RTI with Differentiated Instruction, Grades 6–8: A Classroom Teacher's Guide

• All students are included in the RTI framework.
• All students are every person's responsibility.
• Collaboration is essential for success.
• Student needs are met as soon as they are recognized, not only after receiving a label from a special program.
• Progress monitoring guides decisions about curriculum and instruction for a student and for groups of students.
• The rate of progress is as important as the amount of progress made.
• Some students will need supports and services beyond the core curriculum.
• Behavior and academic performances are interrelated.
• Expectations must be clear for students to be successful.
• Student performance is measured in relation to the clearly stated expectations.
• A teacher must recognize and acknowledge when something is not working.
• Data drives decision making.
• Multiple sources of data provide the most detailed picture of a student.
• Tiers of RTI indicate levels of supports, not types of students.
• Tiers are aligned so that a more intensive service supports success at a less intensive level.
• Remediation and intervention are aligned to the core curriculum.
• Quality core instruction in Tier 1 is the foundation for RTI.
• When a group of students all struggle to experience success, instruction must be examined.
• Flexible grouping is one way to provide reteaching and remediation in the classroom.
• Supports exist outside the school setting, and collaboration with the families and agencies providing these supports is essential.

Step 1: Examine standards and objectives to be taught. Determine the type of knowledge demanded of the standard and/or objective.

Step 2: Establish the conceptual understanding related to the facts and skills required.

Step 3: For any fact or skill, determine the level of fluency needed for mastery.

Step 4: Design independent student activities that incorporate the facts and skills to be addressed along with accommodations for students who need support in achieving mastery of the facts and skills.

Step 5: Reflect on personal knowledge and attitudes related to resources, the content, and the students.

Step 6: Pre-assess students in the areas of knowledge of facts, skills, conceptual understandings, experiences, attitudes, motivations, and ideas.

Step 7: Determine strategies for instruction at different levels of cognitive processing to include concrete, representational, and abstract processes.

Step 8: Determine the flow of classroom activities to include individual, small-group, and whole-group instruction.

Step 9: Determine benchmarks of student performance, and develop tools for ongoing measurement of progress.

Step 10: Develop selections and criteria for the summative product or performance that accurately reflects the intended outcomes of the unit.

Standard, topic, skill, or concept being examined:

What is the expectation or goal for this standard, topic, skill, or concept?

Define the scope of the problem:

• 1.
  How many or what percentage of the students across the classroom are considered to be performing below expectations or standards?
• 2.
  How many or what percentage of the students across the grade level are considered to be performing below expectations or standards?
• 3.
  How many or what percentage of the students across the school are considered to be performing below expectations or standards?
• 4.
  How many or what percentage of the students across the district are considered to be performing below expectations or standards?

At what level is there a problem?

Class Grade School District

[Page 173]Analyze the problem:

What is currently being done consistently at the level in which there is a problem?

Create a hypothesis:

Why is the problem occurring? Which areas above may be problematic?

What would help the situation?

[Page 176]Develop the instruction/intervention design:

Create a follow-up plan:

Copyright © 2011 by Corwin. All rights reserved. Reprinted from RTI With Differentiated Instruction, Grades 6–8: A Classroom Teacher's Guide, by Jodi O'Meara. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, http://www.corwin.com. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.

Standard, topic, skill, or concept being examined:

What is the expectation or goal for this standard, topic, skill, or concept?

Define the scope of the problem:

• 1.
  How is the student performing in relation to the expectation or goal?
• 2.
  How is the student performing in relation to peers in the district?
• 3.
  How is the student performing in relation to peers in the school?
• 4.
  How is the student performing in relation to peers in grade level?
• 5.
  How is the student performing in relation to peers in the class?
• 6.
  Are the data consistent across different measures?

Analyze the problem:

Consider each of the following in relation to the concern.

Create a hypothesis:

Why is the problem occurring? Which areas above may be problematic?

What would help this student?

[Page 181]Develop the instruction/intervention design:

[Page 182]Considerations for the Development of an Intervention

• The intervention must be research or evidence based.
• The researched population must match the population of the students being considered for the intervention.
• The intervention must be delivered with integrity and fidelity.
• The person delivering the intervention must have the necessary knowledge and professional development to implement the intervention as stated in the research.
• There must be support provided for the intervention plan by all stakeholders, including student and parent.
• There must be consideration regarding the length of time the intervention will be provided.
• The frequency with which the intervention will occur must be reasonable and match the intervention research recommendations.
• There must be a method for monitoring and reporting progress established before beginning the implementation of the intervention.

Copyright © 2011 by Corwin. All rights reserved. Reprinted from RTI With Differentiated Instruction, Grades 6–8: A Classroom Teacher's Guide, by Jodi O'Meara. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, http://www.corwin.com. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.

[Page 184]Analyze the problem:

Consider each of the following in relation to the concern.

Create a hypothesis:

Why is the problem occurring? What do the data show as a specific targeted need or area of support?

[Page 186]Develop the instruction/intervention design:

Copyright © 2011 by Corwin. All rights reserved. Reprinted from RTI With Differentiated Instruction, Grades 6–8: A Classroom Teacher's Guide, by Jodi O'Meara. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, http://www.corwin.com. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.

• Has the student had the opportunity to learn in the core instruction?
• Is the Tier 2 instructional program or material research or evidence based, and has it been implemented with fidelity?
• What evidence reflects that?
• What accommodations or supports have been provided during the intervention session?
• How often have data been collected?
• Has there been any evidence of a positive response (high performance) by the student at any time? The key here is the individual responses, not necessarily successfully meeting the desired level of achievement.
• Has there been an indicator of a positive response by peers receiving the same intervention?
• Is the trend reliable for predictability (small area between upper and lower control limits)?
• What differences exist between the student and peers receiving the same intervention?[Page 189]
  

[Page 190]
• Do the data seem to reflect an issue with programming or student learning? Programming issues are often reflected by a flat line on graphed data. Student learning issues are often reflected by inconsistent performance data. For behavioral issues, look at student learning considerations.

Progress monitoring will be collected through the use of:

Data and information will be reviewed on:

Copyright © 2011 by Corwin. All rights reserved. Reprinted from RTI With Differentiated Instruction, Grades 6–8: A Classroom Teacher's Guide, by Jodi O'Meara. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, http://www.corwin.com. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.

• 1.
  Identify the specific targeted problem area.
• 2.
  Ensure that the quality core curriculum is being administered with fidelity and differentiated strategies that include accommodations.
• 3.
  Identify the gap between learner and desired outcome.
• 4.
  Identify the gap between learner and peers.
• 5.
  Identify a research- or evidence-based intervention that matches both the targeted problem area and the student.
• 6.
  Determine the desired level of performance that should result from the intervention.
• 7.
  Collect data to monitor progress.
• 8.
  Collaborate to interpret data and determine the intervention's effectiveness or the changes needed.
• 9.
  Gather any additional information to assist in further decisions if necessary.
• 10.
  Adjust intervention to provide the approach most likely to promote success if necessary.

Using RTI to Teach Literacy to Diverse Learners, K-8, by Sheila Alber-Morgan, 2010.

RTI for Diverse Learners, by Catherine Collier, 2010.

Response to Intervention in Math, by Paul Riccomini, 2010.

55 Tactics for Implementing RTI in Inclusive Settings, by Pam Campbell, 2009.

Tier 3 of the RTI Model, by Sawyer Hunley, 2009.

How RTI Works in Secondary Schools, by Evelyn Johnson, 2009.

A Comprehensive RTI Model, by Cara Shores, 2009.

RTI Assessment Essentials for Struggling Learners, by John Hoover, 2009.

The One-Stop Guide for Implementing RTI, by Maryln Appelbaum, 2008.

Using RTI for School Improvement, by Cara Shores, 2008.

Beyond Differentiated Instruction, by Jodi O'Meara, 2010.

Differentiation for Real Classrooms, by Kathleen Kryza, 2009.

Differentiated Instructional Strategies for Reading in the Content Areas, 2nd Edition, by Carolyn Chapman, 2009.

Lesson Design for Differentiated Instruction, Grades 4–9, by Kathy Tuchman Glass, 2009.

Differentiating With Graphic Organizers, by Patti Drapeau, 2008.

Differentiation Through Learning Styles and Memory, 2nd Edition, by Marilee Sprenger, 2008.

Differentiated Instructional Strategies in Practice, 2nd Edition, by Gayle Gregory, 2008.

Differentiated Instructional Strategies for Science, Grades K–8, by Gayle Gregory and Elizabeth Hammerman, 2008.

The Practice of Authentic PLCs, by Daniel Venables, 2011.

Collaboration and Co-Teaching, by Andrea Honigsfeld, 2010.

Effective Collaboration for Educating the Whole Child, by Carol Kochhar-Bryant, 2010.

Collaborative Teaching in Secondary Schools, by Wendy Murawski, 2009.

Purposeful Co-Teaching, by Greg Conderman, 2008.

A Guide to Co-Teaching With Paraeducators, by Ann Nevin, 2008.