no child left behind (nclb) & response to intervention (rti)

WHAT ARE THE CHANGES IN INTERVENTION DUE TO RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION (RTI) AND

NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND (NCLB)?

Benedictine University 1

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


• 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


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


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


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


What are the Essential Components of an Intervention

Program?


The Essential Components of an Intervention Program

• Intervention programs should have certain key elements:

• These elements are explained in detail on Slides 18 – 26


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.


• 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



• 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



• 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?



• 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



• 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



• 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



• 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



• 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



Additional Information on Intervention Programs


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


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?


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


Programs Evaluation


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


no child left behind (nclb) & response to intervention (rti)

Documents

intervention programprocess

intervention rticont

nclb response

groups of students

intervention rtiin order

literacy committee

correcting reading

literacy experts