PLC/Book Study Guide for RTI in Middle School Classrooms: Proven Tools and Strategies Kelli J. Esteves, Ed.D., and Elizabeth Whitten, Ph.D. This guide is designed as a professional development resource and can be used to facilitate a book study or as a learning experience for a professional learning community (PLC). Facilitator notes are provided for additional support and explanation in planning and overseeing your school s or group s sessions. We recommend that, before beginning the study, the principal and/or facilitator read the entire guide and the book. For each session, participants will be asked to read a chapter of the book. They may also be asked to consider certain ideas or make notes prior to attending a session. Each section of the book study guide includes suggested questions and discussion topics for use during the group session. Please note that the preparation work is listed at the beginning of each session s text. Feel free, however, to adjust, modify, or add to the suggested tasks as necessary to meet your group s needs and objectives. Whatever the tasks and homework you decide on, be sure that before you dismiss participants from each session you take the time to look ahead to the next chapter and review and clarify what must be done before the next meeting.
PLC/Book Study Guide for RTI in Middle School Classrooms by Kelli J. Esteves, Ed.D., and Elizabeth Whitten, Ph.D., copyright 2014. Free Spirit Publishing Inc., Minneapolis, MN; 1-800-735-7323; www.freespirit.com. All rights reserved.
Introduction To be completed before the Introduction book study session: Complete the This I Believe survey on pages 11 12 of this guide. Read the book s introduction. Consider the opportunities and challenges you have faced in the implementation of RTI or that you anticipate facing and write down a few notes or observations about these benefits and obstacles. Facilitator Note: It may be helpful to show book study participants the PDF presentation associated with RTI in Middle School Classrooms: Proven Tools and Strategies to offer an overview of the book. 1. In reviewing the descriptions of each chapter, which sections of the book did you find most appealing or interesting? Why? 2. This book addresses the value of RTI at the middle school level. Based on what you know about RTI, what opportunities, benefits, and challenges do you anticipate it bringing to your classroom and school? How do you see RTI fitting into middle school instruction, specifically? 3. Page 2 states, RTI requires a shift in the way we think about who is responsible for teaching and learning. Students must see themselves as accountable for their own learning, and as meaningful participants in, contributors to, and collaborators in the school community. To what extent does this describe your students? In what ways can you foster and support self-directed learning in your students? Facilitator Note: If book study participants would like to know more about selfdirected learning, we encourage you to pass along this resource from the IRIS Center: iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/sr. 1
4. As a whole group, list questions you hope to answer by the end of this book study. Facilitator Note: Keep this list of questions handy as you conduct the book study. Determine which chapter each question best aligns with and add it to the discussion on the appropriate day. 5. Review your results from the This I Believe questionnaire with the group. Share three of the statements you rated as essential and describe ways in which these strongly held beliefs come through in your teaching. What more could you do to act on these beliefs in a way that supports your students? Facilitator Note: Encourage each participant to share his or her results from the questionnaire. This information will provide a baseline of faculty beliefs regarding the teaching of young adolescents. Upon completion of the book study, administer this questionnaire again to determine any changes as a result of faculty discussions and readings. 2
Chapter 1: Response to Intervention in Middle School An Overview To be completed before the Chapter 1 book study session: Read Chapter 1. Using the chart found on pages 27 29, write down your answers to the questions and make your own notes in the column on the far right of the chart. Facilitator Note: Begin this session by holding a silent conversation (see pages 56 57 for directions) responding to the question Why is RTI valuable at the middle school level? Make notes during this conversation and post them throughout the book study as a reminder of why participants are engaging with this professional learning community. 1. With a partner, review the chart you completed prior to this study session. Compare and contrast your responses. Then rejoin the whole group for a discussion of the ideas you ve explored. 2. With your partner, review Figure 1.6 (pages 15 16 of the book) and discuss how your school currently addresses (or, if relevant, how you feel it doesn t yet adequately address) each of the five principles of RTI. To expand on this topic, address the five principles by tiers. For example, how can you address the first principle ( All students can learn ) at Tier I? Tier II? Tier III? Continue this thought process with each principle. Share your thoughts with the large group. Facilitator Note: You may want to make notes on a board or chart paper, listing participants responses to and thoughts on each of the five principles. 3. The book describes three RTI models: traditional, first-year focus, and strategy instruction across subjects. What model or combination of models do you feel is best for your school, and why? 4. Discuss the ASIM approach (assess, set goals, instruct, and monitor) along with UDL (universal design for learning) and how you see these ideas dovetailing with RTI. Provide examples of effective lessons that incorporate these concepts. In small groups, compare the components of these lessons. Which components would you like to see in every lesson school-wide? 3
5. Consider the teaming models addressed on pages 20 23. How do these compare to or align with the teams already in place at your school? Facilitator Note: Prior to discussing this topic, it may be beneficial to have participants view the IRIS module on universal design for learning at iris.peabody. vanderbilt.edu/module/udl. 4
Chapter 2: Creating and Sustaining Positive Learning Environments To be completed before the Chapter 2 book study session: Read Chapter 2. While reading Chapter 2, select one idea you will implement, one sentence you find to be significant, and one word you find to be important. Highlight your selections. You will be asked to share these during the small-group discussions. 1. Give specific examples of how you have intentionally built a learning community in your school or classroom. How do you get to know students on a personal level? How do you encourage students to get to know one another? Put these examples on sticky notes and place them on a board or a piece of chart paper labeled Building Our Learning Community. Facilitator Note: If desired, you can create three different boards one for schoolwide community, one for classroom community, and one focusing on student-tostudent relationships. Collect the ideas, compile them, and disseminate the list to all participants. 2. How do you group students for learning? As a whole group, make a list of grouping techniques along with the purposes and benefits of each technique. What data is needed to purposefully group students? Make a list of school-wide data available to use for purposeful grouping. Does your school need to collect additional data? Consider the same questions for grouping at each tier. Do you have any new ideas about grouping after reading Chapter 2? 3. What strategies have you tried for guiding students toward effective collaborative problem-solving and academic conversations? Share your experiences of these strategies in action the benefits you ve seen from using them, as well as the challenges you ve faced. 4. Review the list of five core communication skills found on page 41 of the book. As a group, come up with a list of sentence starters, questions, and prompts connected to these communication skills and others. For example: 5
To clarify, ask questions such as What did you mean? or Could you tell me more? To paraphrase, restate in your own words what the speaker just said: I think what you re saying here is... To break complex messages into multiple parts, a sentence starter could be: It sounds like you have three concerns here. First... To reflect back a speaker s feelings, you could say things like It sounds like you re really upset. (Back in your classroom, share these ideas with students and help them come up with their own examples.) 5. Review the strategies found at the end of the chapter. What strategies would you add to the list? Plan to meet with your grade-level team to agree upon strategies you ll use with students. Then meet with colleagues who teach different grade levels to make sure any overlapping strategies are in the best interest of students. For example, rather than being asked to do the Coat of Arms activity two years in a row, students might be more interested in the What s in My Bag? variation the second time around. 6. Consider the importance of creating and sustaining positive learning environments. Why are the following considerations important to keep in mind in RTI schools and classrooms? A teacher s core belief that every student can learn is key to establishing a positive learning environment. It s also essential for teachers to emphasize, model, and practice the idea that different doesn t mean wrong and that our unique qualities can be our strengths. Creating and sustaining a positive learning environment helps remove barriers that social pressures and stigma could bring in association with differing levels of academic and behavioral support. 6
7. You were asked to highlight one idea, one sentence, and one word from this chapter. Read these aloud for your group members. When all participants have shared their selections, discuss areas of overlap, difference, and why people made their choices. Facilitator Note: Select one or two of the community-building activities in Chapter 2 (such as Coat of Arms or What s in My Bag?) to do with the faculty. The purpose of this is to build community and to learn by doing. Ask the group to suggest modifications or extensions after they ve completed the activity. 7
Chapter 3: Academic Assessment To be completed before the Chapter 3 book study session: Read Chapter 3. Fill out the Learning Profile on one of your students. 1. Consider the four primary types of assessments covered in Chapter 3: screening process, diagnostic evaluation, progress monitoring, and outcome assessment. Give specific examples of how you already use these types of assessments in your classroom. What works well for you? What could be improved? Facilitator Note: While discussing this topic, it may be helpful to direct participants attention to Figure 3.1: RTI Assessment (pages 83 84). 2. Review the Spotlight piece on page 78, Diagnostic Evaluation of Academic Skills and Common Areas of Difficulty. What else would you add to this list, and why? How can you use RTI to help address these additional areas of difficulty? Facilitator Note: List the areas of difficulty from the book on a board or chart paper. Leave blank space (or post blank paper) as well. Ask book study participants to write down common areas of difficulty that they think should be added. Keep this list for the book study on Chapter 5. 3. In preparation for this discussion, you filled out the Learning Profile on one of your students. In small groups, talk about this experience. Did the profile help you understand your student better? Why or why not? How might you use this information to inform your instruction? 4. Reread the Finding Time to Assess and Manage Data section on pages 84 85. Talk about ways in which your assessments measure, advance, and improve learning. 8
Chapter 4: Co-Teaching To be completed before the Chapter 4 book study session: Read Chapter 4. Use the Tier I Lesson Plan and/or the Tier I & II Lesson Plan form(s) to plan at least three lessons. 1. Share ways in which co-teaching may address some of the challenges with implementation of RTI. 2. Pair up with a current or potential co-teaching partner. Read the Tips sections that focus on achieving the quality indicators of successful co-teaching. Choose three or four ideas to try out with your partner. When you use these tips, keep a journal of the experiences and record how they affect your co-teaching relationship. 3. After reflecting on the co-teaching models, what are the areas in which you feel confident? What are the practices and strategies you would like to develop? 4. Talk with your group members about using the lesson plan form. How did it help you prepare for co-teaching? How did it differ from your usual process? Are there any modifications you would make to the form to better fit your teaching style of that and/or your co-teacher? 5. Pair up with your co-teaching partner and use the Problem-Solving Process for Co-Teaching form on page 128 to have a guided discussion about a specific issue. 6. With your co-teaching partner, use the three lesson plans you developed using the Tier I Lesson Plan and/or Tier I & II Lesson Plan form(s). Discuss how you can use co-teaching models and strategies to support the lesson objectives. Take notes on how these lessons go. Afterward, talk with your partner about what went well and what can be improved. Facilitator Note: Ask the book study participants to fill out the Two Plus One Reflection Log on page 129 of the book as an evaluation of the book study sessions thus far. 9
Chapter 5: Research-Based Teaching To be completed before the Chapter 5 book study session: List challenges you encounter in your classroom that appear to be based on the complexities of meeting the needs of diverse learners (differing levels of academic readiness, variety of learner preferences, different interests, and so on). Read Chapter 5, paying special attention to your list of challenges. 1. After reflecting on the section titled Evidence-Based Instructional Methods and Universal Design for Learning, in which methods do you already feel confident? Which methods would you like to develop further? 2. The book addresses the importance of teaching reading across all content areas. In what ways are you currently teaching literacy skills in your content area? How could you work with your RTI team or teams to make literacy more of a focus for all teachers? Facilitator Note: Post the notes you made during the Chapter 3 book study on common areas of difficulty. Ask book study participants to add strategies to the list or identify areas for continued professional development. 3. Consider the What to Try When charts and corresponding strategies. Have you used any of these strategies in your classroom before? If so: oowhat went well? oowhat challenges did you encounter? oowhat suggestions do you have for other teachers who may wish to try this strategy? Which strategies on the list would you like to learn more about? oois someone in the school experienced in this strategy? If so, set up a time to get together to discuss it. Facilitator Note: You are encouraged to view the strategies listed in this chapter as a starting point. Taking inventory of additional strategies and documenting them is an essential step toward customizing RTI to meet your school s unique needs. 10
Final Book Study Session To be completed before the final book study session: Read A Final Word on page 201. Write down highlights of the book study and remaining questions you have about RTI in middle school classrooms. 1. Discuss the highlights of the book study. What were the most important takeaways from the sessions? How might these insights improve student learning, as well as your experience of teaching? 2. Looking back on the questions you had at the beginning of the book study and the list you compiled for this final session, what still needs to be answered? How might you go about finding the answers to these questions? Facilitator Note: Have participants fill out the This I Believe questionnaire a second time to determine any changes that may have come about as a result of the book study s reading and discussion. In addition to completing the questionnaire again, ask participants to add three more comments about the statements and characteristics they ve rated as essential. Encourage participants to discuss how and why their views have changed over the course of the book study. 3. Reread the following excerpt from A Final Word and discuss the next steps you plan to take as you begin implementing RTI or as you continue to strengthen and develop your RTI knowledge and use. We hope this book helps you and your colleagues implement an RTI model that works for you and your middle school one that honors learner differences and makes productive use of the knowledge, expertise, and professional judgment that you and your fellow educators bring to the table. Facilitator Note: As you bring the book study to a close, we encourage you to take time to thank participants for their dedication to continued professional development and for their commitment to students. 11
This I Believe Questionnaire The following statements have been adapted from the 16 research-based characteristics of effective middle level education defined in the Association for Middle Level Education s 2010 position paper, This We Believe: Keys to Educating Young Adolescents, as shown in Figure 1.7 on pages 23 25 of the book.* Consider each statement, how important it is to you, and how deeply it affects your teaching. Circle the number that represents your belief regarding each characteristic s level of importance, with 4 indicating essential, 3 being important, 2 indicating somewhat important, and 1 meaning not important. 1. Middle school educators understand the developmental uniqueness of this age group, the appropriate curriculum, effective learning and assessment strategies, and their importance as models. 2. Instructional practices place students at the center of the learning process. Students are ready and able to play a major role in their own learning and education. 3. An effective middle level curriculum is distinguished by learning activities that appeal to young adolescents, is exploratory and challenging, and incorporates student-generated questions and concerns. 4. Teaching and learning approaches accommodate the diverse skills, abilities, and prior knowledge of young adolescents, cultivate multiple intelligences, draw upon students individual learning styles, and utilize digital tools. 5. Continuous, authentic, and appropriate assessment measures, including both formative and summative ones, provide evidence about every student s learning progress. 6. When a shared vision and mission statement become operational, middle school level educators pursue appropriate practices in developing a challenging academic program; they develop criteria to guide decisions and a process to make needed changes. 7. Middle school leaders understand the nuances of teaming, student advocacy, exploration, and assessment as components of a larger middle level program. 8. Middle school leaders understand that successful schools committed to the long-term implementation of the middle school concept must be collaborative enterprises working together with a leadership team, focusing on building a learning community that involves 12
all teachers and places top priority on the education and healthy development of every student, teacher, and staff member. 9. Professional development is a continuing activity in middle schools. 10. The ways schools organize teachers, and how they group and schedule students, have a significant impact on the learning environment. Interdisciplinary teams, common planning time, block scheduling, and elimination of tracking can all contribute to improved achievement. 11. A successful school for young adolescents is an inviting, supportive, and safe place, a joyful community that promotes in-depth learning and enhances students physical and emotional well-being. 12. Academic success and personal growth increase markedly when young adolescents affective needs are met. 13. Both teachers and specialized professionals are readily available to offer the assistance many students need in negotiating their lives in and out of school. 14. Abundant opportunities are available for students to develop and maintain healthy minds and bodies and to understand their personal growth through health-related programs, policies, and curricula. 15. Schools and families work together to provide the best possible learning for every young adolescent. Schools take the initiative in involving and educating families. 16. Genuine community involvement is a fundamental component of successful schools for young adolescents. Such schools seek appropriate partnerships with businesses, social service agencies, and other organizations whose purposes are consistent with the school s mission. *Reprinted with permission from the Association for Middle Level Education, formerly NMSA (National Middle School Association). This We Believe: Keys to Educating Young Adolescents. Westerville, OH: 2010. copyright 2014. Free Spirit Publishing Inc., Minneapolis, MN; 1-800-735-7323; www.freespirit.com. All rights reserved. 13
About the Authors Kelli J. Esteves, Ed.D., is an associate professor of education at Butler University. Kelli holds a B.A. in learning disabilities, an M.A. in teaching children with visual impairments, and an Ed.D. in special education. She is also the coauthor of RTI Success: Proven Tools and Strategies for Schools and Classrooms. Kelli speaks locally and nationally on response to intervention, children s literature, and various topics related to special education. She has consulted with schools across the Midwest and is a frequent presenter for professional organizations such as the International Reading Association and the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Prior to her time at Butler, she was the director of the Learning Disabilities program at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She was also a special education teacher and literacy specialist in the K 12 public school system. Kelli and her husband Dean have two lively, creative, and fun-loving children, Ava and Alex. To arrange a consultation or workshop, contact Kelli at kesteves@butler.edu. Elizabeth Whitten, Ph.D., has public school experience as an elementary and special education teacher and administrator. She is a professor of special education and administration at Western Michigan University holding a Ph.D. in special education, an M.A. in special education, and a B.A. in elementary and special education. As a teacher and an administrator, she has worked in Illinois and Michigan, as well as at Department of Defense Schools in Germany. Elizabeth has provided professional development and consultation across the United States and throughout Germany on topics related to response to intervention, collaborative teaching and teaming, differentiated instruction, data-based decision making, and other topics related to inclusion and special education. She is a frequent presenter of her research at professional organizations such as Council for Exceptional Children, Association for Teacher Educators, and Teacher Education Division of CEC. She is the coauthor of RTI Success: Proven Tools and Strategies for Schools and Classrooms. Contact Elizabeth at whitten@wmich.edu. 14
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