Tier 1 Screening and Intervention Preceding and During Response to Intervention (RTI)

Washington State screens for PKU, deafness etc. at birth and has drastically reduced the severity of the cognitive and language problems associated with these disorders through early intervention.

Schools could screen for target skills that put children at-risk for reading and writing at specific developmental (grade) levels, provide early intervention tailored to these (not core curriculum with everyone on same page), and drastically reduce severity of these treatable disorders and special ed $$$ required.

Alternative 3-Tier Assessment-Intervention Model

• Can everyone win the Olympics?

• Do human abilities distribute along a normal distribution curve?

• Do reading and writing, and reading-related and writing-related skills distribute along a normal distribution curve?

Alternative 3-Tier Assessment-Intervention Model

(Berninger et al., 2001; Berninger, 2007-c)

• Prevention, based on normal variation, rather than Core Curriculum

• Problem Solving Consultation rather than Supplementary Instruction Not Individually Tailored

• Differential Diagnosis and Treatment Planning rather than Eligibility for Special Education

Do Bankers Understand Money?Recent Mystery for Guy Noir

Adding Writing to Early Reading Instruction May Transform Education: Fewer Costly Special Education Services Required

and Achievement Gap Narrowed

Evidence from UW Research

• Intra-individual differences exist within translation at the word, sentence, and text levels.

• Teaching to all levels of language (including subword close in time overcomes working memory inefficiencies).

• Walk before we run (accuracy before fluency, strategies before automaticity and fluency).

End Organs for Language and Working Memory Architecture

• Language System has four end organs for connecting with the external world: ears and eyes (for receiving multisensory information) and mouth and hands (for sending information) (Liberman, 1999).

• Thus, struggling readers and writers need multisensori-motor instruction not just multisensory instruction.

End Organs for Language and Working Memory Architecture

Phonological Loop (eye to mouth used in oral reading) but ear gives feedback.

Orthographic Loop (spelling in mind’s eye used in writing) but eye gives feedback.

So instruction that combines phonological loop training and orthographic loop training engages all the end organs of language!!

No wonder combined loop training normalized temporal functional connectivity of brain in children with dyslexia while performing phoneme-grapheme mapping task!! (Richards & Berninger, 2008)

Are developing writers bilingual by hand –able toexpress ideas by pen and by keyboard? Yes,

but don’t throw away your pencils!

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All Rodin images from Wikipedia Free Encyclopeida Wikimedia Commons

The Thinker

Auguste Rodin,

1902

Bronze and

Marble

Paris,

Musée Rodin

Tier 1 Steps for Reading and Writing in Kindergarten

Step 1: Assess all students in general education for accuracy of letter naming and letter writing and phonological awareness).

Step 2: Provide evidence-based early intervention in regular classroom.

Step 3: Reassess accuracy of letter naming and writing and phonological awareness in response to intervention (RTI).

Step 4: Refer those who do not respond to phonological awareness or letter naming/writing instruction to school psychologist, special educator, or speech and/or speech language specialist for problem solving consultation combining assessment and modification of instruction.

Tier 1 Steps for Reading and Writing in 1st Grade

Step 1: Assess all students in general education for reading real word and pseudoword accuracy, handwriting, and spelling.

Step 2: Provide evidence-based early intervention in regular classroom.

Step 3: Reassess accuracy of each Step 1 skill in response to intervention (RTI).

Step 4: Refer non-responders to Tier 1 multi-level instruction to school psychologist, special educator, and/or speech and language specialist for problem solving consultation (targeted assessment and modification of instruction).

Evidence-Based Distinction

Automaticity (Automatic Single Process) Retrieval of Word Pronunciation Application of Decoding Procedures for

Single Word

Fluency (Coordination of Multiple Items) Effortless Coordinated, and Consequently, Fast.

Tier 1 Steps for Reading and Writing in 2nd Grade

Step 1: Assess all students in general education for automaticity of real word reading and reading pseudowords, and spelling accuracy.

Step 2: Provide early intervention in regular classroom.Step 3: Reassess automaticity of real word and

pseudoword reading and spelling accuracy in response to intervention (RTI).

Step 4: Refer those who do not respond to decoding, word reading, comprehension, spelling, and composing instruction to school psychologist, special educator, and/or speech and language specialist for problem solving consultation combining assessment and modification of instruction.

Tier 1 Steps for Reading and Writing in 3rd Grade

Step 1: Assess all students in general education for accuracy and rate of oral reading of graded passages, and writing fluency.

Step 2: Provide early intervention in regular classroom.Step 3: Reassess oral reading fluency and writing fluency in

response to intervention (RTI). Step 4: Refer those who do not respond to multi-level oral

reading and/or writing fluency instruction to school psychologist, special educator, and/or speech and language specialist for problem solving consultation combining assessment and modification

Tier 3 Differential Diagnosis and Treatment Planning

Some reading and writing problems respond to early intervention, but because of specific genetic variants (alleles), which result in brain differences, are vulnerable and appear again when the curriculum requirements change and become more complex as affected students progress through the grades.

Differential diagnosis has treatment implications that are grade-related. Developmental Stepping Stones as well as Individual Differences.

Executive Functions Inhibition, Set Switching, Task Maintenance, and Retrieval Fluency

Syntax for Multiple Words

POM

P-O

P-M

Morphological

O-M

OrthographicPhonological

PhonologicalLoop

OrthographicLoop

For dyslexia, focus on 3 word forms, phonological loop, and executive functions.

PAL II Working Memory Assessment-Instruction Model

Training through UW Extension

Workshop 1a: Prevention of Reading, Writing, and Math problems in Kindergarten through Fourth Grade June 20, 2009

• Participants will learn evidence-based universal screens, lesson plans for identified at-risk students, and progress monitoring for response to intervention (RTI) in three academic domains. This workshop is designed for school administrators, school psychologists, speech and language specialists, and teachers.

• Follow-up Workshop 1b: November 7, 2009• Professionals who participated in Workshop 1a who have

implemented what they learned are invited to return for consultation on the implementation process and evaluation of the cost savings for the school district and benefits for the students.

Training through UW Extension

Workshop 2a: Tier 2 problem-solving consultation for students who struggle in reading, writing, or math. June, 24 2009

• Participants will learn how to use teacher and parent questionnaires, teacher interviews, student observation, and brief, evidence-based assessments to identify problems as they arise throughout the elementary grades, plan modification of the instructional program, and conduct progress monitoring for response to intervention (RTI). This workshop is designed for school psychologists and speech and language specialists.

• Follow-up Workshop 2b: November 14, 2009• Professionals who participated in Workshop 2a who have implemented what

they learned are invited to return for consultation on the implementation of the problem- solving consultation process and evaluation of the cost savings for the school district and benefits for the students.

Training through UW Extension

Workshop 3a: Tier 3 diagnosis and treatment of specific learning disabilities (dysgraphia, dyslexia, and oral and written language learning disability OWL LD) June 27, 2009

• Participants will learn how to diagnose dysgraphia, dyslexia, oral and written language learning disability (OWL LD), and dyscalculia and plan and implement differentiated instruction in general education or special education, and evaluate response to instruction (RTI). This workshop is designed for school administrators, school psychologists, speech and language specialists, and teachers.

• Follow-up Workshop 3b: November 21, 2009• Professionals who participated in Workshop 3a who have implemented what

they learned are invited to return for consultation on differential diagnosis and treatment planning for specific learning disabilities. They will also learn how to do program evaluation of the cost savings for the school district and benefits for the students.

Culturally Sensitive Practices

• Visit this website for Seeds of Compassion:

http://kirlinfoundation.org/nedi.asp

Ground-Up Transformational Change

• Change comes from bottom-up in our local schools and not just from top-down from federal government (and in Native American culture low person in totem is the most important in touch with the ground).

• Can we change the system from bottom up to prevent reading and writing problems?

Yes we can!

• MovieMarcelMarceau for website.wmv