Implementing RTI in TigardTualatin School District

1
Implementing RTI in Tigard-Tualatin School
District

• OSEP Leadership Conference
• March 30, 2005
• Carol Sadler, Ph.D.
• 503-431-4117 - csadler_at_ttsd.k12.or.us

2
Implementation

• Effective Behavior Support
• READING
• Effective Behavior
• and Instructional Support/RTI

• 9 Years
• 6 Years
• 4 Years

3
T-TSD Demographics

• 15 schools,11,900 students
• 9 elementary 1 elementary charter school
• 3 middle schools
• 2 high schools a middle/high alternative
  program
• Special programs participation
• 1,100 (9) Special Education Students
• 1,600 (13) English Language Learners
• 1,300 (11) Talented Gifted Students
• Title 1 in 5 of 9 elementary schools

4
(No Transcript)
5
Typical team structure
EBIS TEAM Meets weekly Plans and implements
school-wide reading/academic Monitors all
students in small group and individual
interventions Makes referrals to special education
GRADE LEVEL TEAMS Meet monthly Plan and
implement small group reading/academic
interventions
EBS TEAM Meets Twice Monthly Plans and
implements school-wide and small group
behavior supports
6
Daisy participates in the general curriculum
EBIS Team reviews screening data and places
Daisy in group intervention
Daisy isnt doing well
Daisy may recycle
Daisy improves
Daisy doesnt improve
EBIS Team designs individual intervention
Resumes general program
Daisy may recycle
Daisy improves
Daisy doesnt improve
Improvement is good and other factors are
suspected as cause
Intervention is intense and LD is suspected
Special Education referral is initiated
7
What are the changes? BEFORE
EVALUATION
THE OLD WAY
THE NEW WAY
Pre-referral interventions for individual
children were encouraged
Teams find and intervene with the lowest 20 of
students
Intervention decisions tended to be unilateral
Interventions are designed by teams
Progress was reported anecdotally
Interventions are evaluated objectively by teams
8
What are the changes? DURING
EVALUATION
THE OLD WAY
THE NEW WAY

• Most information is in place by the time the
  evaluation begins

Most information about a student was gained AFTER
referral

• Response to interventions has the most
  influence on eligibility decisions

• Testing had the most influence on eligibility
  decisions

• Little data was gathered on exclusionary
  criteria

Exclusionary criteria are fully analyzed

• Testing is used to confirm information and fill
  in missing information

9
What are the changes? AFTER
EVALUATION
THE OLD WAY
THE NEW WAY
Frequently, more testing needed to be done to
establish goals, service level, or methodology.
The IEP team has extensive information about the
students response to instructional variables by
the time eligibility is established.
10
Characteristics of T-TSD Model

• Evaluations must operate within the legal
  framework of IDEA
• False positives and negatives should be minimized
• Referral bias should be eliminated (gender,
  cultural)
• The model should be flexible enough to
  incorporate technological advancements
• The model should be educationally relevant

11
The eligibility report

• Establishes whether the student has very low
  skills.
• Addresses each of the exclusionary factors.
• Establishes whether the students difficulties
  are remediable with general education
  interventions or progress shows a pattern of
  resistance to instruction.
• Describes other factors such as cognition, fine
  motor, perceptual motor, communication, social,
  emotional, perception, or memory problems.
• Addresses the physical factors that may play a
  role in the determination of the presence of a
  learning disability.
• Makes a summary statement that clearly states the
  reason for the decision whether the student does
  or does not have a learning disability.

12
Findings

• Case Study
• Accomplishments
• Integrated, collaborative teams, district and
  schools
• Generic service delivery
• Identify ALL students and provide interventions
• Reducing instructionally disabled
• Whole child approach
• Research-based programs and practices
• Trends in Identification Rates, earlier