Schoolwide Blog

Parents – More than Classroom Volunteers

In previous years I have invited parents to observe the children and me during writing workshop time.  After each observation period I would lead parents in a brown bag lunch discussion.  This was always received with great success.  I made sure all parents - mom, dad or both - could attend and made accommodations in my schedule so that this could happen. More...

Whither RTI?

 

 

 

What seems to have gotten lost in the development of RTI initiatives is that federal law indicates that RTI is to be a general education initiative. No roles for special education teachers or school psychologists are indicated in the law except at the very end when the RTI tiered approach to addressing the lagging achievement has failed to accelerate reading development of a very few kids.Thus, after a year or two of providing increasingly more expert and more intensive reading instruction, the general education community may refer the struggling readers for special education services. But largely, one would expect that schools would follow the process set forth in the law to create problem-solving teams of classroom teachers, reading specialists, and school administrators who would develop and deliver the RTI instructional services, basically separate from special education personnel. More...

Dr. Richard Allington

The Schoolwide Blog is pleased to announce the addition of Dr. Richard Allington to our blog space. Look back this week for posts by Dr. Allington and others as we explore Special Ed. and RTI.

From the University of Tennessee website:

Dick Allington is professor of education at the University of Tennessee. Previously he served as the Irving and Rose Fien Distinguished Professor of Education at the University of Florida, and as chair of the Department of Reading at the University at Albany – SUNY. More...

Should we censure "non-essential" reading material like Harry Potter?

 Let Them Read!

Confidence comes before good reading. If we censure the reading material that we allow a child to read we may be cutting off their joy of reading, possibly for life. I had a teacher ask me last year if he should let a non reader-a student who didn’t like to read-do a book report using the child’s choice of books -  “Captain Underpants.” I resoundingly said yes. More...

Fail First, Learn Later!

Before IDEA 2004 students didn’t become eligible for special education until they were at least two years below grade level. That’s because before IDEA 2004 a student had to be failing before they could be considered for special education. The “old” model for determining a child eligible for special education was an IQ test given by a psychologist and a battery of educational tests given by a special education teacher. If the IQ test was at least 15 points higher than the educational battery in one of the key areas the special education department had a new student.

The new initiative is called Response to Intervention or RTI. More...

Is RTI more complex in practice?

RTI as in all mandates doesn't play out as nicely as it looks on paper. From working in the trenches with classroom teachers the big complaint is that the initial individualized instruction and frequent progress monitoring that is required falls onto the classroom teacher without help from outside sources and or lack of appropriate materials. It is also difficult to carve out time in an already overstocked day for personal remediation. Unfortunately children may not be discussed with the school based support team if a teacher knows that it will result in extra work that falls on his or her shoulders Another concern is that the problem a child seems to be having, (for example in reading) gets dissected into small pieces in terms of what the intervention will address. The teacher may be asked to work on remediating initial consonant sounds for 8 weeks. If the child shows progress then another small piece will be addressed next, and so forth and so on. Teachers feel that this delays (indefinitely) a child receiving immediate services with a professional trained to work with children displaying unique difficulties. Plus, if reading is the issue it requires integrated thought processes which the remediation is not addressing.

Why does RTI need to be research based?

 

 

 

This comment to Bernice Wonderly’s post comes from Mary and offers some nice insight into the need for research metrics . . .

RTI signals dramatic—even radical—change if done right. The key to RTI is that the general education classroom instruction must be research based. In reading instruction, that means systematic and explicit reading instruction. The only time general education instruction should be any different is when 80% or more students in school are meeting state standards. Then the evidence-based instruction should just be directed to the other 20%. Schools across the country using sight word based programs like Fountas and Pinnell are not employing research-based practices More...

Special Ed: Response to Intervention: Mandate or Just Good Instruction?

 

When I was growing up, “back in the day,” there was no such thing as special education. Let me rephrase that. Special education was the little room down the hall where only certain people went, and these kids were very easy to identify. Special education was a place; it wasn’t a service. That’s exactly what IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) has made its goal to change. More...