Dr. George M. Batsche - Canyons District Leadership Training
"Many school districts are creating curriculum for ESL students. How many college educated individuals in our country can support non college educated individuals? If students are not successful in school you will be supporting them instead of them supporting you. Think of your retirement."
We must create individuals to strengthen the public. There is an urgency about this. If you want to catch students up that are behind academically - you must give them MORE TIME than the rest of the students or slow everyone else down.
We must accelerate high performing students.
There is an 8% chance that a student in 4th grade reading on a 2nd grade level will catch up.
We can accelerate kids by half to 3/4 year per year. What does it take in order to catch a student up 2 years in 4th grade ...???
Don't let them get behind. It's not about what the instruction can be, but how are we going to use data to identify and prevent students from falling behind?
Set a goal for reducing the number of kids performing below grade level, leaving middle school and stressing high schools.
By middle school, you have 8 years of data on students. You know 1 1/2 years before they enter high school who is going to need help.
RtI is a way to organize what it is you do in a most effective and efficient manner. It is not a program in a box. It is a way of delivering your instructional plan.
All of your kids who will struggle later on can be identified in Kindergarten - particularly ESL kids. In Florida there is no doubt that reading is the most important skill!!!! We will drop the reading priority when middle schools and high schools no longer require that students read independently to learn. When kids struggle with literacy it threatens everything else. Math is 2nd priority - everything else is negotiable!!!
Florida is eliminating remedial programs and integrating them into regular classrooms as teams. "In God we trust - everyone else brings data" "Data will set you free" (When the reading people got into it with each other at least they had social skills - but the math people - that was ugly.)
What predicts high performing math students - strong basic skills and practicing time in new skills.
Are you happy with the outcomes of students in your reading program? Poverty is the big leveler not race. If you are not getting the results you want the solution is in one of 4 things: curriculum, teachers, kids and parents. Look for those solutions.
RtI is a system for figuring out these solutions and is part of education policy in Florida
Nationally 15% of education money goes to fix core instruction.
Obstacles:
1. insufficient teacher training
2. lack of intervention resources
3. use of data
Resources for schedules:
Until kids read 42 wpm - don't even bother with comprehension
2nd grade - goal - fluency - if students are below, create intervention
3rd grade - comprehension - if students are below create intervention
Return on investment - 82% of all resources in school district go to support tier 1
18% go to support tier 2 and 3
If you have more than 18% needing tier 2 and 3, increase resources
National average for tier 2 instruction is 42%
Experience in Florida schools:
Kindergartne students are screened every month up to November. Experience shows that after November 1st of each year kindergarten students show little or no movement in academic placement. Identify those students below level and intervene. Focus on kindergarten - it is your best chance of catching students up with the rest of the class.
Integrate tier 2 and tier 3 strategies into tier 1 instruction
Preteaching and reteaching are the most powerful strategies for intervention.
Leadership, leadership, planning, scheduling
Brainstorm:
What resonates with you and is part of your current culture?
*kindergarten is key*
It is very important to move from teacher curriculum to concepts of mastery.
What is not a part of your view of RtI?
Setting goals and looking at improvement on a regular basis
What are the goals?
Spec Ed students should wear a flashing button that says "I may be the biggest pain in the but, but I pay more of your salary than any other kid in the class!" (Free and reduced lunch is not an indicator of demographic in this economy.)
QUESTIONS:
Does retention work? EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTION IS THE STRONGEST TOOL - 60 minutes/day of added instruction in 1st 2nd or 3rd grade = one year of retention. Florida does retain 3rd grade students if they do not pass the reading test. Does it work?
Where do we start? Online RtI course: RtI network.org is a great starting place. Virtual visits to elementary schools, shows PLC's discussing students/goals. Greatest impact at building level has RtI as part of it.
How do we handle parents who complain that their student is missing out on something because of intervention? As educators, give parents highly informed options. Let them make the choice. "Do you want more reading instruction for your student? What part of the curricululm will he/she miss out on to get this?"
What about students who have not attended school before or for the last 3 years, or are very mobile moving from place to place? Continuous improvement is what we are going to measure:
1. Are they coming to school regularly? Is their attendance improving?
2. Are they doing the work? Is their work improving?
3. Are they showing improvement in academic performance?
What do you do about attendance problems? Florida holds an Attendance Symposium DMV - Student licenses removed electronically for attendance issues. Truancy court is held in schools and peers are involved in returning students to school.
What about cell phones? - Quit fighting it and embrace it, hold kids accountable - ask yourself? Also, ask yourself: How are we teaching kids to manage time when technology is the biggest user of their time? Is technology taking away from their academically engaged time? Talk to students about this.
Problem solving process example:
Students grades showed attendance, behavior and work completed biggest factors - School decided to target attendance and work completed.
Teachers focus groups said: Students don't care
Kids focus groups said: No one at school cares
Asked kids what can schools do to improve? Implemented suggestions - data showed huge improvement.
