many more miles per gallon of gas does Ana’s car get than Sara’s car?

National Math Panel Report

• Curricular Content

• Learning Processes

• Teachers and Teacher Education

• Instructional Practices

• Instructional Materials

• Assessment

• Research

Math Instructional Practice

• All-encompassing recommendations that instruction should be entirely “student centered” or “teacher directed” are not supported by research. If such recommendations exist, they should be rescinded. If they are being considered, they should be avoided. High-quality research does not support the exclusive use of either approach.

Math Instructional Practice

• Research has been conducted on a variety of cooperative learning approaches. One such approach, Team Assisted Individualization (TAI), has been shown to improve students’ computation skills. This highly structured pedagogical strategy involves heterogeneous groups of students helping each other, individualized problems based on student performance on a diagnostic test, specific teacher guidance, and rewards based on both group and individual performance. Effects of TAI on conceptual understanding and problem solving were not significant.

Math Instructional Practices

• Teachers’ regular use of formative assessment improves their students’ learning, especially if teachers have additional guidance on using the assessment to design and to individualize instruction. Although research to date has only involved one type of formative assessment (that based on items sampled from the major curriculum objectives for the year, based on state standards), the results are sufficiently promising that the Panel recommends regular use of formative assessment for students in the elementary grades.

Math Instructional Practices

The use of “real-world” contexts to introduce mathematical ideas has been advocated, with the term “real world” being used in varied ways. A synthesis of findings from a small number of high-quality studies indicates that if mathematical ideas are taught using “real-world” contexts, then students’ performance on assessments involving similar “real-world” problems is improved. However, performance on assessments more focused on other aspects of mathematics learning, such as computation, simple word problems, and equation solving, is not improved.

More Math Instructional Practices

• Explicit instruction with students who have mathematical difficulties has shown consistently positive effects on performance with word problems and computation. Results are consistent for students with learning disabilities, as well as other students who perform in the lowest third of a typical class. By the term explicit instruction, the Panel means that teachers provide clear models for solving a problem type using an array of examples, that students receive extensive practice in use of newly learned strategies and skills, that students are provided with opportunities to think aloud (i.e., talk through the decisions they make and the steps they take), and that students are provided with extensive feedback.

This finding does not mean that all of a student’s mathematics instruction should be delivered in an explicit fashion. However, the Panel recommends that struggling students receive some explicit mathematics instruction regularly. Some of this time should be dedicated to ensuring that these students possess the foundational skills and conceptual knowledge necessary for understanding the mathematics they are learning at their grade level.

Even More!!!

• Research on instructional software has generally shown positive effects on students’ achievement in mathematics as compared with instruction that does not incorporate such technologies. These studies show that technology-based drill and practice and tutorials can improve student performance in specific areas of mathematics. Other studies show that teaching computer programming to students can support the development of particular mathematical concepts, applications, and problem solving.

Math Interventions

• Class

– Feedback to students, parents, and teachers

– Peer tutoring

– Explicit teaching of math concepts

• Small Group instruction

• Teacher directed (with modeling)

• Academically focused

• Individual student needs

• Task Analysis and Self-Talk

Math Intervention

• Small Group/Individual

– Explicit explanations

– Pictorial representations

– Verbal rehearsal with fading

– Intensive timed practice on mixed problem sets

– Cumulative review

– Concrete materials

– Peer tutoring and pairing

Math-What Works Clearinghouse

• Elementary – Odyssey Math (web based: K -8) and Everyday Mathematics (PK-6)

• Middle School – Cognitive Tutor Algebra I (software and textbooks); I CAN Learn Pre Algebra and Algebra (software); and The Expert Mathematician (software and printed consumables

• High School – Core Plus Mathematics (four-year curriculum)

What Works Clearinghouse

• http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/

• Program Reviews

• Practice Guides

Math-Intervention Central

• Incremental Rehearsal

• Question-Answer Relationships to Interpret Math Graphics

• Cover-Copy-Compare

• Story Problem Solving Steps

Intervention Central

• http://www.interventioncentral.org/

• RTI resources

• Interventions

Combine these two sentences…

• John went to the store.

• John bought three apples.

Combine these sentences…

• Future administrators are smart.

• Future administrators deserve higher salaries.

Combine these sentences…

• I did not get enough gifts.

• My wife was mad at me.

Writing Intervention

• Handwriting– Explicit teaching of letters and words

• Spelling– Instruction focused on explicit orthographic (letter)

patterns– Transfer of instruction into writing practice

• Written Expression– Increased writing practice– Combining two related sentences into one

Writing Intervention

• Class– SRSD – Self-Regulated Strategy Development

– http://kc.vanderbilt.edu/casl/srsd.html

• Develop and activate background knowledge (Class)

• Discuss the strategy, including benefits and expectations (Class)

• Model the strategy (Teacher)

• Memorize the strategy (Student)

• Support the strategy collaboratively (Teacher & Class)

• Use the strategy by yourself, independently (Student)

Writing Intervention

• SRSD (continued)

– Goal setting

– Self-instruction (e.g., talk-aloud)

– Self-monitoring

– Self-reinforcement

Writing – What Works Clearinghouse

• Read, Write &TypeTM

– Teaches reading through writing

– Six to nine year olds

– More of an alphabetics program

Writing-Pointers from Vaughn and Bos

• Writing strategies – planning, revising, and editing• Combine sentences• Work in cooperative pairs• Establish goals• Access and practice to word processing• Prewriting practices• Inquiry activities to analyze data• Extended time for writing and revision• Provide models of good writing for comparison• Use writing to enhance knowledge of content

Strategies for Students with Learning and Behavior Problems, 7th ed. P. 381-2

Basic Reading - WRLD

• Cognitive processes– Phonological Awareness

• Alphabetic principle and coarticulation

– Rapid Naming– Phonological Memory

• Subtypes – Phonological– Orthographic (Surface)

Basic Reading Intervention

• Class

– Direct Instruction

– Explicit Code Instruction

– Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS)

Basic Reading Intervention

• Small group/individual

– “program is less important than how it is delivered” Learning Disabilities, Fletcher, et al., p.161.

– Intensity (greater number of hours for grade 2 and above)

– Explicit instruction

• Academic content, teach to mastery, provide scaffolding and emotional support, and monitor progress

– instRoutines_1PA6.pdf

– instRoutines_2P_ConDig.pdf

Basic Reading-What Works Clearinghouse

• Corrective Reading

• DaisyQuest(software package)

• Early Intervention in Reading (EIR) (picture books)

• Earobics(software)

• Fast ForWord(computer-based products)

• Ladders to Literacy (supplemental curriculum)

• Lexia Reading (computer program)

• Lindamood Phonemic Sequencing (LiPS)

Basic Reading-What Works Clearinghouse (cont.)

• Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS)

• Read, Write & Type (software)

• Reading Recovery (tutoring program)

• Sound Partners (tutoring program)

• SpellRead(Grade 2 or above)

• Start Making a Reader Today (SMART) (tutoring program)

• Stepping Stones to Literacy (SSL) (supplemental curriculum)

Basic Reading-What Works Clearinghouse

• Success for All (SFA)

• Voyager Universal Literacy System*

• Waterford Early Reading Program

• Wilson Reading System

Basic Reading – NRP Report

• Phonemic Awareness Training– Manipulating phonemes with letters

– Teaching one or two types of phoneme manipulations

– Teaching in small groups

• Phonics– Systematic systems

• Synthetic Phonics—Teaching students explicitly to convert letters into sounds (phonemes) and then blend the sounds to form recognizable words.

Reading Comprehension

• Subtypes– Accuracy– Fluency– Listening Comprehension

• Cognitive Processes– Language– Listening Comprehension– Working Memory– Making inferences– Comprehension monitoring– Story structure sensitivity

Reading Comprehension Interventions

• Class

– Explicit instruction

– Multiple opportunities for instruction

– Carefully sequenced lessons

– Strategy instruction

– Involving content area teachers in reading comprehension instruction

Reading Comprehension -Interventions

• Comprehension monitoring

• Cooperative learning

• Graphic and semantic organizers

• Story structure

• Question answering

• Question generating

• Summarization

• Multiple strategy teaching

Reading Comprehension –Interventions for LD

• Activating background knowledge

• Comprehension monitoring

• Questioning

• Focusing on main idea in summarization

• Explicit teaching of vocabulary

• Graphic and semantic organizers

• instRoutines_2VBWP.pdf

• instRoutines_3CCSFET.pdf

Vocabulary-NRP

• Oral language development

• Age appropriateness/Ability appropriateness

• Computer instruction

• Storybook reading/listening to others

• Learning words before reading a text

• Repeated exposure in various contexts

• Substituting easy words for more difficult words for low-achieving students

Comprehension - NRP

• Comprehension monitoring

• Cooperative learning

• Use of graphic and semantic organizers

• Question answering

• Question generation

• Story structure

• Summarization

• Combining multiple strategies

Reading Comprehension-What Works Clearinghouse

• Early Intervention in Reading (EIR)

• Failure Free Reading (Language Development Program)

• Lexia Reading

• Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies

• Reading Recovery

• Sound Partners

• SpellRead

• Start Making a Reader Today (SMART)

Reading Comprehension-Intervention Central

• “Click or Clunk?”: A Student Comprehension Self-Check• Advanced Story Map• Keywords: A Memorization Strategy• Main-Idea Maps• Mental Imagery: Improving Text Recall• Oral Recitation Lesson• Prior Knowledge: Activating the “Known”• Question-Generation• Reading Comprehension Fix-Up Skills• Reciprocal Teaching: A Reading Comprehension Package• Text Lookback

Reading Fluency

• Subtypes– Accuracy

– Rate

– Double Deficit

• Cognitive Processes– Word recognition

– Rapid naming

– Speeded processing

– Executive functioning

– Orthographic processing

Reading Fluency - Interventions

• Repeated oral readings

• Peer and adult modeling

• Read Naturally– Oral reading of short, interesting passages

– Read with a videotape at a challenging pace

– Monitoring progress through graphing

• Reading lists of words

• Grouping words orthographically

• instRoutines_2FRRW.pdf

Reading Fluency-What Works Clearinghouse

• Corrective Reading (Early Reading)• Earobics• Fluency Formula (supplemental curriculum 1-6)• Ladders to Literacy• Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies• Reading Recovery• Sound Partners• SpellRead• Start Making a Reader Today (SMART)• Fast ForWord (adolescent)• Reading Mastery (adolescent)

Reading Fluency-Intervention Central

• Assisted Reading Practice

• Error Correction & Word Drill Techniques

• HELPS Reading Program

• Kids as Reading Helpers: A Peer Tutor Training Manual

• Listening Passage Preview

• Paired Reading

The Florida Center for Reading Research

• http://www.fcrr.org/assessment/ET/routines/routines.html

Bibliography

• Strategies for Educating Students with Learning and Behavioral Problems, 7th Ed –Bos and Vaughn

• Learning Disabilities: From Identification to Intervention – Fletcher, Lyon, Fuchs, and Barnes