RTI Wire: You Site for RTI Resources

RTI Wire has some fantastic resources, with links to school districts around the country who are implementing RTI.

Power Point on RTI in Middle School and High School

Click here to view.

Jr. High in-service and OIP information update

At today's in-service, Mrs. Marquez distributed and discussed our building's OIP timeline with goals for the next four years.  The following are updates on BLT goals for year one:

Year 1

1.a.1. Research, select and adopt intervention framework

• Update - Mrs. Cindy Houk updated staff on Reading Plus, for which WJH is serving as a pilot school. Our inclusion staff, as well as Mr. John Knight and Mrs. Jenny Silcott, received training for Reading Plus last week.  Last Friday, students were tested and registered for the program.  Reading Plus targets the needs of students in the third grade and higher, and is a potential framework for our building's reading RTI.  The program correlates with Bloom's taxonomy and focuses on creating better silent, independent readers while improving their comprehension. 

1.a.3. Communicate goals of implementation to all staff.

• Update - Staff member have been apprised of the OIP goals for the next four years.  Also, Mr. Patrick Williams has included a link on the WJH web page for this blog in order to keep staff up-to-date on the process.

1.b.1. and 2.a.1.  Define and communicate expectations of systematic assessments and their use for each grade level/subject.
1.b.2. and 2.a.2.  Continue development and revision of short-cycle assessments.

• Update - Jr. High staff members have completed short-cycle assessments for all four grading periods.  Teachers will continue their revision of quarterly assessments as needed. 

2.a.4  Provide HQPD on creating assessments that include higher order thinking skills.

• Update - All Jr. High staff members have attended training on utilizing higher-order thinking skills/questions on short-cycle assessments. 

"FreeReading" intervention resource

While browsing the web this weekend I found this amazing site, aimed at literacy development in grades K-3.  I'm pasting their general information below, with a link.  Even though we are a middle school, I felt that many of the activities on FreeReading could be useful to our lower readers.  I also wanted to make this information available to our co-workers in the Primary and Intermediate buildings!

"FreeReading is a free, high-quality, open-source reading program addressing literacy development for grades K-3. Leveraging the collective wisdom of researchers, teachers, reading coaches, and other education and industry professionals, FreeReading provides a high-quality, cost-effective alternative to static materials. By establishing a foundation of hundreds of research-based lessons and materials that users can download and use for free, FreeReading has created the framework for intervention programs supporting K-6 literacy. The collective wisdom within FreeReading is invaluable and can be more beneficial than any one reading program.

Schools and teachers everywhere can use the complete, 40-week, research-based intervention program for K-1 students, or use the library of lessons to supplement existing curriculum in phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, comprehension, and writing.


The research base for FreeReading includes the 2000 National Reading Panel research concerning the five Big ideas in Beginning Reading (Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Vocabulary, Fluency, and Comprehension). Review the FAQ for additional information.


FreeReading truly is free. The materials on it are free for you to Review, Download, Print and Teach what's already here, or Contribute Comments and new Lessons to the FreeReading site."

The IRIS Center for Training Enhancements

Visit the IRIS Center for Training Enhancements for free online interactive resources that translate research about the education of students with disabilities into practice. Their materials cover a wide variety of evidence-based topics, including behavior, RTI, learning strategies, and progress monitoring.

(RTI and progress monitoring webinars can be found here.)

Total RTI Website and Information

Fifth grade math teacher Rhonda Henry sent me the following email with fantastic information on RTI.  Please click on the link highlighted below to learn more:

"Several of us went to the RTI conference in Columbus. I have found several things on their website  very informative.  I wish I would have read "A Simple Explanation" before our DLT meetings. There is also an "Academic Intervention Handbook" that contains interventions for 16 of the most common student deficiencies. Another clarification for me: an intervention MUST have instruction. That is the difference between accommodations, modifications, and interventions."

WJH Ohio Improvement Process Reading and Math Goals and Action Steps

District Reading Goal:  By 2012, 90% of all students grades K-12 will meet or exceed proficient levels on the OAT/OGT/Local Assessments in reading and increase the students with disabilities passage rate by 10% each year over the previous year's score.

District Math Goal:  By 2012, 85% of all students in grades K-12 will meet or exceed proficient levels on the OAT/OGT/Local Assessments in reading and increase the students with disabilities passage rate by 10% each year over the previous year's score.

WJH Action Steps: 

• Research, select, and adopt intervention framework.
• Update:  WJH is researching RTI (Response to Intervention) frameworks.  Mrs. Suzanne Holderness and Mr. Matt Murphy recently attended a two-day RTI training in Columbus, and made an excellent presentation on RTI to the staff at last week's in-service. 
• Communicate goals of implementation to all staff.
• Update:  Mrs. Melissa Marquez communicated OIP goals to the Junior High staff at the in-service.  Staff members have been emailed the link to this blog in order to keep up-to-date, and have been encouraged to offer feedback on the process.
• Define and communicate expectations of systematic assessments and their use for each grade-level/subject.
• Update: At the in-service, subject-area meetings were first held by teachers, who completed a thorough audit of current interventions and assessments.  Each department of teachers then reported their findings in meetings with Mrs. Marquez.
• Continue development and revision of short-cycle assessments
• Update:  WJH staff members have quarterly assessments completed for the entire school year.  Our staff understands, however, that assessments are obviously subject to revision when needed.  In addition, all WJH staff recently attended a training, arranged by Mr. Dickens, on utilizing 21st century thinking skills/higher-order thinking skills when designing test questions for quarterly assessments.