Simplifying RTI

1. Simplifying RTI Four Essential Guiding Principles Adelle, Laurel & Tracy Good spirit School division October 2013

2. The 4 Cs of RTI 1. Collective Responsibility 2. Concentrated Instruction 3. Convergent Assessment 4. Certain Access

3. 1. Collective Responsibility “Why are we here?” Shared belief that the primary responsibility of each member of the organization is to ensure high levels of learning for every child Educators must embrace high levels of learning for all students as both the reason the organization exists and the fundamental responsibility of those who work within it. This collective purpose sets the direction for the organization and guides its actions

4. Collective Responsibility “Are we here to teach, or are we here to ensure that our students learn?” • Begins with cultural change of school • Virtually all educators believe kids can learn, but many feel how much a student can learn depends on his/her innate abilities and demographic background. This creates a sliding scale of expectations that are carried out in school practices every day.

5. Collective Responsibility ‘All’ includes any students who will be expected to live as financially independent adults someday. Achieving anything less than high school plus will make it virtually impossible to thrive as adults.

6. Collective Responsibility How? • Build an effective school leadership team or guiding coalition (early adopters or lead learners) • Team must learn deeply about best practices, assess the school’s current reality, determine potential next steps for school improvement, identify possible obstacles, and plan the best way to create staff consensus • Resisters to change are often the most vocal about sharing their beliefs

7. Collective Responsibility Provide the ‘why’ before the ‘what’ – many resist change because they are never provided with a clear rationale for change Connect school data to specific students – reminds teachers of the reason they chose this profession…to help kids Create a doable plan – define specific responsibilities and include resources teachers need to meet these expectations

8. Collective Responsibility • Expect the best – create a scaffold of support for resistant staff – PD, resources, ongoing support • Confront the worst – after offering support, leaders must confront resisters and demand they meet their responsibilities to the collective school efforts • The silent majority must be willing to have courageous conversations with the aggressive minority that is holding the school hostage

9. Collective Responsibility • Start– if you wait for everyone to get on board the train may never leave the station. • As staff start doing the work they will see some improvement in student learning, confirming their efforts, adding to their commitment, leading to even better results Eventually enough staff members will experience the positive results of RTI that the new thinking becomes ‘just the way we do business’

10. 2. Concentrated Instruction A systematic process of identifying essential knowledge and skills that ALL students must master to learn at HIGH levels, and determining the specific needs for each child to get there?

11. Concentrated Instruction Designing and Refining Our Instruction Around Student Learning “When everything is important, nothing is important” - Anonymous

12. Concentrated Instruction Where are we going? How are we going? Where to next?

13. Concentrated Instruction “Clarity is the antidote to anxiety…if you do nothing else as a leader, be clear.” Buckingham 2005 Teach less…learn more! (Singapore Ministry of Education)

14. Concentrated Instruction A Focus on Learning... PLC’s DuFour – every collaborative team must ask… 1. What do we expect our students to learn? 2. How will we know they are learning? 3. How will we respond when they don’t learn? 4. How do we respond if they already know it?

15. Concentrated Instruction Criteria for Selecting Essential Standards 1. Endurance: Will this standard provide students with knowledge and skills that will be of value beyond a single test date? 2. Leverage: Will this provide knowledge and skills that will be a value to multiple disciplines? 3. Prepare for the next level: Will this provide students with the essential knowledge and skills necessary for success in the next grade or level of instruction?

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17. Concentrated Instruction Choosing Our List of Essential Indicators Which standards should be essential at each grade level? Which standards have endurance, leverage and readiness? Which standards have our students failed to master?

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21. Concentrated Instruction Formative Instruction Determine what standards students already know and how well they know them. Decide what changes in instruction to make in order to help students be successful. Create lessons appropriate to the needs of the students. Group students for intervention and enrichment. Inform students of their own progress in order for them to set goals.

22. Concentrated Instruction Targeted Instruction + Time = Learning

23. Concentrated Instruction It is not enough to do your best; you must know what to do, and then do your best.” -Deming

24. Concentrated Instruction Concentrated Instruction and Behavior Systems A school’s core instruction in behavior should result in at least 80% of students being able to articulate what is expected of them, because behaviors have been explicitly taught, actively supervised, practiced and acknowledged.

25. Concentrated Instruction Behavior Falls in Two Categories: • 1. Academic Misbehaviors • Not paying attention, not completing assignments, missing class, poor study habits…signs of lack of motivation, lack of knowledge of the “rules of school’ or attendance problems • 2. Social Misbehaviors • Acting out, using inappropriate language, or engaging in physical confrontations – may appear as lack of commission aimed at getting attention

26. Concentrated Instruction Academic Misbehaviors Students may lack self regulatory skills such as: Time Management Organization Note Taking Goal Setting Self-Motivation

27. Concentrated Instruction Behavioral Rules 1. Explicitly teach and reinforce self-regulatory strategies 2. Assign high quality task for students to complete 3. Praise and encourage effort to support a growth mindset 4. Emphasize the importance of regular attendance 5. Build positive relationships between adults and students

28. Concentrated Instruction Social Misbehaviors • Clearly define behavior as a responsibility of the school-wide team • Identify expectations and desired behaviors • Teach desired behaviors Such as: • Respect • Responsibility • Readiness

29. Concentrated Instruction Collaborative teams require laser-like clarity about where they are going and how they are getting there.

30. 3. Convergent Assessment • An ongoing process of collectively analyzing targeted evidence to determine the specific learning needs of each child and the effectiveness of the instruction the child receives in meeting these needs. Thinking is guided by the question: Where are we now?

31. Convergent Assessment “Assessment for learning, when done well, is one of the most powerful, high-leverage strategies for improving student learning that we know of.” -Michael Fullan

32. Convergent Assessment Our Essential Question How can we use assessment as a convergent practice to enhance student motivation and increase student achievement?

33. Convergent Assessment • It isn’t the method that determines whether the assessment is summative or formative; it is how the results are used. • Formative Assessment – formal and informal processes teachers and students use to gather evidence for the purpose of improving learning • Summative Assessment – assessments that provide evidence of student achievement for the purpose of making a judgment about student competence or program effectiveness

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35. Convergent Assessment PLC Critical Questions 1. What do we expect students to learn? 2. How do we know when they have learned it?

36. Convergent Assessment • In order to respond effectively when students don’t learn, we need to know: 1. Which students did or did not master specific essential standards? 2. Which Instruction Practices did or did not work?

37. Convergent Assessment • Do your teacher PLC’s: • Give common assessments to measure every essential standard? • Identify students for extra help, by the student, by the standard, by the learning target? • Compare results to identify most effective teaching practices by the learning target?

38. Convergent Assessment What if We Would… 1. Determine student learning outcomes and share with students. 2. Plan one common formative assessment during instruction. 3. Plan one day to reteach after analyzing common assessments.

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40. 4. Certain Access A systematic process that guarantees every student will receive the time and support needed to learn at high levels. “How do we get every student there?”

41. Certain Access Systemic responses must: Identify student who need help Determine the right intervention to meet the student’s learning needs Monitorthe student’s progress to know if the intervention is working. If the intervention is not meeting the intended outcome: Revisethe student’s support by providing more intensive and targeted assistance Extendstudents who are at grade level to even higher levels of achievement

42. Certain Access Includes effective interventions The more targeted the intervention, the more successful it will be Group students by the same cause, not the same symptom

43. Certain Access • Student identification – through universal screening, common assessment data, and staff recommendation at least every three weeks • Tier 1 to Tier 2: • Teacher teams take the lead on students needing a little extra help. • They assume collective responsibility for delivering instruction, formative assessments, and to ensure access to extra time and support

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45. Certain Access – Tier 2 Supports

46. Certain Access – Tier 3 Supports

47. Certain Access • Essential skills to universally screen: • Oral language • Reading • Writing • Number sense • English language • Attendance • Behavior

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49. Simplifying RTI Jim Collins says that great organizations “maintain unwavering faith that you can prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties, and, at the same time have the discipline to confront the most brutal facts about your current reality, whatever they may be.”

50. Simplifying RTI Understand your current reality, know your destination, define your path to get there, and begin your journey!