Response to Instruction and Intervention
in the Owen J. Roberts Middle School
Owen J. Roberts Middle School RtII Core Team
Dr. Robert Salladino, Principal
Mrs. Krista Venza, Instructional Support Facilitator
Mrs. Kristin Colfer, Academic Coach/Title I Math Teacher
Mrs. Dana Breeden, Reading Specialist
Mrs. Maureen Otis, Reading Specialist
Mrs. Jennifer Scott, Reading Specialist
RtII in the Owen J. Roberts Middle School
The RtII process is a regular education, multi-tiered approach to providing services and interventions to meet the instructional needs of all of our students. Although the main focus of RtII is to support students who are having academic difficulties by increasing levels of instructional intensity, we also focus on all levels of student learning including enrichment.
RtII has the potential to limit the academic failure that any student experiences. Information and data are collected several times throughout the school year within this framework and can lead to earlier identification of children who have true learning disabilities and are in need of special education services. Its use can also reduce the number of children who are mistakenly identified as having learning disabilities because we are able to pinpoint areas of weakness and to remediate.
Terms to know
Universal Screening – Assessments given throughout the school year to determine which students are “at risk” for not meeting grade level standards. Students whose scores on the screening fall below an established cut-off are identified as needing continued progress monitoring and possibly more intensive interventions. Students with scores well above a certain cut-off are considered for possible enrichment.
Intervention – A change in instruction in the area of learning or behavioral difficulty to try to improve performance and achieve adequate progress.
Progress Monitoring – A scientifically-based practice used to assess students’ academic performance and to evaluate the effectiveness of instruction.
A Three-Tiered RtII Model In the Middle School
Tier 1 – Benchmark – Effective core instruction that is differentiated based on data and provided to ALL students who are making expected progress in the regular education curriculum. Multiple Benchmark assessments are given 3-4x per year.
Tier 2 – Strategic – Students who are not making expected progress in Tier 1 are provided with supplementary interventions in addition to the core instruction. Progress monitoring is done monthly. An example of Tier 2 intervention in the Middle School is our 6-day Literature Links class with push-in support and our co-taught math classes.
Tier 3 – Intensive – Tier 3 is designed for students who are significantly behind established grade-level benchmarks and are not making adequate progress in Tier 2. More intensive small group instruction is provided by our Reading Specialists in our Reading Support classes using a scientifically research based program and our Title I Math Teacher and Math Support Teachers in Regular Education Math Support classes.
Universal Assessments and Progress Monitoring
PSSA
The Pennsylvania System of School Assessment provides an understanding of student and school performance and determines the degree to which programs enable students to attain proficiency of academic standards. Students are assessed in the areas of Reading in 7th and 8th grade, Mathematics in 7th and 8th grade, Writing in 8th grade, and Science in 8th grade. The PSSA is given one time per year in each of these subject areas.
4Sight
Pennsylvania 4Sight Reading and Mathematics Benchmark Assessments are “mini state tests” that are closely aligned to our state standards and assessments. We administer them at the beginning of the school year and throughout the year, so that we can see the impact of instruction on our students’ achievement and predict their performance on the PSSA. The 4Sight assessment is given to all students three times per school year.
4Sight Benchmarks provide us with three kinds of information:
1) They predict student performance on high-stakes state tests. That means they allow us to say, “If your child took the PSSA today, this is the performance level that he/she would be likely to score in.” We need to be very careful when looking at 4Sight scores in the beginning of the year because we are measuring the students against the end-of-the-year standards (information they have not yet been taught).
2) They also give us diagnostic subscale information. The diagnostic scales, which are based on state standards, break down the test questions into content areas. This information enables teachers to begin to identify the instructional needs of the class and of individual students and to plan instruction accordingly.
3) Finally, using the 4Sight scaled scores, growth toward expected goals can be measured. Repeated measurements allow us to monitor achievement, to celebrate success, and to make adjustments when indicated.
STAR Reading and STAR Math
Star Reading is a reliable, valid, and efficient progress-monitoring assessment of general reading achievement and reading comprehension. STAR Reading provides accurate, norm-referenced reading scores, criterion-referenced measures of students’ instructional reading levels, and a way for teachers to track student growth throughout the year. STAR Reading uses a computer-adaptive technology to tailor each student’s test based on responses to previous items. By administering test items that are closely matched to student achievement levels, STAR Reading’s reliability is enhanced and testing time is minimized. Using STAR Reading, students’ reading abilities are assessed in 10 minutes or less and the software immediately generates a variety of informative, easy-to-understand reports for teachers. STAR Reading is given to all students as an Universal Assessment four times per year.
STAR Math is a reliable, valid and efficient progress monitoring assessment of general math achievement. STAR Math provides teachers with quick, accurate estimates of math ability for students relative to national norms, criterion-referenced diagnostic assessments of math skills development, and a way to track student growth throughout the year. It uses a computer-adaptive technology to tailor each student’s assessment based on his or her responses to previous items. By administering test items that are closely matched to student achievement levels, STAR Math’s reliability is enhanced. Using STAR Math, math skills can be assessed in less than 15 minutes, and the software can immediately generate a variety of informative, easy-to-understand reports for teachers. STAR Math is given to all students as an Universal Assessment four times per year. It is also used as a progress monitoring tool. It is given two times per month in Tier 3.
Stanford Diagnostic Reading Test (SDRT)
The Stanford Diagnostic Reading Test (SDRT) is a group-administered, norm-referenced multiple-choice test that assesses comprehension, vocabulary, and scanning skills. The SDRT provides information on student progress and can target individual students who are in need of additional reading support. It also provides data on the strengths and weaknesses of students as readers which can be used to plan instruction and/or remediation. The SDRT provides a grade-level equivalent for each student's overall reading level and comprehension, vocabulary, and scanning skills. The SDRT is given to our Tier 2 students twice per year, once in the fall and once in the spring, using two different forms of the test.
OJRMS Data Team Meetings:
After each round of Universal Assessments each team of teachers meet to analyze the data, identify at risk students, pinpoint the areas of deficit, and plan instruction to meet these needs. This year our focus will be on tracking the progress students make after these steps are executed.
For more information, please contact Mrs. Krista Venza, Middle School Instructional Support Facilitator at kvenza@ojrsd.com or 610-469-5522.
For More Information, please visit the following websites:
http://www.pattan.net/files/RTI/RtIIAnIntro.pdf
http://www.pattan.net/files/RTI/ParentGuide.pdf
http://www.pattan.net/files/RTI/EIS-RtI-Ftsht.pdf
An informational power point about Response to Instruction and Intervention:
RtI Overview PP - website.ppsx