RTI A Quick Overview of the Hows and Whys

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RTI A Quick Overview of the Hows and Whys

• Dr. Tom Jenkins, Director
• Educational Consultation Services, LLC
• Wilmington, NC

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What To Expect Today

• Hello, thank you, and a little about me
• Why change, why now?
• Talking points
• What is RTI?
• PSM
• CBM
• What benefits can an RTI model provide?
• Student benefits
• School benefits
• District benefits
• Questions and Conclusions
• Role and function of the school psychologist

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Shift Happens

• Why change, why now?
• Legislation is necessitating a change
• Research has shown that there is a better way

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Current Legislation

• Response to Intervention
• Eligibility for special education is dependent
  upon three criteria
• Child does not achieve commensurate with his/her
  age or ability levels in the traditional seven
  areas and
• Child exhibits a pattern of strengths and
  weaknesses in performance and/or cognitive
  abilities that is determined to be relevant,
  using appropriate assessments and
• If RTI is used, child fails to make sufficient
  progress to meet SEA approved outcomes in one of
  the seven areas

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IDEA

• Goes on to say
• the LEA shall not be required to take into
  consideration whether a child has a severe
  discrepancy between achievement and intellectual
  ability
• In determining whether a child has a specific
  learning disability, a LEA may use a process
  which determines if a child responds to a
  scientific, peer reviewed, research based
  intervention

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RTI

• What is a comprehensive evaluation?
• RTI advocates two principles
• Assessments should have a relationship to
  positive child outcomes, not just predictions of
  failure
• Assessments without this relationship do little
  to benefit children and waste precious time and
  resources

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RTI

• Second principle advocated by RTI
• Brief screening measures of IQ can be used to
  rule out mental retardation if suspected
• If mental retardation is not suspected and given
  the rejection of the discrepancy model, measures
  of IQ have no role in LD diagnosis

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RTI

• RTI operationalizes disability by documenting
• Slow rate of learning and
• Large differences from age or grade expectations
  despite high quality, scientifically based
  interventions provided to the child

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RTI

• Thus, assessment in RTI focuses on achievement,
  behavior, and the instructional environment
• These things are measurable and changeable
• Related to child outcomes
• And allow for in depth analysis of performance
  relative to peers
• Thus, intervention is aimed at improving rate and
  level of skill development

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RTI

• Focusing only on the child, as in the traditional
  methods, leads to missing extremely important
  factors
• Some students that previously would have been
  identified as LD are merely instructional
  causalities
• Not exposed to early literacy skills
• Given marginally effective general education
• Exposed to instruction that had not been
  scientifically validated
• Instruction was implemented with poor integrity

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RTI

• The core of RTI assessments includes measures all
  domains that may affect achievement
• Thus, a comprehensive assessment includes
  screening in all areas that may affect
  achievement (hearing, vision, etc) followed by in
  depth assessments in
• Current academic skills
• Instructional environment
• Behaviors
• Interventions

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RTI

• Also, focuses on assessment of instructional
  principals
• Variables assessed and considered for
  intervention include
• Time allocated for instruction
• Academic learning time
• Pacing of instruction
• Number of opportunities to respond
• Sequencing of examples and non-examples of skills
• etc

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RTI

• Assessment components also inform decision makers
  about what to teach
• Uses the principal of convergent validity and
  comparative data from multiply sources across
  multiple settings to inform decision making
• Also includes a measure of treatment integrity of
  interventions

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RTI

• RTI focuses on
• Measurement of intervention effectiveness
• Early identification and early intervention
• A graduated series of increasingly intense
  interventions guided by data based decision making

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RTI

• Disability is identified as
• Low level of performance in relation to peers
• Slow growth rates compared to peers despite
  interventions
• Adverse impact on educational performance
• Documented need for EC (intensity of service)
• EC exit criteria defining goals for EC program

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Why Response to Intervention?

• RTI is the marriage of CBM and PSM
• What is so great about CBM and PSM?

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What is this magic?

• Curriculum-based measurement
• Data collection tools derived directly from the
  curriculum that student is expected to learn

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CBM

• CBM is believed to reduce the gap between
  assessment and instruction
• Aides teachers in generating superior student
  achievement
• Improved communication
• Higher level of sensitivity
• Enhancement of the database
• Administration time is shorter
• More cost effective

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CBM

• Because CBM is directly tied to the curriculum,
  possesses higher level of sensitivity, and allows
  for graphic representation it allows for
  development of a higher quality IEP
• CBM allows teachers to identify specific
  curriculum deficiencies and instructional
  strategies

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CBM

• Mirkin et al. (1982) in a study of 50 teachers
• 90 of the teachers stated that using CBM
  improved IEP objective and goal development,
  student progress monitoring, and instructional
  decision making
• Fuchs and Fuchs (1999) argued that CBM allows for
  IEPs focused on student outcomes instead of a
  laundry list of short-term objectives

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CBM

• Qualitative analysis of 14 special education
  teachers working towards their Masters Degree
• All 14 stated that CBM type data was more closely
  linked to the curriculum, more connected to
  instructional strategies, allowed for improved
  IEP goals and objectives, and allowed for more
  accurate progress monitoring
• All 14 felt that CBM type data allowed for the
  development of a higher quality IEP (Jenkins,
  2002)

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CBM

• The simplicity of CBM allows for quick and easy
  peer referencing
• Normative data can be collected
• This allows for comparison of a students
  performance to his/her actual peer group
• More representative geographically, culturally,
  ethnically, and has been exposed to similar
  instructional environment

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CBM

• CBM has been shown to posses high levels of
  reliability
• 42 one-minute CBM type assessments in reading,
  math, and written expression for grade K-5 were
  found to have reliability coefficients between
  .90-.99 with just three one-minute
  administrations (Jenkins, 2002)

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CBM

• Discriminant Validity
• Several studies have demonstrated the ability of
  CBM to differentiate between students receiving
  special education services, students receiving
  Chapter 1 services, and students not receiving
  any of those services (Deno, Marston, Shinn, and
  Tindal, 1983 Marston and Deno, 1982 Shinn and
  Marston, 1985 and Shinn, Tindal, Spira, and
  Marston, 1987).

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What is this magic?

• Problem-solving model (PSM)
• An approach to developing interventions and
  ensuring positive student outcomes, rather than
  determining failure or deviance (Deno, 1995).
• Seven step cyclical process that is inductive,
  empirical, and rooted in behavioral analysis
• See graphic

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School-Wide Systems to Support Student Achievement
Intensive 1 7
Strategic 5-15
Levels of Intervention
Core 80-90
Adapted from Sugai and Horner
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Level IV
IEP


Consideration

Level III
Student


Study
Team
Level II

Consultation

With Other
REQUIRED TO MEET THE
AMOUNT OF RESOURCES
STUDENTS NEEDS
Level I
Resources

• Intensive Interventions 1-7
• Strategic Interventions 5-15
• Core Curriculum 80-90

Consultation

Between

Teachers

Parents
-
INTENSITY OF NEEDS

Needs
-
circles
-
pub

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Response to Intervention Framework
Tier 3Intensive Interventions for Low Performing
Students Alter curriculum, Add time, support
resources
Continuum of Time, Intensity and Data Increases
Percentage of Students Requiring Intensive
Supports Decreases
Strategic Interventions for Students at Risk of
Academic Failure
Tier 2 Strategic and Targeted Interventions for S
tudents At Risk for Failure Strategic
Instruction, Increased Time and Opportunity to
Learn
Tier I Benchmark and School Wide
Interventions for Students on Grade-level
(benchmark) and All Students (Effective
Instructional Practices provided within the
General Education Curriculum)
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Level III


Student
Study

Team

Level II
Consultation

Resources

With Other
Level I
Consultation

Amount of Resources Required to Meet the
Students Needs
Between

Teachers

Parents
-

• Intensive Interventions 1-7
• Strategic Interventions 5-15
• Core Curriculum 80-90

Intensity of Needs
Needs
-
circles
-
pub

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Tier 1 Benchmark/Schoolwide

• Definition Students who are making expected
  progress in the general education curriculum and
  who demonstrate social competence
• Benchmark also describes those schoolwide
  interventions that are available to all students
• Effective instruction
• Clear expectations
• Effective student support
• Periodic benchmark assessments
• Universal prevention

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Tier 1 Functions

• Universal screening
• Data analysis teaming
• School-wide behavior supports
• Whole group teaching

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Tier 1 Benchmark/Schoolwide
Universal Prevention, Screening, Monitoring

• Teachers implement a variety of scientifically
  research-based teaching strategies and approaches
  
• Students receive differentiated instruction based
  on data from ongoing assessments.

• High quality instructional and behavioral
  supports are provided for all students in general
  education
• School personnel conduct universal screening of
  literacy skills, academics, and behavior.

Adapted from Kovaleski (2005). Special
Education Decision Making ppt.
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TIER 1 Benchmark/Schoolwide Benchmark/Core
Reading Programs 1. Rigby Literacy (Harcourt
Rigby Education, 2000) 2. Trophies (Harcourt
School Publishers, 2003) 3. The Nations Choice
(Houghton Mifflin, 2003) 4. Macmillan/McGraw-Hill
Reading (2003) 5. Open Court (SRA/McGraw-Hill,
2002) 6. Reading Mastery Plus (SRA/ McGraw-Hill,
2002) 7. Scott Foresman Reading (2004) 8. Success
For All (1998-2003) 9. Wright Group Literacy
(2002) Reviewed by Oregon Reading
First Comprehensive Addressed all 5 areas and
included at least grades K-3
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Results of Tier 1

• Continue effective practices for responders
• Non-responders begin tier 2 interventions

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Tier 2 Strategic/Targeted

• Definition Academic and behavioral strategies,
  methodologies and practices designed for students
  not making expected progress in the general
  education curriculum and/or have mild to moderate
  difficulties demonstrating social competence.
  These students are at risk for academic failure.

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Tier 2 Strategic Interventions

• Use of standard protocol interventions or not
• Scientifically research-based interventions
• Academic
• Behavior
• Core instruction with supplemental materials
• Differentiated instruction in general ed.
• Specialists assist with strategic instruction in
  regular classroom

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A Standard Protocol Intervention

• is scientifically research-based.
• has a high probability of producing change for
  large numbers of students.
• is designed to be used in a standard manner
  across students.
• is usually delivered in small groups.
• is often scripted or very structured.
• can be orchestrated by a problem-solving team.

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Tier 2 Strategic Interventions (cont.)

• Increased opportunity to learn
• Increased instructional time
• Increased assessment
• Data collection and analysis once per month
• Data-based decision-making

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TIER 2 Strategic Strategic/Supplemental Reading
Programs Early (Soar to) Success (Houghton
Mifflin) Read Well (Sopris West) Reading Mastery
(SRA) Early Reading Intervention (Scott
Foresman) Great Leaps (Diamuid, Inc.) REWARDS
(Sopris West) Ladders to Literacy (Brookes) Read
Naturally Peer Assisted Learning Strategies
(PALS)
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Results of Tier 2 Interventions

• Cycle responders back to tier 1
• Identify non-responders for tier 3

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Tier 3 Intensive Interventions

• Definition Academic and behavioral strategies,
  methodologies and practices designed for students
  significantly lagging behind established
  grade-level benchmarks in the general education
  curriculum or who demonstrate significant
  difficulties with behavioral and social
  competence.

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Tier 3 Intensive Interventions

• Use of standard protocols or not
• Supplemental instructional materials
• Small intensive groups
• Can be outside the general ed. classroom
• Tutoring by remedial educators
• 10-20 week interventions or not

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Tier 3 Instructional Strategies
Examples

• Increased direct instruction time
• More time on task
• More immediate and corrective feedback
• More opportunity to respond

• Functional behavior analysis (FBA), Behavior
  Intervention Plan (BIP)
• More frequent progress monitoring (once per week)
• Core curriculum and intensive intervention

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TIER 3 INTENSIVE Reading Programs Corrective
Reading (SRA) Language! (Sopris West) Wilson
Reading System Reading Mastery Earobics
(phonics/phonemic awareness Cognitive
Concepts) Great Leaps/ Read Naturally
(Fluency) REWARDS (Fluency, Comp. and Vocab. in
Plus Program) Soar to Success (comp.)
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Results of Tier 3 Interventions

• Cycle responders back to tier 2
• Refer non-responders for evaluation for
  eligibility for special education

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Were aiming to help children establish
trajectories toward success
Trajectory- the path a projectile makes under
the action of given forces such as thrust, wind
and gravity. --Encarta World English
Dictionary
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Assessment and Instructional Grouping
Benchmark 1
Benchmark 2
Benchmark 3
Established - Benchmark
Score
Emerging - Strategic
Deficit - Intensive
Time
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Assessment and Instructional Grouping
Benchmark 1
Benchmark 2
Benchmark 3
Established - Benchmark
Score
Time
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PSM

• 42 of the students that went through the PSM/CBM
  process were found to display significant
  progress as a result of the model
• Additionally, students were found to make
  significant progress regardless of gender, grade,
  SES, or race

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PSM

• Regular education teachers indicated that they
  agreed that the PSM/CBM system benefited
  students, was effective, provided data that were
  helpful and good indicators of student
  performance, and provided helpful interventions
  for the students
• All 3s on a 4 point Likert scale

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Impact of STRIDES on Special Education
Referrals, Eligibility, and Disproportionality in
Grades K, 1, and 3 at Pearl Sample
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• 5 have met criteria for LD (4 white males, grade
  1 and 1 African American male, grade 3).
• 2 have met criteria for SLI (African American
  female, grade 3/ and a white female, grade K )
• 1 being evaluated now (white male, grade K)

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PSM

• 70 of K-5 initial placements first year are from
  K-2nd grade.
• 76
• 80
• After first year there has been an 81 reduction
  in Special Ed placements across 25 K-5 schools.
• An additional 6 reduction
• After first year there was a 45 reduction is
  special education placements for black males.
• An additional 22 reduction
• Parents satisfaction surveys indicate higher
  level of approval for the new process.

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PSM

• More global results

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Loris Elementary School Results
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Loris Elementary School Results
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PACT English/Language Arts - Grade 3 of
students meeting state and local standards
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PACT English/Language Arts - Grade 4 of
students meeting state and local standards
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PACT English/Language Arts - Grade 5 of
students meeting state and local standards
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What about the NC pilot sites?

• New Hanover County
• Two state pilot schools
• Two students entitled in 2005-2006, the rest
  either made significant progress and were
  discontinued or are making progress and do not
  need entitlement considering at the point
• Both students identified for entitlement were
  kindergarteners
• Mary C. Williams 15 retentions last year, six
  this year

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NHCS 06-07 Implementation

• 12 Schools
• In last three years decrease from 13 EC to 11
  EC
• 06-07 total of 26 students found to be in need
  of entitlement
• 50 Caucasian only 30 African American
• 81 came from grades K-3

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What about the NC pilot sites?

• Harnett County
• Lillington-Shawtown Elementary (623 students)
• 3 students identified as entitled
• Gentry Primary (292 students)
• 2 students identified as entitled

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What about the NC pilot sites?

• Burke County
• W.A. Young Elementary
• RTI year in red

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Effects of Pre-referral Model on Reading Scores
Traditional Assistance Team versus Problem
Solving Team (Adrian Hurst, School Psychologist,
2006)
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Impact on Student Learning

• Reading scores improved for kindergarten through
  third grades.
• Teachers feel that action is taken earlier to
  help struggling students

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Other Implementation Sites

• Meta-analysis of RTI research (Burns, Appleton,
  and Stehouwer, 2006)
• Heartland Agency Model
• Ohios Intervention Based Assessment
• Minneapolis Public Schools PSM
• Penn Instructional Support Team

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Other Implementation Sites

• Strong effects in improving student learning and
  systemic variables with mean effect sizes of .96
  and 1.53 respectively
• Lead to fewer students being identified as LD
• Less than 2 vs 5 (DSM-IV-TR) and 5.7 (U.S.
  Department of Ed)

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Final Thoughts and Conclusions

• To successfully implement a PSM/CBM system on the
  district, school, and individual levels, everyone
  must buy in
• Top down implementation is very helpful and you
  have that

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Final Thoughts and Conclusions

• Implementation requires a significant shift in
  philosophy and a massive training effort
• Areas for training
• Team Building
• PSM
• CBM
• Local Norming
• Research-Based Interventions for reading, math,
  written expression, and behavior
• Progress monitoring and charting
• etc

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Final Thoughts and Conclusions

• Research has shown repeatedly that all of the
  time, effort, and money is worth it

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Final Thoughts and Conclusions

• Laut et al. (2001) also analyzed the change in
  the role and function of the school psychologist
  in the Iowa Model versus the traditional
  standardized testing model

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Final Thoughts and Conclusions
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Current Roles of School Psychologists in the U.S.
and Iowa
22.6
Estimated Hours Per Week
14.6
12.2
9.2
7.3
6.6
3.6
2.6
1.0 0.8
Direct Intervention
Problem Solving Consultation
Research/ Evaluation
Systems Organizational Consultation
Assessment
School Psychology Role
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School Psychology Assessment in Traditional and
Alternative Delivery Systems
28.69
20.44
18.16
17.59
Times Per Month
12.89 12.30
10.64
10.49
7.11
1.76 0.81
0.44
0.00
0.04
Ability Educational Behavior Projectives
V-M Pre-Sch Social/ Observation Fam
Emotional A.B
79
Assessment of Educational Skills U.S. and Iowa
12.12
4.04
3.51
2.88
1.49
1.43
1.61
0.69 0.00
0.68 0.03
0.52
0.0
0.42 0.03
0.00
0.00
0.03
K-TEA Key-Math PIAT WRMT
WRAT CBM/CBE W-J ACH
WIAT Other
80
School Psychologists Job Satisfaction in the
U.S. and Iowa
4.64
4.01 4.13
3.81
3.54
High Job Satisfaction Low
3.34
3.03 2.95
2.95
2.29
Job Satisfaction Dimension
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Role of School Psychologist a Paradigm Shift
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Critical Skills/Competencies

• Problem solving-interviewing skills
• Behavior assessment including CBM
• Powerful instructional interventions
• Powerful behavior change interventions
• Relationship skills
• Tailoring assessment to referral concerns

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High above the hushed crowd, Rex tried to remain
focused. Still, he couldnt shake one nagging
thought He was an old dog and this was a new
trick.
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Questions?

• Dr. Tom Jenkins, Director
• Educational Consultation Services, LLC
• Wilmington, NC
• [phone]
• Fanofstel_at_aol.com