Pyramid Response
to Intervention (PRTI)
Scientific Research-Based
Intervention (SRBI)
Norms










Be Flexible Disagree with ideas not people
“What if” rather than “yes but” positive solutions
Electronic devices?
Consensus = Fidelity?
Side Bars
Bird Walking – use parking lot for off topic ideas
TRUST confidentiality Respect
Group Agenda overrides personal agenda
Active listening
Mission First!
Group Dynamics
Forming
 Storming
 Norming
 Performing
 Change v. Growth

Why we have norms
Our task is Huge
 Our resources are limited
 The stakes are high
 Two versions
 My Way!
 PLC Way!

Agenda

Set Foundation for committee
 Why
 What
 How
Overview of RTI
 RTI Process
 PLC configurations
 Duality of Instruction and Intervention

Whole Picture
Acronyms!
 Not another initiative!
 We haven't finished the other one yet
 We need… (time, training, $$$, people)
 Everyone is doing this and at the same
place we are.

Professional Learning Communities
Designing, Implementing, Assessing, Adjusting the student performance cycle.
7. Discuss and adjust
instructional strategies
ROI
1. Power Standards
MSW
Cycle of Inquiry
On Teaching and Learning
6. Data Team Process
DDDM
5.During instruction Collect data
RTI
2.Develop and Administer Common
Formative Pre-Assessments
CFA
ADI
UBD
3. Data Team Process
DDDM
4. Design & Implement
DEI
R&R
Why I Became a teacher.
Essential Questions


What is our mission?
Why create a PRTI?
Our Mission
To assure high levels of
learning for all students!
The task of RTI is HUGE!
Your task is huge
 Daunting in the age of do more with
less.
 So – do we need more things or can we
work smarter with what we got?

The task is HUGE but doable!

Failure is not an option

List how is this similar to our mission
Didn’t wait for buy
Timeof day
Working conditions
No time
No training
Need is the same!






For all students to learn, we must

Start with a highly effective research-based core
instruction.

Systematically identify students who are not
succeeding in our core program.

Provide these students additional time and support
until they learned.
Over the past decade, two proven
processes have been developed
to achieve this goal:
1. Pyramid of Interventions
2. Response to Intervention
Pyramid Response to Intervention
Pyramid of Interventions
Response to Intervention
Pyramid Response to Intervention
Why Adopt an RTI Model?
RTI: An answer to that question!

Intended to provide an educational
experience to all students that is focused
upon delivering a powerful core instructional
program and interventions and frequently
monitoring the progress of students receiving
interventions and then adjusting and
changing the interventions as appropriate
Keys to Implementing RTI
Key components

Problem solving and collective responsibility
 Quality core instruction
 Universal screening and diagnostic assessment
 Interventions
 Progress monitoring
 Intervention efficacy and fidelity
 PLCs
PLC as Foundation

Focus on Learning
 Collaborative Culture
 Focus on Results
 3 questions that guide a PLC




What do we want people to know and do?
How will we know they mastered it?
What will we do for those who don’t and/or wont?
PLC Task Sheet
To guide our intervention program,
common assessment information
must tell us
1. Which students did or did not master specific
essential standards
2. Which instructional practices did or did not work
Big Idea 3: Focus on Results
To guide your site interventions, you need
timely and frequent information
your students’ achievement
 in meeting an agreed-upon standard(s)
 on a valid assessment
 in comparison to others
 on
—DuFour, DuFour & Eaker
Characteristics of
an Effective Intervention Program

Urgent

Research based
Directive
Timely
Targeted
Administered by trained professionals
Systematic





Urgent
Do we have a sense of urgency
when implementing interventions?
Is mastery the goal or the
variable?
Learning Equation




Current Version
Targeted Instruction +Time + Quality = Mastery
Fixed
Fixed
Variable Variable
Where else would this be acceptable?



New Version
Diff Instruction + Time + Quality = Mastery
Fixed
Variable Fixed
Fixed
Characteristics of
an Effective Intervention Program

Urgent

Research based

Directive
Timely
Targeted
Administered by trained professionals
Systematic




What is Research based Instruction?
Handouts – Marzano 9
Characteristics of
an Effective Intervention Program

Urgent
Research based

Directive

Timely
Targeted
Administered by trained professionals
Systematic




Directive
Are targeted students required to
attend or participate?
Characteristics of
an Effective Intervention Program

Urgent
Research based
Directive

Timely

Targeted
Administered by trained professionals
Systematic




Timely
Extended time
to learn
essential
standards
Timely school
response when
students don’t learn
Characteristics of
an Effective Intervention Program

Urgent
Research based
Directive
Timely

Targeted

Administered by trained professionals
Systematic




Targeted
Identify students for interventions
based upon the cause of their
struggles, not by the symptoms.
Targeted
Students who
don’t do their
work
Students who lack the
skills to do their work
Targeted
Failed
Learner
Cant’s
Intentional
non-learner
Wont’s
Interventions for Intentional Non-Learners
• Make them do the work!
• Care more about them doing the work
than they care not to do it.
• Need a “tight,” timely process of
accountability, more than highly trained
teachers.
Interventions for Failed Learners
• Provide additional time and practice.
• Fill learning gaps (prerequisite skills).
• Provide “different” instruction.
Characteristics of
an Effective Intervention Program







Urgent
Research based
Directive
Timely
Targeted
Administered by trained professionals
Systematic
Administered by Trained Professionals

Who will teach or otherwise implement this
intervention?
 Do our instructors have the training and
resources necessary for success?
Characteristics of
an Effective Intervention Program

Urgent
Research based
Directive
Timely
Targeted
Administered by trained professionals

Systematic





Systematic Response
Schools systematically identify,
monitor, and revise individual
student intervention needs every 3–
4 weeks.
 Interventions are part of a system
that ensures, no matter to which
teacher a student is assigned, the
same thing happens when they
don’t learn.

Consideration
of Special
Education
Placement
Unresponsive
Responsive
Tier 3:
Intensive
Interventions
Tier 2:
Unresponsive
Responsive
Supplemental Interventions
At Risk
Tier 1:
Core Program
Three-Tier Model of School Supports
5% of your students
should be here.
15% of your students
should be here.
80% of your students
should be here.
41
Three-Tiered Model
of School Supports
Academic Systems
Behavioral Systems
Tier 3: Intensive,
Individual Interventions
• Individual students
• Assessment-based
• High intensity
• Of longer duration
Tier 2: Targeted
Group Interventions
•Some students
(at-risk)
• High efficiency
• Rapid response
Tier 1: Universal
Interventions
•All students
•Preventive,
proactive
1-5%
Tier 3: Intensive,
Individual Interventions
• Individual students
• Assessment-based
• Intense, durable
procedures
1-5%
5-10%
5-10%
Students
80-90%
80-90%
Tier 2: Targeted
Group Interventions
• Some students
(at-risk)
• High efficiency
• Rapid response
Tier 1: Universal
Interventions
• All settings, all
students
• Preventive,
proactive
Universal Screening

Short, quick, easy-to-administer probes
 Aligned
to curriculum
 Measure basic academic skills
Documents whether a child is on track
3 times/year (fall, winter, spring)
 Individual student data can be utilized to
validate the effectiveness of
interventions. Is the gap closing?

Universal Screening
At secondary level, screening tools
should:
 Identify students who require further
assistance.
 Be practical.
 Generate positive outcomes by
accurately identifying students without
consuming resources that could be put
to better use.
(Jenkins, 2003)
Interventions
Tier 1
 All
students are screened to find students
at-risk (universal screening).
 All students receive core program which
includes differentiated instruction.
 Responsive students remain in Tier 1.
 Unresponsive students move to Tier 2.
Interventions
Interventions become more intensive by:
 Increasing the frequency (5 times/week
rather than 3 times/week)
 Increasing the duration (50 minutes
rather than 30 minutes)
 Decreasing the pupil–teacher ratio
Tier 1 Intervention Menu – Academics

Math
 Literacy
 Core = Everyday Math
 Core = Houghton-Mifflin
 Supplements =
 Supplements =
 Math Minutes
 Flexible grouping at
 Yearly Progress Pro
instructional level
 Vertical/developmental
 Tucker Signing
alignment of outcomes:
 Guided Reading
Committee alignment of
 Add’l supplements per
standards and
data
curriculum (e.g., aligning
MCA II expectations with
class)
Tier 1 Intervention Menu – Behavior










Responsive Classroom
Bullying Prevention
(building-wide antibullying
plan)
All-School Morning
Meetings
Take-a-break
Social Conferencing
Buddy Teacher
Problem-Solving Class
Meetings
Role Play
Corrective Teaching
Pre-Referral manual










Peer Mentor
Teacher Support Plans
Student Strengths Plan
Structured Response Plan
Access to fidgets or other
sensory items
Visual Schedule
Conflict Resolution
Parent information
Secure 4:1 ratio of
Positives to Corrections in
classroom
Classroom organization
(environment)
Interventions
Tier 2

Creative, flexible scheduling creates sufficient
time for small-group instruction.
 Personnel are used creatively.
 Thirty minutes of additional time and support,
3–4 times per week.
 Progress is monitored more frequently than
in Tier 1.
 Responsive students return to Tier 1.
 Unresponsive students move to Tier 3.
Tier 2 Intervention Menu – Academics


Core = Houghton-Mifflin
 Core = Everyday Math
Supplements:
 Supplements:
 Sonday System
 Math Minutes
 Read 180
 Yearly Progress Pro
(assessment and instruction
 Repeated reading
– in progress)
 Six Minute Solution
 Intervention Central
 Incremental Rehearsal
 Everyday Math – games
 Error correction
and core concepts
procedures
 Math notebooks
 Word Study
 Additional time with Math
 Additional time with
Specialists engaging in
Reading Specialists
specific data-driven
engaging in specific dataintervention
driven intervention
Tier 2 Intervention Menu – Behavior









Check-In-Check-Out
(M&M club)
Social Skills Group
(targeted)
Targeted Classroom
Intervention
Mini-FBA w/PBSP
School-based group
counseling
Mentor program
Need-a-break cards
Instruction in selfmonitoring strategies
Work systems








First/Then cards
Sensory breaks –
preventive
Morning run-through of
visual schedule
Parent conference and
targeted support
Peer mediation
Access to calming space
– as needed
Modifying academic
expectation
What Am I Working For?
Cards
Interventions
Tier 3
 It is more intensive, with frequent individualized
intervention.
 Interventions are highly targeted, prescriptive–
diagnostic, and focused on causes not symptoms.
 Actual interventions may be the same as in Tier 2,
but are more frequent and longer in duration.
 Progress is monitored even more frequently than
in Tier 2.
Tier 3 Intervention Menu – Academics
Literacy
 Core = Houghton-Mifflin
 Supplements = Small
Group or 1-1 Instruction









Reading Mastery
Orton-Gillingham
Tucker Signing
Word Study
Repeated reading
Six Minute Solution
Incremental Rehearsal
Error correction
procedures
individually-designed
instruction based on
multiple curricula
Math
 Core = Everyday Math
 Supplements = Small Group
or 1-1 Instruction






Math Minutes
Yearly Progress Pro
(assessment and instruction
– in progress)
Intervention Central
Everyday Math – games and
core concepts
Math notebooks
Additional time with Math
Specialists engaging in
specific data-driven
intervention
Tier 3 Intervention Menu – Behavior








One-on-one or direct skills
instruction w/task analysis
FBA w/full Behavior
Intervention Plan
Pull-out behavioral
instruction
Pull-out instruction in
schedule strategies, social
stories, etc.
Wrap-around, personcentered planning
Crisis intervention plan
School-based individual
counseling
Instruction in selfmonitoring strategies







Instruction in conflict
resolution
Access to calming space –
as needed and
strategic/planned use
Special education
resource room
Frequent sensory
experiences planned
throughout day
(preventative)
Intensive teaching of how
to run a schedule and
implement changes
Parent training
Out of building placement
Progress Monitoring
Used to assess students’ academic
performance, continuously measure
student performance growth, and
provide objective data to evaluate the
effectiveness of instruction AND
interventions
Progress Monitoring
Teachers assess students’ academic
performance on a regular basis
• To determine whether children are
profiting appropriately from the typical
instructional program and interventions
• To provide more effective interventions
for children who do not benefit
adequately from typical instruction and
intervention
Progress Monitoring
Brief assessments are conducted
frequently.
 Assessment occurs throughout the
intervention.
 Results are evaluated to determine
whether student response to intervention
is adequate.
 Student progress is tracked continuously.
 CBMs are frequently used for progress
monitoring.

Progress Monitoring
Sensitive to small changes in student
performance
 Relatively quick and simple to use
 Frequent comparison (as frequently as
twice weekly) of current level of
performance to desired level of
performance

Progress Monitoring
What’s a good response to an intervention?
 Good response

Gap is closing.
 Teacher can extrapolate a point at which the
student will catch up to peers—even if this is a
long-range target!

Questionable response

Rate at which gap is widening slows
considerably, but gap is still widening.
 Gap stops widening but closure does not occur.

Poor response

Gap continues to widen—no change in rate of
growth.
Learning for All
“Response to Intervention offers the best
opportunity in the past 3 decades to ensure
that every child, no matter how gifted or
challenged, will be equally valued in an
education system where the progress of
every child is monitored and individualized
interventions with appropriate levels of
intensity are provided to students as needed.”
—East (2007)
Process and Mechanics of moving
students
Period B1
 Students in Advisory
 Sorting
 Routing
 Arriving
 Timing
 Confirming
 If Delivery People ran intervention

Identification
Four Groups
 1. Cans
 Can’ts (Academic)

 2.
Long Term
 3. Short Term

4. Wont’s (Behavioral)
 Not
disciplinary
Technology
Communications?
 Example

Changes in Teacher Actions
Responsible for all students
 Instructional changes
 Testing schedules, mapping,
benchmarks
 Testing preparations
 Intervention supports instruction
 Standardized classroom management
 Data, Statistics, and Results

A. DATA DRIVEN PRIORITIES
a. SET measurable, annual goals for:
Math; Art; Writing; P.E.
b. IDENTIFY low - scoring skills/standards,
e.g.
MATH: “operations with fractions”
 WRITING: “voice”; “word choice”
 P.E. “run a mile under ____ minutes”
“maim your opponent in dodge ball”

c. USE formative assessment data to
IMPROVE INSTRUCTION
B. GOAL ORIENTATION:
ANNUAL GOALS — set by subject,
course
GOAL: We will improve in
(Physics; French; Advanced Curling)
from: 47% (2004)
to:


52% (2005)
Peter Senge: “More than ? goals is the
same as none at all.”
BRUTAL FACT: Most teachers don’t know
their goals
C. TEAMWORK: BRUTAL
FACTS
self-managing team should
become the basic organizational
building block.”
Tom Peters
 “The

“Collaborative teams…the primary
engine of school improvement efforts.”
Rick DuFour
 IN
SCHOOLS…such teams are
rare in the extreme
II. GUARANTEED
CURRICULUM Quarterly/monthly
ADMINSTRATIVE REVIEW
“Show & Tell” each month, quarter

assessment results (per curriculum
map)

gradebook (that reflect standards
taught)

student work (per curriculum maps)
Is this a fair, reasonable requirement?
Materials
Examples
 Planning Documents
 Data

Lessons Learned





Systems Change is hard!
 Rely on systems change ideas; don’t let the
initiative be the reason you’re changing
Intervention Integrity Checks / Fidelity
Grade Level PLC Teams
 Consistency; differences in perceptions of
purpose
Implementation in new buildings – using “what
works” vs. allowing new staff to go through the
process
 Pacing; funding; training; etc.
Staff changes
Lessons Learned





Diverse training needs within and between grade
levels, buildings, etc.
S/ST – Responsiveness to staff needs
Staff roles – balancing expertise, flexibility, funding,
etc.
 Re-framing vs. re-specializing (a new title with
the same duties doesn’t cut it!)
 Conflicts can arise when people don’t understand
why someone isn’t doing what they’ve always
done before!
Perceptions of what’s “fair”
Philosophical differences (e.g., Bottom-up skills vs.
Whole Language instruction, fluency as instructional
objective; Punishment vs. skill-building orientation)
Humble Suggestions –
1: Start with What You’ve Got!
1)
START WITH CONSENSUS BUILDING

2)
The best way to kill an initiative is to have it lead the
change! Let the need for change guide the initiative!
Inventory what you’ve got! (i.e., Look in your
closet before you buy those new shoes!)



Current core curricula and interventions (Tier?
Eligibility? Who Delivers?)
Data sources (does your data tell you the story you
need for making decisions? Where are there holes?
Do you have a district/building Assessment Plan
including screening, diagnostic eval, etc.?)
Problem-Solving Structures (system or individual
level? i.e., grade level teams, PLC’s, Collaboration
Groups, Houses, lateral teams, TAT/SAT/SIT/PAT,
etc.; eliminate duplicative efforts)
Humble Suggestions - 2
3) Arrange available data to create a picture of
your building’s “pyramid” (who’s
“responding”?)
 If you can’t tell who’s responding, identify
what information you’re missing
 If your non-responders are >20%, evaluate
core curriculum
4) For those who are NOT “responding,” are there
common needs?
 If you can’t tell from your data, what’s
missing?
5) Do you have Standard Treatment Protocols to
address non-responders? Are you relying
solely on an individual referral model to
address non-responders?
Humble Suggestions – 3: Fill in the
Gaps
6)
Consider what additional needs remain “unmet” given
available interventions

Use caution and discretion when “shopping” for
interventions:


7)
8)
9)
“expensive” does not equal “good”; “free” does not equal “bad”
Match evidence-based interventions with IDENTIFIED NEEDS
(if you can’t accurately identify the need, examine your data
sources before leaping to intervention selection)
Set building –wide and district goals pertaining to
interventions, data, and problem-solving systems – identify
a timeline for reaching goals, support needed from
administration and RtI coordinator, and staff development
needs
For the interventions you have or acquire, make sure ALL
staff being asked to implement them have needed training
to do so
Encourage a culture that CELEBRATES SUCCESSES
(assume nothing – teach everything: some buildings don’t
Things to Think About…



If we had to do it over. . .
- We would lead with data and consensus, not
the initiative
If we were to coach another site. . .
- We would focus on building sustainability
structures and problem solving structures
Integration of Initiatives: Our focus is on providing
an increasingly fluid continuum of academic and
social/emotional/behavioral supports – one
support should pick up where the other leaves
off (we want kids’ needs to be met regardless
of funding source – kids shouldn’t feel the
difference)
The task is HUGE but doable

RTI committee at NASA
Intervention Resources








Big Ideas in Beginning Reading (U of Oregon):
reading.uoregon.edu
What Works Clearinghouse (US Dept of Education):
http://www.w-w-c.org
Intervention Central:
www.interventioncentral.org
Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports:
http://www.pbis.org/main.htm
Promising Practices Network:
http://www.promisingpractices.net/default.asp
SCRED RtI Center:
http://www.scred.k12.mn.us/RTI/RTIcontact.htm
FCRR Interventions for Struggling Readers
http://www.fcrr.org/Interventions/index.htm
PLC- Cycle of Teaching & Learning
MSW
Curriculum
Standards
CWT
ROI
DDDM
Assessment
Assessment
Design
Data Teams
ADI
UBD
STUDENTS
RTI
SRBI
PBS
Interventions
Academic
Behavioral
Instructional
R&R
Strategies
Assessments
Teachers working in teams with focus on student achievement
Actions precede beliefs
 Clarity of purpose
 Clarity of direction
 Then buy in
 Great explorer analogies
