MTSS Update

  May is here and it's definitely one of the busiest times of the school year.  Last week several AEA267 school districts came together to share the work they have done in regards to MTSS.  I came away feeling great about the work we have done!  I realized many of you may not realize the steps the state has suggested we take as we attempt to improve our literacy instruction and student's proficiency scores.  Below I will outline the steps we are using.  It is quite long but I hope at some point you find the time to read and reflect on all we have done!

We became part of the state's initial phase to develop their RTI (Response to Intervention) plan last summer.  The initiative is called C4K  (Collaborating for Iowa's Kids).  The state changed the system name to MTSS (Multi-tiered Systems of Support).

The MAIN focus this year was getting to know the Iowa Tier site, implementing the FAST assessment school wide and then using the FAST data to determine if our (Hampton-Dumont's) core literacy curriculum is sufficient.  The goal is for each grade level to have 80% of our students reach the FAST benchmark.  Our core literacy curriculum is how we teach the Iowa Core ELA Standards to ALL students.

Throughout the year we have had a Facilitation Guide to help us with analyzing our core instruction and materials.  There are 6 building blocks we have been working through.  As the MTSS internal coach and our school's literacy coach, I will explain the blocks and the action steps we have taken so far.

1.  Universal Tier Triage
If 60% or fewer students are proficient, a class-wide intervention in Foundational Skills from the Iowa Core in the areas of phonics, fluency building or phonemic awareness is needed.  

We are looking at a universal intervention for phonemic awareness, phonics and vocabulary.  Through research we have discovered that many of our ELL and SES students come to us lacking the vocabulary & literacy foundational skills that they need to be successful readers.  These children need explicit teaching with Tier 1 words (such as concept words, Beck's research) and they need a systematic and explicit scope & sequence in the area of phonemic awareness and phonics.

We MUST address these two major areas for K-1 and 2-3.  We will be implementing the SIPPS program and the Language for Learning vocabulary program.  How will this be implemented, by who and when?  These details have not been finalized yet!  But I am excited about both programs and I am hopeful these two programs will help lift our student proficiency scores.  We know the support we have given our struggling readers in the past does not show the growth we need.

For 2nd & 3rd Grade we may eventually add a universal fluency program.  We know Timothy Rasinski has many resources we have learned and use but we may want to add specific strategies at each grade level and place these into our Non-negotiable Literacy Document.  OF COURSE the best fluency program is to read, read, read!  (Not so easy making sure kids are reading at home!)

2.  Instruction Time
Schedules, amount of time spent on instructional vs. non-instructional tasks, and the extent to which students are engaged in learning.

Two years ago we addressed this issue.  Research shows that students must have an interrupted literacy block of 60 minutes for K and 90 minutes for 1-5th grades.  We do this!  PLUS each classroom has additional time to teach writing (approximately 45 minutes).  We even went a step further and require all classrooms to build stamina with independent reading on a daily basis.  KIDS MUST READ DAILY- and TEACHERS MUST BE CONFERRING WITH STUDENTS DURING THIS TIME.

Next we must analyze the 90/60 minute block.  Do we have every classroom using 95% of the time for instruction meaning we have students actively engaged in learning activities.

Two methods we will use to help with this area is Planbook.com and regular literacy walk-throughs by peers and administration.

3.  Enacted Curriculum
This about the Iowa Core Standards, what teachers and administrators know about them and are implementing them with fidelity for all students in the Universal Tier.

We are all teaching the Iowa Core.  We took our Making Meaning and Being a Writer programs and began to investigate if we are teaching the Iowa Core Standards.  Teams have worked tirelessly over the last two years- unpacking the standards and designing assessments and units to teach every standard.  K-3 have great units that they will continue to adjust and add to as we learn more about these standards and the new level of learning we expect from our students.  I wish we could say we are done, but this will be on-going work each year.

Again, we are ahead of the game and I am proud of our teachers and the amazing work they have done with the Iowa Core ELA standards!

4.  Instructional Materials & Practices
Evidence-based instructional materials that are aligned with the Iowa Core Standards and
meet the spirit and intent of the Iowa core as defined in the Common Core Publisher's Criteria.  High quality instructional practices should be implemented fully, represented in the instructional materials.

This is probably the building block we have spent a lot of time in over the last three years.  I could write a book for this area!  I will try to be brief.  We have adopted new curriculum pieces in the area of literacy and we have learned many research based strategies & practices that we know help us meet the Iowa Core.  Plus we believe it is what kids need.

*Gradual release model using a reader's and writer's workshop
*IDR (all kids should spend much of their day reading just right text )
*Differentiation (Guided Reading, Strategy small groups, 1:1 conferring) This must happen for all students
*Making Meaning  (comprehension lessons)
*Guided Spelling
*Being a Writer
*Fluency (poetry, reader's theater, repeated readings, fluency folders, graphing etc.)
*Making Meaning Vocabulary (Tier 2 words BUT now we know we must have something to teach Tier 1 words that children are lacking)
*Blue Book & Yellow Book ( daily phonemic awareness lessons for K-1)
*Fountas & Pinnell Phonics
*Co-teaching ( ELL, special ed)

This spring we took two months to complete a book study using The Next Step in Guided Reading by Jan Richardson.   Guided reading groups must take place in all classes.  This provides differentiation for all students.  This is also a part of our non-negotiable beliefs but we realized not everyone was on the "same page".  Improving this area of our teaching will make our core instruction stronger.

We have found an obvious missing piece for K-1 in regards to phonics.  Not that its not being taught, but we know we need a program which has a strong scope and sequence that can implemented each day in the classroom by the teacher and/or support staff.  This has led us to the search of an explicit phonics program.  We will hear more about SIPPS on our June 2nd PD day.

Personally, I feel we have not completely implemented co-teaching to its fullest potential.  I still believe there is much research behind this model to allow for differentiation in every classroom.  I hope we continue to place 2 certified teachers into every classroom's literacy block.  This will be difficult as we need to be formally trained in co-teaching and we have to have two parties willing to work together.   It takes a huge commitment in regards to planning time and knowing they are OUR students.   This will be an area I hope to address through optional PD next year.  

As you see we have done a lot!!   Every teacher has changed and/or adjusted in a SHORT amount of time!  We need to remember we have a GREAT administrative team who gave us the time and money we needed to collaborate, study and purchase the necessary curriculum materials.

To say it was hard is an understatement!  Think of all the PD days we have had learning strategies and research based practices, all of our book studies we completed, the many hours of team meetings, the summer workshops attended, the day visits to other school districts and the hours spent in your classroom redesigning and reorganizing at night and on weekends!!

 WOW- WOW-WOW.....now we know why we are all so tired and ready for a few days of down time in June.  You deserve it!

5.  Assessment for Learning
Also known as formative assessment, this is the ongoing process of collecting information on student learning based on defined learning goals, progresseions and success criteria.  Instructional changes should be based on this information and it should all be grounded in the Iowa Core standards.

We still have work to do in this area.  A few things we are doing...each grade level has been implementing assessments for the Iowa Core and they continue to revise, combine or delete the assessments.

The CCPensieve is a tool we are using to document the conferring time with a student and/or small groups.   We will continue to strengthen this practice and make it mandatory for all certified staff to use this tool.  This site is available for all learning areas but most teachers use it for reading and writing.

The Benchmark Assessment System is used to find a student's reading level and this has strengthened our knowledge about running records.  A running record is a formative assessment that is used for all readers.  We need to make sure all teachers are using this to make teaching decisions based on the student's strengths and needs.

 PLCs are in place and will be using data to make instructional decisions.  As our PLCs strengthen and grow, we will become more powerful with our data collecting and actually using our data to increase student success.

6.  Collaboration
Administrators, teachers, service providers and caretakers (e.g., parents, guardians) working together to ensure that each learner is making sufficient progress in mastering the knowledge ands skills outlined in the Iowa Core Standards.
This is the last block we will be addressing.

 At this time we (MTSS committee)  decided not to share the FAST data to the public until we (committee & classroom teachers)  felt we knew more about the data.  Again, our goal is to improve our core instruction before we try to give individual interventions for every student.  We know we can not intervene our way to 80 or 100% proficiency.  We want to have a solid core instructional program developed and delivered in every classroom.

We will continue to use the data results for the "big picture" of our instruction at each grade level. Teachers will need to learn more about the assessment and how to use the data as they look at their class scores and individual student score.

       Our first priority will continue to be strengthening our Tier 1 instruction (instruction give to all students) which is also called our Core Instruction (Iowa Core Standards).
The state keeps stating to MTSS schools that change and desired student growth will take years!!  We'll need to stay PROACTIVE as we continue to learn and refine our instructional practices.

We do have many great things happening ...THANK YOU!

Happy Reading- Mrs. Speake