Implementing Georgia

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Implementing Georgias Pyramid of Intervention
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Goals for Consortia

• Systematically understand the framework of
  Pyramids of Intervention at Tier I, II, and III.
• Begin to apply results of research into the
  development of system level pyramids.
• Use guiding questions to revise policies,
  practices, and procedures that prevent equitable
  education for all students.

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STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT PYRAMID OF INTERVENTIONS
Georgia Department of Education Offices of
Curriculum and Instruction and Teacher/Student
Support
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Why should we implement the Pyramid?Problem
solving practices and response to intervention
models work

• By creating the time, structures, and
  opportunities for teachers to engage in inquiry,
  and collegial dialogue, and to learn and practice
  effective problem solving.
• By passionately focusing on collecting and
  analyzing evidence of student learning and
  celebrating student success.
• By creating opportunities for universal
  prevention and early intervention activities.
• By having high, but achievable, developmentally
  appropriate expectations for all students.

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One key question determines when, where, how
to intervene.
Is it the Fish or the Water?
Adapted from Beth Doll, University of Colorado
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The Prevention/Intervention Triangle
80 able academic emotional learners
Intensive Intervention Evidence-based
interventions that are comprehensive,
coordinated, interagency supported, culturally
competent, family focused, of high quality, and
sustain help
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Evaluate Effects
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Early Intervention Provide proven structured
and targeted remedial academic mental/emotional
support to students placed at-risk
Primary Prevention(School-wide) Promote
academic mental/emotional wellness for all
students through family involvement, positive
school climate, social skills, teacher training,
individualized instruction, team consultation,
collaborative problem solving
Adapted from Dwyer, K. Osher, D. (2000)
Safeguarding Our Children An Action Guide.
Washington DC U.S. Departments of Education
and Justice, American Institutes for Research.
(page 3)
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Assumptions and beliefs to successfully implement
the Pyramid

• All students can learn. When they are not
  learning, we must find out why.
• Learning is a unique interaction between the
  student and the instructional environment.
• We must focus on understanding resolving the
  causes of problems why learning is not
  occurring.
• Passionately seeking authentic information about
  each child's unique skills and needs will result
  in academic/behavioral improvement.
• Assessment activities must be multidimensional
  linked directly to intervention.
• All students must be served early and often.
• Time during the school day is needed for teachers
  to meet, engage in inquiry, and positively
  reflect on and facilitate student learning.
• Family involvement is critical, desired, and
  encouraged.

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System wide expectations that must be in place
to successfully implement the Pyramid

• Strategic analyses will help identify the assets
  and needs specific to each unique learning
  community.
• Schools will restructure so that teams of
  teachers can meet regularly to problem solve and
  share instructional strategies.
• Teachers problem solving skills will be
  enhanced.
• Staff will learn what to look for when students
  are having difficulty and be able to collect
  authentic information to guide focused
  interventions.
• Inappropriate special education referrals will
  occur less frequently, thus limiting the
  possibility of disproportionality.
• Pyramid framework will support improvements in
  student achievement and reductions in behavioral
  transgressions.

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How can the framework of Pyramid of Interventions
improve a student's educational performance?

• It is designed to specifically identify
  solutions - the instructional, behavioral and
  social adjustments that lead to student success.
• It relies on evidence to support interventions.
• Teachers are supported by staff skilled in
  counting behavior and measuring student
  achievement (e.g., DIBELS, AimsWeb, OAS, STEEP).
• Benchmarks are established that indicate current
  performance. These signposts monitor student
  work and demonstrate progress toward skill
  attainment.

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How do we operationalize Tier I and Tier II?

• Key questions to answer are
• - Do we have scientifically based curricula for
  all students in Reading, ELA, and math?
• - Are school wide screenings used to group
  students for supplementary assistance?
• - How are formative assessments analyzed to
  determine student needs?

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Tier I Example (Fuchs, D. Fuchs, L. ,2005)

• Step 1 Screening
• In the first month of the school year, students
  are screened to identify those considered
  at-risk. System must define what is considered
  at-risk.

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Tier I Screening Practices

• Acceptable Practices (1) The previous years
  state assessment scores are reviewed to identify
  any student scoring below the 25th percentile in
  reading or math OR (2) An achievement test is
  administered to all children in a given grade,
  with at-risk children designated as those scoring
  below the 25th percentile

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Tier I Screening Practices

• Best Practices (1) Every student is assessed
  using brief screening tools that demonstrate
  diagnostic utility for predicting performance on
  the reading and math state assessments or on the
  local graduation requirements OR (2) Only those
  students who perform below the 25th percentile on
  the previous years state assessment or who
  perform below the 25th percentile on a more
  current test are screened individually with tools
  that have diagnostic usefulness.

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Tier I Instruction and Monitoring

• Students receive instruction in general education
  with evidence-based curricula and instructional
  strategies. The fidelity of the implementation is
  documented.
• At-risk students are monitored for 8 weeks to
  identify the subset who respond inadequately to
  general education at Tier I.

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How to determine the need for Tier II support?

• Acceptable practice At the end of 8 weeks,
  at-risk students are administered the screening
  tool or a brief standardized achievement test in
  the area of risk. Adequate Tier 1 response is
  operationalized with a score above the 16th
  percentile.

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How to determine the need for Tier II support?

• Best Practice At-risk students are assessed
  every week for 8 weeks in the area of risk using
  brief monitoring tools. Adequate Tier 1 response
  is operationalized using (a) local or national
  normative estimates for weekly improvement OR (b)
  criterion-referenced figures for weekly
  improvement.

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Implementing Tier II support

• Tier 1 non-responders receive 10-week
  supplementary, diagnostic instruction. This
  additional instruction is clearly explained to
  parents documenting what strategies will be used,
  and the measurable short term goal.

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Supplementary Tier II Practices

• Acceptable Practice The school team
  collaboratively problem-solve to design
  supplementary, diagnostic instruction tailored to
  the needs of the student. This instruction may be
  implemented by the classroom teacher, but would
  more likely be conducted by a specialist or aide
  under the supervision of the specialist.

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Supplementary Tier II Practices

• Best Practice The Tier 1 non-responder
  participates in small group instruction with
  students who share similar instructional
  weaknesses. The group is taught at least 3 times
  per week, 30 minutes per session, by a certified
  teacher or aide who can accurately implement an
  evidence-based protocol.

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When to determine Tier II success?

• Acceptable Practice At the end of 10 weeks,
  at-risk students are administered the screening
  tool or brief standardized assessment in the area
  of risk. Adequate Tier 2 response is
  operationalized with a score above the 25th
  percentile.

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When to determine Tier II success?

• Best Practice At-risk students are assessed
  every week for 10 weeks in the area of risk using
  brief monitoring tools. Adequate Tier 2 response
  is operationalized using (a) local or national
  normative estimates for weekly improvement.

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Montgomery County Public School Example of
Tier II implementation (Kovaleski, 2004)

• Students at risk were referred for problem
  solving and progress monitoring at each grade
  level. At risk students were those that scored
  below 25th percentile on previous years state
  assessment.
• Using the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early
  Literacy (DIBELS)
• All K- 4th grade at-risk students were screened
• (Nonsense word fluency, oral reading fluency)
  10/2004
• Students grouped in three groups
• LOW RISK
• SOME RISK
• AT RISK (10/2004)
• Students in the some risk and at-risk groups were
  given 1 hour of focused reading in combination
  with their regular reading block. Progress
  monitoring during additional 1 hour instruction
  occurred every 2 weeks.

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Georgia Reading First Model

• All children are assessed using the DIBELS
  instrument in fall, winter, spring.
• Those at risk or some risk are given
  additional instruction.
• Progress monitoring occurs on a regular basis.

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Reading First Using a staggered reading block
Team Rdg Write Math Sci/ SS Areas Lunch
K 845-1030 1030-1130 135-235 1215-1250 1250-135 1130-1215
1 845-1030 1200-100 100-200 200-230 1115-1200 1030-1115
2 1030-1215 945-1030 845-945 115-140 140-225 1230-115
3 1030-1215 930-1030 100-200 200-230 845-930 1215-100
4 1245-230 845-935 1020-1120 1120-1155 935-1020 1155-1240
5 1245-230 945-1025 845-945 1150-1235 1025-1110 1110-1150
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Implementing a Staggered Reading Block

• After the initial grade level instruction,
  students move during the reading block to
  homogenously grouped classrooms in order to
  better utilize all of their trained staff. A
  student would have a designated, highly qualified
  teacher in the area of reading who could be a
  general education teacher, a special education
  teacher, or an ESOL teacher depending on the
  students needs. The teachers with the high-risk
  children have smaller groups of children during
  the reading block.

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Challenges faced with implementation

• Progress monitoring
• Implementation of specific targeted interventions
  
• Time and competing responsibilities
• School-wide implementation
• Personnel changes
• A litigious and rule driven environment
• Systemic issues
• Political will

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How is your system implementing Tier I and Tier
II?

• Do you have a screening measure in place? If so,
  where is the data maintained?
• What is the cut-point to determine those students
  that may be considered at-risk?
• How are students targeted for preventative
  intervention?
• How long are students provided preventative
  intervention? What determines success?
• How has the role of general education teachers,
  specialists and support staff changed?

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School Wide Screening Examples

• Texas Primary Reading Inventory (Foorman)
• DIBELS- Oral Reading Fluency measure (Good)
• AIMSweb
• EdCheckup
• Monitoring Basic Skills Progress
• STAR
• STEEP (Witt)
• OAS
• Gray Oral Reading Test
• Testgate/Thinkgate

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Examples of schools providing Tier II support

• Extended Learning Time
• After school Programs
• EIP program
• Academic skills for Connection Class
• High School Basic Reading or Math Class
• Interventionist during uninterrupted 90 minute
  academic block (small group instruction)

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Supplementary Instruction

• It is not merely what is offered, but we must
  begin to evaluate how it is offered, who teaches
  it, and which students receive it.

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Re-Cap on Tier 1 and Tier 2 How do we
operationalize Tier I and Tier II?

• Key questions to answer are
• - Do we have scientifically based curricula for
  all students in Reading, ELA, and math?
• - Are school wide screenings used to group
  students for supplementary assistance?
• - How are formative assessments analyzed to
  determine student needs?

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What is Tier 3

• This should be the schools line of defense for
  reducing the number of students who are low
  performing or perhaps later referred for special
  education determination. Providing timely and
  evidence-based instructional strategies to at
  risk students can be the difference between those
  at-risk students successfully meeting standards.

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When is Tier 3 support necessary?

• If a students school-wide screening or progress
  monitoring results indicate a deficit in a
  specific area, an appropriate instructional
  intervention is implemented and progress within
  that intervention is monitored. These students
  are characterized as not making sufficient
  progress with Tier 1 and 2 instruction, falling
  behind on benchmark skills, and who require
  intense, additional instruction to achieve
  grade-level expectations.

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What are the components of Tier 3?

• It consists of general education instruction PLUS
  specialized intervention that contains
• Small group instruction
• Mastery requirements of content (relative to cut
  points identified on criterion screening measures
  and continued growth)
• Frequency of progress monitoring
• Duration of the intervention ( Nine to 12 weeks
  recommended)
• Frequency with which the intervention is
  delivered (Three to four intervention session per
  week with 45-60 minutes per session)
• Instructor qualifications

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What is this Tier 3 or SST?

• Current process for SST
• Every child that fails or is difficult to teach
  has collaboratively developed individual plan
• Problems
• Limited evidence based interventions
• Lack of baseline data in deficit area(s)
• Teams are created without expertise provided
• Limited accountability for fidelity of
  implementation
• Pyramid of Intervention Tier 3 Process
• More Prescriptive based on results of on-going
  assessment
• Fewer Choices- Materials ReadiedPre-training
• Progress monitoring embedded

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Why do we have SST

• Having an SST at all public schools in the state
  of Georgia is mandated as a result of the 1984
  Ollie Marshall court case (Marshall, 1984). The
  case came about due to concerns over the
  disproportionate placement of African-American
  students in special education.

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The original 6 step process for SST

• Conduct a needs identification
• Conduct a student assessment as needed
• Write an intervention plan detailing how the
  student will be instructed with interventions
• Implement the plan
• Follow-up and support throughout implementation
• Conduct continuous monitoring and evaluation to
  determine if desired outcomes are occurring
• (SBOE rule 160-4-2-.32)

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What does the 6 step process mean?

• Define the specific problem (Sallie reads 65
  words correctly with 7 errors on a fifth grade
  CBM)
• Review baseline data of student performance
• Write measurable goals in the deficit area
• Implement plan
• Monitor effectiveness of plan with formative
  assessments
• Evaluate to determine if there is success

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How must SST change?

• The current teams must adopt a problem-solving
  approach that is based on data and a continuing
  system of evaluation.
• Problems must be objectively defined, observed,
  and measured directly in the classroom.
• The data collected must be analyzed, using
  information to develop hypotheses about the cause
  of the problem and the appropriate selection of
  evidence-based strategies to remedy them.

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Progress Monitoring at all levels

• Curriculum-Based Measurement Warehouse
• A world of CBM resources under one roof
• A service of www.interventioncentral.
  org

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Progress Monitoring

• How to determine if it is evidence based or not?
• Resource National Center on Student Progress
  Monitoring
• www.studentprogress.org/chart/chart.asp

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Standards for Judging High-Quality Progress
Monitoring

• Scientific, research-based instruction includes
  the continuous progress monitoring of student
  performance across all tiers
• Teachers follow a designated procedure and
  schedule for progress monitoring and for
  regrouping students as needed
• Measures are administered frequently to inform
  instruction and curricular placement decisions
• Progress monitoring occurs in all tiers
• Progress monitoring measures are appropriate to
  the curriculum, grade level, and tier level
• Data resulting from progress monitoring is
  documented and analyzed

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Standards for Judging High-Quality Progress
Monitoring

• Progress monitoring uses a standardized benchmark
  by which progress is measured and determined to
  be either sufficient or insufficient
• Teachers use progress monitoring data to evaluate
  instructional effectiveness and to be informed
  about the potential necessity for changing the
  instruction
• An established data-management system allows
  ready access to students progress monitoring
  data
• After progress monitoring, a graph is completed
  to display data for analysis and decision making
  and to indicate percentages of students at risk,
  at some risk, and at low risk

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Standards for Judging High-Quality Progress
Monitoring

• Staff members receive training in the
  administration and interpretation of progress
  monitoring measures
• School designates reasonable cut points and
  decision rules for the level, slope, or
  percentage of mastery to help determine
  responsiveness and distinguish adequate from
  inadequate responsiveness
• Cut points are reviewed frequently and adjusted
  as necessary
• A rationale is provided for the cut points and
  decision rules

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How does progress monitoring align with Tier 3?

• The Pyramid of Interventions proposes a certain
  role for SST in the overall plan for teaching and
  learning After all students have been provided
  quality standards based classroom instruction and
  learning in Tier 1, and targeted students have
  participated in needs-based strategic
  interventions in Tier 2, those students are
  supported by Tier 3- SST driven interventions
  based on the results of ongoing assessments

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All
Students
Levels
Can
High
At
Learn
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Reflection on your SST

• Are Tier 3 intervention research-based?
• Are Tier 3 interventions different from the
  curricular materials used in Tier 1 instruction?
• In addition to Tier 1 and 2 instruction, are
  students receiving Tier 3 interventions for at
  least 45 minutes each day for nine to 12 weeks.

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Key Question

• What do we do when students dont learn?

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• Building a Professional Learning Community

• 2000-2001
• Advmnt. Trng.
• Common Finals

• 2002-2003
• Infrm. Crs. Tms.
• Advmt. Handbk.

• 2004-2005
• Bulldog Teams

• 1999-2000
• Progress Rprts.,
• Elect. Grd. Bks
• Vol. Tutoring
• Parent Contacts

• 2001-2002
• Inst. Calendars
• Bnchmrk.Asmts.
• Acad. Study
• Crs. Tm. Leads
• 4th Per. Advmt.

• 2003-2004
• Frml. Crs. Tm.Acts.
• Gud.St.
• Rstr.Lunch
• ITF
• Math Tutoring

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Professional Learning and SST

• It is not known what types of training are
  provided for Student Support Team members, SST
  chairpersons, and principals in different school
  districts.
• (Walls, 2005)

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Training and Documentation

• SST should be included in professional learning
  opportunities to enhance the process and the
  required documentation.
• The current SST Resource Manual states that the
  documentation should make the actions of SST so
  clear that new teachers each year will have no
  difficulty determining what has been tried.

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(No Transcript)
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Student Intervention Plan- Must review progress
in relation to baseline data
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Final Reflection

• Is your school using individual student data to
  determine instructional needs?
• How does SST document a students ability to
  progress within the curriculum?
• Are SST intervention plans created with specific
  goals, individualized interventions, and expected
  target and end date?