RtI Innovations 16th Anniversary Conference
PM Break out Session 8:
Advanced MTSS/RtI in Early Childhood
Settings: Unlocking Systems’ Strengths
to Meet Children’s Needs
Friday, October 11th, 2013
Salt Lake City, Utah
1
Judith Carta, Ph.D.
Co-director Center for the Study of RtI in EC (CRTIEC)
Juniper Gardens Children’s Project
University of Kansas
Robin Miller Young, Ed.D., NCSP
Director of Early Childhood Education
Rockford University, Rockford, IL
Charlie Greenwood, Ph.D.
Professor and Director
Juniper Gardens Children’s Project
University of Kansas
2
Kelly Justice
Regional Coordinator
Florida PS/RtI Project
Corrie Mervyn
Early Childhood Coordinator
Ingham Intermediate School District
Mason, MI
Mary Jo Wegenke
Literacy Consultant
Ingham Intermediate School District
Kim St. Martin
State/Regional Administrator
MiBLSi, State of Michigan MTSS/RtI Project
3
CENTER FOR
RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION
IN EARLY CHILDHOOD
CRTIEC
A Multi-Site Research
Center Focused on
Promoting
Early Literacy and
Language
Our Goal and Mission


Long-term Goal: Prevention of reading disabilities by
reducing the number of young children who enter
school below benchmark in language and early
literacy skills
Mission: To produce evidence-based tools and
resources needed to support the application of RTI in
Early Childhood Education
Our Key Partners

University of Kansas




Dynamic Measurement
Group; Eugene, OR
 Ruth Kaminski
University of Minnesota
 Scott McConnell
Ohio State
University/University of
South Florida


Charles Greenwood &
Judith Carta
Howard Goldstein
Division for Early
Childhood-CEC
Who are you?



How many of you have been
implementing RTI or MTSS models for
many years?
How many of you have been
implementing RTI/MTSS models in
early childhood settings?
How many have not been
implementing in RTI in EC but have
that as a goal?
7
Learner Objectives:
 Learn how the core features of
MTSS/RtI in EC are being
implemented in various local,
regional and state-wide settings.
 Design action steps to ensure a
strong program-, school-, district,
and/or state-level start-up and
procedural adherence to effective
and efficient protocols.
8
Learner Objectives

Learn about latest developments
with regard to RTI models and its
components
9
Some Challenges of Implementing RtI
Approaches in Early Education

Pre-kindergarten settings are quite variable




(i.e., Head Start, state-funded pre-k, privately funded child care
etc.); unclear who would implement measures and higher tier
interventions.
Personnel in these settings often lack training and
expertise; are underpaid and have high rates of turnover.
Including teacher-directed instruction in pre-kindergarten
is often controversial.
Designing interventions that strike the balance between
being developmentally appropriate and have the intensity
to boost children who might be struggling to acquire early
literacy skills.
What are your presumptions
about RTI in Early Education?



Can we assume that there programs
have a high quality Tier 1 in place?
Can we assume that there are
evidence-based Tier 2 and Tier 3
available?
Can we assume that measures are
available for universal
screening/progress monitoring?
11
Tier 1 Curriculum and
Instruction



What do we know from research in
preschool?
How do we promote it in practice?
Tools and resources for promoting
high quality Tier 1?
What do we know from
research?

Not many evidence-based curricula exist (those reporting
measurably superior findings




PCERs Findings
Early Reading First Findings
What Works Clearing House
Quality of instruction in typical preschools is low



Neuman, S. B., & Dwyer, J. (2009). Missing in action: Vocabulary
instruction in pre-k. The Reading Teacher, 62(5), 384-392.
Justice, L. M., Hamre, B., & Pianta, R. (2008). Quality of language
and literacy instruction in preschool classrooms serving at-risk
pupils Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 23, 51-68.
Burchinal, M., Howes, C., Pianta, R., Bryant, D., Early, D., &
Clifford, R., et al. (2008). Predicting child outcomes at the end of
kindergarten from the quality of pre-kindergarten teacher-child
interactions and instruction. Applied Development Science, 12,
140-153.
What do we know from
research?



There are greater numbers of children needing
instruction more intense than Tier 1 in income eligible
preschool programs (Pre-K, Title 1, Head Start) than in
Tuition-based programs
Tier 1 must be strengthened, made more intense and
cover the 4 domains of language and early literacy if
MTSS is to work well in these programs
The performance of Tier 1 is first priority in
implementation MTSS
Greenwood, C. R., Carta, J. J., Atwater, J., Goldstein, H., Kaminski, R., & McConnell, S.
R. (2012). Is a response to intervention (RTI) approach to preschool language and early
literacy instruction needed? Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 33(1), 48-64.
16
Efficacy of Tier 1

Depends on:




Evidence-based curriculum
Use of evidence-practices and
intentional teaching
Fidelity of Implementation
Data-based decision making for its
improvement
What We Have Learned So Far?

Teacher focus on literacy skills is associated with
a sizeable increase in children’s academic
engagement.

But, these teacher behaviors were relatively
infrequent in occurrence, highlighting potentially
fruitful targets for intervention:

Literacy focus – 15% of the time, or less than
30 minutes during a 3-hour period
How much support did teachers
provide students in their classroom?
High
Midrange
Low
How often did teachers focus on literacy
with the children observed?
What was the level of children’s
engagement?
Relationship between Teacher
Literacy Focus and Student Growth in
Language and Literacy Indicators
Sound ID
Literacy Focus
3.5
25
Rate of Growth
3
20
2.5
2
15
1.5
10
1
5
0.5
0
0
Pre-K
Title 1
Tuition-based
Program Type
Head Start
Percentage Literacy Focus
Picture Naming
Teachers Divergent on Literacy Focus
and Students’ Growth in Literacy
Charlie will change graphs
that go in here.
Challenges Related to Tier
One in Pre-K



Finding evidence-based curricula
Having the resources to carry out the
ongoing professional development
necessary for implementing the
curriculum with high fidelity
While everyone wants all children to be
successful in kindergarten, we don’t all
agree on the path to getting there.
Resources for Evidence-Based Tier
One Curriculum in Early Literacy




What Works Clearinghouse: Early Childhood
Education
 http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/Topic.aspx?ti
d=13.
Center for Early Literacy and Language: OSEPfunded TA Center
 http://www.earlyliteracylearning.org.
Preschool Curriculum Evaluation Study: IES funded
study of 14 curricula to promote school readiness
 http://ies.ed.gov/ncer/pubs/20082009/index.asp
National Early Literacy Panel: NELP Report
http://lincs.ed.gov/publications/pdf/NELPReport09.p
df
How do we promote it in practice?
• Strengthen the value of
–
–
–
–
“Intentional teaching”
Evidence-based practice
Fidelity of implementation
Teacher literacy focus
• Adopt an early childhood MTSS model/framework to
guide planning and implementation
• Provide professional development and technical
assistance
– Practice-based teacher coaching
– Measurement and use of data in decision making
• Seek stakeholder and administrative “buy in”
High Quality Curriculum and Instruction
 Tools and Resources
30
Link Preschool Skills to Kindergarten Skills
Connect expectations to those that lay ahead…
Early Reading
Preschool
Primary Grades
• oral language
• background
knowledge
• reading vocabulary
• reading
comprehension
• phonological
processing
• print knowledge
• decoding of words
• fluency and spelling
From Landry, 2011
32
Currently available tools for early
literacy screening progress monitoring

My-IGDIs: Tools for screening and progress
monitoring in early literacy and language—
Scott McConnell and colleagues
 http://www.myigdis.com/.
•
mCLASS CIRCLE: Observational and
assessment tools for progress monitoring on
handheld devices—Susan Landry
• http://www.amplify.com/assessment/mclass-circle.
•
Get Ready to Read (for screening only)
• http://www.getreadytoread.org/)
myIGDIs and Assessment in
RTI

myIGDIs are designed for two primary
functions of assessment common in RTI


Universal screening, where all children in a
class or program are evaluated briefly to
identify those individuals who might
benefit from more intensive intervention
Progress monitoring, where individuals
receiving supplemental or adapted
intervention are monitored regularly to
determine if intervention services are
appropriate for the child
34


Include slide about 5 areas of
universal screening for My-IGDIs
Math IGDIs
35
EC RtI Measurement
Architecture
Tier One
Screening
Tier One
+
Tier One
+
Current or LessIntensive Tier
-
Identification
-
Tier Three
Tier Two
+
More
Intensive Tier
Progress
Monitoring
-
Primary Functions of
Assessment

Screening


Identification


To identify whether individual children meet standard(s)
for Tier 2 or Tier 3 services in one or more domains
Progress Monitoring


To efficiently identify subsets of children who might meet
standard(s) for more intensive intervention
To assess whether individual children are increasing
growth rates at rate sufficient to meet general outcome
goals
[Diagnostic/Planning Assessment]

To identify specific instructional goals and/or procedures
to promote increased development
Psychometric Standards General



Time- and resource-efficient
Reliable across time(?) and examiners/raters
Various validity standards
 Construct or concurrent validity viz ‘criterion’
measures
 Discriminant validity
 Treatment validity viz T1, T2, and T3 interventions
 Predictive validity
 Face validity
The Narrative Language Measures (NLM)
Narrative Language Measures (NLM)
• Three Subtests
– Test of Narrative Retell (TNR)
– Test of Personal Generation (TPG)
– Test of Story Comprehension (TSC; Preschool only)
• Preschool, Kindergarten, First, Second, Third
– 25 equivalent stories per grade level
• 9 Benchmark stories (3 Fall, 3 Winter, 3 Spring)
• 16 Progress Monitoring stories
Time Efficient, Economical
Brief Administration
• Three benchmark TNRs take about 5 minutes
• A single TNR for progress monitoring takes less
than 2 minutes.
Reduced Scoring Time
• Scoring can be done in real-time while the child is
retelling the story.
• Scoring can be done by listening to an audio
recording
Trina D. Spencer & Douglas B. Petersen
Graphics & illustrations by Olivia Petersen
LanguageDynamicsGroup.com
How are we setting standards?

One essential of RtI – Assigning Students to Tiers



Possible standards




By whatever standard, identify groups of children
most appropriate for intervention in each tier of
intervention
Standards and indices vary across RtI models
“The Pyramid” – 85% at Tier 1, 10% at Tier 2, 5% at
Tier 3
Functional standards – who needs to learn what?
Empirical standards – likelihood of meeting future
expectations
Early Childhood and the Pyramid Percentages
45
Working Through the RtI(MTSS)
Problem Solving Process
Define Problem
Defining Problem/Directly Measuring Behavior
Problem Analysis
Evaluate
Validating Problem
Identify Variables that
Contribute to Problem
Develop Plan
Response to
Intervention (RtI)
Implement Plan
Implement As Intended
Progress Monitor
Modify as Necessary
Data-Based Decision-Making
General Principles
 Try to “triangulate” the data; that is, use data
from one or more types (observation, rating
scale, checklist, CBA aligned with instructional
units, CBM, GOM, standardized), informants
[teacher, related service provider, parent(s)],
and settings.
 Norms needed; national, local, classroom.
 For some decisions, group data are best.
 For some decisions, single subject data are
best.
 Try to graph data and do visual inspection. 47
Problem-Solving Model
Tilly, 2006
Individual Child Progress Monitoring
Olive was
below
benchmark
Olive had 3
quarterly
assessments
Intervention
implemented
Provides ‘before’ and
‘after’ slope estimates
Problem Solving Process
Define Problem
Teacher identified students below 25th %ile on
IGDIs in January; the local norm benchmark.
Slow rate of progress from September.
Evaluate
Classroom data were
reviewed.
The IGDIs Rhyming
scores increased at a
faster rate for 8 “atrisk” students than for
“typical students”
Students in Tier 3
demonstrated
progress on specific
intervention targets.
Problem Analysis
Eight students are atrisk for developing
early literacy learning
difficulties due to
limited skill mastery
from implicit Tier 1
learning opportunities
done in large group.
Implement Plan with Integrity
Keep Tier 1, add Tier 2 for 8 Ss (more intentional teaching,
some small group), and Tier 3 for 5 Ss: (small group
“Model, Lead, Test” on Sound Blending)
Data-Based Decision-Making
Data-Based Decision-Making
 “Standard Protocol” approach; all students at
or below a given score on some measure all
get the same evidence based intervention
 “Individualized Problem-Solving” model; every
child gets an individualized intervention
 Best practice may be a hybrid of the two for
EC. If 6/20 students need supplemental
phonological awareness for 6 weeks, they get
it twice a week as a small group rather than
each student receiving it individually.
51
Growth in Rhyming
16.000
14.000
Number Correct
12.000
10.000
PM - Typical
PM - At-risk
Linear (PM - Typical )
8.000
6.000
4.000
2.000
0.000
Jan-07
Feb-07
Mar-07
Apr-07
May-07
52
IGDIs: Owl PM class
53
54
Common Features to Tier 2




Small groups
Focus on critically important
concepts known to predict later
success
More explicit instruction
More response opportunities
Current approaches being
used
for
Tier
2
and
Tier
3
Key idea is to supplement children’s exposure to the
content—give them more opportunities to practice
skills they are learning.
 Children might get individual tutoring in specific
content areas.
 Children might get additional explicit instruction in
small groups
 Children might get more learning opportunities
embedded across the day.
 Children might get more exposure and practice
through skill-focused instruction delivered in
listening centers.
What are the responses
within each tier?
•
Tier 2: Explicit small group
interventions augmented with
embedded interventions


Explicit: structured, teacher-directed,
content-specific interventions
Embedded: occur within daily activities,
build on children’s strengths & interests,
complement explicit interventions
Story Champs - Tiers




Large Group
Small Group
Individual
Intensity increases as group size
decreases







More opportunities to respond
More explicit and individualized
targets
More specialized prompting
More contingent feedback
More frequent sessions
Increasing duration
More reliance on instructors with
greater expertise
Multi-tiered Language
Instruction

Multi-tiered Curriculum



Manualized
Flexible
Key Features




Carefully structured stories
Engaging visual materials
Explicit teaching procedures
Fun and motivating
Multi-tiered Language
Instruction

Multi-tiered Curriculum



Manualized
Flexible
Key Features




Carefully structured stories
Engaging visual materials
Explicit teaching procedures
Fun and motivating
Free NLM materials available at
LanguageDynamicsGroup.com
For more information, contact:
Doug Petersen: dpeter39@uwyo.edu
Trina Spencer: tds95@nau.edu
Teaching Procedures

Based on the effective teaching literature and
principles of instruction






Frequent opportunities to respond
Explicit and individualized targets
Systematic scaffolding
Corrections
Least restrictive prompting
Curriculum-based measurement
An Example of a Tier 2 Intervention


Read It Again! (Justice, McGinty, Beckman, &
Kilday, 2006)
Language & literacy supplement for pre-k
programs:


Guidelines for implementing lessons (before,
during, & after reading)
Repeated use of storybooks, picture cards, &
other literacy materials

Repetition of key concepts

Appropriate for small groups
Response to Intervention:
EMERGE
Tier 3
Focused
Tutoring &
Repeated
Readings
Tier 2
Daily Teacher-led Small-group
SOAP and Theme-related
activities and instruction
Tier 1
Scholastic Early Childhood Program Curriculum
Shared Book Reading
Theme-Related Activities
SOAP Strategies
Literacy-Rich Environment
Stoiber & Gettinger
Tier 1: Core Class Instruction
Focus
Program
All students
Professional development; SECP curriculum; SBR; SOAP
strategies; Small-Group activities; Progress Monitoring; Coaching;
Literacy Rich Environment
Grouping
Flexible grouping
Time
Goal: 90 minutes or more per day
Assessment
Screening at beginning, middle,
and end of the academic year
Interventionist
Classroom teacher(s)
Setting
Head Start or other EC classroom
Tier 2: Supplemental Interventions
Focus
Students at-risk for early reading difficulties who
have not responded to Tier 1 efforts
Program
Specialized, research-based
interventions
Grouping
Homogeneous small group
Time
Assessment
Interventionist
Setting
20-30 minutes per day in small group in addition to 90
minutes of core reading instruction (50-100 sessions)
Progress monitoring monthly on target
skill(s)
Classroom teacher(s)
Classroom
Examples of Tier 2 Instruction
Download and make
your own curriculum
supplement at the CLI
website:
http://www.childrenslearninginstitute.org/our-programs/program-overview/developing-talkers/default.html
Developing Talkers





Curriculum Supplements to promote oral
language that follow a P-RTI framework.
Developed by Children’s Learning
Institute-UT Health Science CenterHouston
Teach listening comprehension and
vocabulary skills in book reading context.
Make your own kit: after completing a
short online training OR
Order pre-made kits
Lesson Plans Available for
Tier 1 and Tier 2: 12 wks.


Tier 1—Whole Group Read Aloud (15 mins)
 Before, during and after reading activities
 Extension activities that help teachers guide
children in use of target vocabulary or explore
science topics in centers
Tier 2-Small Group Targeted Language Activities
 Review book
 Find, define, and discuss vocabulary
 Explicit comprehension or vocabulary
activities
 Shuffle and review.
70
71
Focus on Rare Words
(alongside important basic words)
More Explicit Vocabulary and
Comprehension Activities
Assess Tier 2
students’ target
vocabulary on
Thursdays
Plan Friday
Review Day
lessons using
these data
Tier 2 Embedded Storybook
Interventions


As part of an RTI model, there is a need for
high-quality interventions to improve early
language and literacy skills for preschool
children who are falling behind.
Oftentimes, there is a scarcity of trained
personnel who can provide the additional
opportunities for explicit instruction in
vocabulary and comprehension.
Story Friends Program
Small groups of children participate in ‘listening
centers.’
Prerecorded storybooks
and explicit embedded
lessons are delivered
under headphones.
Intervention Component
Examples
Explicit Teaching
• Vocabulary words are presented with
systematic instructional language in which
words are emphasized, definitions are
stated, information about words’ meanings
are provided.
Enormous. Say enormous. Enormous
means really big. Can you think of
something that is enormous? What
about…. a school bus! A mountain!
Or a building! Those are things that
are really big.
• Responses are provided after a pause for
child’s response. ‘Think-aloud’ models of the
evidence for the appropriate response are
provided.
Why is Ellie happy? [pause for child
response] Because she made new
friends! I would be happy to have
some new friends too.
Intervention Component
Examples
Selection of Appropriate Targets for
Instruction
• Challenging vocabulary targets are selected protect, greet, selfish
to have high utility for academic
achievement.
Do you think the Jungle Friends will go
• Inferential questions are selected to facilitate to the beach again?
reading comprehension.
Why did Suki’s mom take her to the
movies?
The Forest Friends are thrilled! They are excited to go to the carnival.
Thrilled. Say thrilled. (2) Thrilled means excited. Tell me, what word means
excited? (2) Thrilled! Good work! When are you thrilled? (2) What
about… when you get a present! …Or your friends come over to play! I
bet that makes you feel excited. Now, lift the flap. Look! These boys are at
a birthday party. They are excited. They are thrilled! Tell me, what does
thrilled mean? (3) Excited! That’s right.
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
82
Repeated
listening
provides
many
opportunities
to respond.
Year 4 Results: Vocabulary
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
UT1 Pre
UT1 Post
UT2 Pre
Participant
UT2 Post
Comparison
UT3 Pre
UT3 Post
Places to find Tier 2 and Tier 3 literacy
and language interventions
Read it again—Laura Justice-Ohio State U.
 Center for Early Literacy and Language
(CELL)
 Early Childhood Research & Practice
 Get Ready to Read
 CRTIEC
 Developing Talkers-www.ChildrensLearningInstitute.org

For more information
Tricia Zucker, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Tricia.Zucker@uth.tmc.edu
Susan Landry, Ph.D.
Professor and Director CLI
Susan.Landry@uth.tmc.edu
www.ChildrensLearningInstitute.org
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Implementing Higher Tier Interventions
 What do we know from research?
86
Discussion with Participants
 Classroom-level Challenges:
 How to fit everything into a
preschool day . . .
 Corrie and Mary Jo Ingham County
ISD
87
THE SITE ADDRESS IS:
HTTP://EARLY-YEARSRTI.WIKI.INGHAMISD.ORG/HOME
CINDY ANDERSON ANDERSON@INGHAMISD.ORG
CORRIE MERVYN CMERVYN@INGHAMISD.ORG
MARY JO WEGENKE MWEGENKE@INGHAMISD.ORG
88
Discussion with Participants
 Classroom-level Challenges
Identified by Participants
 Break from 2:00 to 2:15
89
Building the Infrastructure in Your Setting
 Tools for getting started
 Kelly Justice, USF, Florida
PS-RtI Initiative
90
Getting Started with RTI
•
•
•
Strategic planning
Model demonstration
sites
Program evaluation
More on Strategic Planning
(at the local level)




Get Support from program
administrators
Consider organizational &
contextual factors
Engage in long-range planning
Develop a plan for communicating
with families
Planning cont…







Create core problem-solving team
Assess key dimensions of Tier 1 quality/make
necessary improvements
Select assessment tools
Carry out universal screening and determine
what proportion of children need additional
tiers of support
Select Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions
Provide intensive, ongoing professional
development
Continue to evaluate and make changes
Building an Infrastructure that Supports
High Quality Implementation
 Leadership Teams
94
Building an Infrastructure that Supports
High Quality Implementation
 Coaching
95
Building an Infrastructure that Supports
High Quality Implementation
 Other
96
Scaling up MTSS in EC in a state – Lessons
Learned
 Kim St. Martin, MiBLSi
State/Regional Administrator in
Michigan
97
98
Building an Infrastructure that Supports
High Quality Implementation
 Other
99

Judy Carta, Ph.D.
Juniper Gardens Children’s Project
University of Kansas
444 Minnesota Avenue
Suite 3
Kansas City, KS 66101
Phone: 913-321-3143
carta@ku.edu
www.crtiec.org.
Planning cont…







Create core problem-solving team
Assess key dimensions of Tier 1 quality/make
necessary improvements
Select assessment tools
Carry out universal screening and determine
what proportion of children need additional
tiers of support
Select Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions
Provide intensive, ongoing professional
development
Continue to evaluate and make changes
Building an Action Plan
 Where are you now?
 Where do you need to go?
 Closure to the session; the day
102