Simplifying Response to Intervention - Book Study

Chris Rogne

• Simplifying Response to Intervention: Four Essential Guiding Principles
• By: Austin Buffum, Mike Mattos, Chris Weber
• A synthesis of my understanding of the book and how I plan to apply them in the coming school year

1. A New Way of Thinking

• What were your biggest takeaways from the book?
• The purpose of learning is to ensure high levels of learning for all students
• Our traditional system is outdated
• It was created at a time when the educator worked in a one-room school
• Targeted time + instruction = learning
• A single teacher can’t do this alone

• What connections did you make to your current classroom?
• We know what to do differently
• It is not a student issue, it is a systems issue

• What application do you see for your classroom moving forward?
• Our new economy is driven by technology, innovation, and service
• We are preparing students for jobs that don’t exist
• We must teach them the skills to learn anything
• We will refocus our building leadership teams and student success teams to support high levels of learning for all students, regardless of time

2. Collective Responsibility: Why Are We Here?

• What were your biggest takeaways from the book?
• “High School Plus” = every student will graduate from high school with the skills and knowledge required to continue to learn
• We must take collective responsibility for student learning

• What connections did you make to your current classroom?
• Are we here to teach, or are we here to ensure students learn?
• Does ‘all’ really mean ‘all’?
• Yes, if they are expected to be financially independent adults someday

• What application do you see for your classroom moving forward?
• Provide the why before the what
• Build staff ownership, not necessarily buy-in
• Create a doable plan, adjust as needed,  and establish mutual accountability
• Leadership is not a solo act

3. Building Structures for Collaboration

• What were your biggest takeaways from the book?
• Teams, not groups
• Time needs to be made for collaborations
• Simple and effective forms can help guide the work

• What connections did you make to your current classroom?
• Time needs to be made for collaborations
• Simple and effective forms can help guide the work

• What application do you see for your classroom moving forward?
• We need to rethink the structure of the day to provide time for meaningful teacher collaboration

4. Concentrated Instruction: Where Do We Need to Go?

• What were your biggest takeaways from the book?
• Create a focus - When everything is important, nothing is
• Teach less, learn more

• What connections did you make to your current classroom?
• What is it we want our students to learn?
• How will we know they are learning the essential skills?
• How will we respond if they do not learn?
• How will we enrich and extend the learning for students who are already proficient?

• What application do you see for your classroom moving forward?
• Continue to align standards and learning targets
• Continue to reflect on the rigor as it fits into proficiency scales
• Continue to work on a system to provide targeted intervention
• We must also teach desired behaviors

5. Convergent Assessment: Where Are We Now?

• What were your biggest takeaways from the book?
• The best intervention is prevention
• Use universal screeners to make quick transitions to interventions

• What connections did you make to your current classroom?
• Simple and effective forms can help guide the work, but make sure teachers aren’t formed too much where it takes away from core instruction
• One size does not fit all… Relationships are important
• The solution to helping all students does not come in a box

• What application do you see for your classroom moving forward?
• Target causes, not symptoms
• Monitor progress and return to tier 1 quickly
• Establish a protocol for targeting behavior interventions, not just punishment

6. Creating a System of Interventions

• What were your biggest takeaways from the book?
• RTI is not a program you can buy
• Talking louder and slower is not an intervention

• What connections did you make to your current classroom?
• There is no research to suggest that retention is effective
• Interventions must be mandatory

• What application do you see for your classroom moving forward?
• We need to make changes to the master schedule to provide appropriate time for interventions, re-teaching, and re-assessment
• Are students grouped by the cause of their struggles, or the symptoms?

7. Certain Access:  How Do We Get Every Child There?

• What were your biggest takeaways from the book?
• Certain access guarantees all students will get the interventions that they need
• Interventions can be led by teacher teams and school-wide teams
• Core, plus more

• What connections did you make to your current classroom?
• We need a system that helps all students, not just those at-risk

• What application do you see for your classroom moving forward?
• RTI done right leads to personalized learning for students
• We must move from the “traditional” system to one that personalizes learning for students and provides them with “what they need” to be successful and create the habits to be self-directed learners for post-secondary success