RTI & ELLsREAD 651Group CDr. Schneider

The RTI model

Tier 3Tier 2Tier 1

The RTI ModelTier 1: whole class instruction with

classroom teacher or content area teacher; CBM used to (dis)confirm risk status of a student

Tier 2: small group instruction with classroom teacher or content area teacher; CBM used to assess responsiveness to intervention

Tier 3: one-one-one instruction for ELL with SPED or TESOL teacher; CBM used to assess responsiveness, to formulate individualized intervention, to establish IEP

Relevance of RTI for ELLs• Summary of Statistics

Over 4.7 million school-aged children were identified as limited English proficient

Nearly 10 percent of K-12 public school population (National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition, 2003)

Students with Limited English Proficiency speak over 400 language

Nearly 80% speak Spanish, 2% Vietnamese, 1.6% Hmong, 1% Cantonese, and 1% Korean (Kindler, 2002)

Relevance of RTI for ELLsClearinghouse:

http://nces.ed.gov/programs/quarterly/vol_6/6_3/3_4.asp

Specific aspects to consider for ELLs• Considerations when educating ELLs and

creating interventions for them Difference in language proficiencies in BICS and

CALP Previous educational background and experience Academic expectations in home culture Socioeconomic status Age of arrival in the United States Reasons and conditions under which ELL came to

US Home and second Language proficiency Stage of Acculturation (see culture shock phases) Cultural Competency

Specific aspects to consider for ELLs

Cultural match of intervention and student is important (Tharp, 1991)

Evidence-based practices are not filtered for ELLs and for cultural specifics (Linan-Thompson et al., 2007)

=> overrepresentation of ELLs in SPED may not be achieved

Pre-requisites for effective RTIAll teachers are trained to select

from a variety of evidence-based practices

All teachers are trained to use effective CBM procedures to document results

Interventions are decided as a team

Intervention results for each intervention at each tier are conducted and documented over a 14-16-week period

Benefits of RTI for ELLsProvides focused instruction with

evidence-based materials and methods for remediation by all teachers, not just TESOL or SPED teacher

Helps prevent over-representation of ELLs in SPED if appropriate interventions are used

Provides a framework to address struggling learners’ needs faster than in discrepancy-based models.

Links instructional planning with the identification of students needing services

Challenges of RTI for ELLsMany interventions have been tested with

native speakers only and not with ELLs; thus there are few interventions out there that fulfill the standard of “evidence-based”

No evidence-based interventions available yet for math, social studies, sciences

Not enough evidence-based strategies available for secondary school where there are different teachers for different subjects

Most teachers are not trained in ELL-specific RTI intervention techniques

What evidence-based practices for ELLs are available?

Reading Achievement (What Works Clearinghouse, 2008) Eight total interventions with “Potentially positive

effects” Examples: Enhanced Proactive Reading, Instructional

Conversations and Literature Logs One intervention with “No discernable effects”

Example: Read NaturallyEnglish Language Development

Only one with “Positive effects” Example: Peer Tutoring and Response Groups

Four with “Potentially positive effects” Examples: Arthur, Bilingual Cooperative Integrated

Reading and Comprehension One intervention with “No discernable effects”

Example: Enhanced Proactive ReadingCurrently no interventions for ELL in Math

achievement (NASP 2008)

CBM Performance Measures for ELLsIDEL: Indicatores Dinamicos del

Exito en la Lectura (Good, Cummins & Baker, 2006) , see http://dibels@uoregon.edu

Medidas Incrementales de Destrezas Essenciales http://www.aimsweb.com

(Spanish version of a CBM)

Best progress monitor is…

Selected resourcesOther internet CBM resources (30 years of

research)Intervention Central-CBM Warehouse:

www.interventioncentral.org/htmdocs/cbwarehouse.shtml

National Center on Student Progress Monitoring: www.studentprogress.org

Big Ideas in Beginning Reading: www.reading.uoregon.eduResearch Institute on Progress Monitoring www.progressmonitoring.org