I realized as I was outlining key points...I got a little carried away and decided to post each chapter separately. I will try to post articles more frequently! But as I read chapters 1 & 2 ... it definitely eases my mind in regards to how we are going to implement RtI. We have done all the necessary ground work in regards to best practices in literacy instruction. We've realized the need for a strong literacy program in every classroom and we've realized the need for our classroom teachers to be the literacy experts and a one-size fits all curriculum is not acceptable for our kids. Chapters 1 & 2 confirms that our hard work over the last two years was vital...we have set the stage for the detailed work to come this fall as we begin to provide support for the tier 2 & 3 students.
In this first chapter Howard summarizes the beginnings of RTI and why teachers must be fully aware of what it is and how it may truly benefit the students. Unfortunately, it is yet another mandated program which teachers must know well and due to time constraints and pressure to raise test scores, schools are buying and beginning programs that claim to be RTI but in reality are far from it. I can confidently say H-D has done the opposite. We threw away the one-size-fits-all program and began from scratch defining what balanced literacy is and how to best address each area! Its been a struggle learning and changing so many things at once but we definitely know what we believe about literacy and the research behind this belief. Well....we are getting there, right?! Its been hours of hard work and we all have different comfort levels but we are being proactive and learning and progressing. Teaching is forever evolving and we should be constantly adding to our toolbox of strategies.
In 1995 Richard Allington and Sean Walmsley published the research findings No Quick Fix: Rethinking Literacy Programs in America's Elementary Schools. The book cautioned against fragmentation of support services and advocated proven support models for struggling readers and the concept of a tiered approach to teaching and intervention. It emphasized the need for an instructional framework, intervention, ongoing assessment and multi-method and multilevel instruction. Many educators believe their research was the the launching pad for RTI which officially was termed in 2007. Isn't this interesting-Allington has know for years what should be happening in classrooms! He constantly reminds us that the teacher is the most effective element -we must know what we are teaching and how best to do it! I am not surprised that he continues to state, "RtI might be our last hope for struggling readers". As we know our population has changed and we have many struggling readers and this is not going to change.
As teachers we may not know why RTI began or who truly coined the term, but we must know its framework and how it can strengthen our day-to-day teaching. The goal of RTI is to strengthen student's literacy experiences every year in every setting with every teacher. The core literacy program must be strong and meet the needs of most students. With this in place RtI will reduce the number of students "ending up" in special education drastically. This is exactly what South Side has tried to stop...no more luck of the draw for who your child's teacher will be. Everyone in our building is well equipped to teach literacy.
RTI legislation is to reduce the number of students who are referred for special education services and making literacy a schoolwide responsibility-every teacher is accountable for effective instruction for every child. We are trying to get there- my kids, your kids or do we say OUR kids and do we really mean OUR kids?? Hopefully our PLCs will help us with this belief system.
Howard explicitly states that an effective RTI literacy framework should meet the following criteria:
(I was pleased to see we are exactly where we should be in regards to our framework or you could say our Tier 1)
- RTI should maintain a healthy balance between explicit skill instruction, guided practice, and independent application (this aligns with our belief in the Gradual Release Model)
- RTI cast differentiation as integral (this is our belief in flexible groupings, targeting student needs-its not about fairness any longer, 1-1 conferring, Daily 5/CAFE/Making Meaning...all of this is exactly what we need for our literacy blocks!)
- RTI embeds learning in a wide range of authentic literacy experiences (our belief in modeling read-alouds, guided reading, IDR and peer collaboration-worksheets are not the norm, modeling daily writing)
- RTI emphasizes quality talk through daily sustained discussions (our belief in think alouds and that our students must be doing the hard thinking and discussing-our Making Meaning curriculum design)
- RTI emphasizes the thinking process behind successful comprehension (our belief in explicitly teaching skills but never emphasizing only one area... phonics, fluency, comprehension, vocabulary, writing and using the important comprehension skills in math, science, social studies)
- RTI is rooted in an environment that reinforces and extends learning (our belief in our procedures, routines, print rich classrooms, just right text for the kids, high student engagement, classroom design)
- RTI give students a prominent role in their own learning (our belief in formative assessment, student self assessments,rubrics, setting goals with the students and parents-we are getting better at this! I am anxious to use the CAFE terminology for everyone, Daily 5 choice work would also fall into this area)
- RTI supports the reality that motivation and learning are inseparable (our belief in self-selected just right reading, daily authentic writing activities, teachers and students regularly tracking success and celebrating together! We need to do more student goal setting, publishing parties, reading parties..we must celebrate with parents too!)
- RTI emphasizes resources at appropriate levels of challenge (teachers ensure that every student has books that they can read and want to read and these books are interesting-we need more books to truly do this in every classroom!!)
We have our literacy RTI framework in place! Next summary Chapter 2. Howard points out a basic cycle of how a differentiated teaching system can work in the classroom and how this relates to the 3 tier model. She addresses the differences in "push in" and "pull out" programs. It is not about where the intervention happens, what matters is the what is happening and is it meaningful reading and writing for the student?
Happy Reading! Mrs. Speake
P.S. So I read Ender's Game....not my favorite but definitely powerful. I can definitely see how it appeals to the minds of our youth and their gaming world. My son and I had a long discussion regarding the book- it was huge for him in his middle school years. That was probably at least 10 years ago and he could discuss every aspect of it today! Of course he went on to read the entire series and I probably won't for now. But once again it confirms just how powerful a book may be for someone.
Now I am reading ...The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon. I am half-way through and I love it! It is all told from an autistic boy's point of view. It is funny, heartwarming, sad, mysterious and so very different.
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