Jill Koenitzer & Michelle Polzin, Technical Assistance Coordinators, WI RTI Center Jill Sharp, Principal, Wittenberg-Birnamwood High SchoolKara Muthig, School Psychologist, Wittenberg-Birnamwood School District

Screening, Intervening & Progress Monitoring in High School

Early Warning Systems

The Wisconsin RtI Center/Wisconsin PBIS Network (CFDA #84.027) acknowledges the support of the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction in the development of this PowerPoint and for the continued support of this federally-funded grant program. There are no copyright restrictions on this document; however, please credit the Wisconsin DPI and support of federal funds when copying all or part of this material PBIS Forum 2014

Maximizing Your Session Participation

When Working In Your Team

Consider 4 questions:

– Where are we in our implementation?– What do I hope to learn?– What did I learn?– What will I do with what I learned?

Where are you in the implementation process?

Adapted from Fixsen & Blase, 2005

• We think we know what we need so we are planning to move forward (evidence-based)

Exploration & Adoption

• Let’s make sure we’re ready to implement (capacity infrastructure)

Installation

• Let’s give it a try & evaluate (demonstration)

Initial Implementation

• That worked, let’s do it for real and implement all tiers across all schools (investment)

• Let’s make it our way of doing business & sustain implementation (institutionalized use)

Full Implementation

Leadership Team Action Planning Worksheets: Steps

Self-Assessment: Accomplishments & Priorities

Leadership Team Action Planning Worksheet

Session Assignments & Notes: High Priorities

Team Member Note-Taking Worksheet

Action Planning: Enhancements & Improvements

Leadership Team Action Planning Worksheet

Agenda

• Introduce Early Warning Systems (EWS)• Establish purpose for implementing Early Warning

Systems (EWS)• The Early Warning System Process• Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School EWS

experiences and lessons learned

Who is here today?• Special Education Directors• Pupil Services• Teachers• Principals• Family Representatives• Interventionists

Fist to Five

Unfamiliar Somewhat Familiar Very Familiar

How familiar are you with Early Warning Systems?

Wisconsin’s Vision in detail...Early Warning Systems (EWS)

Early Warning SystemsEarly warning systems (EWS) rely on readily available existing data housed at the school to:

• Predict which students are at-risk for dropping out of high school or not moving to next level

• Target resources to support off-track students while they are still in school, before they drop out

• Predict students who are not performing up to ability or are not college & career ready

• Examine patterns and identify school climate issues

Existing Data Considerations

How do we identify students who are not college and career ready?

How do we identify students who are not likely to graduate?

Attendance• Attendance/tardies• Chronic absenteeism

• Mobility• Engagement• Participation

BehaviorSocial-Emotional

• Office referrals• Suspensions• Behavioral screening• Internalizing behaviors

• Developmental assets• At-risk support• Behavioral plan• Family stressors

Coursework• Academic screening• Common assessments• Standardized testing• Grades

• Retention• Accelerated learning• Interventions, Title I• Head Start, Summer School

Risk Indicators—Use your ABCs

*See handouts : Predictors of Post Secondary Success and Risk Indicators for Not Graduating

Establishing Purpose for Implementing EWS

Show of Hands or

Percent of Americans with a high school diploma

85%

Percent of students who repeat 9th grade that graduate

15%

Percent of crimes in U.S. committed by a high school dropout

75%

Percent of black dropouts that have spent time in prison

60%

Percent of Hispanic dropouts that were due to pregnancy

41%

Percent of U.S. jobs a high school dropout is NOT eligible for

90%

Which group has a higher dropout rate:

Black Hispanic

93%

35%

53%

90%

25%

75%

9.6% 17.6%

4-Year Graduation Rates by Student Groups in 4 Large Cities

Unemployment & Work Force Participation by Education Level 2011

2014 Federal Poverty Levels—Monthly Income

Source: Wisconsin DHS

Average Estimated Income for Wisconsin Workers 2011

Approx.$12,000

Difference

Incarceration Averages Applied to Wisconsin’s Prison Population

Estimated Incarceration if Dropouts were Graduates

Medicare Coverage by Education Level in Wisconsin

Dropouts are 200% more likely to need Medicare and 4x as likely to require government assistance (i.e.: welfare, food stamps, subsidized housing, etc….).

Potential Savings to Wisconsin Tax Payers if Dropouts were Graduates

Based on 2011 Graduation Rates

Imagine the good we could do with that kind of money!!• K-12 Education Funding• College Tuition Reduction• Career Training Programs

Agenda 2017: Wisconsin DPI

We know we need to change!

1-5% Tier 3/Tertiary Interventions• Individual students• Assessment-based• Intense, durable procedures

5-15% Tier 2/Secondary Interventions• Some students (at-risk)• High efficiency• Rapid response• Small group interventions• Some individualizing

80-90% Tier 1/Universal Interventions• All settings, all students• Preventive, proactive

Current Reality vs. Desired FutureAcademic & Behavioral Systems

Illinois PBIS Network, Revised May 15, 2008. Adapted from “What is school-wide PBS?” OSEP Technical Assistance Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports. Accessed at http://pbis.org/schoolwide.htm

Do the math:Are 80% of students responding to the Universal System?

Are you set up to provide Tier 2/Selected Interventions to 15% of your student body?

Tier 3/Intensive supports to 5%?

Getting Started with Early Warning Systems

DownloadTheGuides

http://www.betterhighschools.org/documents/EWSHSImplementationguide.pdf

Follow7-StepProcess

Establish Roles and

ResponsibilitiesSTEP 1

• Can be a new or pre-existing team• Team must receive PD to use tool effectively

• Early identification of students at risk• Assign interventions & monitor progress

• Meet at regular intervals• within first 20 days of school • after every grading period (i.e.: 8x/year)

Download and Use the EWS ToolSTEP 2

• http://www.betterhighschools.org/ews.asp• Set up thresholds for flagging students• Download available student data• Ensure data is entered at regularly scheduled

intervals• Reports available and accessible to all EWS

team members

Update with Wittenberg’s tool settings

Localize Risk Indicators in the Tool Settings

Review the EWS DataSTEP 3

• Understand patterns in student engagement and academic performance

• Identify students at-risk for dropout• Organize and sort students into groups based

on risk factors• Consider allocation of resources for flagged

students (needs vs. available interventions)

Find, Organize and Sort Students

Interpret EWS DataSTEP 4

• Dig deeper into complex causes of student disengagement and academic failure

• Examine additional information not included in EWS tool• Additional teacher input• Additional assessments• Student & parent interviews

Why?

Assign & Provide InterventionsSTEP 5

• Map interventions from school, district and community

• Organize interventions into tiered levels of support and determine entry/exit decision rules

• Match students to interventions based on need

Tier 1/Universal School-Wide Assessment

School-Wide Prevention Systems

Check-in/ Check-out (CICO)

Group Intervention w. Individualized Feature (e.g., Check and Connect and Mentoring)

Brief Functional Behavior Assessment/Behavior Intervention Planning (FBA/BIP)

Complex or Multiple-domain FBA/BIP

Wraparound

Social/Academic Instructional Groups (S/AIG) Academic Seminar

Create a continuum of support (ordered by intensity of intervention & effort needed to implement)

Adapted from Illinois PBIS Network, & T. Scott

Tier 2/Secondary

Tier 3/Tertiary

Academic Seminar

Drop-in Tutoring

Formal Tutoring

Read 180

Small Group Comm. Arts or Math Interventions

Lunch & Learn

PBIS Forum 2014

Intervention List & Descriptions

Monitor Student ProgressSTEP 6

• Monitor students who are participating in interventions

• Determine effectiveness of intervention overall for groups of students

• Identify student needs that are not being met• Identify new interventions to meet student needs• Communicate with and engage family members

Evaluate and Refine EWS

ProcessSTEP 7

• Team evaluates EWS process on annual basis • Evaluate risk indicators & thresholds• Evaluate decision rules & interventions• Evaluate impact with student outcome data• Reflect on strengths and challenges• Make recommendations for improving the

process

Examples of Multi-Year Data

Step 1 Establish Roles

and Responsibilities

Step 3Review the EWS

Data

Step 4 Interpret the

EWS Data

Step 5 Assign & Provide

Interventions

Step 6 Monitor Students

Step 7Evaluate & Refine EWS

Process

Step 2Use the EWS

Tool

Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School

Early Warning Systems Implementation

WBHS Demographics

• Wittenberg & Birnamwood are rural communities in central Wisconsin.

• WBHS enrollment has been declining over the past five years. Current enrollment = 376

• 88% White, 5% American Indian, 3% Hispanic

• 35% Low SES

• 15% Students with disabilities

WBHS History• We had a lot of data but didn’t use it effectively

• Learned that we had to schedule collaboration and not assume that staff knew how to do this

• Having a decision making model has helped us to focus rather than jumping from initiative to initiative

• Sixth year of PBIS. Has become part of the culture of our school.

District Goals•All students will improve literacy skills in reading and writing across the K-12 curriculum in alignment with the common core standards

•All students will improve math literacy skills through the study of and alignment with the common core standards

•The District will improve student learning with aligned curriculum, assessment, and instruction.

•The District will ensure that students have a safe, welcoming and productive learning environment.

EWS Connection to District Decision Making Model

WBHS Goals & EWS

The use of the EWS High School Tool and data wall to provide a resource framework that

identifies students that are off track for graduation or underachieving, so that staff-

designed, evidence-based programs and practices, based on data, can be put into place early and systematically in order to prepare all

students for post-secondary and career readiness.

TeamsTeams were chosen with the intent to represent all departments.

• 9th Grade Team: Principal, School Counselor, Math Teachers, ELA Teacher, Science Teacher, Health/PE Teacher, Social Studies Teacher, Special Education Teacher, School Psychologist

• 10th Grade Team: Principal, School Counselor, PE Teacher, Math Teacher, Social Studies Teacher, Science Teacher, ELA Teacher, Specialist, Special Education Teacher, School Psychologist

• 11th Grade Team: Principal, School Counselor, PE Teacher, Math Teacher, Social Studies Teacher, Science Teacher, ELA Teacher, Specialist, Special Education Teacher, School Psychologist

STEP 1

Teams

• Norms: Stay on task, Start and end on time, Everyone contributes, Non-judgmental conversations, Comments are solutions-based

• Roles: Principal facilitates meetings, but all participate.

• When: Teams meet monthly during the school day for two class periods each. Substitute teachers cover classes.

• Where: Teams meet in the data room.

STEP 1

STEP 2 Using the EWS Tool• Data is downloaded into the EWS tool prior to

every team meeting by Dean of Students• Data sheets are handed out on confidential data

sheets at each team meeting• Data is also visually represented on data wall in

locked data room

Student Flags

STEP 3

Reviewing the Data

STEP 3 Reviewing the Data

Regularly Review & Update:

MAP scores

ACT Aspire Smarter Balanced

WKCE scores

DEWS scores

Attendance

Behavioral referrals

Grades Connection survey

*Will also be using ACT data at end of year

STEP 3 Reviewing the DataInformation on student

data cards:Special EducationELLBooster/Intervention

ClassesAttendance RiskBehavioral RiskGrade/Credit RiskDEWS Risk

STEP 3Who is at risk?Team looks for patterns. First we look at whole group and small group

concernsNext we look at individual student concernsTeam focuses on MAP scores after current

benchmark datesTeam focuses on grades/attendance/behavior in-

between benchmark assessments

Reviewing the Data

STEP 4

• Team discusses individual and/or groups of students who are at risk. Staff share any additional information that may help with decision making.

• Parents are often contacted when discussing risk of individual students.

• School counselor or school psychologist may interview the student to problem solve.

Interpreting the Data

*Use caution in assigning tasks to pupil services staff

STEP 4Examples:• Team dug deeper into MAP scores of students near

the benchmark. The team found a pattern that almost all of those students struggled most with the strand “Informational Text”.

• Team hypothesized that some students might not be trying their best on the MAP test and therefore scores may be inaccurate of true skills.

• Team hypothesized that individual students are struggling with mental health issues, relationships, connections at school, AODA issues, skill deficits, etc.

Interpreting the Data

STEP 5Tier 1:

Core curriculum District RtI Team WBHS PBIS Team Daily Shout Outs 8th Period Advisory (IE System)

Tiers 2 & 3:CICO Individual & Small Group CounselingMentoringAcademic Booster/Intervention Classes (8th period)RtI/PBIS Tier 2&3 Meetings

Assign & Provide Interventions

STEP 5Entry/Exit Decision Rules:

Interventions during IE (Teacher created)CICO (SWIS Data and Attendance)Counseling (Parent, Teacher or Self Referral)Mentoring (EWS and Tier 2/3 Teams assign based

on data)Do we have enough available interventions to meet all student needs?

Would like to do more mentoring Would like to do more small group counseling Shortage of mental health resources in the

community

Assign & Provide Interventions

Intervention/Enrichment (I/E)

Enrichment Classes

• Use to create exposure• Decision Rules• Teacher proposals for enrichment classes• Enrichment Calendar• Clubs & Organizations• Parents have access…live on website

Enrichment Calendar

STEP 6

• Data is collected throughout the year.

• We need to work on adding progress monitoring tools for interventions (still working on creating…both for progress of individuals as well as the intervention as a whole)

• Academic Behavior Measures

• Decision rules/rubric for intervention classes

• Need decision rules for non-academic interventions

Monitor Student Progress

Data Wall—Student Growth

Fall 2013: Targeted middle group

Fall 2014: Evidence of growth

Data Wall—Fall 2014

PBIS Forum 2014Fall 2014: Freshman

STEP 7• Team evaluated EWS process end of year• Evaluated risk indicators & thresholds• Evaluated decision rules & interventions & made

changes• Evaluated impact with student outcome data

• D/F list• MAP Scores• Attendance

• Growth on School Report Card • Reflected on strengths and challenges

Evaluate & Refine Process

Evaluate & Refine• Implement an E/I time 8th period • Increase instructional time: move meetings to after school,

investigate alternative scheduling options (block, modified block, etc.)

• Continue to work toward core plus more for ALL students below grade level

• Refine the art and science of teaching through deeper investigation of the GRRM

• Learn - attend institutes, conferences, read, collaborate (EE)• Reflect - evaluate ourselves and identify weaknesses so that we

can continue to improve professionally (EE)• Expand EWS so that all grade levels meet and review data

(Request from staff to add 11th grade meetings for 2014-15)

Lessons Learned• Things take time• Build a culture of meeting kid’s needs• Know your staff• Give all staff a voice in making decisions and

creating the system supports• There are things you have to give up in order

to do something different• Communication is key• Use what didn’t work and learn from it to

change for the better

Lessons Learned

• Staff perceptions of impact of system changes with PBIS when connected to bigger picture– Connect to Life Skills– Not just about how to go through lunch line

• We have to TEACH kids what academic behaviors look like

What are our teachers saying?

• There is still never enough time• We need to include all staff somehow• Would like to focus more on groups of students rather

than individuals• We will have more data as we move forward about

effectiveness of EWS• Staff feel more ownership• Systems approach is more effective• Better awareness of student needs due to data and

collaboration• Problem solving is positive

Early Warning Systems Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School

• Jill Koenitzer, koenitzerj@wisconsinrticenter.org • Michelle Polzin, polzinm@wisconsinpbisnetwork.org • Jill Sharp, jsharp@wittbirn.k12.wi.us• Kara Muthig, kmuthig@wittbirn.k12.wi.us

Early Warning System Resources• National High School Center

• www.betterhighschools.org

• Early Warning Systems in Education• www.earlywarningsystems.org

• YouTube Channel webinars: NHSCenterMedia

PBIS Forum 2014