I was very impressed with the level of questioning that came from my group. This is an undergraduate / post-baccalaureate level course and in truth only counts as a third of a course for them in credits. However, this is a group that wants answers! They will also be researching interventions for the next several weeks to address the needs of case study students I have assigned to them. I wanted to share this wonderful list of questions generated by the class. This finally prompted me to start a blog and use this as my first post.
I am inviting our guest speakers to respond in the comments. Students can respond with answers to one another and further questions. Any readers of the blog are also invited to respond. I am also going to try an experiment and tweet this blog post out at the #NASP convention. The questions are numbered so that you can reference the question you are responding to in your comments.
1. How long does a child stay in Tier 3 before being referred to special education? How many kids end up going to Tier 3 and actually get better and don’t need special education?
2. How much time is spent on professional development to ensure teachers are prepared & well educated about RTI?
3. How often do kids come off IEPs? If making progress on IEPs, do you go back to Tier 3, or Tier 2 interventions?
4. How long do we progress monitor Tier 3 students before the teacher could consider keeping a student back a grade?
5. What is the line between getting pulled out of class vs. having an aide come into the classroom?
6. How did your school begin to implement RTI? Was it a long process to begin? Is this something that every school should/will do?
7. How can you ensure the support will get put in place? And that it follows through year after year?
8. Do you think 6 weeks is too long to wait between each evaluation? Can’t a teacher tell something isn’t working in a shorter amount of time? (3-4 weeks)
9. What steps do you take when a parent is against intervention? What if they feel their child does not need intervention?
10. Can parents request that their child has an aide without being on an IEP?
11. If the student is getting a Tier 2 or Tier 3 intervention at the end of the year, does it follow them into the next grade?
12. When you start a new schedule for Tier 2, what if there is more kids than last time, how do you fit them all in? Could this lead to pairing students who need solitary instruction?
13. Can you give an example of targeted intervention/instruction within the classroom?
14. Who is working with the small group of Tier 2 children? Always a FIEP (interventionist) or can the teacher work with them? If so, what is the rest of the class doing?
15. How does the teacher make several differentiations for each step in the day?
16. How would a teacher implement this if the principal is not behind RTI?
17. If kids are on Tier 2 and have progressed slightly but stay the same (above avg) do you keep them on because they have not increased progress or because they are above avg. they can be removed. Do you want to increase the progress? Or just above average?
18. What is the difference between “normal” teaching and Tier 1. I thought that tier 1 always is happening.
19. Where do special education teachers come in? Are they working more in the general population?
20. Are there manuals? Do teachers share resources, lesson plans?
I've tried to answer a few, and I hope you find this to be helpful.
ReplyDelete1. How long does a child stay in Tier 3 before being referred to special education? How many kids end up going to Tier 3 and actually get better and don’t need special education? I collect at least 6 data points at Tier 3. Many times, students stay much longer in Tier 3 because of ESE (logistical) backlog. I have taught many Tier 3 students who did not go into Special Ed, but it’s really a case-by-case basis.
2. How much time is spent on professional development to ensure teachers are prepared & well educated about RTI? At the beginning of each year, I give a presentation that explains RTI and how it is done at our school. Throughout the year, I do trainings and modelings on the programs we use for Tier 2. (I’m the only person on-staff to do Tier 3). Each grade level has a liaison that helps with referrals.
10. Can parents request that their child has an aide without being on an IEP? School districts hardly scrape up money for students who have IEPs and would benefit greatly from an Aide. I doubt that many districts would be willing to hire an Aide that is not mandated by an IEP.
11. If the student is getting a Tier 2 or Tier 3 intervention at the end of the year, does it follow them into the next grade? Yes, paperwork should be done a the end of the school year so that the intervention can be continued at the start of next year. The goal may need to be adjusted (for Summer regression), so baselines may need to be done in August/September.
13. Can you give an example of targeted intervention/instruction within the classroom? Wilson and Fundations for phonics instruction; reciprocal teaching technique for Reading Comprehension; repeated readings for fluency practice; Soar to Success; Read180; Words Their Way.
17. If kids are on Tier 2 and have progressed slightly but stay the same (above avg) do you keep them on because they have not increased progress or because they are above avg. they can be removed. Do you want to increase the progress? Or just above average? Tier 2 is for the lowest 25%. If a student does not fall into that category, then the teacher should add supplemental activities and differentiate instruction at Tier 1 (Core). That student could also work with a higher peer-buddy, use a technology program during computer time (home/school) that targets a specific weakness.
18. What is the difference between “normal” teaching and Tier 1. I thought that tier 1 always is happening. Tier 1 is the core curriculum.
19. Where do special education teachers come in? Are they working more in the general population? Special Ed teachers need to service children with IEPs first. Though some may disagree, the primary responsibility of a Special Ed teacher is to teach Spec Ed students and get them to reach their goals.
20. Are there manuals? Do teachers share resources, lesson plans? Sharing often depends on the climate of your workplace...some schools run harmoniously through sharing and collaborating, others are far from the ideal. As a school’s RTI Facilitator, I purchased all of my own manuals and Professional Development resources.
For #4. How long do we progress monitor Tier 3 students before the teacher could consider keeping a student back a grade?...... this was a topic of interest at the school psychology conference. NASP has put out a position statement summarizing the potentially negative social-emotional and academic outcomes of grade retention.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe there is much, if any, research showing that grade retention is an effective intervention in the long term. Short-term gains do not tend to last beyond a year. If a student is not learning in response to the ongoing instruction, it should be changed rather than continuing to maintain the same plans for another year.
That being said, I would also like to know what the current practices are in area schools around retention, and if they are tracking the results.
For #8 (Do you think 6 weeks is too long to wait between each evaluation? Can’t a teacher tell something isn’t working in a shorter amount of time? (3-4 weeks)).....
ReplyDeleteThis is a very hot topic in RTI research and policy right now. Researchers in school psychology are still determining how many data points above the aim line or below the aim line should be used as the best "decision rule" before changing an intervention. Dr. Matt Burns at the University of Minnesota is one researcher looking at this question.
Our RTI book states that if 4 data points fall below the aimline, the intervention should be changed. That would typically mean 4 weeks with weekly progress monitoring, but if PM occurs biweekly it would take 8 weeks to get 4 data points.