RTI at Work™ Plan Book by Solution Tree

RTI AT W O R K

™

PLAN BOOK

Austin Buffum ◆ Mike Mattos

PLAN BOOK

A u s t i n B u ff u m ◆ M i k e Matto s If found, please return this plan book to:

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RTI AT WORK

™

Copyright © 2020 by Solution Tree Press Materials appearing here are copyrighted. With one exception, all rights are reserved. Readers may reproduce only those pages marked “Reproducible.” Otherwise, no part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without prior written permission of the publisher. 555 North Morton Street Bloomington, IN 47404 800.733.6786 (toll free) / 812.336.7700 FAX: 812.336.7790

Visit go.SolutionTree.com/RTIatWork to download the free reproducibles in this book. Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Buffum, Austin G., author. | Mattos, Mike (Mike William), author. Title: RTI at work plan book / Austin Buffum and Mike Mattos. Description: Bloomington, IN : Solution Tree Press, 2019. | Includes bibliographical references. Identifiers: LCCN 2019014113 | ISBN 9781949539516 (spiral bound) Subjects: LCSH: Response to intervention (Learning disabled children)--Handbooks, manuals, etc. | Learning disabled children--Education--Handbooks, manuals, etc. Classification: LCC LC4705 .B849 2019 | DDC 371.9--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019014113 Solution Tree Jeffrey C. Jones, CEO Edmund M. Ackerman, President Solution Tree Press President and Publisher: Douglas M. Rife Associate Publisher: Sarah Payne-Mills Art Director: Rian Anderson Managing Production Editor: Kendra Slayton Senior Production Editor: Todd Brakke Content Development Specialist: Amy Rubenstein Proofreader: Miranda Addonizio Cover Designer: Rian Anderson Editorial Assistant: Sarah Ludwig

We are so grateful for our collaboration with Jeffrey Jones, Douglas Rife, and the exceptional professionals at Solution Tree. We know this collaboration has been so successful because we share a common vision—to transform education worldwide to ensure learning for all! The press team has edited and improved every sentence of all our books, and the professional development and events teams have made this content available through RTI at Work™ institutes, workshops, and onsite support. We would specifically like to thank Todd Brakke for his outstanding contributions to this plan book—he is most directly responsible for moving this project from concept to completion. We call our intervention recommendations RTI at Work because they are built on the Professional Learning Community at Work® (PLC at Work) process. We believe that it is impossible to develop an effective system of interventions unless it builds on the guiding principles of the PLC at Work process—with a learning-focused culture, collaborative structures, and a results orientation. The original authors and leaders of this process—Richard DuFour, Rebecca DuFour, and Robert Eaker—have generously shared their knowledge, expertise, and friendship. In fact, Solution Tree’s first plan book—the PLC at Work Plan Book (DuFour, DuFour, & Eaker, 2006)—was Becky’s idea, and this resource is modeled after it. We hope that our work leads others to the power of the PLC at Work process and honors the lives of our mentors, Rick and Becky.

email: info@SolutionTree.com SolutionTree.com

AC KNOWLE DG M ENT S

TA B LE O F CO NTE NT S Reproducible pages are in italics.

The RTI at Work™ Plan Book. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv

SMART Goal Template. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

How We Use Results to Motivate Students . . . . 95

About the Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv

Team Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

How We Adjust to Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Substitute Teacher Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Success Story: Stevenson High School. . . . . . . . . 99

Holidays and Birthdays. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

How We Increase Rigor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

PART 1: Tools and Protocols

The Foundation: Being a Professional Learning Community. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 RTI at Work Essential Actions for Tiers 1, 2, and 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 The Essential Responsibilities of Teacher Teams . . 7 The Essential Responsibilities of Schools. . . . . . . 10 The Trust on Our Team Survey. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

PART 2: Weekly Planners

What Is a Professional Teacher? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 What Is Collective Inquiry?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 What Are Norms? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 What Is an Action Orientation?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 What Are Essential Learnings?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Steps for Establishing Team Norms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

How We Establish Essential Learnings. . . . . . . . . 55

Team Action-Planning Template. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

How We Teach Essential Behaviors. . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Essential Standards Selection Criteria. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Success Story: Mason Crest Elementary. . . . . . . 59

Future-Focused Learning Frameworks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

How We Teach to Each Student’s Sweet Spot. . 61

RTI at Work Essential Standards Chart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Essential Standards Unit Plan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Student Profile Placemat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Targeting Interventions by Student, by Standard, and by Learning Target. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Friendly Language to Help Students Own Their Learning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Ensuring Access to Grade-Level Essential Curriculum Protocol. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Universal Screening Protocol. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Prediction and Prevention Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

How We Keep Students in Their Learning Zone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 How We Develop Student Vocabulary . . . . . . . . 65 Success Story: The International Community School of Addis Ababa . . . . . . . . . 67 What Is Common Pacing? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 What Is a Common Formative Assessment? . . . 71 How We Develop Common Formative Assessments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

How We Extend Student Learning. . . . . . . . . . . 103 How We Create Opportunity for Many Winners. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 How We Determine Students’ Strengths and Weaknesses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Success Story: Eagle View Elementary . . . . . . . 109 Common Implementation Missteps: Relying Too Heavily on Purchased Intervention Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 Common Implementation Missteps: Perpetuating Ineffective Interventions. . . . . 113 Common Implementation Missteps: Failing to Create a Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Common Implementation Missteps: Viewing RTI as a Process to Identify Students for Special Education . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 The Journey Ahead. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 Why Celebration Is a Key to Sustained Success. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 How You Eat an Elephant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Mid-Unit Common Assessment Protocol. . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Success Story: Lindsey Elementary School. . . . . 75

PART 3: References and Resources

Team Response for Mid-Unit Preventions. . . . . . . . . . . . 26

What Are Systematic Interventions in a PLC?. . . 77

References and Resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

End-of-Unit Common Assessments Protocol to Target Tier 2 Interventions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

How We Plan Time for Tier 2 Interventions. . . . 79

Monitor Student Learning of Essential Standards. . . . . . 28 Schedule Time for Tier 2 Interventions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Effective Use of Tier 2 Time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Increase the Effectiveness of Current Interventions . . . . 31 Target and Monitor Interventions for a Specific Student . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

The Teaching-Assessing Cycle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Success Story: Pasco County Schools. . . . . . . . . . 83 The Need for Universal Screenings. . . . . . . . . . . . 85 How We Target and Monitor Interventions for a Specific Student . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 How We Develop Student Agency. . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Cultural Shifts in a PLC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Success Story: Moores Mill Intermediate. . . . . . 91

Critical Issues for Team Consideration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

How We Analyze Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Team Feedback Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

125

Response to Intervention Simplified . . . . . . . . . . . 2

P L A N B O O K | i i i

TH E RTI AT WORK ™ PL AN BOOK

An equally important correlate to this universal truth is that a single teacher—working in isolation— cannot single-handedly acquire and implement all of the interventions needed to ensure every student’s success. Undoubtedly, meeting the diverse needs of students requires a collaborative, systemic approach. Fortunately, when it comes to creating such a system, the research and evidence in our field have never been more conclusive—response to intervention (RTI) is the right way to intervene. Also known as a multitiered system of supports (MTSS), RTI creates a systematic process to ensure every student receives the additional time and support needed to learn at high levels. Equally important, educators can use this student-focused support to extend student learning, providing benefits to all students. Based on his meta-analysis of more than eighty thousand studies relating to the factors inside and outside of school that impact student learning, researcher John Hattie finds that RTI ranks in the top-five educational practices proven to best increase student achievement. When implemented well, RTI has an exceptional average yearly impact rate of 1.27 standard deviation (Hattie, 2009). This deviation (often referred to as effect size) measures the efficacy of an intervention or change in practice relative to taking no interventive action at all. To put this number in perspective, consider the following. ff A 1.0 standard deviation increase is typically associated with advancing student achievement two to three years (Hattie, 2009). ff Based on longitudinal studies, the yearly typical impact rate of a classroom teacher’s

i v | R T I A T W O R K ™

ff The greatest home or environmental factor that impacts student learning is a family’s economic status. Students who come from more affluent homes—defined as middle class or higher—gain a yearly academic benefit of 0.57 standard deviation growth per year (Hattie, 2009). RTI’s impact rate is more than twice as powerful as what some students might receive at home each night. At a time in which failure in the K–12 system has lifelong implications for students, successfully harnessing the proven impact of RTI is critical for educators truly committed to ensuring every student succeeds. We call our process RTI at Work because the guiding principles of the PLC at Work process form the foundation of our intervention recommendations. So, our best hope to help that single teacher with struggling students in want of effective interventions is to ensure that each teacher is part of a high-performing team within a school functioning as a PLC that is also committed to RTI practices. Because ensuring every student’s success requires effective teaching and high levels of collaboration, we designed this plan book to support both instructional practices and collaboration. While most plan books guide the individual classroom teacher in instructional decisions, this RTI at Work Plan Book also guides the collaborative team planning and processes essential to schools that operate as PLCs. Most important, this plan book calls on teachers to go far beyond the traditional questions of teaching to a relentless focus on learning— for both students and educators. To get the most out of this resource, it is important to have a clear understanding of RTI, PLC at Work, and how teacher teams drive both processes. To that end, the first part of the RTI at Work Plan Book contains an overview of the big ideas that shape RTI at Work, cultural shifts you should expect in a PLC, and keys to building high-performing collaborative teams. It also

includes forms to help you work with your team more effectively as well as the standard forms you need to collect and organize information about your students and your classes. You can also visit go.SolutionTree.com /RTIatWork to access additional online resources. The second part includes forty weeks of planning pages with text and activities to inform, inspire, and challenge you and your teammates as you implement RTI at Work. You’ll also learn from other schools and districts that have embarked on the same work. The third part provides references and resources for further study.

A BOU T TH E AU TH O R S Austin Buffum, EdD, has more than forty-five years of experience in public schools. His many roles include serving as former senior deputy superintendent of the Capistrano Unified School District in California.

Mike Mattos is an internationally recognized author, presenter, and practitioner who specializes in uniting teachers, administrators, and support staff to transform schools by implementing RTI and PLCs. To book Austin Buffum or Mike Mattos for professional development, contact pd@SolutionTree.com.

With a respectful nod to Jane Austen, we designed this plan book around the following assumption: It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single teacher in possession of struggling students must be in want of effective interventions.

instruction ranges between 0.15 and 0.40 standard deviation growth (Hattie, 2009). This means a school that successfully implements RTI leverages a process that is considerably more effective than a school that leaves it up to individual, isolated teachers to meet students’ instructional needs.

The Foundation: Being a Professional Learning Community

Structuring a school as a PLC creates the foundation required to build a highly effective system of interventions. This foundation is grounded in the three big ideas of the PLC at Work process: (1) a focus on learning, (2) a collaborative culture, and (3) a results orientation (DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, Many, & Mattos, 2016).

A Focus on Learning A PLC school’s core mission is not simply to ensure that all students are taught but also that they actually learn. As Richard DuFour, Rebecca DuFour, Robert Eaker, Thomas Many, and Mike Mattos (2016) state in the PLC handbook Learning by Doing: The first (and the biggest) of the big ideas is based on the premise that the fundamental purpose of the school is to ensure that all students learn at high levels (grade level or higher). This focus on and commitment to the learning of each student are the very essence of a learning community. (p. 11)

This seismic shift from a focus on teaching to a focus on learning requires far more than rewriting a school’s mission statement or creating a catchy “learning for all” motto to put on the school’s letterhead. This commitment to ensuring student learning unites and focuses the collaborative efforts of the staff and serves as the organization’s “north star” when making decisions. The school’s policies, practices, and procedures are guided by the question, Will this help more students learn at higher levels?

Creating consensus and commitment to becoming a learning-focused school or district is an essential prerequisite to successful RTI implementation. Likewise, any school already committed to the PLC process would heartily embrace RTI as an essential tool in achieving its commitment to guarantee every student’s success.

A Collaborative Culture The second big idea is a commitment to creating a collaborative culture. Because no teacher can possibly possess all the knowledge, skills, time, and resources needed to ensure high levels of learning for all his or her students, educators at a PLC school work collaboratively and take collective responsibility for student success. Instead of allowing individual teachers to work in isolation, teacher teams become the fundamental structure of the school. Collaboration does not happen by invitation or chance; instead, frequent team time is embedded into the contractual day. Creating collaborative teacher teams will not improve student learning unless their efforts focus on the right work. To this end, four critical questions guide teacher collaboration in the PLC at Work process: 1. What knowledge, skills, and dispositions should every student acquire as a result of this unit, this course, or this grade level? 2. How will we know when each student has acquired the essential knowledge and skills? 3. How will we respond when some students do not learn? 4. How will we extend the learning for students who are already proficient? (DuFour et al., 2016, p. 36)

Question 1 requires teachers of the same course or grade level to collectively determine what they expect all their students to know and be able to do. After all, a school cannot possibly create a systematic, collective response when students do not learn if individual teachers focus on different essential learning standards.

By identifying essential standards, teacher teams can analyze, prioritize, and otherwise unpack standards of what is most essential for students to know. We refer to this process as concentrated instruction—a systematic process of identifying essential knowledge, skills, and behaviors that all students must master to learn at high levels and determining the specific learning needs for each student to get there. Because the school is committed to all students learning these essential standards, teams must be prepared to identify students who require additional time and support. This process is captured in the third big idea.

A Results Orientation The third big idea focuses on evidence of student learning. In order to assess their effectiveness in ensuring all students learn, educators must use “evidence of learning to inform and improve their professional practice and respond to individual students who need intervention and enrichment” (DuFour et al., 2016, p. 12). After identifying the knowledge and skills that all students must learn, collaborative teams focus on critical question 2: How will we know when each student has acquired the essential knowledge and skills? Educators functioning as a PLC must assess their efforts to achieve high levels of learning for all students based on concrete results rather than good intentions. Student assessment information constitutes the lifeblood of an effective system of interventions; teachers use it to identify students in need of additional time and support and to confirm which core instructional strategies are most effective in meeting students’ needs.

An individual teacher working in his or her own classroom cannot effectively provide all three levels of RTI support. Instead, it requires schoolwide, collaborative efforts in which the entire staff takes collective responsibility for student learning. To make this point as clear and explicit as possible: being a professional learning community is an essential prerequisite to successful RTI implementation. Specifically, we advocate for the Professional Learning Community at Work (PLC at Work) framework, originally developed by Richard DuFour and Robert Eaker (1998).

By answering the first two critical questions, the school is now prepared to successfully intervene for students who need extra help mastering essential curriculum, and it is prepared to extend the learning for students who have. These two outcomes are captured in critical questions 3 (How will we respond when some students do not learn?) and 4 (How will we extend the learning for students who are already proficient?). P L A N B O O K | 5

RT I AT W OR K

™

PLAN BOOK

“The RTI at Work Plan Book is sure to become the most dog-eared book in your professional collection. Full of planning templates and practical tools, it can help individual teams and entire school communities identify practical actions to ensure all students learn at high levels.” —WILLIAM M. FERRITER, Classroom Teacher, Author, and Professional Development Provider

“The RTI at Work Plan Book is a key resource for professional learning communities who desire to collaboratively build a systemic response to intervention. Its tools and protocols allow teacher teams to easily collect and organize students’ information and proactively respond to their learning needs. If your school wants all students to learn at high levels, then RTI at Work is your path to success.”

“If you’re looking for a practical resource to guide your team through the RTI process and increase student achievement, this is the book for you. Teams new to the process will find this plan book is chock full of tools and templates to keep you focused on the right work. Experienced teams will find ideas that allow them to dig deeper and find the most effective ways to support students.”

— B R A D B A K E R , Principal, Dana Hills

—CHRIS JAKICIC,

High School, Dana Point, California

Author and Educator

Access a wealth of well-researched ideas and activities, as well as forty weeks of planning pages for implementing team-based response to intervention (RTI) practices in a professional learning community (PLC). Teams will:

Review the foundational ideas and core concepts of RTI at Work™ and PLC at Work®

Acquire a variety of reproducible tools designed to support establishing and conducting successful interventions

Recognize the positive cultural shifts that occur in schools and districts that follow the RTI at Work process

Plan for a full school year of collaborative RTI work with weekly calendars

Read stories from real teachers, principals, and district leaders who have seen dramatic, inspiring change in their schools through RTI at Work

Visit go.SolutionTree.com/RTIatWork to download the free reproducibles in this book.

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