Roselawn Elementary RTI
Most students are able to learn successfully without any significant deviation from the core curriculum when high quality instruction is provided. Unfortunately, approximately one fifth of our students struggle to learn basic curriculum content and need additional support in order to make adequate gains. Even with this additional support, some students continue to struggle to learn. For these students we must continually increase the intensity of the instructional intervention as well as increase the frequency of progress monitoring.
In fitting with the district philosophy, the Roselawn RtI model is built as a value added model. The element at the base must be met before elements at the top of the model can be offered. If core curriculum offered in a content area is not proven to be of high quality, targeted instruction in that content area will not be sufficient. Thus work to improve the core curriculum and instruction will be completed prior to intensive targeted instruction in this area being offered. Our assumption is that the most effective way to improve an area of weakness is to increase the time, intensity and focus in that area. Core curriculum is considered to be essential for all students. As a result, time for targeted instruction is found outside of core instruction.
Co-teaching is a model used to support students with special education needs. Having one teacher who is considered a content specialist (general education teacher) and a second teacher (special education teacher) who is an instructional strategies specialist serves to better meet the needs of all students in the classroom. Based on individual student needs, classroom support is offered by para educators for high need students.
As of the 2010-11 school year Roselawn Elementary has implemented an RtI model for reading and behavior for students in kindergarten through fifth grade. For the area of math and written language only the neediest students are able to receive targeted instruction. All of these students receiving these services are identified as having special education needs.
Universal Screening
Kindergarten through fifth grade students are screened three times per year (September, January, and May) with literacy and math profile assessments. Students in grades one through five are administered the Measures of Academic Progress (MAPs) assessment each fall and spring (September and April) in the areas of reading and math. Fifth grade is also assessed in language arts. Student progress in behavior is assessed in the district created life skills with each report card assessment. Students in the 4 year old kindergarten program are screened with the use of the district created preschool profiles.
Currently universal screening data is stored in link4learning to allow easy access for educators, common sense reporting for parents and easy analysis of student need. All educators are able to access their students results at anytime. They also have access to longitudinal data for their students. Parents receive universal screening data in a chart format at each reporting period and at parent teacher conference. These charts are designed to show parents their child’s progress towards grade level benchmarks. These reports make it easy to identify students who are not likely to meet grade level benchmarks without additional interventions. Next school year, benchmark assessments will be mostly stored in AIMsweb.
Assessment summits are held twice annually by grade level teams. Teams look closely at assessment results to ensure that data impacts instruction.
Progress Monitoring
Student’s progress in basic reading is monitored using oral reading fluency for most students. Most students’ progress is monitored bi-weekly although students could be monitored as frequently as once a week if needed. The purpose of monitoring student progress is so that teachers and teams can see to what degree a student is responding to instruction/intervention. Students who do not respond at an adequate level require programming adjustments. Additional progress monitoring tools for reading include nonsense word fluency, maze reading, letter sound identification and any other assessment as need to monitor student’s unique progress. Math interventions at this point do not occur across all elementary grade levels outside of students in special education. Progress monitoring in the area of math uses a similar format as that for reading. Progress monitoring tools include math calculation probes created specific for each grade level and district created probes to measure progress in end of year assessments by grade level.
Progress monitoring data is stored in excel spreadsheets with charts provided to parents at reporting periods and at parent teacher conferences. Students needed rate of improvement is compared to their actual rate of improvement to help determine if current intervention is adequate to meet students’ unique learning needs. Progress monitoring charts provide a strong visual to help parents and educators monitor students learning growth in comparison with their peers. These charts display the slope of the learning growth in comparison with their peers and graphically display if student progress is closing the achievement gap between their performance and their peers.
Core Curriculum and High Quality Instruction
Extensive curriculum work has been conducted with extensive work done in the development of unit design for all grade levels and content areas. On-going staff development has been necessary to ensure high quality instruction. All students are given equal opportunity to learn with the use of co-teaching. Expectations for students have been increased with a higher rate of success thn noted in previous years. For students with special education needs least restrictive environment is considered carefully. The most important “intervention” may be presuming that the student is competent to learn age-appropriate general education content in the general education classroom.
This level includes differentiated instruction and things such as math flexible groups and guided reading.
It is anticipated that approximately four out of five students will need only this base level of the pyramid to benefit educationally. If the core curriculum is inadequate and the goal of high quality instruction is not met, it would be expected that an increased number of students will be unable to meet grade level benchmarks.
After School Support
Through the use of our Community Learning Center program we are able to offer optional tutoring to students after school hours. Students work with a mentor (community members, teachers, and others interested in guiding and supporting students). Students then rotate with their group through two 45-minute sessions. One session provides time for students to work on homework with the mentor facilitating this process. In a second session, students go to one of four assigned classrooms and participate in a fun but structured activity. If students need more homework time, they simply stay with the mentor. Transportation is provided for students to make this a more feasible option for parents.
Child Study Planning and Support
Two kinds of child study teams operate at the elementary school. The first set of child study teams act as problem solving teams that help teachers develop intervention plans for individual students. In this process, teachers are asked to present information including student academic and performance data. They also must summarize what it is they would like to see the student be able to do. This then focuses the problem solving team and results in an increased level of productivity.
The second problem solving team meets monthly to analyze student progress monitoring data for students in targeted instruction. This group calculates students expected achievement compared to their actual achievement in order to determine if the targeted instruction is adequate to close the achievement gap. Before changes are made to a student’s targeted instruction, a general rule is to allow for a minimum of six weeks of targeted instruction and at least three data points.
Classroom Small Group Instruction for Targeted Students
In addition to solid core curriculum and high quality instruction many students also benefit from small group instruction. This is provided in the classroom by the classroom teacher. An example of how this is done are Read Naturally intervention groups.
Targeted Instructional Groups
Despite all our efforts, some students continue to struggle to learn. These students require more targeted instruction. Students meeting criteria for targeted instruction are provided intensive focused instruction in a small group (not more than four) at least 30 minutes four times a week. Interventions are determined based on a standard protocol. Some programs have been found to have a high rate of success. These interventions are attempted first. Examples of programs in reading that have been found to have a high rate of success includes Read Naturally, DI, LIPs, Visualizing and Verbalizing, Lexia, Headsprout and STARS. Students at this level have their progress monitored at a minimum bi-weekly and their progress carefully charted. Baseline data consists of three probes that are averaged to provide one baseline score. The slope of the student’s learning is monitored carefully to ensure a reduction in the achievement gap. Instructors include classroom teachers, Title I teacher, and in some cases very skilled para-educators.
In the area of behavior, select students are provided targeted instruction in social competence by the school guidance counselor or volunteer on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. This instruction is provided in small group or individual basis as appropriate.
Individual Education Planning
Although the term individual education planning is commonly thought of as special education specific, in the school district of Chetek-Weyerhaeuser, it refers to the planning that is done specifically to any child who is not making satisfactory progress when provided targeted instruction. Individual planning requires problem solving to develop an intervention plan. Intervention plans vary from student to student and could include more frequent monitoring, double shots of targeted instruction, or additional tutoring.