By: Shantell Berrett, Reading Horizons Reading Specialist

*This blog post has to do with Response to Intervention (RTI). To find out more about RTI go here> RTI

Ask students placed in Tiers II and III if the instruction given there is helpful, many will say yes.  However, ask those same students how that instruction helps in their regular classroom, Tier I, and they seem baffled. Their eyes tend to glaze over with confusion. There is complete disconnect.

While many receive intensive intervention for their reading struggles in Tiers II and III, their experience in Tier I appears unchanged.  They are still always a step behind and usually struggling to get the first concept given by their classroom teacher as their peers and teacher move on to additional concepts.  They are frustrated and often feel like giving up.

In our effort to help we pull them out for a ‘special’ class, their Tier III.  No matter how we position that or what inspiring name we give it, they know they are there because they are behind their other classmates. Even with sugar added, it still leaves a bitter taste in their mouths.

But what if their experience could be different?  What if they weren’t always behind?  Here’s how to make that happen: Use Tiers II and III not as a place for students to catch up, but as a place for them to get ahead. 

When students are pre-taught, the dynamics shift.  Those students who are usually behind are pre-taught a concept and given sufficient time to practice.  Then, when they are given the same instruction in the class, for the first time in their lives they are ahead, or at the very least on par, with their fellow classmates.  Can you imagine what this is like for them?  It is truly life-changing. 

This is RTI at its best.

If tier teachers and classroom teachers spend the time working out schedules to ensure that all concepts taught in the classroom will be pre-taught in pull out, the results are amazing. 

Not only does this benefit the students, but the teachers as well.  This approach helps the classroom teachers on so many levels. Those students who are usually behind often end up being discipline problems because it is easier to be the problem student than the dumb student who is always lost.  When they are keeping up with their peers they tend to stop acting out.  Discipline problems are often eliminated. 

Making RTI successful has as much to do with how things are implemented as it does with what is implemented.  Pre-teaching is the key.  It ensures that the time spent in Tier I and/or Tier II for those in Tier III is useful and successful.  It is no longer time spent staring out the window, causing trouble, or frantically trying to compensate to hide their struggles from their peers.  It unlocks a whole new world for these students--a world where they are equals and where they find hope and success.

P.S.

If you enjoyed this post you may also want to read:

"RTI & Remedial Reading Resources and Information"

"How Reading Horizons Intervention Program Meets the Needs of All 3 RTI Tiers"

To improve your teaching strategies for struggling readers, sign up for FREE access to Reading Horizons Online Workshop:

Today one of USA Today’s headlines exposed the need for education improvements in the United States by exclaiming: “One-Third of Students Need Remedial College Math, Reading.” Interestingly, that number also closely resembles the percentage of students which do not naturally learn to read with traditional teaching methods: 30%. There is no research supporting a correlation between the two statistics, however it seems almost intuitive to connect the two. 1/3 of college students need remediation as a result of past educational experiences, and almost 1/3 of students expose the need for some form of remediation in the future. Clearly something needs to change.

Many education professionals believe the answer to the current learning gaps is through implementing and improving Response to Intervention (RTI) programs. This solution appears to be a perfect fit for this problem since RTI programs help remediate reading and math difficulties in students.

I recently viewed a webinar hosted by Education Week titled: “Response to Intervention: Making it Work.” The presentation offered many suggestions and practices needed to develop and maintain a successful RTI program. Here are some of the key points from the presentation:

Effective RTI Programs:

1.    Teach effective core curriculums at Tier I of the RTI Triangle.
2.    Differentiate instruction to meet individual student needs.
3.    Review data often.
4.    Celebrate student success.

Common Problems in RTI Programs:

1.    Too many students in Tiers II & III of the RTI Triangle.
2.    Implementing or using too many interventions at one time.
3.    Uneven practices across classrooms within same school system.
4.    Do not allocate enough time to RTI programs.
5.    Students are not making progress.

RTI Triangle

One of the strongest emphasis’s throughout the presentation was the need for effective core curriculums. If the core curriculum doesn’t present students with an effective way of learning the material in the first place then intervention is first needed at the core level. The best way to know the efficacy of a core curriculum is through data analysis, another strong emphasis throughout the presentation. By assessing students and analyzing their results teachers can know if their core curriculum is effective.

Once an effective core curriculum is in place then improvements and interventions can be implemented for Tiers II & III. Of course, as clarified by the speakers, each change and intervention needs to be implemented successively. Only one intervention should be added at a time so the results can be measured. If the results can not be measured because of too many interventions are influencing the situation, than educators will not what is working and what isn’t working. Without these measures, RTI programs will struggle to improve.

It is important for RTI programs to be effective and strong. I continuously find research supporting that it is the solution to reading and writing problems universally. I also read an article the other day from an RTI specialist claiming that the best solution to these problems is using RTI curriculums as core curriculums in grades K-2. These programs are designed to ensure that every student will have the highest chance of success in building essential foundational skills. Core curriculums are clearly in need of improvement based on the daunting statistic that 1/3 of entry level college students are in need of remediation.

Register for Education Week's upcoming webinar on Thursday, May 13, 2010 at 2 PM EST, titled: "RTI and Special Education: Putting It All Together"

Also find more information on this same topic by listening to one of Reading Horizons past webinar's titled: "Creating Synergy Between Mainstream Reading Instruction & Special Education"

Reading Horizons is often used as an effective, and measurable RTI reading program and reading remediation. For more information visit: www.ReadingHorizons.com/rti/

I recently attended the National Family Literacy Conference in San Antonio, Texas.  It was a wonderful conference and I was able to meet people who help to improve literacy for people from all walks of life.  I talked to people would work with K-3rd grade students learning to read for the first time.  Using Discover Intensive Phonics (ages 4-9) is a great supplement to a basal reading program and works great as a Response to Intervention Program (RTI) for the mainstream, Special Education and Tier III programs.  I also met many people working with Adults in a family setting.  Many family literacy programs have resources for the children as well as their parents.  I was able to explain that the beauty of our program is that the same "method" is taught in both the version for children as it is for adults, but the delivery of the method for children has more games and the one for adult is on a more mature level even though they are learning the basics.  The child and parent become unified in their quest to improve their decoding skills.  

At the booth we have a sign that tests a personal ability to explain a spelling rule.  "Why does cat start with a 'c' and kitten start with 'k'?"  Click on my video to find out the answer!  Feel free to post your comments below!

Than you for those of you who attended our presentation on "Decoding strategies for developing literacy".  Here is the link to the Online Workshop where you can learn decoding strategies to use in your classroom. We had a great turn out this year.  It was so excited to showcase our new Reading Horizons v5 products.  Administrations, Reading Specialists and Special Education teachers are definitely impressed with the improvements and changes!

Thank you all for your participation in “v5 in 5 Days.” I was very impressed by the comments and wish we could award a Software License to every participant. Reading the comments was very rewarding after seeing the hard work everyone in this office has put into this product release. To hear such positive feedback was truly gratifying.

I’d also like to thank our participants and all teachers for their efforts in helping struggling readers. It’s amazing to think that everyone who commented works with this problem daily. It’s a problem that is often neglected or ignored in mainstream society yet from my experiences with Reading Horizons, I have become very aware of society’s need to promote literacy. I’m excited for one of our participants to receive a Software License and look forward to it helping the students exposed to it. I hope all of our participants will be able to work with this program and see its impact on struggling readers.  Thanks again for your participation!

And the winner is....!

For 26 years Reading Horizons has helped struggling readers of every age and every background. Now with the release of the NEW Reading Horizons v5 software, this program has the strength to help even more students learn to read! This post is a continuation of a 5 day post series focusing on 5 different features of the new Reading Horizons v5 software.

Day 1: Lessons
Day 2: Library
Day 3: Pronunciation Proficiency Tool
Day 4: Vocabulary Tool
Day 5: Administration System

The new Reading Horizons v5 software's greatest improvement centers around its efforts to create a more student-focused reading program. Several of the options available in the Administration System help the software fulfill this goal.

The Administration System allows teachers and administrators to set student tracks which determine the entry level and speed students will go through the program. There are three default tracks that teachers can assign: emerging, basic, or accelerated. These defaults help teachers and administrators ensure a proper fit with student ability and program curriculum.

This screen shows the Student list in the Administration system

Another way the Administration System helps ensure the program caters to student needs is through the assessment function. Through the Administration System teachers and administrators can test the skills of students to determine entry level and progress. These assessments also help teachers catch the areas that students need additional help with in order to improve their reading skills.

 
Aside from assisting instructors in creating a more student focused program, the Administration System also helps instructors maintain the program and run reports to track group and student progress. The Administration System makes it easy for teachers to add students to the system as well as assign them to groups.

This is an example of the Lesson Reports available in the Administration System

The Administration System strives to make the program more user-friendly for teachers and administrators, and more student-focused for those striving to grasp the fundamentals of reading.

Question

In order to be entered into a drawing for a free giveaway at the end of the week, answer the following question in the comment section of this blog, answering the question on each separate post will provide you with additional chances to win (up to 5):

In this post several features of the Administration System of Reading Horizons v5 were explained. From reading this post, what do you think of Reading Horizons approach to make the Administration System and the entire program more student-focused?

Thank you for your participation in “v5 in 5 Days.” The winner will be announced Monday morning on the blog through a video-taped drawing. Subscribe to Reading Horizons RSS Feed to recieve additional information and updates from Reading Horizons blog.