Ridgefield Public School Response to Intervention Pilot April 7, 2016

1. Ridgefield Public SchoolResponse to Intervention PilotApril 7, 2016 Janet Seabold, Dawn Mazzola, Charlotte Weeks, & Theresa Serafimov

2. A review of RTI Response to Intervention (RTI) integrates assessment and intervention within a multi-level prevention system to maximize student achievement. With RTI, our schools identify students at risk of insufficient acquisition of skills, monitors individual student progress, provides evidence-based interventions, and adjusts the intensity and nature of those interventions depending on a student’s responsiveness. This allows the teacher to create a personal learning path for each student.

3. Ridgefield RTI Program Expansion & Improvements • An intervention specialist is assigned on a full time basis to Grades K – 6 • All teachers in Grades K – 3 have been trained in Recipe for Reading, which directly aligns to our intervention program • Students in Grades K – 6 are being assessed using the AIMSweb program three times per year • Students who are identified as requiring RTI services are being progress monitored every six weeks to determine progress • The AIMSweb assessment system allows administration to determine student, as well curricular weaknesses within our elementary programming • Services have been expanded to Grades 7 – 9 through the use of the Achieve 3000 online reading program

4. Ongoing Student Assessment: AIMSweb AIMSweb continues to be the computer program used in Ridgefield. It stores and norms student data, allowing for frequent progress monitoring and analysis. AIMSweb is used for the universal screening of all students, which results in the identification of students at risk for academic failure. What is progress monitoring? • AIMSweb provides quick probe assessments in a variety of subject areas that can be administered as often as once per week. This helps the specialist to determine whether or not the intervention is meeting the student’s academic needs. • Students scoring below the 25th percentile in reading, written expression, and math computation are given explicit, systematic instruction and progress monitored regularly. • Program success is determined, in part, by the rates of improvement being met by the students whose progress is being monitored.

5. Sample Data Reporting: Student A • Aimsweb reports indicated that Student A was not projected to reach the Rate of Improvement (R.O.I.). The student did not make the expected growth.

6. Student AThe Aimsweb data allowed the R.T.I. team to identify a student at risk of academic failure. In addition, the data was used to help define the skills Student A needed in order to be more successful in reading comprehension. Student A’s early data indicated that he could decode, however had not yet achieved the adequate fluency rate . Fluency instruction and progress monitoring in oral reading were added to Student A’s program.

7. Student BThis student has made adequate scores on his benchmark testing and might otherwise be ineligible for services. Due to frequent progress monitoring, we are able to track his inconsistent performance and target needs that might otherwise have been missed.

8. Student CStudent C was found to be at risk during the Universal Screening process. Student C lacked early numeracy skills. This student received Intervention Services and was monitored over a six-week period. With direct explicit instruction, Student C was able to close his learning gap. Frequent progress monitoring indicated that he had met his goal and no longer required R.T.I services.

9. Student DThrough Universal screening, student D was found to be at risk in math computation. Upon further examination of her test, it was noted that she lacked Rapid Automated Response when presented with addition and subtraction facts. Flashcards and frequent timed fluency drills were the recommended intervention to assist in increasing her rapid automated response while completing computation problems. This graph indicates her slow, but steady, improvement.

10. Second Grade Data ChangesThe second grade saw a decrease in the number of students falling below the 25th percentile in Math Concepts and Applications, but an increase in students falling below the 25th percentile in Math Computation. This was discovered to be due to an emphasis in Common Core math curriculum on application and less on strict computation. As a result, a recommendation was made to the classroom teachers to incorporate 2-minute math fluency drills weekly.

11. Second Grade Data ChangesIn Reading Comprehension, the number of students who fell in the average range remained approximately the same from fall to winter. However, we are able to analyze the data further to ascertain that, in the fall, 43 of those students fell below the 50th percentile, while in the winter only 26 students fell below the 50th percentile.

12. Fifth Grade Data ChangesUniversal screening allows us to see the benefits of instruction for students in all tiers. The number of students who fell in the “far above average” range in reading comprehension doubled from the fall to the winter in fifth grade.

13. Fifth Grade Data ChangesThe number of students who fell in the “below average” and “far below average” ranges in writing was cut by half.

14. Future Plans • Concentrating RTI Focus to K - 5 • Expanding Tier 1 to include instruction within general education classes • Progress Monitor in Grades K - 5 • Training teacher assistants in RTI • Achieve 3000 in grades 6 - 12 • Red flag dyslexia screening in 2nd grade

15. Thank you for your attention Questions and Comments…