Question and Answer Session from the last East Core RTI meeting concerning students who exhibit characteristics of dyslexia:
- Do all students need to be screened for characteristics of dyslexia, even students who already qualify for special education?
- All students should be screened, as appropriate. Students who the school decides should not be screening should be a small exception. For example, a student who is nonverbal and cannot be administered an assessment requiring expressive language. Remember your universal screening process for characteristics of dyslexia is your universal screening process for all students who might have significant challenges with basic reading deficits…which is what districts were already doing.
- Will they also require an intervention targeting these skills
- Any students displaying one or more characteristics of dyslexia, that the school feels requires dyslexia-specific intervention to target these challenges, should receive those interventions. That includes students in special education. But districts should not just automatically provide dyslexia-specific interventions and code/provide parent communication with students identified SLD in basic reading, because this assumes all these students are accurately identified and that they are actually getting interventions that meet requirements for a dyslexia-specific intervention.
- Can the SPED department address that officially?
- Schools need to decide whether students with disabilities who display characteristics of dyslexia require dyslexia specific interventions. Those interventions could be occurring at tier II, III, or in special education. Schools should determine this by using multiple sources of data and consider whether what level of intensity the data indicates they will require to close their gap.
- Would SPED students identified also require parent letters sent home?)
- Yes, but I recommend you look at the law. It says parents must be notified. So for students on IEP’s who it is determined they have characteristics and require dyslexia specific interventions, and it is exactly what the IEP already outlines, then that might just be a conversation with parents at an IEP meeting or another form of notification. I would recommend documenting that, though. And, still code them in your SIS.
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Presentation from the 1-10-18 PLC:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Ve8tpVCJY0ueGNBuXKuF9MT2ut9kjLJWL23FDcAfxVY/edit?usp=sharing
January 3, 2018
Things to remember about interventions and progress monitoring for Written Expression:
- ACS administers the written expression screener three times per year.
- Approved Interventions for written expression:
- Definition of Interventions:
- Reading Recovery is a highly effective short-term intervention of one-to-one tutoring for low-achieving first graders. The intervention is most effective when it is available to all students who need it and is used as a supplement to good classroom teaching. Reading Recovery serves the lowest-achieving first graders, the students who are not catching on to the complex set of concepts that make reading and writing possible.
Comprehensive Intervention Model (CIM) is a systemic and layered design for increasing the literacy achievement of struggling readers in kindergarten to eighth grades. The CIM is based on the belief that teachers must be experts in observing the changes that occur over time in children’s literacy behaviors and be able to make moment-to-moment decisions based on their children’s strengths and areas of need. The CIM uses a layered approach within a multi-tiered framework for aligning classroom instruction, supplemental interventions, and special education. Teachers use data (including classroom observations) to place students in the most appropriate intervention, and students may receive multiple interventions at the same time. The CIM framework includes a combination of high-quality classroom instruction; portfolio of research-based interventions; collaborative structures for aligning instruction across classroom and supplemental settings; comprehensive literacy assessment system, and professional development provided through university partnerships. The CIM meets the goals of a Response to Intervention (RtI) method for identifying children at risk of reading failure and providing research-based, targeted instruction for reading success.
Guided Reading Plus (GRP) serves students who are reading level A-L text. The goal of GRP is to enable the learner to acquire flexible strategies for solving problems in reading and writing while maintaining a focus on comprehension. GRP is very similar to guided reading that takes place within the general classroom setting. GRP includes additional word study to enable reading to build effective visual searching strategies for processing visual information rapidly and efficiently. GRP also includes writing about reading every other day so that readers are able to build connections between the reading and writing processes and to increase reading achievement through the act of writing. Instruction includes basic reading skills, written expression, fluency, vocabulary development and comprehension.
Comprehension Focus Group (CFG) serves students who are reading level M and above text and are struggling with comprehension issues. The group focuses on both reading and writing within various text genres. This group is composed of various “unit studies” which include comprehension strategies, vocabulary development and written expression. The CFG intervention consists of four phases: Preparing; Reading; Discussing the book; Writing.
Interactive Writing/Assisted Writing (AW) is for students in first to fourth grades who are struggling with literacy processing. Assisted writing is an umbrella term for classifying two types of writing interventions: interactive writing and writing aloud. At the emergent to early levels, the interactive writing intervention enables students to: Acquire foundational concepts about print; Understand that writing is about communicating a message; Apply rereading strategies to predict and monitor reading; Articulate words slowly and hear and record letters in words; Use simple resources as self-help tools (e.g., ABC chart, personal dictionary); Become fluent with correct letter formation; Build a core of high-frequency words; Cross-check multiple sources of information.
Writing Aloud (WA) is designed for students who are reading at higher levels, but experiencing difficulty with the writing process. The goal is to assist students in understanding that writing includes a process of generating ideas, drafting a message, revising, editing, and preparing a piece for a particular audience. The writing-aloud intervention includes five elements: Explicit teaching through minilessons; Group compositions; Individual writing; Teacher conferences; Student self-assessments.
Writing Process (WG) group is delivered within the writing workshop block of the classroom. It is a supplemental intervention taught by a specialty teacher (CIM Interventionist, Title I, Reading Recovery, special education). The interventionist comes into the classroom during the writing workshop block and gathers a small group of struggling writers to a table where she assists them with their writing, including composing a meaningful message, applying problem-solving strategies for working on words, revising and editing the message, and maintaining a focus for completing the writing task. The interventionist observes the writing behaviors of individual students within the group and provides tailored support that enables each student to accomplish the classroom writing goals.
Emergent Language and Literacy (ELL) groups for children who are in kindergarten or first grade and are at the emergent level of reading and writing. The intervention emphasizes oral language development, phonemic awareness and phonics, and the important concepts about print that are essential to learning to read. The components include shared reading, interactive writing, and opportunities to engage in language experiences around books that have been read aloud.
Words Their Way provides a practical way to study words with students. Based on research on developmental spelling and word knowledge, the framework of this text is keyed to five stages and instructional levels: Word Study for Learners in the Emergent Stage; Word Study for Beginners in the Letter Name-Alphabetic Stage; Word Study for Transitional Learners in the Within Word Pattern Stage; Word Study for Intermediate Readers and Writers: The Syllables and Affixes Stage; and Word Study for Advanced Readers and Writers: The Derivational Relations Stage.
Phonics Lessons is organized to recognize the developmental patterns and provide a foundation upon which to build the smartest instruction possible. Teachers can utilize this framework to help pinpoint word work and phonics areas that a struggling reader/writer are having in class. This continuum plots a course along the developmental pathway children traverse as they become expert word solvers and effective readers.- Progress Monitoring for Written Expression
- Written Expression Probe Generator:Norms:
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December 1, 2017
Quick Links for ACS Forms:
https://docs.google.com/a/acs.ac/presentation/d/1eoILr2DzXtDCEqgreMqxr0p_unLdUmldiGeOrZ0VODo/edit?usp=sharing
ACS link for the online notebook:
https://acsac.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/RTI/EbddQD0WWFRDjFyjIGnVeZgB_DIXGBAa35gKAGdrPTuDyw?e=85eaa47e468542718cb349e45a2594e2
If you have any questions, please let Candace Eubanks know. She'll be happy to attend an RTI meeting at your school if there is a need. You may contact her at ceubanks@acs.ac.
April 4, 2017
Allowable Test Administration Conditions: Available to any student based on individual need
See more at: http://www.tennessee.gov/education/topic/assessment-accessibility-and-accommodations#sthash.dvKtNlUx.dpuf
The following administrative considerations
regarding the timing, scheduling of assessments, and setting/locations for
testing are available for any student.
Administrative
Consideration
|
Small Group Testing
Student is tested in a separate location with a small group of students with matching accessibility features, accommodations, or testing needs as appropriate. The maximum number of students allowed in a small group is 10. |
Time of Day
Student is testing during specific time of day based on their individual needs (e.g., ELA/Literacy in the morning; no testing after lunch). |
Separate or Alternate
Location
Student is tested in a location other than their originally scheduled testing classroom. |
Specified Area or
Setting
Student is tested in a specialized area or setting (e.g., in front of the classroom, seat near the door, library, on homebound, etc.) |
Adaptive and
Specialized Equipment or Furniture
Student is provided specialized equipment or furniture needed for successful testing environment (e.g., low lighting, adaptive seat). |
Frequent Breaks
Guidance on logistics for administering the TCAP assessments with frequent breaks:
Rest/Break
Accommodation: Based on individual need as outlined in a behavior plan, IEP,
EL
or medical plan which requires additional rest/breaks, the team should select the rest/breaks accommodation
Because of security issues, TDOE must
maintain the single day administration for individual
sub-parts of each assessment. Permitting the administration of a single subpart over multiple days would allow for educators and students to review the test content in advance.
Breaks during subparts are an allowable
test administration condition for the administration
of the assessment.
|
February 24, 2017
The TN Department of Education has released a new manual.
https://www.tn.gov/assets/entities/education/rti2/attachments/rti2_manual.pdf
Intent of the Framework and Revision:
We are pleased to share this updated manual for Response to Instruction and Intervention (RTI²), which is Tennessee’s framework for teaching and learning that begins with high-quality, differentiated instruction throughout the day and emphasizes intervening with students when they first start to struggle to avoid prolonged academic difficulties. The goal of this manual is to support educators and empower districts in their continued implementation of RTI² and to ensure that you have the structure and resources necessary to provide all students with access to and support for reaching high standards and expectations.
The Tennessee State Board of Education approved Special Education Guidelines and Standards regarding evaluations for Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD). The path to identification moved away from a discrepancy model, sometimes called a “wait to fail” approach, and since July 1, 2014, the RTI² model has been our statewide approach to identifying students with SLDs. The Special Education Guidelines and Standards require all districts and schools to use RTI² to determine the eligibility of students to receive special education services for SLDs; however, identification is not the sole purpose of RTI².
The first “I” in RTI² is instruction; strong Tier I instruction is the foundation of RTI². Core instruction and grade-level expectations are delivered to all students through the Tier I instructional block. In fact, this is where students spend the majority of their day. The revision of this manual provides refined and more detailed guidance on the hallmarks of effective Tier I instruction: high expectations, standards-based whole group and small group instruction, a balance of skills-based and knowledge-based competencies in reading, differentiation, and purposeful use of data.
RTI² also offers additional instruction with multiple entry and exit points based on students’ needs: a student who is on grade level may receive high-quality Tier I instruction and enrichment; another student who is showing slight deficits in specific areas may receive targeted interventions through Tier II for a specific period of time; alternately, a student who has significant needs may receive extended, intensive interventions through Tier III.
Special education services are a continuation of the path through the RTI² tiers. A student who does not show growth in response to an appropriate intervention that is delivered with fidelity in Tier III may be eligible for the most intensive services available, special education services. However, the RTI² model provides instructional opportunities for all students and is not exclusively a path to special education eligibility
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November 29, 2016
Facts about Dyslexia
Dyslexia is NOT:
- A medical condition
- A clinical diagnosis
- A learning profile used to describe phonological deficits that impact a student’s decoding and spelling abilities. Students with this learning profile struggle with accurate and fluent word recognition.
“Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.”
Common Features of Dyslexia:
- Phonological
- Processing Deficit (s)
- Reading Deficits
- Associated Deficits
- Phonological Awareness
- Rapid Automatic Naming
- Phonological Memory
- Decoding
- Word Reading
- Reading Fluency
- Spelling
- Written Language
- Oral Language
- Reading Comprehension
Some common characteristics of dyslexia include:
• Difficulty identifying or generating rhyming words (phonological awareness)
• Difficulty with hearing and manipulating sounds in words (phonemic awareness)
• Difficulty learning the sounds of letters (phonics)
• Difficulty remembering names and shapes of letters, or naming letters rapidly
• Misreading or omitting common short words
• Difficulty with word retrieval or naming problems
• Difficulty sounding out words
• Confuses letters that look similar to each other such as p/d/g/q and m/w/n
• Many spelling mistakes
• Excellent thinking skills
• Sophisticated listening vocabulary
Students with dyslexia share some common characteristics, but not everyone with dyslexia is the same.
Not all students who have difficulties with these skills have dyslexia.
How is dyslexia identified?
Evaluations conducted by licensed psychologists or neuropsychologists.
- Intellectual functioning
- Phonological processing
- Auditory discrimination
- Listening comprehension
- Achievement testing
- Word reading
- Reading comprehension
- Decoding
- Spelling
- Written expression
Characteristics of Dyslexia
Characteristics can also be identified through informal assessments
- Universal screenings measuring early literacy and/or oral reading
- Diagnostic assessments measuring phonics, phonological awareness, spelling
- Assessments used to align appropriate intervention
Interventions for students with dyslexia
It is not necessary for a student to be identified with dyslexia in order to receive appropriate intervention.
- Students should be provided with interventions aligned to needs identified through universal screening
- Students with the characteristics of dyslexia have shown success with intervention that is:
- Intensive
- Explicit
- Systematic
- Structured
- Multi-sensory
- Language based
A continuum of services is available in Tennessee schools to address the needs of all students.
- Some students are successful with minimal supports and accommodations in the classroom;
- some need additional intervention provided through general education;
- and others need intensive intervention provided through special education.
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October 31, 2016
Interventions that are available for writing through Comprehensive Intervention Model, CIM:
Assisted Writing Intervention
The assisted writing (AW) intervention is for students in first to fourth grades who are struggling with literacy processing. Assisted writing is an umbrella term for classifying two types of writing interventions: interactive writing and writing aloud.
- At the emergent to early levels, the interactive writing intervention enables students to:
- Acquire foundational concepts about print
- Understand that writing is about communicating a message
- Apply rereading strategies to predict and monitor reading
- Articulate words slowly and hear and record letters in words
- Use simple resources as self-help tools (e.g., ABC chart, personal dictionary)
- Become fluent with correct letter formation
- Build a core of high-frequency words
- Cross-check multiple sources of information
- Writing Aloud
- The writing-aloud intervention is designed for students who are reading at higher levels, but experiencing difficulty with the writing process. The goal is to assist students in understanding that writing includes a process of generating ideas, drafting a message, revising, editing, and preparing a piece for a particular audience.
- The writing-aloud intervention includes five elements:
- Explicit teaching through minilessons
- Group compositions Individual writing
- Teacher conferences
- Student self-assessments
Writing Process Group Intervention
It is a supplemental intervention taught by a CIM Interventionist. The interventionist comes into the classroom during the writing workshop block and gathers a small group of struggling writers to a table where she assists them with their writing, including composing a meaningful message, applying problem-solving strategies for working on words, revising and editing the message, and maintaining a focus for completing the writing task. The interventionist observes the writing behaviors of individual students within the group and provides tailored support that enables each student to accomplish the classroom writing goals.
Link to the ACS flowchart:
Progress Monitoring for Writing:
Written Expression Probe Generator:
Norms:
If you have any questions concerning the interventions for writing, please contact Candace Eubanks, ceubanks@acs.ac.
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September 30, 2016
EVERY STUDENT, EVERY DAY!
Some tips for making sure RTI2 is going well at your school...
- Differentiated small group instruction is the key to ensuring struggling students receive the EXTRA instruction needed to help narrow the learning gap. Remember these groups should not supplant instruction, but the groups should be supplemental to the core classroom instruction which is tier 1. The fidelity of the instruction is imperative. Tier 2 and 3 students should be receiving intensive instruction from highly trained personnel.
- Documentation is crucial. Attendance, progress monitoring, and fidelity checks all must be kept current.
- RTI team meetings should be occurring every 4.5 weeks on students in RTI. This allows the team to review the progress and make an informed decision on what intervention is best for the student. Possible items to discuss:
- Easy CBM Universal Screener percentile
- Easy CBM progress monitoring – grade level and progress
- Check number of data points during meeting on EasyCBM
- Intervention strategies taught and progress
- Continue with current intervention or change
- If change, discuss placement
- Continue at current RTI tier or change
- Parent letter if needed to indicate change
- Progress monitoring parent documentation completed to send home
- If student isn’t making progress and there are enough data points – discuss next steps for referral to SpEd.
All forms and documents for RTI2 are still housed on the ACS - Microsoft Sharepoint site.
Some important links:
RTI Notebook:
Fidelity Checks:
If you have any questions with RTI, please do not hesitate to contact Candace Eubanks by email ceubanks@acs.ac or call 435-7506.
