Response to Intervention….More Than Data PointsThe Diagnostician’s Role in the Process

Andrea Ogonosky, Ph.D., LSSP, NCSPLicensed Psychologist

ESC 4 Summer Assessment Instituteaogonosky@msn.com

(832)656-0398

Agenda• Technical Adequacy of Process• Team Membership/Leadership• Multiple Sources of Data• Staff Knowledge

Technical AdequacyThe District Guidance Document

RtI: Problem Solving

Assessment

80%

15%

5%

Interventions

Universal ScreeningProgress Monitoring

Progress MonitoringDiagnostics

Progress MonitoringDiagnostics

Grade LevelInstruction/ Support

Student Instructional LevelSupplemental Interventions90 min per week additional

Student Instructional LevelSupplemental Interventions120 min per week additional

Pair and Share• Have you ever felt like this? Why?• What has been your greatest challenge with your district RtI process?• On a scale of 1-5 where is your district as far as implementing a true

problem solving process centered around Tier 1?• Do you continue to hear staff refer to RtI as a referral process or a

documentation journey on the road to special education?• When are you called in to consult? • Are you a valued member of a campus or district team?

RtI Foundations for Success1. Multiple Tiers of Instruction and Assessment2. Using Data: Balanced Assessments3. Technology4. Highly Qualified Staff

The strongest processes that show sustained student growth are those that go beyond technical adequacy….

They are ones that promote a cultural responsiveness to the learning needs of all students (think Tier 1- 80%)and are not dependent on a rote “decision rule” of

six points on a graph.

Let’s start at the beginning….

RtI Is not simply implementing a different type of problem

solving. It also involves giving up certain beliefs in favor of

others. Systems will need to change….

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Team Membership

• Actively seek out to be an “Ad Hoc” member of the team• Enthusiastically volunteer information to aid in Tier 1 differentiation

of information.• Emphasize the value of having you consult way before a referral is

initiated.• Offer to aid in the development of the progress monitoring tools.• Provide mini-skill lessons on understanding various aspects of

assessment.

LeadershipThe road to student success begins here….

Critical Leadership

in RtI

Strong Leader

Focused on Ongoing RtI

Vision

Well versed in District RtI

PhilosophyUses ongoing evaluation of

needs to drive

resource allocation and professional

development

Ensure fidelity by having meaningful conversations with staff about data.

Create a culture of common values and work together to achieve common goals.

Provide clear staff expectations

Creatively allocate limited resources to ensure personnel have access to necessary supports.

Strong Administrators

Essential Tasks for Both Gen Ed and SPED Team

Study and plan ongoing RtI development.

Embed data based decisions across all systems

Use hybrid model of problem solving.

Campus Culture

• Resiliency: Over 40% of teachers do not make it to their 5th year of teaching- many leave by year 3.

• Encouragement of Innovation: PD to support advances in technology. Teachers reinforced and encouraged for “thinking outside the box”.

• Quality of Student teacher relationships

Variables affecting Culture

The most important aspect of a strong RtI process is the richness of the conversations that occur because of the layers of multiple

occurring data sources.

Question

Are you an active participant in PLC meetings?

It is essential to implement bothProfessional Learning Communities (PLC) and Response to Intervention (RTI) because these complementary processes

are considered research-based best practicesto improve student learning.

Connections• What exactly do we expect all

students to learn?• How will we know if they’ve

learned it?• How will we respond when

some students don’t learn it?• How will we respond when

some students have already learned?

• Core program• Standards• Alignment Documents

Connections• What exactly do we expect all

students to learn?• How will we know if they’ve

learned it?• How will we respond when some

students don’t learn it?• How will we respond when some

students have already learned?

• Progress monitoring• Universal screener• Diagnostic assessments• Formative Assessments

Connections

• What exactly do we expect all students to learn?

• How will we know if they’ve learned it?

• How will we respond when some students don’t learn it?

• How will we respond when some students have already learned?

• Differentiated Strategies• Interventions• Decision rules• Protocol

Connections• What exactly do we expect

all students to learn?• How will we know if they’ve

learned it?• How will we respond when

some students don’t learn it?• How will we respond when

some students have already learned?

• District Expectations• Decision rules• Protocol

Underscoring a Problem

“Most teachers just do not possess the skills to collect data, draw meaningful conclusions, focus instruction, and

appropriately follow up to assess results. That is not the set of skills we were hired to do.”

How can you help to ensure fidelity of data?

Balancing Assessments

-- Assessment systems-- Multiple measures-- Varied types -- Varied purposes-- Varied data sets-- Balanced with needs

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Align Data Sources

Universal Screening

Progress Monitoring

Diagnostic Assessments

Outcome Assessments

Does the data tell a clear and concise story of the student’s learning?

If there is inconsistency team must investigate why

Review integrity of instruction

Align to student needs

Student variables

You must have multiple sources of data to have

effective data-driven instruction.

With that said, assessing students while they are

learning yields real time data to steer teachers towards differentiated practices.

Assessment and Instruction are inseparable.

“Assessment is today’s means of understanding how to modify tomorrow’s

instruction.” Carol Tomlinson

Components Addressed When Using Multiple Data Sources• The interrelationship between classroom achievement and cognitive

processing criteria• Classroom achievement• Academic Deficit (RtI)• Cognitive Processing• Behavior

Data to Consider

Referral QuestionTest SelectionInterpretation

Diagnostics

PMSummative

Problem Identification

Is the Tier 1 Core curriculum effective? (District Data)• The percentage of students (aggregated or sub-groups)

meeting proficiency on the state standards as measured by the statewide assessment.

• Universal Screening Trends

Characteristics of a Strong Data Team

Process of Collecting Meaningful Data Culture of Collaboration There is a process to measure where students are

in the curriculum. There is a RtI plan in the school district to help

students who are not achieving or who are excelling.

Problem Identification

• Review existing information• Determine student’s functional

level• Identify initial concerns • Analyze multiple data sources• Operationally define the problem

Problem Identification• School level: The percentage of students who are at benchmark on the

fall, winter and spring screening assessment is not increasing.• Who are the students? • Do the data suggest a sub-group? • Has their risk level increased (benchmark to strategic or strategic to

intensive)? • Is a clear pattern of skill deficits evident?

Problem Identification• Grade level: Students in certain grades are not making

adequate progress. • Has the staff been provided adequate professional

development and training on the curriculum?• Has fidelity of implementation been addressed?• Can root causes be identified?

• Class level: Instructional groups are not making growth at the expected rate. • Are the interventions matched to student needs?

Existing Data Review• Determine the Student’s

Current Classroom Status: Academic Progress and Work Samples

• Teacher Describes and quantifies concerns

• Review of Records• Parent Contact(s)• Medical Information• Classroom Observations (ICEL)

Problem Identification• Student level: The student is not making the same amount of

progress as other students in the instructional group. • What skills has the student not mastered? • Has a diagnostic assessment been administered?

The two most common reasons for less than expected rate of student progress are:

1. A mismatch between instruction and learner needs 2. Fidelity of implementation

Determine Student Functional Levels

• Identify assets and weaknesses• Identify Critical Life Events, Milestones,

Circumstances (Positive and Negative) • Identify medical and/or physiological

sources of concern• Identify academic variables such as

“speed of acquisition” or retention of information

• Identify issues of attendance, transitions, motivation, access to instruction

Professional JudgmentInterpretation Issues

Suspected Disability?ID: What to look for in the data:Screening: Below cut score across the boardDiagnostics: Focused Skill deficits and patterns across many areas (mostly pattern of weaknesses)Progress Monitoring: ROI would be slow and possible have a downward trend, not variable, slope is evident (not flat-line)Outcome: STAAR failure pervasive, Unit and District assessments in bottom percentile

Suspected ID/ Slower Cognitive Processing:• I: Student instructional level significantly below grade level, often times

manipulatives, graphic organizers needed, slow (not variable) progress, well below grade level expectations.

• C: Curricular mismatch is evident across academic areas• E: Student performs best in environment that is highly structured, highly

organized, rules posted, high degree of task analysis needed • L: Student demonstrates adaptive skill weaknesses, difficulty with use of

learning strategies independently, social skill weaknesses

Reminder (ID)• Children with ID will not likely display a flat cognitive profile on

comprehensive assessments of cognitive abilities • ID is usually evident when data indicates there is one (or more) impaired

cognitive ability with high centrality that lower the functioning of the whole system

• As a group, students identified with ID have lower scores on all CHC factors

Suspected DisabilitySLD: What to look for in the data:a. Data that shows appropriate instruction and data-based documentation of

progress in some academic areasb. Does not achieve adequately for age or meet state-approved grade-level

standards • Does not make sufficient progress …response to scientific, research-based intervention…

Screening: District Cut Score on US (Should be above in some areas)Diagnostics: Reading, Math, WritingProgress Monitoring: Grades, formative assessments, unit tests, district common assessments, RtI CBM’s (ROI)- variable data results, however grade expectations in some areasOutcome: Summative Assessments, Report card grades, STAAR, Review objectives met/not met

Suspected SLD:• I: Grade level in some areas, below grade level in others• C: Differentiated strategies based upon learning style will vary

depending on academic area• E: Student displays differing degrees of AE based upon content and

delivery, performs better in small group with instruction aligned to learning preferences

• L: Most often demonstrates increased off task behaviors in area of weaknesses, family history may include learning problems, medical history positive for certain “red flags”, development is positive for specific deficit and skill acquisition.

Professional Judgment: Test Selection Based Upon Multiple Sources“Pick the battery that best fit the student and the referral concern” (Misak, 2013)

Focus selection of narrows dependent on data related to Tiered instruction on specific skill deficits.

Do you have enough fidelity to do this?Does RtI team give you enough data?What is sufficient for ROI data pts?Norms?Comparison to peers?

Reminder

• All G’s are involved in all learning – What is required for learning determines involvement of each and will differ.

• Some G’s (Gc, Gf) affect learning across all academic areas. • Within each G, specific narrow abilities are more directly related to

specific academic skills – these narrow abilities need to be measured for LD patterns.

FIE Test Selection

• Review RIOT/ICEL and all RTI data- determine reason for referral• Carefully select measures- watch for variance

• Do not want to use too many measures • Need to measure the appropriate narrow abilities• Also may need to measure constructs such as executive function,

orthographic processing, etc.• Select a core battery and the relevant tests to give and then supplement

appropriately

Converge Data

Reason for Referral

Historical DataRtI DataMultiple Sources

FIE Test Battery

ProfessionalJudgment

Recommendations

FIE Language

Reason for ReferralStudent was referred for a comprehensive Full and Individual Evaluation by the campus RTI committee. Student has participated in Tiers 1, 2 and 3 intensive instruction and intervention in the area of basic reading skills and comprehension and continues to evidence poor progress within grade level and instructional level curriculum.

Achievement Data• In addition to reporting your review of assessment data, include such

data as:• US: Student participated in district-wide screening on Aimsweb BOY scores

indicate…. Or Scan and import data

• Scan and or report PM data:

aogonosky@msn.com(832) 656-0398

Questions?

I am happy to help you!