Interventions in the Classroom

Making a Case for RTI

Today’s Agenda

1. Strategy or Intervention Activity

2. RTI Explained

3. Strategy Video—LTHS

4. Case Studies Activity

5. Wrap-up

Objectives

You will know the difference between a strategy and an intervention.

You will walk away with at least one strategy and one intervention to engage students.

You will know where to go for resources for RTI.

Is this a “strategy” or an “intervention”?

• We will give you seven examples of a strategy or an intervention.

• You should walk to the sign that states “strategy”, “intervention”, or “not sure” for each example.

– Remember, it is okay to be wrong!

Is this a “strategy” or an “intervention”?

• Calling home when a student has not turned in homework.

Strategy

Is this a “strategy” or an “intervention”?

• Meeting with a student before or after school to reinforce the class concepts and monitor student’s success.

Intervention

Is this a “strategy” or an “intervention”?

• Using a graphic organizer for two students who have difficulty understanding the main ideas of a concept and monitoring their progress.

Intervention

Is this a “strategy” or an “intervention”?

• Meeting with a student who has difficulty participating in class because of anxiety, and informing him of the question that will be asked of him the next day so that he has time to prepare.

Strategy

Is this a “strategy” or an “intervention”?

• Students who score below 60% on a math assessment have an opportunity to learn missed concepts through diagramming the problems.

Strategy

Is this a “strategy” or an “intervention”?

• Using physical movement for the entire class to promote engagement.

Strategy

Is this a “strategy” or an “intervention”?

• Using a research-based method, such as color-coded paper, to help Andrew and Lindsay understand written directions and noting progress made.

Intervention

What differences did you notice?

Strategies and Interventions Explained

So, what is RTI?

What is RTI?

• “Response to Intervention is a multi-tiered approach to providing instruction and targeted intervention to improve student outcomes” (Johnson, Smith, Harris).

• We use the RTI model to provide effective, research-based instruction to help all students (prevention).

• Identify students who are not reaching Enduring Understandings/Essential Outcomes.

• Implement research-based interventions and monitor progress

What is RTI?

• Strategies– The combination of research-based methods

or activities designed to teach the learning objective.

• Interventions– Program, actions, or strategies specifically

designed to address an identified deficiency and monitored to ensure outcome improvement . (Taken from LTHS PLC Glossary (p.7))

What is RTI?

• An instructional strategy can become an intervention when the strategy is intentionally used and monitored to address students who are not reaching the learning outcomes.

– Use mid-quarter, quarter, and semester grades as a means to monitor and measure student progress

Taken from LTHS PLC Glossary (p.7)

Why RTI?

• LTHS Numbers– 2012-2013 Semester 1 Data:

• 7.2% of the 1st semester grades were a D or F

• In one core class, 10.2% of students enrolled received a D or an F 1st semester of this year.

• In another core class, 8.6% of students enrolled received a D or F 1st semester of this year.

• 18 Special Education referrals this school year

The Reality…

Typical Classroom at LTHS:• 26 students• 3 students are not reaching Essential

Outcomes• 51 minutes

What do you do?

Two Rules of Teaching

According to Pat Quinn “The RTI Guy”:

1. Effective teaching is harder than ineffective teaching.

2. Small changes can make a big difference.

Who Benefits from RTI?

• EVERYONE!

– Typically a few students in each class are directly impacted by specific interventions that lead to Essential Outcomes.

– All students will benefit from research-based

strategies/interventions implemented with whole class.• http://lthspl.weebly.com/rti.html

RTI Video

• September 2012 Newsletter:– Using physical movement as a strategy to

promote engagement

– “When we sit for more than twenty minutes, our blood pools in our seat and in our feet. By getting up and moving, we recirculate that blood. Within a minute, there is about 15 percent more blood in our brain. We do think better on our feet than on our seat! Students sit too much in classrooms, especially in secondary schools. Look for ways to get students up and moving, especially when they are verbally rehearsing what they have learned (Sousa, 2001).”

RTI at Work

Pros: allows for thoughtful/engaged discussion with other students, breaks up monotony of students taking notes in desks, since everyone is up, moving, and talking, it allows me to work with students that need help (intervention) without singling them out, students are reenergized

Cons:  the biggest con I could potentially see would be behavior issues; however I’ve never had problems with activities like this—you just have to tell them your expectations up front, students could potentially just copy from someone else

Feedback from Erin Shook:

Case Studies

• You will now break up into small groups.

• Each group will analyze four scenarios of struggling students.

• In addition, everyone will have a list of effective, research-based interventions/strategies.

• The groups will identify the interventions/strategies that would best address each scenario.

Brainstorm

• Think of your upcoming lessons…

– Where can you implement one of these strategies in your classroom?

Review

• What to do: Strategy v. Intervention?

• Why RTI is important?

• Who benefits?

• You are monitoring students’ response to an intervention (RTI) and decreasing the need for the intervention.

Strategies/Interventions Covered Today

Opening Activity and Video1. Physical Movement--September Newsletter

Case Studies2. CUCC (Circle, Underline, Count, Complete) Executive

Function Strategy—November newsletter

3. Write-Around/Written Conversations—December newsletter

4. Story Impressions—October Institute Day 2011

5. Text Coding—October Institute Day 2011

6. Homework Planning Checklist—in handouts

Final Thought

• While it’s important to know the difference between a strategy and an intervention…

– BOTH relate to RTI as a model for ALL students to benefit from better instruction.

Links to Resources

• RTI Tab on PLT website:– http://lthspl.weebly.com/rti.html

• Pat Quinn “The RTI Guy” website:– www.TotalRTI.com --his newsletters are great…

and free!

References

• Buffum, A., Mattos, M., & Weber, C. (2009). Pyramid response to intervention: RTI, professional learning communities, and how to respond when kids don’t learn. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.

• Johnson, E., Smith, L., & Harris, M. (2009). How RTI works in secondary schools. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

• Marzano, R. J., Pickering, D.J., & Heflebower, T. (2010). The highly engaged classroom. Bloomington, IN: Marzano Research Laboratory.

• Sousa, D. A. (2001). How the brain learns. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

• LTHS PLC Glossary

Thank you for attending!