response to intervention social-emotional rti: next steps. what are recommended initial steps that...

Response to Intervention

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Social-Emotional RTI: Next Steps. What are recommended initial steps that schools should follow to roll out social-emotional RTI?

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Social-Emotional RTI: Building the Model



Motivation Deficit 5: The student is unmotivated because of learned helplessness—lack of confidence that he or she can do the assigned work.

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• Profile of a Student with This Motivation Problem: The student is passive: he or she does not work quickly, cannot articulate a plan for the assigned work, has a low sense of self-efficacy in the subject area of concern, and does not know what steps to follow to attain academic success/



Motivation Deficit 5: Learned Helplessness (Cont.)

• What the Research Says: Students often undermine their academic performance by engaging in a pattern of learned helplessness.

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Learned Helplessness: The Underperforming Student“Learned helplessness exists when individuals believe that their own behavior has no influence on consequent events.”“.…when individuals learn that responding and reinforcement are independent, they are slower to initiate responses or do not respond at all. They also have greater difficulty learning the response–reinforcement contingency even when they have initiated correct responses because the percentage of reinforced responses is so low” (Sutherland & Singh, 2004; p. 171).

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Source: Sutherland, K. S., & Singh, N. N. (2004). Learned helplessness and students with emotional or behavioral disorders: Deprivation in the classroom. Behavioral Disorders, 29(2), 169–181.



Learned Helplessness: The Failure Cycle

Students with a history of school failure are at particular risk of falling into the learned helplessness cycle:

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1. The student experiences repeated academic failures…

2. ...which undermine self-confidence in their intellectual abilities.

3. The student begins to doubt that their efforts will overcome their learning difficulties…

4. …causing that student to reduce efforts toward academic achievement .

5. …resulting in continued failure…

6. …and reinforcing the student’s belief that they lack the ability to learn.



Learned Helplessness: What are the Signs?

Learned helplessness: 3 deficits:

– Reduced motivation to respond in the classroom– Lessened ability to associate responding with

desirable outcomes– Symptoms of depression or anxiety.

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Escape/Avoidance vs. Learned Helplessness

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• Escape/Avoidance. The student finds academic tasks aversive and—in response-- displays behavior that results in the student escaping or postponing those task demands. Negative reinforcement drives this student, who is reinforced when academic demands are removed or avoided.

• Learned Helplessness. The student does not see a link between effort and improved academic outcome and shows a low level of motivation—but does not make an active effort to flee or avoid academic tasks.




Learned Helplessness: How Should It Be Treated?

Teachers can help to support a student experiencing learned helplessness by:– providing frequent ‘process’ praise and process feedback (vs. ‘ability’ praise

and feedback) that helps the student to link effort to improved academic outcomes.

– teaching the student cognitive strategies that they can use to improve reading comprehension.

– instructing the student in how to create a work plan for extended assignments.

– encouraging the student to use ‘process’ checklists to master academic survival skills.

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“ ”The continued use of ineffective exclusionary practices has very little to do with a student's behavior and very much to do with a teacher's behavior.-John W. Maag

Source: Maag, J. W. (2012). School-wide discipline and the intransigency of exclusion. Children and Youth Services Review, 34, 2094-2100.



The ‘Last Mile’ Problem: Definition

“A phrase used in the telecommunications and technology industries to describe the technologies and processes used to connect the end customer to a communications network.

The last mile is often stated in terms of the "last-mile problem", because the end link between consumers and connectivity has proved to be disproportionately expensive to solve.”

11Source: Investopedia. (2013). Investopedia dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/lastmile.asp



Social-Emotional RTI: The ‘Last Mile’ Problem

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IDEIA 2004

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Reasons Why Teachers May Use Confrontation or Exclusion from Instruction as

Routine Strategies1. Defiant Students Can Be Coercive. Teachers may find

themselves pulled into a confrontation with a student because they are not prepared to use defusing or other deflecting strategies. The student controls the interaction (Conroy et al., 2009).

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Source: Conroy, M., Sutherland, K., Haydon, T., Stormont, M., & Harmon, J. (2009). Preventing and ameliorating young children's chronic problem behaviors: An ecological classroom-based approach. Psychology in the Schools, 46(1), 3-17.




Routine Strategies2. Teachers Are Reinforced by Use of Punishment.

When teachers send students with challenging behaviors to the office, this can be 'negatively reinforcing' to the instructor-thus increasing the likelihood that the teacher will use the strategy repeatedly (Maag, 2012).

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Source: Maag, J. W. (2012). School-wide discipline and the intransigency of exclusion. Children and Youth Services Review, 34, 2094-2100.




Routine Strategies3. Teachers See That Punishment Works. In a typical

student population, sending a student to the principal's office is quite effective for the 95% who show few behavior problems. The same disciplinary response is ineffective with 5% of students, who either don't care or wish to escape the classroom. The teacher, however, may assume that these recalcitrant students simply need more of the same punishment for it to be effective--so problem interactions intensify (Maag, 2001).

15Source: Maag, J. W. (2001). Reflections on the disuse of positive reinforcement in schools. Exceptional Children, 67(2), 173-186.




Routine Strategies4. Zero Tolerance of Misbehavior is Seen as an

Important Teaching Tool. The teacher believes that having the student experience punitive consequences such as class removal or suspension will teach important life lessons (Skiba et al., 2006).

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Source: Skiba, R. J., Reynolds, C. R., Graham, S., Shera, P., Conoley, J. C., & Garcia-Vazquez, E. (2006). Are zero tolerance policies effective in the schools? An evidentiary review and recommendations. Report by the American Psychological Association of the Zero Tolerance Task Force. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Retrieved on January 18 2015 from http://www.apa.org/pubs/info/reports/zero-tolerance.pdf.




Routine Strategies5. Teachers Don’t Want to Leave Their Disciplinary

Comfort Zone. Instructors continue to use punitive disciplinary practices because they are used to them. They resist new practices that fall outside their "comfort zone“ (Maag, 2009).

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Source: Maag, J. W. (2009). Resistance to change: Overcoming institutional and individual limitations for improving student behavior through PLCs. Journal of the American Academy of Special Education Professionals, 4(2), 41-57.



Reasons Why Teachers May Use Confrontation or Exclusion from Instruction as Routine Strategies

1. Defiant students can be coercive.

2. Teachers are (negatively) reinforced by the use of punishment.

3. Teachers see that punishment works (at least for 95% of students).

4. Zero-tolerance of misbehavior is seen as an important teaching tool.

5. Teachers don’t want to leave their disciplinary comfort zone.

Activity: Which Reason(s) ?

• At your tables, discuss the reasons shared here for why teachers may be reluctant to embrace positive behavior intervention strategies.

• Select 1-2 reasons that you believe might be MOST prevalent in your school or district.



Social-Emotional RTI: Critical Elements



Activity: Social-Emotional RTI: Next Steps• Appoint a recorder• As a table, review the checklist

“Social Emotional RTI: Critical Elements”.

• Select the TOP 3 elements that should be the focus of your immediate attention.

• Begin to draft a plan for moving Social-Emotional RTI forward in your school or district.

• Be prepared to report out.

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Discussion Group: Social-Emotional RTI: What Training Do You Need?

• What training topics would you like to see offered to support Social-Emotional RTI?

• How would you like those trainings to be offered: As stand-alone trainings? As part of a multi-series “Social-Emotional RTI Academy”? Another format altogether?

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