WHAT ARE THE CHANGES IN INTERVENTION DUE TO RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION (RTI) AND
NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND (NCLB)?
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Unless stated otherwise the content of this section is based on Chapter 15 – Gunning, T.G. (2010) Assessing and Correcting Reading and Writing Difficulties. Boston, MA.: Pearson, Education, Inc.
No Child Left Behind (NCLB) & Response to Intervention (RtI)
• In order to meet the goals of NCLB legislation, schools, parents, and community members need to work together
• Early reports have indicated that NCLB has resulted in getting assistance for groups of students like children from low-income families, minority groups, and students with disabilities
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• While gains have been made, more must be done to close the gap
• Response to Intervention (RtI) is an approach that encourages staff to work together and provide necessary coordinated intervention to all students who need it, regardless of labels
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No Child Left Behind (NCLB) & Response to Intervention (RtI)
Cont.
Bringing About Change• The first step toward bringing people together = setting up a literacy
committee. The committee should:Adopt a research-based core program, if one does not already
existEnsure that the curriculum is being implemented with integrity
• What other steps do you think a literacy committee should take to enact change?
• After brainstorming a few ideas, read the bulleted list of suggested committee work on page 528 of Assessing and Correcting Reading and Writing Difficulties
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Additional Steps to Bring About Change
Collaboration– Grade-level/team meetings focused on student
achievement– Study groups to explore areas of need– Review conferences
Teachers, principals, and reading specialists meet to examine student progress utilizing formal and informal data
– Shared decision-making among classroom teachers, reading specialists, learning disabilities specialists, and other staff to plan, implement, and monitor the program
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Additional Steps to Bring About Change
• A Coordinated Program– Intervention programs should be coordinated with the
classroom program• Leadership
– Support (encouragement, planning support and resources) from the administration is essential
– Modeling and coaching for staff by literacy experts should occur
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What are the Essential Components of an Intervention
Program?
Unless stated otherwise the content of this section is based on Chapter 15 – Gunning, T.G. (2010) Assessing and Correcting Reading and Writing Difficulties. Boston, MA.: Pearson, Education, Inc.
The Essential Components of an Intervention Program
• Intervention programs should have certain key elements:
• These elements are explained in detail on Slides 18 – 26
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Goals and objectives Curriculum Instructional approaches Selection of students
Extended programs Ways for students to “catch-up”
Well-planned intervention sessions
Specific organizational patterns
Family literacy program Parental involvement Pacing Monitoring
Careful consideration regarding discontinuing students
Essential Components of an Intervention Program
Process for Selecting Students– Some options include:
• Students falling below a cut-off point• The lowest-achieving students (bottom 20% or neediest three in each
class)• Students failing to meet a certain benchmark• Laws and regulations
– Universal screening is recommended• Test should be valid, reliable, easy and quick to administer• Screenings should occur three times per year• Selection of screening device depends on the goals of the program• Teachers should consult informal assessment as well.
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• Curriculum– Should reflect the school’s philosophy of goals or
standards, the school’s philosophy of reading, the nature of the program, and the students’ needs
– Should be research-based and implemented with integrity• Instructional Approaches
– The core of any intervention is the instructional approach
– The instructional approaches should be designed to honor the strengths of the students and consider their needs
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Essential Components of an Intervention Program
• Instructional Schedule– Meet with students no less than two sessions per
week– Interventions occur in addition to the classroom
instruction– Students should apply literacy skills in all content areas,
in addition to language arts classes– A minimum of 50 hours of corrective instruction is
required for sustained gains (Guthrie, Seifert, Kline, 1978)
• Do not expect students to close the gap overnight; it requires time and patience
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Essential Components of an Intervention Program
• Well-planned Intervention Session– 30-40 minutes with three to seven students
• The higher the needs, the smaller the group should be– Strategies should be taught that students can apply in the
regular classroom• Carefully consider when to discontinue students from an
intervention program– Use two criteria to determine if it is time for a student to be
discontinued: (Harris and Sipay, 1990)• Is the student able to meet the reading demands of the regular
classroom?• Does the student read voluntarily?
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Essential Components of an Intervention Program
• Organizational patterns that match the students’ needs, resources available, and philosophy of the school district– One-on-One and Small Group Instruction
• One-on-One instruction is preferred, but not always practical
• If possible, keep groups at or below a 1 to 4 (teacher to students) ratio, in order to avoid stretching the teacher’s efforts too thin
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Essential Components of an Intervention Program
• Small Group vs. Whole-Class Instruction– In-class instruction should be differentiated to meet all students’ needs– According to the National Reading Panel (2000), struggling readers do
better when they are grouped according to common needs– Having students in small groups helps the teacher assess their progress
and adjust instruction more easily• Read about Guided Reading, Joplin Plan Grouping, and Reading
Workshop (page 534 in Assessing and Correcting Reading and Writing Difficulties)– As you read, consider which of these strategies you currently use and
which strategies you can try
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Essential Components of an Intervention Program
• Catching Up– More high-quality instructional time can help struggling
students close the gap:• Before school, after school, and Saturday programs• Summer school programs
• Retention– Is not an effective tool for closing the achievement
gap– Gains achieved after students are retained fade after two
or three years– Retention = the best predictor of future dropout
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Essential Components of an Intervention Program
• Need for an Extended Program– Specialized literacy instruction should be available at all grades– Students’ needs change as they get older and face different academic
demands• Pacing
– The rate at which students are introduced to new learning and move through material should allow them catch up with their peers
– Programs need energized teaching, careful sequencing of tasks, time spent only on activities that have high payoff, and scaffolding that leads to independence
• Monitoring– Progress monitoring and making changes when necessary is
essential
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Essential Components of an Intervention Program
• Involving Parents– Parents of struggling readers should be involved in every step
of the process, using an ongoing dialogue between the parents and the school
– They should be reminded of their children’s strengths, as well as areas of concern
• Family Literacy– Parents should be taught strategies and techniques to use with
their children– Parents and children could attend sessions together after
school or in the summer
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Essential Components of an Intervention Program
Additional Information on Intervention Programs
Unless stated otherwise the content of this section is based on Chapter 15 – Gunning, T.G. (2010) Assessing and Correcting Reading and Writing Difficulties. Boston, MA.: Pearson, Education, Inc.
Test Preparation and Effective Intervention Programs
• When struggling readers are given a well-planned intervention program, their test scores rise
• Avoid “test-prep” programs, which often just focus on lower-level questions
• Instead…– Integrate key content and skills that are tested into
your curriculum– Teach some test-taking strategies so that students
know what to expect when taking the test
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Other Ways to Make an Impact with Intervention
• Read about the following three additional ways to make an impact with intervention: – Providing Professional Development (page 537)– Tutoring Options (page 537-538)– Fostering Voluntary Reading (page 543)
• While reading, reflect on your experience with these three elements. – Have they been addressed at your school? – What would you do differently?
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Resources Needed for Successful Intervention
• Reading materials should be:– At the students’ independent and instructional levels – Available for all content areas
• Technology can be used to:– Present information in an engaging way (CDs, videos, Mp3 players to
listen to books)– Help students organize information (computers)– Make adaptations (voice-recognition, used when a student dictating a
story)– Motivate students to read (e-books)For more information, see pages 543-546 in Assessing and
Correcting Reading and Writing Difficulties
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Programs Evaluation
Unless stated otherwise the content of this section is based on Chapter 15 – Gunning, T.G. (2010) Assessing and Correcting Reading and Writing Difficulties. Boston, MA.: Pearson, Education, Inc.
Evaluation of Programs
• Intervention programs should be evaluated periodically to ensure they are meeting their goals and objectives
• Read about the evaluations of intervention programs on pages 546-548 in Assessing and Correcting Reading and Writing Difficulties
• As you read, consider the major elements of a successful intervention program
• When you have completed the reading, turn to the next slide to describe what are, in your opinion, the important elements of a successful intervention program
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