Embedding Early Intervention into the Culture of Daily Practice

1. Embedding Early Intervention into the Culture of Daily Practice A Day of Conversation for Administrators SERC Consultants: Alice Henley Kimberly A. Mearman 25 Industrial Park Road Middletown, CT 06457-1520 (860) 632-1485

2. Today’s Objectives • To connect EIP to the various initiatives/projects already underway in your school/district • To develop shared meaning regarding an “early intervention process”

3. Framework for Coherence

4. Framework for Coherence • All innovations should share common goals and premises. • No single innovation strategy can do everything. • The innovative strategies should complement each other. • All innovative strategies need to be adapted to individual classroom and building conditions. • When innovations are combined strategically, the results will be greater than any single innovation. T. Guskey. (1990). Integrating innovations. Education Leadership, pp. 11-15.

5. Instructional Program Coherence • “A set of interrelated programs for students and staff that guided by a common framework for curriculum, instruction, assessment and learning climate and that are pursued over a sustained period.” p. 100 Burrello, L. C., Hoffman, L. P. & Murray, L. E. (2005). School leaders building capacity from within: Resolving competing agendas creatively. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press.

6. Instructional Program Coherence • As evidenced by: • Common instructional framework coordinated among teachers and grade levels • Curriculum • Teaching • Assessment • Learning climate Burrello, L. C., Hoffman, L. P. & Murray, L. E. (2005). School leaders building capacity from within: Resolving competing agendas creatively. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press.

7. Instructional Program Coherence • As evidenced by: • Working conditions of implementing the framework • Expectations of administrators and staff • Criteria for hiring that aligns with framework • Professional development is consistent with framework • Allocation of resources to advance the framework • Materials, time, funding, staff assignments Burrello, L. C., Hoffman, L. P. & Murray, L. E. (2005). School leaders building capacity from within: Resolving competing agendas creatively. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press.

8. Making Coherence • Lateral accountability • Everyone’s responsibility to make coherence • Sorting • Does it work? • Does it feed into our overall purpose? • Shared commitment • People motivate one another to contribute and implement the best ideas Fullan, M. (2004). Leading in a culture of change: Personal action guide and workbook. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

9. What Initiatives Are the Focus? • A Step-by Step Approach for Inclusive Schools • Co-Teaching • Early Intervention Project • Positive Behavior Supports • Create Perform Respond

10. A Step-by Step Approach for Inclusive Schools • Specifically designed to explore all aspects of responsible inclusive practice for all students • Supports districts in addressing the five settlement agreement goals and outcomes

11. PJ Goals • Increase in the % of students with MR (ID) who are placed in regular classes (80% or more of day with nondisabled peers ) • Reduction in the disparate identification of students by LEA, race, ethnicity, gender • Increase in the mean and median % of the school day spent with nondisabled peers

12. PJ Goals (con’t) • Increase in the % of students who attend their “home school” (school they would otherwise attend if not disabled) • Increase in the % of students who participate in school-sponsored extracurricular activities with nondisabled students

13. Co-teaching is a Service Delivery Model in Which: • Two (or more) educators or other certified staff, • Contract to share instructional responsibility, • For a single group of students, • Primarily in a single classroom or workspace, • For specific content (objectives), • With mutual ownership, pooled resources, and joint accountability, • Although each individual’s level of participation may vary. Marilyn Friend, Ph.D.

14. EIP • To assist teachers, administrators, families, and student support services professionals in their endeavors to help all students learn and experience success • To empower educators to meet the instructional and behavioral needs of students in the classroom as schools and families come together to form interdependent partnerships focused on student progress.

15. PBS Definition • Positive behavior support (PBS) is proactive, comprehensive, systemic and individualized continuum of support designed to provide opportunities to all students, including students with disabilities, for achieving social and learning success, while preventing problem behaviors.

16. Create Initiation Objective Input Perform Modeling Checking for understanding Guided practice CPR • Respond • Independent practice • Closure • Evaluation Dr. Paul V. Sequeira, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, Waterbury Public Schools

17. CPR • CPR is a strategy to be used by administrators and teachers to improve on the delivery of instruction and the way in which we reflect on student’s performance. Dr. Paul V. Sequeira, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, Waterbury Public Schools

18. Shared Vision The “------” empowers people to create interdependent partnershipsto help all children learn andexperience success.

19. VOCAB • Verify the terms • Organize your cards • Communicate to a partner • Assess your understanding • Build on it

20. Terms

21. Organizing Your Cards • Use these headers • Curriculum • Instruction • Assessing • Learning Climate • Place the initiatives under the headers in a way that make sense to you. They may go under more than one header. You may want to specify which part of the initiative relates to that header.

22. A Closer Look at EIP • What does early intervention mean to members of your staff?

23. Why Build Collaborative Relationships Focused on Student Learning? • No Child Left Behind • IDEA ‘97 • Standards Movement • The Achievement Gap

24. Individual Support School-Wide Student Outcomes Address Intensity of Need for a Few Students Address Specific Performance Gaps for Some Students Ensure Effective Instructional Practices and Promote Positive Educational Outcomes for All Students All Students in School (Adapted from Ortiz, 1987; Horner, 1998; Sugai, 2001)

25. Individual Support School-Wide Intensive 1-7% (Specialized/Individual Support System) Continuum of Support Intervention 5-15% (At-Risk System, Supplemental, Small Groups) EIP Special Education/504 Universal 80-90% (District, School-Wide, & Classroom Systems) All Students in School (Adapted from Ortiz, 1987; Horner, 1998; Sugai, 2001)

27. Components of “EIP” • Leadership • Collegial Support & Family Partnerships • Strategic Decision-Making • Assessment & Reflective Practice • Instructional Repertoire • Accountability & Documentation

28. Individual Support Leadership Our Key to Success School-Wide Culture

29. Leader: The architect of sustained improvement of individual and organizational performance Doug Reeves, 2002

30. Lessons Learned Concepts of pre-referral tend to impede the overall philosophy of EIP. EIP is not a specific model. EIP needs to be marketed as a philosophy.

31. Individual Support School-Wide One Example of the Three Tiered Approach Focused Team Support Case Partner Grade Level/Ad Hoc Team District Curriculum & CPR Common Planning Time School-wide PBS Informal Collaboration Partnerships with Families Differentiated Instruction School-Improvement Process All Students in School (Adapted from Ortiz, 1987; Horner, 1998; Sugai, 2001)

32. Lesson Learned Schools with productive and effective early intervention processes have committed building level leadership, who understand and embed the concepts and principles of early intervention within the school culture.

33. Leadership • The principal is responsible for creating the conditions needed for each of the components. For example: • Organizational structures (e.g., scheduling, monthly Student Academic Reviews) • Aligning professional development with school improvement plans • Linking supervision and evaluation with implementation of effective practices

34. Leadership Focused Assistance Individual Support Strategic Resources Time for Process Mentoring/Extra Support Common Planning Allocation of Resources Accountability School-Wide Culture School-Improvement Plan Family Partnerships Professional Development Culture of School All Students in School (Horner, 1998)

35. Collegial Support & Family Partnerships Consultation Our Learning Community Culture Collaboration

36. Lessons Learned Early intervention is a philosophy focused on collective responsibility that should be part of a whole school culture, not particular to a core team. Families are an integral part of the whole school culture.

37. Lesson Learned General education membership has been a consistent and steady part of EIP. This practice needs to continue as an integral part of the process in order to ensure that EIP is maintained as a function of general education.

38. Collegial Support & Family Partnerships • Support operates on a continuum from collaboration to consultation depending on the level of need. • Collegial support and family partnerships are necessary in order to support student success. • The focus should be on school-family partnerships.

39. Crisis Support Consulting: Objectivity Enhancement (individual) Consulting: Focus (individual) Consulting: Prescriptive (team or individual) Mentoring Peer Coaching Co-teaching Coordinating & Co-planning Instruction (with colleague or team) Collaboration, Communication/Listening Information Delivery, Learning Styles Building a Staff Support Structure Skill Building Sequence Stuart Gerber

40. Collegial Support “Expert” Assistance Collaborative Consultant Specialized Support Mentoring/Modeling Shared Leadership Parity Co-teaching Collaboration Peer-Coaching Collective Responsibility Collegial Climate Reflective Practice Communication Skills All Students in School (Horner, 1998)

41. Type 1 Type 2 Type 3 Type 4 Type 5 Type 6 THE KEYS TO SUCCESSFUL SCHOOL-FAMILY-COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS EPSTEIN’S SIX TYPES OF INVOLVEMENT PARENTING:Assist families with parenting and child-rearing skills, understanding child and adolescent development, and setting home conditions that support children as students at each age and grade level. Assist schools in understanding families. COMMUNICATING:Communicate with families about school programs and student progress through effective school-to-home and home-to-school communications. VOLUNTEERING:Improve recruitment, training, work, and schedules to involve families as volunteers and audiences at school or in other locations to support students and school programs. LEARNING AT HOME:Involve families with their children in learning activities at home, including homework and other curriculum-related activities and decisions DECISION MAKING:Include families as participants in school decisions, governance, and advocacy through PTA/PTO, school councils, committees, action teams, and other parent organizations. COLLABORATING WITH COMMUNITY:Coordinate resources and services for students, families, and the school with businesses, agencies, and other groups, and provide services to the community. 4 Reprinted with permission: Epstein, J. L., Sanders, M. G., Simon, B. S., Salinas, K. C., Jansorn, N. R., & Van Voorhis, F. L. (2002). School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Your Handbook for Action (Second Edition). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

42. Family Partnerships Specialized Assistance Specific Assistance Specialized Support Parent to Parent Support Shared Decision-Making Parent to Parent Partnerships Partnerships Community Partnerships Volunteer Programs Collective Responsibility Communication & Information Sharing All Students in School (Horner, 1998)

43. Specialized Strategies Strategic Decision-Making Our Framework for Operation Universal Practices

44. Lesson Learned Data are collected regularly. However, the analysis of assessments need to be used as a strategic part of decision-making and to assist with more accurate problem identification.

45. Lessons Learned Problem “admiration” tends to be a focus rather than actual problem-solving. Problem-solving needs to be viewed as a form of data-based decision-making.

46. Words & Numbers, 2000

47. Strategic Decision-Making • Strategic decision-making is the framework for providing positive outcomes for ALL students. • Strategic decision-making drives changes in instruction in order to effectively meet students’ needs. • There are various kinds of strategic decision-making steps/processes/protocols.

48. Strategic-Decision Making Process • Identify the concern/problem-What is happening? • Determine the desired outcome-What do we want to happen? • Generate alternative strategies-What can we do? • Examine strategies for feasibility-What will work best? • Develop a plan of action-What will we do? • Implement and monitor student progress-How are we doing? • Evaluate the process and plan-What changes occurred?

49. Strategic Decision-Making Intensive Interventions & Monitoring Specialized Strategies In-Depth Analysis Interventions & Monitoring Data-Driven Implementation Integrity Universal Practices Monitoring of Student Progress Instructional Practice School-Climate & Behavior All Students in School (Horner, 1998)

50. Focused Assessment Assessment & Reflective Practice Our Cornerstone for Change Universal Assessment