response to intervention rti: reading and writing interventions for difficult-to- teach students...

Response to Intervention

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RTI: Reading and Writing Interventions for Difficult-to-Teach Students

Jim Wrightwww.interventioncentral.org



RTI: Reading & Writing Interventions: Workshop Agenda

RTI & Academic Interventions: Overview

Writing Interventions

Reading Interventions

Academic Interventions: Critical Components

Measuring ‘Intervention Integrity’

Progress-Monitoring Tools

Web Resources to Support Reading & Writing Interventions


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School Instructional Time: The Irreplaceable Resource

“In the average school system, there are 330 minutes in the instructional day, 1,650 minutes in the instructional week, and 56,700 minutes in the instructional year. Except in unusual circumstances, these are the only minutes we have to provide effective services for students. The number of years we have to apply these minutes is fixed. Therefore, each minute counts and schools cannot afford to support inefficient models of service delivery.” p. 177

Source: Batsche, G. M., Castillo, J. M., Dixon, D. N., & Forde, S. (2008). Best practices in problem analysis. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.), Best practices in school psychology V (pp. 177-193).



Five Core Components of RTI Service Delivery

1. Student services are arranged in a multi-tier model 2. Data are collected to assess student baseline levels

and to make decisions about student progress 3. Interventions are ‘evidence-based’4. The ‘procedural integrity’ of interventions is measured5. RTI is implemented and developed at the school- and

district-level to be scalable and sustainable over time

Source: Glover, T. A., & DiPerna, J. C. (2007). Service delivery for response to intervention: Core components and directions for future research. School Psychology Review, 36, 526-540.



RTI ‘Pyramid of Interventions’

Tier 1

Tier 2

Tier 3

Tier 1: Universal interventions. Available to all students in a classroom or school. Can consist of whole-group or individual strategies or supports.

Tier 2 Individualized interventions. Subset of students receive interventions targeting specific needs.

Tier 3: Intensive interventions. Students who are ‘non-responders’ to Tiers I & II may be eligible for special education services, intensive interventions.



Tier 1 Core InstructionTier I core instruction:• Is universal—available to all students.• Can be delivered within classrooms or throughout the school. • Is an ongoing process of developing strong classroom instructional

practices to reach the largest number of struggling learners.

All children have access to Tier 1 instruction/interventions. Teachers have the capability to use those strategies without requiring outside assistance.

Tier 1 instruction encompasses:

• The school’s core curriculum.• Al published or teacher-made materials used to deliver that curriculum.• Teacher use of ‘whole-group’ teaching & management strategies.

Tier I instruction addresses this question: Are strong classroom instructional strategies sufficient to help the student to achieve academic success?



Tier I (Classroom) InterventionTier 1 intervention:

• Targets ‘red flag’ students who are not successful with core instruction alone.

• Uses ‘evidence-based’ strategies to address student academic or behavioral concerns.

• Must be feasible to implement given the resources available in the classroom.

Tier I intervention addresses the question: Does the student make adequate progress when the instructor uses specific academic or behavioral strategies matched to the presenting concern?



The Key RTI Role of Classroom Teachers as Tier 1 ‘Interventionists’: 6 Steps

1. The teacher defines the student academic or behavioral problem clearly.

2. The teacher decides on the best explanation for why the problem is occurring.

3. The teacher selects ‘evidence-based’ interventions.4. The teacher documents the student’s Tier 1 intervention plan.5. The teacher monitors the student’s response (progress) to the

intervention plan.6. The teacher knows what the next steps are when a student fails

to make adequate progress with Tier 1 interventions alone.

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RTI & Intervention: Key Concepts



Essential Elements of Any Academic or Behavioral Intervention (‘Treatment’) Strategy:

• Method of delivery (‘Who or what delivers the treatment?’)Examples include teachers, paraprofessionals, parents, volunteers, computers.

• Treatment component (‘What makes the intervention effective?’)Examples include activation of prior knowledge to help the student to make meaningful connections between ‘known’ and new material; guide practice (e.g., Paired Reading) to increase reading fluency; periodic review of material to aid student retention.



Core Instruction, Interventions, Accommodations & Modifications: Sorting Them Out

• Core Instruction. Those instructional strategies that are used routinely with all students in a general-education setting are considered ‘core instruction’. High-quality instruction is essential and forms the foundation of RTI academic support. NOTE: While it is important to verify that good core instructional practices are in place for a struggling student, those routine practices do not ‘count’ as individual student interventions.




• Intervention. An academic intervention is a strategy used to teach a new skill, build fluency in a skill, or encourage a child to apply an existing skill to new situations or settings. An intervention can be thought of as “a set of actions that, when taken, have demonstrated ability to change a fixed educational trajectory” (Methe & Riley-Tillman, 2008; p. 37).




• Accommodation. An accommodation is intended to help the student to fully access and participate in the general-education curriculum without changing the instructional content and without reducing the student’s rate of learning (Skinner, Pappas & Davis, 2005). An accommodation is intended to remove barriers to learning while still expecting that students will master the same instructional content as their typical peers. – Accommodation example 1: Students are allowed to supplement

silent reading of a novel by listening to the book on tape. – Accommodation example 2: For unmotivated students, the

instructor breaks larger assignments into smaller ‘chunks’ and providing students with performance feedback and praise for each completed ‘chunk’ of assigned work (Skinner, Pappas & Davis, 2005).




• Modification. A modification changes the expectations of what a student is expected to know or do—typically by lowering the academic standards against which the student is to be evaluated.

Examples of modifications:– Giving a student five math computation problems for practice

instead of the 20 problems assigned to the rest of the class– Letting the student consult course notes during a test when peers

are not permitted to do so– Allowing a student to select a much easier book for a book report

than would be allowed to his or her classmates.



Academic Interventions ‘Critical Components’ Checklist




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This checklist summarizes the essential components of academic interventions. When preparing a student’s Tier 1, 2, or 3 academic intervention plan, use this document as a ‘pre-flight checklist’ to ensure that the academic intervention is of high quality, is sufficiently strong to address the identified student problem, is fully understood and supported by the teacher, and can be implemented with integrity. NOTE: While the checklist refers to the ‘teacher’ as the interventionist, it can also be used as a guide to ensure the quality of interventions implemented by non-instructional personnel, adult volunteers, parents, and peer (student) tutors.

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Allocating Sufficient Contact Time & Assuring Appropriate Student-Teacher RatioThe cumulative time set aside for an intervention and the amount of direct teacher contact are two factors that help to determine that intervention’s ‘strength’ (Yeaton & Sechrest, 1981).

Critical Item? Intervention Element Notes

Time Allocated. The time set aside for the intervention is appropriate for the type and level of student problem (Burns & Gibbons, 2008; Kratochwill, Clements & Kalymon, 2007). When evaluating whether the amount of time allocated is adequate, consider:Length of each intervention session.Frequency of sessions (e.g.., daily, 3 times per week)Duration of intervention period (e.g., 6 instructional weeks)

Student-Teacher Ratio. The student receives sufficient contact from the teacher or other person delivering the intervention to make that intervention effective. NOTE: Generally, supplemental intervention groups should be limited to 6-7 students (Burns & Gibbons, 2008).



Matching the Intervention to the Student ProblemAcademic interventions are not selected at random. First, the student academic problem(s) is defined clearly and in detail. Then, the likely explanations for the academic problem(s) are identified to understand which intervention(s) are likely to help—and which should be avoided.Critical Item? Intervention Element Notes

Problem Definition. The student academic problem(s) to be addressed in the intervention are defined in clear, specific, measureable terms (Bergan, 1995; Witt, VanDerHeyden & Gilbertson, 2004). The full problem definition describes:Conditions. Describe the environmental conditions or task demands in place when the academic problem is observed. Problem Description. Describe the actual observable academic behavior in which the student is engaged. Include rate, accuracy, or other quantitative information of student performance.Typical or Expected Level of Performance. Provide a typical or expected performance criterion for this skill or behavior. Typical or expected academic performance can be calculated using a variety of sources,



Matching the Intervention to the Student Problem (Cont.)Critical Item? Intervention Element Notes

Appropriate Target. Selected intervention(s) are appropriate for the identified student problem(s) (Burns, VanDerHeyden & Boice, 2008). TIP: Use the Instructional Hierarchy (Haring et al., 1978) to select academic interventions according to the four stages of learning:Acquisition. The student has begun to learn how to complete the target skill correctly but is not yet accurate in the skill. Interventions should improve accuracy.Fluency. The student is able to complete the target skill accurately but works slowly. Interventions should increase the student’s speed of responding (fluency) as well as to maintain accuracy.Generalization. The student may have acquired the target skill but does not typically use it in the full range of appropriate situations or settings. Or the student may confuse the target skill with ‘similar’ skills. Interventions should get the student to use the skill in the widest possible range of settings and situations, or to accurately discriminate between the target skill and ‘similar’ skills.Adaptation. The student is not yet able to modify or adapt an existing skill to fit novel task-demands or situations. Interventions should help the student to identify key concepts or elements from previously learned skills that can be adapted to the new demands or situations.



Matching the Intervention to the Student Problem (Cont.)Critical Item? Intervention Element Notes

‘Can’t Do/Won’t Do’ Check. The teacher has determined whether the student problem is primarily a skill or knowledge deficit (‘can’t do’) or whether student motivation plays a main or supporting role in academic underperformance (‘wont do’). If motivation appears to be a significant factor contributing to the problem, the intervention plan includes strategies to engage the student (e.g., high interest learning activities; rewards/incentives; increased student choice in academic assignments, etc.) (Skinner, Pappas & Davis, 2005; Witt, VanDerHeyden & Gilbertson, 2004).



Activity: Matching the Intervention to the Student Problem• Consider these critical aspects of academic intervention:

Clear and specific problem-identification statement (Conditions, Problem Description, Typical/Expected Level of Performance).

Appropriate intervention target (e.g., selected intervention is appropriately matched to Acquisition, Fluency, Generalization, or Adaptation phase of Instructional Hierarchy).

Can’t Do/Won’t Do Check (Clarification of whether motivation plays a significant role in student academic underperformance).

• What questions do you have about applying any of these concepts when planning classroom interventions?



Incorporating Effective Instructional ElementsThese effective ‘building blocks’ of instruction are well-known and well-supported by the research. They should be considered when selecting or creating any academic intervention.Critical Item? Intervention Element Notes

Explicit Instruction. Student skills have been broken down “into manageable and deliberately sequenced steps” and the teacher provided“ overt strategies for students to learn and practice new skills” (Burns, VanDerHeyden & Boice, 2008, p.1153).

Appropriate Level of Challenge. The student experienced sufficient success in the academic task(s) to shape learning in the desired direction as well as to maintain student motivation (Burns, VanDerHeyden & Boice, 2008).

Active Engagement. The intervention ensures that the student is engaged in ‘active accurate responding’ (Skinner, Pappas & Davis, 2005).at a rate frequent enough to capture student attention and to optimize effective learning.

Performance Feedback. The student receives prompt performance feedback about the work completed (Burns, VanDerHeyden & Boice, 2008).

Maintenance of Academic Standards. If the intervention includes any accommodations to better support the struggling learner (e.g., preferential seating, breaking a longer assignment into smaller chunks), those accommodations do not substantially lower the academic standards against which the student is to be evaluated and are not likely to reduce the student’s rate of learning (Skinner, Pappas & Davis, 2005).



Activity: Incorporating Effective Instructional Elements• Think about the effective

instructional elements reviewed in this workshop.

• How can teachers ensure that all effective instructional elements are included in academic interventions?

Incorporating Effective Instructional ElementsCritical Item?

Intervention Element Notes

Explicit Instruction. Appropriate Level of Challenge. Active Engagement.. Performance Feedback.

Maintenance of Academic Standards.



Verifying Teacher Understanding & Providing Teacher SupportThe teacher is an active agent in the intervention, with primary responsibility for putting it into practice in a busy classroom. It is important, then, that the teacher fully understands how to do the intervention, believes that he or she can do it, and knows whom to seek out if there are problems with the intervention.Critical Item? Intervention Element Notes

Teacher Responsibility. The teacher understands his or her responsibility to implement the academic intervention(s) with integrity.

Teacher Acceptability. The teacher states that he or she finds the academic intervention feasible and acceptable for the identified student problem.

Step-by-Step Intervention Script. The essential steps of the intervention are written as an ‘intervention script’--a series of clearly described steps—to ensure teacher understanding and make implementation easier (Hawkins, Morrison, Musti-Rao & Hawkins, 2008).

Intervention Training. If the teacher requires training to carry out the intervention, that training has been arranged.

Intervention Elements: Negotiable vs. Non-Negotiable. The teacher knows all of the steps of the intervention. Additionally, the teacher knows which of the intervention steps are ‘non-negotiable’ (they must be completed exactly as designed) and which are ‘negotiable’ (the teacher has some latitude in how to carry out those steps) (Hawkins, Morrison, Musti-Rao & Hawkins, 2008).

Assistance With the Intervention. If the intervention cannot be implemented as designed for any reason (e.g., student absence, lack of materials, etc.), the teacher knows how to get assistance quickly to either fix the problem(s) to the current intervention or to change the intervention.



Activity: Verifying Teacher Understanding & Providing Teacher Support

In your teams:

• Review the checklist for verifying that teachers understand all elements of the intervention and actively support its use.

• How will your school ensure that teachers will understand and support academic interventions designed to be implemented in the classroom?

Verifying Teacher Understanding & Providing Teacher SupportCritical Item? Intervention Element

Teacher Responsibility Teacher Acceptability. Step-by-Step Intervention Script. Intervention Training. Intervention Elements: Negotiable

vs. Non-Negotiable Assistance With the Intervention



Documenting the Intervention & Collecting DataInterventions only have meaning if they are done within a larger data-based context. For example, interventions that lack baseline data, goal(s) for improvement, and a progress-monitoring plan are ‘fatally flawed’ (Witt, VanDerHeyden & Gilbertson, 2004).Critical Item? Intervention Element Notes

Intervention Documentation. The teacher understands and can manage all documentation required for this intervention (e.g., maintaining a log of intervention sessions, etc.).

Checkup Date. Before the intervention begins, a future checkup date is selected to review the intervention to determine if it is successful. Time elapsing between the start of the intervention and the checkup date should be short enough to allow a timely review of the intervention but long enough to give the school sufficient time to judge with confidence whether the intervention worked.

Baseline. Before the intervention begins, the teacher has collected information about the student’s baseline level of performance in the identified area(s) of academic concern (Witt, VanDerHeyden & Gilbertson, 2004).

Goal. Before the intervention begins, the teacher has set a specific goal for predicted student improvement to use as a minimum standard for success (Witt, VanDerHeyden & Gilbertson, 2004). The goal is the expected student outcome by the checkup date if the intervention is successful.

Progress-Monitoring. During the intervention, the teacher collects progress-monitoring data of sufficient quality and at a sufficient frequency to determine at the checkup date whether that intervention is successful (Witt, VanDerHeyden & Gilbertson, 2004).



Activity: Documenting the Intervention & Collecting Data

In your teams:

• Consider the elements of intervention documentation, data collection, and data interpretation discussed here.

• What steps can your school take to make sure that data have a central focus when interventionsare planned and implemented?

Documenting the Intervention & Collecting DataCritical Item? Intervention Element Notes

Intervention Documentation.

Checkup Date.

Baseline.

Goal.

Progress-Monitoring.



References

• Bergan, J. R. (1995). Evolution of a problem-solving model of consultation. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 6(2), 111-123.

• Burns, M. K., & Gibbons, K. A. (2008). Implementing response-to-intervention in elementary and secondary schools. Routledge: New York.

• Burns, M. K., VanDerHeyden, A. M., & Boice, C. H. (2008). Best practices in intensive academic interventions. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.), Best practices in school psychology V (pp.1151-1162). Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.

• Haring, N.G., Lovitt, T.C., Eaton, M.D., & Hansen, C.L. (1978). The fourth R: Research in the classroom. Columbus, OH: Charles E. Merrill Publishing Co.

• Hawkins, R. O., Morrison, J. Q., Musti-Rao, S., & Hawkins, J. A. (2008). Treatment integrity for academic interventions in real- world settings. School Psychology Forum, 2(3), 1-15.

• Kratochwill, T. R., Clements, M. A., & Kalymon, K. M. (2007). Response to intervention: Conceptual and methodological issues in implementation. In Jimerson, S. R., Burns, M. K., & VanDerHeyden, A. M. (Eds.), Handbook of response to intervention: The science and practice of assessment and intervention. New York: Springer.

• Skinner, C. H., Pappas, D. N., & Davis, K. A. (2005). Enhancing academic engagement: Providing opportunities for responding and influencing students to choose to respond. Psychology in the Schools, 42, 389-403.

• Witt, J. C., VanDerHeyden, A. M., & Gilbertson, D. (2004). Troubleshooting behavioral interventions. A systematic process for finding and eliminating problems. School Psychology Review, 33, 363-383.

• Yeaton, W. M. & Sechrest, L. (1981). Critical dimensions in the choice and maintenance of successful treatments: Strength, integrity, and effectiveness. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 49, 156-167.

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Reading Interventions toPromote Fluency & Comprehension




Savvy Teacher’s Guide: Reading

Interventions That Work

(Wright, 2000)



Big Ideas in Beginning Reading• “Phonemic Awareness: The ability to hear and manipulate

sounds in words. • Alphabetic Principle: The ability to associate sounds with letters

and use these sounds to form words. • Fluency with Text: The effortless, automatic ability to read words

in connected text. • Vocabulary: The ability to understand (receptive) and use

(expressive) words to acquire and convey meaning. • Comprehension: The complex cognitive process involving the

intentional interaction between reader and text to convey meaning.”

Source: Big ideas in beginning reading. University of Oregon. Retrieved September 23, 2007, from http://reading.uoregon.edu/index.php



Building Reading Fluency



NRP Conclusions Regarding Importance of Oral Reading Fluency:

“An extensive review of the literature indicates that classroom practices that encourage repeated oral reading with feedback and guidance leads to meaningful improvements in reading expertise for students—for good readers as well as those who are experiencing difficulties.”-p. 3-3



• Assisted Reading Practice• Listening Passage Preview

(‘ListeningWhile Reading’)

• Paired Reading • Repeated Reading

Interventions for…Increasing Reading Fluency



Paired Reading

The student reads aloud in tandem with an accomplished reader. At a student signal, the helping reader stops reading, while the student continues on. When the student commits a reading error, the helping reader resumes reading in tandem.



Building Reading Comprehension



‘Click or Clunk’ Self-Check

Students periodically check their understanding of sentences, paragraphs, and pages of text as they read. When students encounter problems with vocabulary or comprehension, they use a checklist to apply simple strategies to solve those reading difficulties.



‘Click or Clunk’ Check Sheet



‘…The combination of lack of practice, deficient decoding skills, and difficult materials results in unrewarding early reading experiences that lead to less involvement in reading related activities. Lack of exposure and practice on the part of the less skilled readers delays the development of automaticity and speed at the word-metacognition level. Slow, capacity-draining word-recognition processes require cognitive resources that should be allocated to higher-level process of text integration and comprehension.’- Stanovich, K., (1986)




‘Click or Clunk?’ Example





Tier 1 (Classroom) Literacy Interventions for Middle & High Schools




“ ”“Risk for reading failure always involves the interaction of a particular set of child characteristics with specific characteristics of the instructional environment. Risk status is not entirely inherent in the child, but always involves a “mismatch” between child characteristics and the instruction that is provided.” (Foorman & Torgesen, 2001; p. 206).

Source: Foorman, B. R., & Torgesen, J. (2001). Critical elements of classroom and small-group instruction promote reading success in all children. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 16, 203-212.



‘Fifteen Elements of Effective Adolescent Literacy Programs’

1. Direct, explicit comprehension instruction

2. Effective instructional principles embedded in content

3. Motivation and self-directed learning

4. Text-based collaborative learning

5. Formative student assessment6. Strategic tutoring7. Diverse texts8. Intensive writing9. Technology component

Source: Biancarosa, C., & Snow, C. E. (2006). Reading next—A vision for action and research in middle and high school literacy: A report to Carnegie Corporation of New York (2nd ed.).Washington, DC: Alliance for Excellent Education. Retrieved from http://www.all4ed.org/files/ReadingNext.pdf

10. Extended time for literacy across classes

11. Professional development12. Ongoing summative assessment of

students and programs13. Teacher teams (interdisciplinary

with a student problem-solving focus)

14. Leadership15. Comprehensive and coordinated

literacy program (interdisciplinary, interdepartmental)



Promoting Literacy in Middle & High School Classrooms: Three Elements

• Explicit vocabulary instruction• Reading comprehension• Extended discussion

Source: Kamil, M. L., Borman, G. D., Dole, J., Kral, C. C., Salinger, T., & Torgesen, J. (2008). Improving adolescent literacy: Effective classroom and intervention practices: A practice guide (NCEE #2008-4027). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc.



RTI & Secondary Literacy:Explicit Vocabulary Instruction



Vocabulary: Why This Instructional Goal is Important

As vocabulary terms become more specialized in content area courses, students are less able to derive the meaning of unfamiliar words from context alone. Students must instead learn vocabulary through more direct means, including having opportunities to explicitly memorize words and their definitions.

Students may require 12 to 17 meaningful exposures to a word to learn it.



Provide Dictionary Training

The student is trained to use an Internet lookup strategy to better understand dictionary or glossary definitions of key vocabulary items.

– The student first looks up the word and its meaning(s) in the dictionary/glossary.

– If necessary, the student isolates the specific word meaning that appears to be the appropriate match for the term as it appears in course texts and discussion.

– The student goes to an Internet search engine (e.g., Google) and locates at least five text samples in which the term is used in context and appears to match the selected dictionary definition.



Enhance Vocabulary Instruction Through Use of Graphic Organizers or Displays: A Sampling

Teachers can use graphic displays to structure their vocabulary discussions and activities (Boardman et al., 2008; Fisher, 2007; Texas Reading Initiative, 2002).



4-Square Graphic Display

The student divides a page into four quadrants. In the upper left section, the student writes the target word. In the lower left section, the student writes the word definition. In the upper right section, the student generates a list of examples that illustrate the term, and in the lower right section, the student writes ‘non-examples’ (e.g., terms that are the opposite of the target vocabulary word).



Semantic Word Definition Map

The graphic display contains sections in which the student writes the word, its definition (‘what is this?’), additional details that extend its meaning (‘What is it like?’), as well as a listing of examples and ‘non-examples’ (e.g., terms that are the opposite of the target vocabulary word).



Word Definition Map Example



Semantic Feature Analysis

A target vocabulary term is selected for analysis in this grid-like graphic display. Possible features or properties of the term appear along the top margin, while examples of the term are listed ion the left margin. The student considers the vocabulary term and its definition. Then the student evaluates each example of the term to determine whether it does or does not match each possible term property or element.



Semantic Feature Analysis Example

• VOCABULARY TERM: TRANSPORTATION



Comparison/Contrast (Venn) Diagram

Two terms are listed and defined. For each term, the student brainstorms qualities or properties or examples that illustrate the term’s meaning. Then the student groups those qualities, properties, and examples into 3 sections:

A. items unique to Term 1B. items unique to Term 2C. items shared by both terms



Promote ‘Wide Reading’

Students read widely in the content area, using texts that supplement and extend information supplied by the textbook. ‘Wide reading’ results in substantial increases in student vocabulary over time due to incidental learning. To strengthen the positive impact of wide reading on vocabulary development, have student texts available that vary in difficulty and that are of high interest. Discuss readings in class. Experiment with ways to document student independent reading and integrate that ‘wide reading’ into an effort grade for the course. If needed, build time into the student’s school schedule for supervised ‘wide reading’ time.



Hold ‘Read-Alouds’

Select texts that supplement the course textbook and that illustrate central concepts and contain important vocabulary covered in the course. Read those texts aloud for 3 to 5 minutes per class session--while students follow along silently. Read-alouds provide students with additional exposure to vocabulary items in context. They can also lower the threshold of difficulty: Students may be more likely to attempt to read an assigned text independently if they have already gotten a start in the text by listening to a more advanced reader read the first few pages aloud. Read-alouds can support other vocabulary-building activities such as guided discussion, vocabulary review, and wide reading.



Provide Regular In-Class Instruction and Review of Vocabulary Terms, Definitions

Present important new vocabulary terms in class, along with student-friendly definitions. Provide ‘example sentences’ to illustrate the use of the term. Assign students to write example sentences employing new vocabulary to illustrate their mastery of the terms.



Generate ‘Possible Sentences’ The teacher selects 6 to 8 challenging new vocabulary terms and 4 to 6 easier, more familiar vocabulary items relevant to the lesson. Introduce the vocabulary terms to the class. Have students write sentences that contain at least two words from the posted vocabulary list. Then write examples of student sentences on the board until all words from the list have been used. After the assigned reading, review the ‘possible sentences’ that were previously generated. Evaluate as a group whether, based on the passage, the sentence is ‘possible’ (true) in its current form. If needed, have the group recommend how to change the sentence to make it ‘possible’.



RTI & Secondary Literacy:Extended Discussion



Extended Discussions: Why This Instructional Goal is Important

Extended, guided group discussion is a powerful means to help students to learn vocabulary and advanced concepts. Discussion can also model for students various ‘thinking processes’ and cognitive strategies (Kamil et al. 2008, p. 22). To be effective, guided discussion should go beyond students answering a series of factual questions posed by the teacher: Quality discussions are typically open-ended and exploratory in nature, allowing for multiple points of view (Kamil et al., 2008).

When group discussion is used regularly and well in instruction, students show increased growth in literacy skills. Content-area teachers can use it to demonstrate the ‘habits of mind’ and patterns of thinking of experts in various their discipline: e.g., historians, mathematicians, chemists, engineers, literacy critics, etc.



Use a ‘Standard Protocol’ to Structure Extended Discussions

Good extended classwide discussions elicit a wide range of student opinions, subject individual viewpoints to critical scrutiny in a supportive manner, put forth alternative views, and bring closure by summarizing the main points of the discussion. Teachers can use a simple structure to effectively and reliably organize their discussions…



‘Standard Protocol’ Discussion FormatA. Pose questions to the class that require students to explain their

positions and their reasoning .B. When needed, ‘think aloud’ as the discussion leader to model

good reasoning practices (e.g., taking a clear stand on a topic).C. Supportively challenge student views by offering possible

counter arguments.D. Single out and mention examples of effective student reasoning.E. Avoid being overly directive; the purpose of extended

discussions is to more fully investigate and think about complex topics.

F. Sum up the general ground covered in the discussion and highlight the main ideas covered.



RTI & Secondary Literacy:Reading Comprehension



Reading Comprehension: Why This Instructional Goal is Important

Students require strong reading comprehension skills to succeed in challenging content-area classes.

At present, there is no clear evidence that any one reading comprehension instructional technique is clearly superior to others. In fact, it appears that students benefit from being taught any self-directed practice that prompts them to engage more actively in understanding the meaning of text (Kamil et al., 2008).



Assist Students in Setting ‘Content Goals’ for Reading

Students are more likely to be motivated to read--and to read more closely—if they have specific content-related reading goals in mind. At the start of a reading assignment, for example, the instructor has students state what questions they might seek to answer or what topics they would like to learn more about in their reading. The student or teacher writes down these questions. After students have completed the assignee reading, they review their original questions and share what they have learned (e.g., through discussion in large group or cooperative learning group, or even as a written assignment).



Teach Students to Monitor Their Own Comprehension and Apply ‘Fix-Up’ Skills

Teachers can teach students specific strategies to monitor their understanding of text and independently use ‘fix-up’ skills as needed. Examples of student monitoring and repair skills for reading comprehension include encouraging them to:

• Stop after every paragraph to summarize its main idea• Reread the sentence or paragraph again if necessary• Generate and write down questions that arise during

reading• Restate challenging or confusing ideas or concepts from

the text in the student’s own words



Collect a Bank of ‘Intervention Scripts’ to Teach Specific Comprehension Strategies

Teachers can collect ‘intervention scripts’ to address different comprehension issues that arise in their classrooms.



Activity: Tier 1 Interventions



Tier I Intervention Menu: Activity• Consider the intervention resources

from your workshop packet and available on the conference webpage.

• Draft a school plan for creating (or growing) an academic intervention menu for classroom teachers: Who will develop the intervention menu? Where will your school find intervention

ideas? How will the completed intervention

menu be shared with teachers? How will you keep the menu updated with

new intervention ideas?



RTI: Writing Interventions Jim Wrightwww.interventioncentral.org



Defining Student Writing Problems



"If all the grammarians in the world were placed end to end, it would be a good thing."– Oscar Wilde



Domains of writing to be assessed (Robinson & Howell, 2008):

• Fluency/Text Generation: Facility in getting text onto paper or typed into the computer. (NOTE: This element can be significantly influenced by student motivation.)

• Syntactic Maturity: This skill includes the:– Ability to discern when a word string meets criteria as a complete

sentence– Ability to write compositions with a diverse range of sentence

structures• Semantic Maturity: Writer’s use of vocabulary of range and sophistication

Source: Robinson, L. K., & Howell, K. W. (2008). Best practices in curriculum-based evaluation & written expression. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.), Best practices in school psychology V (pp. 439-452). Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.



5-Step Writing Process: (Items in bold are iterative):1. Planning. The student carries out necessary pre-writing

planning activities, including content, format, and outline.

2. Drafting. The student writes or types the composition.

3. Revision. The student reviews the content of the composition-in-progress and makes changes as needed. After producing an initial written draft, the student considers revisions to content before turning in for a grade or evaluation.

4. Editing. The student looks over the composition and corrects any mechanical mistakes (capitalization, punctuation, etc.).

5. Publication: The student submits the composition in finished form.Source: Robinson, L. K., & Howell, K. W. (2008). Best practices in curriculum-based evaluation & written expression. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.), Best practices in school psychology V (pp. 439-452). Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.

Domains of writing to be assessed (Robinson & Howell, 2008):



Graham, S., & Perin, D. (2007). Writing next: Effective strategies to improve writing of adolescents in middle and high schools – A report to Carnegie Corporation of New York. Washington, DC Alliance for Excellent Education. Retrieved from http://www.all4ed.org/files/WritingNext.pdf



The Effect of Grammar Instruction as an Independent Activity“Grammar instruction in the studies reviewed [for the Writing Next report] involved the explicit and systematic teaching of the parts of speech and structure of sentences. The meta-analysis found an effect for this type of instruction for students across the full range of ability, but …surprisingly, this effect was negative…Such findings raise serious questions about some educators’ enthusiasm for traditional grammar instruction as a focus of writing instruction for adolescents….Overall, the findings on grammar instruction suggest that, although teaching grammar is important, alternative procedures, such as sentence combining, are more effective than traditional approaches for improving the quality of students’ writing.” p. 21

Source: Graham, S., & Perin, D. (2007). Writing next: Effective strategies to improve writing of adolescents in middle and high schools – A report to Carnegie Corporation of New York. Washington, DC Alliance for Excellent Education.



Evaluating the Impact of Effect Size Coefficients

• 0.20 Effect Size = Small• 0.50 Effect Size = Medium• 0.80 Effect Size = Large

Source: Cohen,J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nded.). Hillsdale,NJ:Erlbaum.



Elements of effective writing instruction for adolescents:

1. Writing Process (Effect Size = 0.82): Students are taught a process for planning, revising, and editing.

2. Summarizing (Effect Size = 0.82): Students are taught methods to identify key points, main ideas from readings to write summaries of source texts.

3. Cooperative Learning Activities (‘Collaborative Writing’) (Effect Size = 0.75): Students are placed in pairs or groups with learning activities that focus on collaborative use of the writing process.

4. Goal-Setting (Effect Size = 0.70): Students set specific ‘product goals’ for their writing and then check their attainment of those self-generated goals.

Source: Graham, S., & Perin, D. (2007). Writing next: Effective strategies to improve writing of adolescents in middle and high schools – A report to Carnegie Corporation of New York. Washington, DC Alliance for Excellent Education. Retrieved from http://www.all4ed.org/files/WritingNext.pdf




5. Writing Processors (Effect Size = 0.55): Students have access to computers/word processors in the writing process.

6. Sentence Combining (Effect Size = 0.50): Students take part in instructional activities that require the combination or embedding of simpler sentences (e.g., Noun-Verb-Object) to generate more advanced, complex sentences.

7. Prewriting (Effect Size = 0.32): Students learn to select, develop, or organize ideas to incorporate into their writing by participating in structured ‘pre-writing’ activities.

8. Inquiry Activities (Effect Size = 0.32): Students become actively engaged researchers, collecting and analyzing information to guide the ideas and content for writing assignments.





9. Process Writing (Effect Size = 0.32): Writing instruction is taught in a ‘workshop’ format that “ stresses extended writing opportunities, writing for authentic audiences, personalized instruction, and cycles of writing” (Graham & Perin, 2007; p. 4).

10. Use of Writing Models (Effect Size = 0.25): Students read and discuss models of good writing and use them as exemplars for their own writing.

11. Writing to Learn Content (Effect Size = 0.23): The instructor incorporates writing activities as a means to have students learn content material.




Question: How Does a School Use Research Information to Influence Classroom Practice?

•In this workshop, we reviewed recommendations from the Writing Next manual, a meta-analysis of effective writing instructional elements.

•How might your school use information sources like this to influence classroom practice?



"The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug."– Mark Twain



"Your manuscript is both good and original. But the part that is good is not original, and the part that is original is not good."– Samuel Johnson



Selected Writing Interventions



Fluency: Have Students Write Every Day Short daily writing assignments can build student writing fluency and make writing a more motivating activity. Poor writers gradually develop into better writers when they are prompted to write daily--and receive rapid feedback and encouragement about that writing. The teacher can encourage daily writing by:

• giving short writing assignments• allowing time for students to journal about their learning

activities• requiring that they correspond daily with pen pals via email• even posting a question on the board as a bell-ringer activity that students can respond to in writing for extra credit.

Source: Graham, S., Harris, K. R., & Larsen, L. (2001). Prevention and intervention of writing difficulties for students with learning disabilities. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 16, 74-84.



Writing Support in the Classroom: Essentials of Effective Instruction Teachers are most successful in reaching students with writing delays when they:

• Build their written expression lessons around the 3 stages of writing –planning, writing, and revision— and make those stages clear and explicit.

• Provide students with ‘think sheets’ that outline step-by-step strategies for tackle the different phases of a writing assignment (e.g., taking concise notes from research material; building an outline; proofreading a draft).

• Expose students to different kinds of expressive text, such as persuasive, narrative, and expository writing-- good prose models that the student can review when completing a writing assignment.

• Give supportive and timely feedback to students about their writing. When teachers or classmates offer writing feedback to the student, they are honest but also maintain an encouraging tone.

Source: Gersten, R., Baker, S., & Edwards, L. (1999). Teaching expressive writing to students with learning disabilities: A meta-analysis. New York: National Center for Learning Disabilities.



Integrated Writing Instruction (MacArthur, Graham, & Schwarz, 1993 )

The instructor follows a uniform daily instructional framework for writing instruction.

1. Status-checking. At the start of the writing session, the instructor quickly goes around the room, asking each student what writing goal(s) he or she plans to accomplish that day. The instructor records these responses for all to see.

2. Mini-Lesson. The instructor teaches a mini-lesson relevant to the writing process. Mini-lessons are a useful means to present explicit writing strategies (e.g., an outline for drafting an opinion essay) as well as a forum for reviewing the conventions of writing. Mini-lessons should be kept short (e.g.,5-10 minutes) to hold the attention of the class.



Integrated Writing Instruction Cont. (MacArthur, Graham, & Schwarz, 1993 )

3. Student Writing. During the session, substantial time is set aside for students to write. Their writing assignment might be one handed out that day or part of a longer composition (e.g., story, extended essay) that the student is writing and editing across multiple days. When possible, student writers are encouraged to use computers as aids in composing and editing their work.

4. Peer & Teacher Conferences. At the end of the daily writing block, the student may sit with a classmate to review each other's work, using a structured peer editing strategy. During this discussion time, the teacher also holds brief individual conferences with students to review their work, have students evaluate how successfully they completed their writing goals for the day, and hear writers' thoughts about how they might plan to further develop a writing assignment.



Integrated Writing Instruction Cont. (MacArthur, Graham, & Schwarz, 1993 )

5. Group Sharing or Publishing. At the end of each session, writing produced that day is shared with the whole class. Students might volunteer to read passages aloud from their compositions. Students are encouraged to choose more polished work and post it on the classroom wall or bulletin board, have their work displayed in a public area of the school, publish the work in an anthology of school writings, read it aloud at school assemblies, or publish it on a school Internet site.



Monitoring to Increase Writing Fluency (Rathvon, 1999)

Students gain motivation to write through daily monitoring and charting of their own and classwide rates of writing fluency. – Assign timed freewriting several times per week. – After each freewriting period, direct each student to count up the

number of words he or she has written in their daily journal entry (whether spelled correctly or not).

– Have students to record their personal writing-fluency score in their journal and also chart the score on their own time-series graph for visual feedback.

– Collect the day’s writing-fluency scores of all students in the class, sum those scores, and chart the results on a large time-series graph posted at the front of the room.

– Raise the class goal by five percent per week.



Organization: Build an Outline by Talking Through the Topic

Students who struggle to organize their notes into a coherent outline can tell others what they know about the topic—and then capture the informal logical structure of that conversation to create a working outline.

• The student studies notes from the topic and describes what he or she knows about the topic and its significance to a listener. (The student may want to audio-record this conversation for later playback.)

• After the conversation, the student jots down an outline from memory to capture the structure and main ideas of the discussion.

• This outline ‘kernel’ can then be expanded and refined into the framework for a paper.

Source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (n.d.). Reorganizing your draft. Retrieved December 23, 2006, from http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/organization.html



Organization: ‘Reverse Outline’ the Draft

Students can improve the internal flow of their compositions through ‘reverse outlining’.

• The student writes a draft of the composition. • Next, the student reads through the draft, jotting notes in the margins that

signify the main idea of each paragraph or section. • Then the student organizes the margin notes into an outline to reveal the

organizational structure of the paper. • This ‘reverse outline’ allows the student to note whether sections of the

draft are repetitious, are out of order, or do not logically connect with one another.

Source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (n.d.). Reorganizing your draft. Retrieved December 23, 2006, from http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/organization.html



A Memory Device for Proofreading: SCOPE (Bos & Vaughn, 2002)

When students regularly use a simple, portable, easily memorized plan for proofreading, the quality of their writing improves significantly. – Create and have students refer to a classroom with the SCOPE

proofreading elements: Spelling: Are my words spelled correctly; Capitalization: Have I capitalized all appropriate words, including first words of sentences, proper nouns, and proper names?; Order of words: Is my word order (syntax) correct?; Punctuation: Did I use end punctuation and other punctuation marks appropriately? Expression of complete thoughts: Do all of my sentences contain a noun and verb to convey a complete thought?



Cover-Copy-Compare (Murphy, Hern, Williams, & McLaughlin, 1990)

Students increase their spelling knowledge by copying a spelling word from a correct model and then recopying the same word from memory. Give students a list of 10-20 spelling words, an index card, and a blank sheet of paper. For each word on the spelling list, the student:1. copies the spelling list item onto a sheet of paper, 2. covers the newly copied word with the index card, 3. writes the spelling word again on the sheet (spelling it from

memory), and 4. uncovers the copied word and checks to ensure that the word

copied from memory is spelled correctly. Repeat as necessary.



Use Selective Proofreading With Highlighting of Errors

To prevent struggling writers from becoming overwhelmed by teacher proofreading corrections, select only 1 or 2 proofreading areas when correcting a writing assignment.1. Create a student ‘writing skills checklist’ that inventories key writing

competencies (e.g., grammar/syntax, spelling, vocabulary, etc.). 2. For each writing assignment, announce to students that you will

grade the assignment for overall content but will make proofreading corrections on only 1-2 areas chosen from the writing skills checklist. (Select different proofreading targets for each assignment matched to common writing weaknesses in your classroom.)



Use Selective Proofreading With Highlighting of Errors: Cont.

3. To prevent cluttering the student’s paper with potentially discouraging teacher comments and editing marks:a. underline problems in the student’ text with a highlighter and b. number the highlighted errors sequentially at the left margin of

the student paper. c. write teacher comments on a separate feedback sheet to

explain the writing errors. Identify each comment with the matching error-number from the left margin of the student’s worksheet.

TIP: Have students use this method when proofreading their own text.



1

1 Rewrite this run-on sentence as two separate sentences.

2

2 Not clear. Rewrite. Consider starting the sentence with ‘The concept of …’

Spelling; Run-on and incomplete

sentences

Mrs. Richman

Jimmy Smith Dec 1, 2006Selective Proofreading With Highlighting of Errors



"A ratio of failures is built into the process of writing. The wastebasket has evolved for a reason."– Margaret Atwood



Sentence CombiningStudents with poor writing skills often write sentences that lack ‘syntactic maturity’. Their sentences often follow a simple, stereotyped format. A promising approach to teach students use of diverse sentence structures is through sentence combining.

In sentence combining, students are presented with kernel sentences and given explicit instruction in how to weld these kernel sentences into more diverse sentence types either – by using connecting words to combine multiple sentences into one

or – by isolating key information from an otherwise superfluous

sentence and embedding that important information into the base sentence.

Sources: Saddler, B. (2005). Sentence combining: A sentence-level writing intervention. The Reading Teacher, 58, 468-471.

Strong, W. (1986). Creative approaches to sentence combining. Urbana, OL: ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading and Communication Skill & National Council of Teachers of English.



Formatting Sentence Combining Examples



Team Activity: Use of Sentence Combining as a Writing Strategy Across Content Areas…

: • Discuss the sentence-combining strategy

discussed in this workshop.

• Brainstorm ways that schools can promote the use of this strategy across content areas to encourage students to write with greater ‘syntactic maturity’.



Interventionist TIP: Don’t Forget That…Writing Interventions Are Embedded in a

Larger Web of Potential Academic Intervention Strategies

Writing

Homework

Note-TakingReading

Comprehension

Reading Fluency

Time Management

Test Taking

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