el paso, tx • june 15–17...agenda el paso, tx • june 15–17 wednesday, june 15 7:00–8:00...

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Agenda El Paso, TX • June 15–17 Wednesday, June 15 7:00–8:00 a.m. Registration South Conference Foyer Continental Breakfast 8:00–9:45 a.m. Keynote—Luis F. Cruz Simplifying Response to Intervention: Four Essential Guiding Principles South Conference Center 9:45–10:15 a.m. Break 10:15–11:45 a.m. Breakouts Titles & Locations: p. 3 Descriptions: pp. 7–14 11:45 a.m.–12:45 p.m. Lunch (provided) South Conference Foyer 12:45–2:15 p.m. Keynote—Mike Mattos Concentrated Instruction: Designing and Refining Our Instruction Around Student Learning South Conference Center 2:15–2:45 p.m. Break 2:45–4:15 p.m. Breakouts Titles & Locations: p. 3 Descriptions: pp. 7–14 ursday, June 16 7:00–8:00 a.m. Registration South Conference Foyer Continental Breakfast 8:00–9:30 a.m. Keynote—Austin Buffum Convergent Assessment: Connecting the Dots to Increase Student Learning South Conference Center 9:30–10:00 a.m. Break 10:00–11:30 a.m. Breakouts Titles & Locations: p. 3 Descriptions: pp. 7–14 11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Lunch (provided) South Conference Foyer 12:30–2:00 p.m. Keynote—Mike Mattos Certain Access: How to Create a Multitiered System of Support South Conference Center 2:00–2:30 p.m. Break 2:30–4:00 p.m. Breakouts Titles & Locations: p. 3 Descriptions: pp. 7–14 Friday, June 17 7:00–8:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast South Conference Foyer 8:00–10:00 a.m. In-Depth Seminar—Austin Buffum Putting It All Together: Creating a Multitiered System of Supports—Elementary North Conference Center In-Depth Seminar—Mike Mattos & Regina Stephens Owens Putting It All Together: Creating a Multitiered System of Supports—Secondary South Conference Center—Center Room, Cabrera, Galaviz, & Hopp In-Depth Seminar—Sarah Schuhl Putting It All Together: Linking Instruction, Assessment, and Interventions South Conference Center—De La Torre, Espinoza, & Garcia Jr. 10:00–10:30 a.m. Break 10:30–11:30 a.m. Keynote—Mike Mattos Eating the Elephant: Transforming Ideas Into Action South Conference Center Agenda and presenters are subject to change. 1

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Page 1: El Paso, TX • June 15–17...Agenda El Paso, TX • June 15–17 Wednesday, June 15 7:00–8:00 a.m. Registration South Conference Foyer Continental Breakfast 8:00–9:45 a.m. Keynote—Luis

Agenda El Paso, TX • June 15–17

Wednesday, June 15

7:00–8:00 a.m.Registration

South Conference FoyerContinental Breakfast

8:00–9:45 a.m.Keynote—Luis F. CruzSimplifying Response to Intervention: Four Essential Guiding Principles

South Conference Center

9:45–10:15 a.m. Break

10:15–11:45 a.m. Breakouts Titles & Locations: p. 3 Descriptions: pp. 7–14

11:45 a.m.–12:45 p.m. Lunch (provided) South Conference Foyer

12:45–2:15 p.m.Keynote—Mike MattosConcentrated Instruction: Designing and Refining Our Instruction Around Student Learning

South Conference Center

2:15–2:45 p.m. Break

2:45–4:15 p.m. Breakouts Titles & Locations: p. 3 Descriptions: pp. 7–14

Thursday, June 16

7:00–8:00 a.m.Registration

South Conference FoyerContinental Breakfast

8:00–9:30 a.m.Keynote—Austin BuffumConvergent Assessment: Connecting the Dots to Increase Student Learning

South Conference Center

9:30–10:00 a.m. Break

10:00–11:30 a.m. Breakouts Titles & Locations: p. 3 Descriptions: pp. 7–14

11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Lunch (provided) South Conference Foyer

12:30–2:00 p.m.Keynote—Mike MattosCertain Access: How to Create a Multitiered System of Support

South Conference Center

2:00–2:30 p.m. Break

2:30–4:00 p.m. Breakouts Titles & Locations: p. 3 Descriptions: pp. 7–14

Friday, June 177:00–8:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast South Conference Foyer

8:00–10:00 a.m.

In-Depth Seminar—Austin BuffumPutting It All Together: Creating a Multitiered System of Supports—Elementary

North Conference Center

In-Depth Seminar—Mike Mattos & Regina Stephens Owens Putting It All Together: Creating a Multitiered System of Supports—Secondary

South Conference Center—Center Room, Cabrera, Galaviz, & Hopp

In-Depth Seminar—Sarah SchuhlPutting It All Together: Linking Instruction, Assessment, and Interventions

South Conference Center—De La Torre, Espinoza, & Garcia Jr.

10:00–10:30 a.m. Break

10:30–11:30 a.m. Keynote—Mike MattosEating the Elephant: Transforming Ideas Into Action South Conference Center

Agenda and presenters are subject to change.1

Page 2: El Paso, TX • June 15–17...Agenda El Paso, TX • June 15–17 Wednesday, June 15 7:00–8:00 a.m. Registration South Conference Foyer Continental Breakfast 8:00–9:45 a.m. Keynote—Luis

Breakouts at a Glance

Presenter & TitleWednesday, June 15 Thursday, June 16

10:15–11:45 a.m. 2:45–4:15 p.m. 10:00–11:30 a.m. 2:30–4:00 p.m.

Austin BuffumDigging Deeper Into the Teaching Cycle De La Torre

The Chicken and the Egg: Behavioral Interventions as Part of RTI at Work

Espinoza & Garcia Jr.

Luis F. CruzFrom a 20th Century Leadership Team to a 21st Century Guiding Coalition

Galaviz & Hopp

If Your Teams Cannot Collaborate Effectively, Then “Forget About It!” Center Room

Staff Resistance to the RTI Process: What Do We Do When Colleagues at Our Site Refuse to Participate? Cabrera

Applying the Four Cs of RTI to Ensure Learning for English Learners Center Room

Aaron Hansen

The Critical Role of Teams in the RTI at Work Process Espinoza & Garcia Jr.

Unleash Your Students’ Learning Potential Through Targeted Intervention and Enrichment

Espinoza & Garcia Jr.

Mike MattosCreating a Culture of Collective Responsibility: From Believing to Doing Center Room

Learning CPR: Making Your Current Site Interventions More Effective

Galaviz & Hopp

Teaching Will: Effective Secondary Behavior Interventions Center Room

It’s About Time: Planning Interventions and Extensions in Secondary School

Galaviz & Hopp

Regina Stephens OwensIntervention Fueled by Data: Efficient Teams and Effective Interventions De La Torre

Building Systems and Structures to Support RTI: Making Success a Reality for Every Child De La Torre

Show Me the Evidence: Innovation, Individualization, and Intervention

Espinoza & Garcia Jr.

Strength-Based Intervention Fueled by Passion De La Torre

Sarah SchuhlSchoolwide Data: What Is Our Current Reality? Cabrera

Ensuring All Students Learn Mathematics Cabrera

Analyzing Formative Assessment Student Work Products Galaviz & Hopp

Investing Students in the RTI Process Cabrera

Agenda and presenters are subject to change.3

Page 3: El Paso, TX • June 15–17...Agenda El Paso, TX • June 15–17 Wednesday, June 15 7:00–8:00 a.m. Registration South Conference Foyer Continental Breakfast 8:00–9:45 a.m. Keynote—Luis

ESC Region 19 Head Start Multipurpose Center

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Page 4: El Paso, TX • June 15–17...Agenda El Paso, TX • June 15–17 Wednesday, June 15 7:00–8:00 a.m. Registration South Conference Foyer Continental Breakfast 8:00–9:45 a.m. Keynote—Luis

Austin Buffum

Convergent Assessment: Connecting the Dots to Increase Student LearningAssessment converges collective responsibility, concentrated instruction, and certain access to meet the unique needs of each individual student. This interactive keynote highlights the critical understandings and strategies that collaborative teacher teams need in order to use assessment to improve student achievement, not merely to measure and record it. The guiding question, Where are we now?, frames the thinking and processes of powerful convergent assessment.

Digging Deeper Into the Teaching CycleAustin Buffum provides additional information regarding the teaching–assessing cycle discussed in the “Convergent Assessment” keynote. By structuring informal and formal assessments that provide feedback to students and teachers alike, more students experience success on summative, end-of-unit assessments.

Participants in this session:• Unwrap standards into learning targets.• Design assessment strategies at the target level.• Develop a unit assessment map that answers the question, Where are we now?, at each

step of learning.

The Chicken and the Egg: Behavioral Interventions as Part of RTI at WorkThe most at-risk students usually lack the will and the skill necessary for success. Successful interventions require teachers to address the specific causes of a student’s difficulties, not just the symptoms. Focusing holistically on causes relating to will and skill helps educators pinpoint the origins of students’ struggles and then resolve them more effectively.

Participants in this session:• Learn the “pro-solve” process from the book Uniting Academic and Behavior Interventions:

Solving the Skill or Will Dilemma.• Use the pro-solve process as part of a team to design academic and behavioral

interventions based on a student’s case study.• Understand how behavioral interventions are organized, implemented, and monitored

according to the RTI at Work™ inverted pyramid and three particular teams.

In-Depth Seminar Putting It All Together: Creating a Multitiered System of Supports—Elementary

This seminar guides participants through the process of creating a multitiered system of interventions. Based on RTI at Work™ guiding principles, this process includes embedded Tier 1 core support, targeted Tier 2 supplemental help, and intensive Tier 3 interventions.

Participants in this session:• Complete, as a team, the RTI at Work™ inverted pyramid.• Review essential elements of the RTI process.• Identify current strengths, areas of improvement, and immediate action steps.

Session Descriptions

= Keynote7

Page 5: El Paso, TX • June 15–17...Agenda El Paso, TX • June 15–17 Wednesday, June 15 7:00–8:00 a.m. Registration South Conference Foyer Continental Breakfast 8:00–9:45 a.m. Keynote—Luis

Luis F. Cruz

Simplifying Response to Intervention: Four Essential Guiding PrinciplesMany schools struggle to realize the powerful potential of RTI because they are too focused on paperwork and protocols, think too rigidly to meet the unique needs of each school, and view RTI narrowly as a means of qualifying kids for special education.

In this session, Luis F. Cruz shares a new way of thinking about RTI and simplifies the process to four essential elements: collective responsibility, concentrated instruction, convergent assessment, and certain access.

From a 20th Century Leadership Team to a 21st Century Guiding CoalitionThe effective implementation of a system that responds when students do not initially learn is complex and requires a concerted, well-informed effort. Who better to ignite this movement than a combination of teachers, staff, and administrators working together as a guiding coalition? Luis F. Cruz explains the need for such a team to mold the culture necessary to successfully implement RTI mindsets and practices. Participants discover the difference between a school’s often antiquated leadership team and the powerful potential of a guiding coalition focused on ensuring all students learn at high levels.

Participants can expect to:• Learn how a guiding coalition generates the collective responsibility needed to help all

students learn at high levels.• Understand that implementing the RTI process is challenging without a firm

understanding of the different roles teams throughout the school need to undertake.• Understand the need for various stakeholders, especially teachers, to align effective

leadership practices with the implementation of essential RTI processes.

If Your Teams Cannot Collaborate Effectively, Then “Forget About It!”Is effective teacher collaboration synonymous with collective planning? Is sharing resources with one another what collaboration looks like for the most part? In this session, Luis F. Cruz shares the pivotal role collaboration plays when attempting to implement RTI practices. Participants discover what teams must take into consideration when identifying and unpacking essential standards and how to extrapolate clear learning targets from these standards.

Participants can expect to learn:• The difference between ineffective “coblaboration” and effective collaboration• The process of identifying standards all students are expected to learn at high levels

and unpacking them to generate learning targets to build common formative and summative assessments

Session Descriptions

= Keynote8

Page 6: El Paso, TX • June 15–17...Agenda El Paso, TX • June 15–17 Wednesday, June 15 7:00–8:00 a.m. Registration South Conference Foyer Continental Breakfast 8:00–9:45 a.m. Keynote—Luis

Luis F. Cruz Staff Resistance to the RTI Process: What Do We Do When Colleagues at Our Site Refuse to

Participate?Embracing the RTI process requires staff members to shift from the status quo, but changing policies, practices, and procedures proves to be challenging, prompting certain members to resist implementation. Luis F. Cruz introduces preventative measures teams can use to proactively address resistance.

Participants can expect to learn:• Why resistance is an expected reaction when attempting to implement the RTI process• The difference between rational and irrational forms of resistance and how to address each• How to create the collective responsibility necessary to ensure effective implementation

Applying the Four Cs of RTI to Ensure Learning for English LearnersWhile the English learner population continues to grow in schools across the nation, few schools have been able to demonstrate significant levels of learning for this critical cohort. Do educators lack the pedagogical skills to promote learning for these students? Do schools lack the resources? Luis F. Cruz, a former and current English learner, explains the practical integration of collective leadership and the four Cs as it applies to intervention for English learners.

Participants can expect to:• Learn how the formation of an English learner task force aids intervention.• Understand the importance of building common language, knowledge, and expectations

around job-embedded professional development through structured whole-staff learning opportunities.

• Discover that not all English learners require the same instruction and, as a result, must first integrate concentrated instruction to determine critical next steps to ensure high levels of learning.

Aaron Hansen The Critical Role of Teams in the RTI at Work Process

One of the three critical teams in the RTI at Work™ process is teacher teams. Aaron Hansen explores how to structure teams for all teachers, including grade-level, department, interdisciplinary, vertical, and electronic teams. Participants learn how to develop and establish collective commitment, agreements, and protocols to ensure efficiency and effectiveness. This session also describes how to structure the school intervention team and determine who should be part of it.

Unleash Your Students’ Learning Potential Through Targeted Intervention and EnrichmentThis session illustrates how teachers and leaders can create structures to help students reach higher levels of learning no matter where they are on the achievement spectrum. Aaron Hansen explains that by switching from a delivery-centered stance to a learner-centered stance, classrooms can respond to individual student needs without creating 30 different lesson plans.

Participants discover that purpose-driven intervention and enrichment structured to target specific needs can help students move from a sense of hopelessness, stagnation, and compliance to a sense of ownership, growth, and excitement. Students can not only self-pace, but ultimately self-direct their learning. It starts with educators being intentional about the structures they provide.

Session Descriptions

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Page 7: El Paso, TX • June 15–17...Agenda El Paso, TX • June 15–17 Wednesday, June 15 7:00–8:00 a.m. Registration South Conference Foyer Continental Breakfast 8:00–9:45 a.m. Keynote—Luis

Mike Mattos

Concentrated Instruction: Designing and Refining Our Instruction Around Student LearningRather than asking how to raise scores, collaborative teams should ask what specifically students need to master and how they can construct a plan for instruction, intervention, and enrichment to accomplish the goal of mastery for every student.

In his keynote, Mike Mattos helps teams clarify how to identify the essential knowledge and skills students must master to be successful in school and in life.

Certain Access: How to Create a Multitiered System of SupportHow do educators guarantee that all children learn at high levels? Mike Mattos addresses this vital question and explains the critical role of support professionals in the RTI at Work™ process, including counselors, psychologists, librarians, and speech therapists.

In this session, participants:• Learn how to create a system of supplemental and intensive interventions.• Identify students in need of extra help.• Explore options for resource allocation and staff responsibilities.• Create processes for quality problem solving.• Determine when special education identification is appropriate.

Eating the Elephant: Transforming Ideas Into ActionHow do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Implementing RTI can be daunting. The key is to break the process down into meaningful bites. In this keynote, Mike Mattos assists participants in creating practical action steps to implement the four Cs of RTI: collective responsibility, concentrated instruction, convergent assessment, and certain access. Participants leave with a doable implementation plan and the inspiration to get started.

Creating a Culture of Collective Responsibility: From Believing to DoingCollective responsibility is built on two assumptions: 1) We, as educators, must accept responsibility to ensure high levels of learning for all students, and 2) all students are capable of learning at high levels.

Participants in this session:• Assess their own schools’ beliefs relative to the two assumptions above.• Acquire tools and strategies to create this condition in their schools.• Examine the differences between cultural change and structural change.

Session Descriptions

= Keynote10

Page 8: El Paso, TX • June 15–17...Agenda El Paso, TX • June 15–17 Wednesday, June 15 7:00–8:00 a.m. Registration South Conference Foyer Continental Breakfast 8:00–9:45 a.m. Keynote—Luis

Mike Mattos Learning CPR: Making Your Current Site Interventions More Effective

A system of interventions can only be as effective as the individual interventions that comprise it. Despite honorable intentions, many schools implement interventions that don’t work, primarily because their efforts are not aligned to the characteristics of effective interventions. In this breakout, participants learn the six essential characteristics of effective interventions and a powerful process to apply them.

The most significant difference between a traditional school and a PLC is how each responds when students don’t learn. Mike Mattos shows how to create powerful responses (CPR) when students don’t learn.

Teaching Will: Effective Secondary Behavior InterventionsEvery secondary school has students who fail because they lack the will and scholarly behaviors needed to succeed. Skills like motivation and responsibility are not genetic traits. They can be taught, reinforced, and required at school. Mike Mattos provides practical examples and tools to assist secondary schools in creating a multitiered system of support to ensure students master the academic behaviors vital to success in the “real world.”

It’s About Time: Planning Interventions and Extensions in Secondary SchoolWhat does an effective secondary school intervention process look like? Mike Mattos provides participants with practical, proven intervention ideas, including how to create a schoolwide process to identify students for extra help and how to create time for intervention and extension in the master schedule.

Mike Mattos & Regina Stephens Owens In-Depth Seminar Putting It All Together: Creating a Multitiered System of Supports—Secondary

This seminar guides participants through the process of creating a multitiered system of interventions. Based on RTI at Work™ guiding principles, this process includes embedded Tier 1 core support, targeted Tier 2 supplemental help, and intensive Tier 3 interventions.

Participants in this session:• Complete, as a team, the RTI at Work™ inverted pyramid.• Review essential elements of the RTI process.• Identify current strengths, areas of improvement, and immediate action steps.

Session Descriptions

11

Page 9: El Paso, TX • June 15–17...Agenda El Paso, TX • June 15–17 Wednesday, June 15 7:00–8:00 a.m. Registration South Conference Foyer Continental Breakfast 8:00–9:45 a.m. Keynote—Luis

Regina Stephens Owens Intervention Fueled by Data: Efficient Teams and Effective Interventions

While a school’s focus on Tier 1 instruction and intervention can be a challenge, it is essential. Engaging the PLC process requires collaboration using common denominators to improve professional practices. Regina Stephens Owens discusses best practices in collaboration, designing action plans for student intervention, and supporting the work of schools and teams to ensure high levels of learning for all.

Participants in this session:• Explore solutions to overcome obstacles to learning.• Create a plan of action to support teachers in RTI practices.• Examine specific challenges and solutions for singleton teachers in the PLC framework.

Building Systems and Structures to Support RTI: Making Success a Reality for Every ChildIn a culture of high expectations for each and every learner, how can educators ensure high levels of learning and support for all? How do they bring clarity to the RTI system for all stakeholders and ensure continuous improvement systemwide? On what issues should they be loose or tight? Where does one begin? In this session, Regina Stephens Owens addresses these questions that concern all leaders and shares the processes, protocols, and potential pitfalls of RTI systems.

Show Me the Evidence: Innovation, Individualization, and InterventionThe effective use of technology for instruction and intervention makes evidence of learning visible. However, technologies alone do not guarantee that 21st century learning targets are met, that students are authentically engaged, or that critical thinking is evident in instructional practices. Schools must ensure their teachers are 1) equipped with information to choose the most effective technologies and 2) empowered to design lessons and facilitate learning based on quality feedback to result in improved outcomes.

In this session, participants:• Review Bloom’s taxonomy and global competencies as they relate to interventions.• Examine technologies that support critical thinking skills and show evidence of learning.• Discuss various web resources and how to effectively implement them to ensure learning

and successful intervention.

Session Descriptions

12

Page 10: El Paso, TX • June 15–17...Agenda El Paso, TX • June 15–17 Wednesday, June 15 7:00–8:00 a.m. Registration South Conference Foyer Continental Breakfast 8:00–9:45 a.m. Keynote—Luis

Regina Stephens Owens Strength-Based Intervention Fueled by Passion

How do teachers keep a fire alive in students who labor to learn? How do they create a spark in pupils who are detached? In this session, passionate educators discover ways to get their students to be passionate, too.

Regina Stephens Owens shows how to equip, empower, and engage students. She helps teachers get to know students and design interventions for them. Indeed, students can be inspired to recognize and communicate their strengths, weaknesses, and goals in learning essential content.

Regina outlines proven methods for building a strength-based RTI system. She provides strategies that promote personalized, passion-driven instruction and intervention and that empower students to own their learning.

Participants consider whether a systematic RTI process is in place at their schools to build and sustain a growth mindset for students and teachers. Through an intervention system fueled by passion, students become more persistent and resilient in achieving their learning goals.

Sarah Schuhl Schoolwide Data: What Is Our Current Reality?

A focused analysis of schoolwide data is essential when committing to collective responsibility for all students learning. Which students are or are not learning at high levels in each grade or course? What are the academic and behavioral issues that need to be addressed by the adults in the building? These questions and others begin to paint a picture of the student needs that staff can own and collectively work toward solving. The data compiled, analyzed, and responded to is critical to understand the student needs that inform plans for all students to gain confidence and learn at high levels.

In this session, participants:• Identify the types of qualitative and quantitative data needed to address academic and

behavior realities.• Determine data currently gathered to inform a collective responsibility and data that still

need to be gathered.• Consider potential next steps based on insights from the data.

Session Descriptions

13

Page 11: El Paso, TX • June 15–17...Agenda El Paso, TX • June 15–17 Wednesday, June 15 7:00–8:00 a.m. Registration South Conference Foyer Continental Breakfast 8:00–9:45 a.m. Keynote—Luis

Sarah Schuhl Ensuring All Students Learn Mathematics

Learning mathematics at high levels creates logical students and prepares them for the next grade level or course on their path to being college and career ready. Unfortunately, too many students struggle to learn the content from one year to the next. How do teachers work together to ensure all students learn mathematics? How do teachers match interventions to the mathematics skills students struggle to learn? Essential standards and focused prerequisite skills inform effective intervention and remediation. Additionally, classroom instructional practices with common formative assessments play a critical role in accelerating and continuing the learning of mathematics students.

In this session, participants can expect to:• Identify criteria for determining essential content standards in mathematics and

prerequisite skills that should be assessed in common formative assessments.• Identify high-level mathematical tasks to use as formative feedback during instruction.• Explore how to remediate and intervene when students are struggling to

learn mathematics.

Analyzing Formative Assessment Student Work ProductsThe formative assessment process occurs naturally and often within each lesson taught throughout the day. Teachers can collect observational data to recognize common misconceptions students have about material, as well as strategies students use to complete a task when engaged in an instructional activity. Additionally, common formative assessments provide numerical data and examples of student work. When analyzed by a team, these items offer insights into the extent students learned essential standards and next steps to help them grow. Each plays a role in helping teachers match instructional interventions to the needs of students.

In this session, participants can expect to:• Explore ways to collect meaningful data related to student learning.• Analyze student work to discover students’ level of proficiency and understand and

identify possible interventions they need to achieve mastery.• Identify ways to build time for this analysis into the regular professional practice of

collaborative teams.

Investing Students in the RTI ProcessToo often, adults take ownership of having all students learn and fail to bring students into the process. How are students able to articulate what they are learning, their strengths, and next steps? How are students learning from and acting on the specific feedback given during instruction and on assessments? How do students track their progress on essential standards? In order for students’ reflections on learning to be most meaningful, educators must consider how classroom culture positively influences a student’s disposition and beliefs about how he or she can learn. Teachers can help students understand why they need an intervention and how they learn best when they are invested members of the process.

In this session, participants can expect to:• Identify characteristics of a classroom culture focused on learning.• Recognize powerful feedback processes with students.• Explore ways for students to reflect through self-regulation and tracking.

Session Descriptions

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Page 12: El Paso, TX • June 15–17...Agenda El Paso, TX • June 15–17 Wednesday, June 15 7:00–8:00 a.m. Registration South Conference Foyer Continental Breakfast 8:00–9:45 a.m. Keynote—Luis

Austin BuffumAustin Buffum, EdD, has 38 years of experience in public schools. His many roles include serving as former senior deputy superintendent of the Capistrano Unified School District in California.

Dr. Buffum has presented to more than 500 school districts throughout the country and around the world. He delivers trainings and presentations on the RTI at Work™ model. This tiered approach to RTI is centered on Professional Learning Communities at Work™ concepts and strategies to ensure every student receives the time and support necessary to

succeed. Dr. Buffum also delivers workshops and presentations that provide tools educators need to build and sustain PLCs.

Dr. Buffum was selected 2006 Curriculum and Instruction Administrator of the Year by the Association of California School Administrators. He attended the Principals’ Center at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and was greatly inspired by its founder, Roland Barth, an early advocate of the collaborative culture that defines PLCs today.

Dr. Buffum later led Capistrano’s K–12 instructional program on an increasingly collaborative path toward operating as a PLC. During this process, 37 of the district’s schools were designated California Distinguished Schools, and 11 schools received National Blue Ribbon recognition.

Solution Tree Resources: • It’s About Time: Planning Interventions and Extensions in Elementary School [anthology]

New

• It’s About Time: Planning Interventions and Extensions in Secondary School [anthology] New

• Uniting Academic and Behavior Interventions: Solving the Skill or Will Dilemma New

• Pyramid Response to Intervention: Four Essential Guiding Principles [multimedia] • Pyramid Response to Intervention: RTI, Professional Learning Communities, and How to

Respond When Kids Don’t Learn • The RTI Toolkit [multimedia] • Simplifying Response to Intervention: Four Essential Guiding Principles • Learning CPR: Creating Powerful Responses When Students Don’t Learn [multimedia] • Tiers Without Tears: A Systematic Approach to Implementing RTI in PLC Schools [multimedia]

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Page 13: El Paso, TX • June 15–17...Agenda El Paso, TX • June 15–17 Wednesday, June 15 7:00–8:00 a.m. Registration South Conference Foyer Continental Breakfast 8:00–9:45 a.m. Keynote—Luis

Luis F. CruzLuis F. Cruz, PhD, is former principal of Baldwin Park High School, located east of Los Angeles, California. He has been a teacher and administrator at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Dr. Cruz presents on methods from the bestselling book Transforming School Culture by Anthony Muhammad.

In 2007, Dr. Cruz led a collective effort to secure a $250,000 grant for Baldwin Park from the California Academic Partnership Program for the purpose of effectively utilizing “courageous leadership” to promote a more equitable and effective organization.

Since becoming a public school educator, Dr. Cruz has won the New Teacher of the Year, Teacher of the Year, Administrator of the Year, and other community leadership awards. He and a committee of teacher leaders at Baldwin Park received California’s prestigious Golden Bell Award from the California School Boards Association for significantly closing the achievement gap between the general student population and students learning English as a second language.

Solution Tree Resource: • It’s About Time: Planning Interventions and Extensions in Secondary School [anthology]

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Page 14: El Paso, TX • June 15–17...Agenda El Paso, TX • June 15–17 Wednesday, June 15 7:00–8:00 a.m. Registration South Conference Foyer Continental Breakfast 8:00–9:45 a.m. Keynote—Luis

Aaron HansenAaron Hansen is a nationally recognized presenter and author who empowers teachers and leaders to transform their schools. He is also a leadership consultant with the Northeastern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program.

As former principal, Aaron led the transformation of White Pine Middle School (WPMS) in Nevada into a nationally recognized, high-achieving school. WPMS won many awards including Title I Distinguished School and National Model School (2009–2012). It is the only middle school in the United States to be named a Middle School of Distinction (2010) by

the International Center for Leadership in Education.

Aaron has been featured in many books, articles, and TV news stories including ABC World News With Charles Gibson, American Morning (CNN), Fox and Friends (Fox Network), and a BBC documentary, all highlighting the changes he led in transforming school culture and combating bullying. Aaron was named Nevada Innovative Educator of the Year in 2009.

Solution Tree Resources: • How to Develop PLCs for Singletons and Small Schools

New

• It’s About Time: Planning Interventions and Extensions in Secondary School [anthology]

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Page 15: El Paso, TX • June 15–17...Agenda El Paso, TX • June 15–17 Wednesday, June 15 7:00–8:00 a.m. Registration South Conference Foyer Continental Breakfast 8:00–9:45 a.m. Keynote—Luis

Mike MattosAn internationally recognized author, presenter, and practitioner, Mike Mattos specializes in uniting teachers, administrators, and support staff to transform schools by implementing response to intervention and professional learning communities. He is one of the architects of the Professional Learning Communities at Work™ and RTI at Work™ models, which uses team structures and a focus on learning, collaboration, and results to drive successful outcomes.

As principal of Marjorie Veeh Elementary School and Pioneer Middle School in California, Mike helped create powerful PLCs, improving learning for all students. In 2004, Marjorie Veeh, a school with a large population of at-risk youth, won the

California Distinguished School and National Title I Achieving School awards.

A National Blue Ribbon School, Pioneer is among only 13 schools in the US selected by the GE Foundation as a Best-Practice Partner and is one of eight schools chosen by Richard DuFour to be featured in the video series The Power of Professional Learning Communities at Work™: Bringing the Big Ideas to Life. Pioneer’s standardized test scores rank among the top 1 percent for California secondary schools. It was named Orange County’s top middle school in 2009 and 2011. For his leadership, Mike was named the county’s Middle School Administrator of the Year by the Association of California School Administrators.

Solution Tree Resources: • Are We a Group or a Team? Moving From Coordination to Collaboration in a PLC at Work

[multimedia] New

• Best Practices at Tier 1: Daily Differentiation for Effective Instruction—Elementary New

• Best Practices at Tier 1: Daily Differentiation for Effective Instruction—Secondary New

• Concise Answers to Frequently Asked Questions About Professional Learning Communities at Work

New

• Creating and Protecting the Shared Foundation of a Professional Learning Community at Work [multimedia]

New

• It’s About Time: Planning Interventions and Extensions in Elementary School [anthology] New

• It’s About Time: Planning Interventions and Extensions in Secondary School [anthology] New

• Learning by Doing: A Handbook for Professional Learning Communities (3rd edition) New

• Making Time at Tier 2: Creating a Supplemental Intervention Period in Secondary Schools [multimedia]

New

• Uniting Academic and Behavior Interventions: Solving the Skill or Will Dilemma New

• On Solid Ground: How PLC Practices Create the Foundation for a Successful Intervention Program [multimedia]

• A Practical Look at Response to Intervention [multimedia] • Pyramid Response to Intervention: Four Essential Guiding Principles [multimedia] • Pyramid Response to Intervention: RTI, Professional Learning Communities, and How to Respond

When Kids Don’t Learn • The RTI Toolkit [multimedia] • Simplifying Response to Intervention: Four Essential Guiding Principles18

Page 16: El Paso, TX • June 15–17...Agenda El Paso, TX • June 15–17 Wednesday, June 15 7:00–8:00 a.m. Registration South Conference Foyer Continental Breakfast 8:00–9:45 a.m. Keynote—Luis

Regina Stephens OwensRegina Stephens Owens is the first administrator of the online program for Spring ISD Virtual School. An educator for 20 years, Regina is a consultant in the United States and Canada. Previously, she was a classroom teacher, campus administrator, district administrator, and university program director. As a public school administrator, Regina served in rural and urban schools, guiding their transformation to professional learning communities that resulted in local, state, and national recognition.

Before coming to Spring ISD Virtual School, Regina was academic dean at Marshall High School, developing and

extending the philosophy of PLCs. She is most noted for understanding and leading the change process in transforming schools, and she leads that process in establishing effective systems and structures in the online environment. Regina has developed an online system that monitors learning standards and reports outcomes that allow for data-driven decisions in the virtual environment.

Solution Tree Resources: • It’s About Time: Planning Interventions and Extensions in Elementary School [anthology]

New

• It’s About Time: Planning Interventions and Extensions in Secondary School [anthology] New

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Page 17: El Paso, TX • June 15–17...Agenda El Paso, TX • June 15–17 Wednesday, June 15 7:00–8:00 a.m. Registration South Conference Foyer Continental Breakfast 8:00–9:45 a.m. Keynote—Luis

Sarah SchuhlSarah Schuhl, a consultant specializing in mathematics, has been a secondary mathematics teacher, high school instructional coach, and K–12 mathematics specialist for nearly 20 years.

She was instrumental in the creation of a professional learning community in the Centennial School District in Oregon, working with teachers to make large gains in student achievement. She has also worked with other districts throughout the US to implement PLCs and to create common assessments. Her practical approach includes how to implement assessments for learning, analyze data, and map to standards.

Sarah also works with districts to implement the Common Core State Standards for mathematics. Her work includes short- and long-term professional development focused on implementation of the content standards, standards for mathematical practice, and assessment, including formative assessment and an understanding of Smarter Balanced and PARCC.

Sarah has served as chair of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Editorial Panel for the journal Mathematics Teacher. Her work with the Oregon Department of Education includes designing math assessment items, test specifications and blueprints, and rubrics for achievement level descriptors.

Solution Tree Resource: • Engage in the Mathematical Practices: Strategies to Build Numeracy and Literacy With K–5

Learners New

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