Student Assistance Team Information Session
Presented by Jorge Saenz, SPED Director
October 22, 2015
Agenda
What is RtI? Purpose of SAT Meetings Changes for the 2015-16 School Year SAT Team Required Members Data Sources Online Resources Tiered Interventions Request for Assistance Packet SAT Action Plan SPED Referral Packet Screeners Parent Requests SAT Action Plans (more detail)
Interventions Tasks Data Collection Method Goal Writing
Independent Practice- Team Activity
What is RtI? Let’s look at two different definitions. Response to Intervention (RTI) is a multi-tier approach to the
early identification and support of students with learning and behavior needs. The RTI process begins with high-quality instruction and universal screening of all children in the general education classroom. Struggling learners are provided with interventions at increasing levels of intensity to accelerate their rate of learning. Progress is closely monitored to assess both the learning rate and level of performance of individual students. Educational decisions about the intensity and duration of interventions are based on individual student response to instruction.
Texas Education Agency- Response to Intervention (RtI) is an approach that schools use to help all students, including struggling learners. The RtI approach gives Texas students opportunities to learn and work at their grade level. The idea is to help all students be successful.
What is RtI?
Fabens ISD
Layman’s Terms- The Student Assistance Team (SAT) is the campus-based team entrusted with identifying the academic and/or behavioral needs of struggling students, developing targeted interventions for improvement, and monitoring the effectiveness of those interventions.
Purposes SAT meetings serve the following purposes:
Provide schools with legal safeguards/protection
Provide immediate interventions for students
Increase & enhance teacher capacity, skills, pedagogy
Improve student performance
Foster atmosphere of collaboration
Allow for progress monitoring
Ensure that all measures exhausted before SPED referral
Changes for the 2015-16 school year No longer called TAT, now SAT- focus is on student needs
Flow Chart for SAT process (Tiers 1 & 2)- see handout
RtI Triangles (elementary and secondary levels)
Not an exhaustive list
Will be sent to you in coming weeks
Referrals for SPED will be closely scrutinized
The SPED department may reject parent referral and send referral back to campus SAT Team- PWN
SAT team will develop and implement interventions
Progress monitoring key component
Speech checklist will be part of the Request for Assistance packet
Will be divided into Language, Articulation, Fluency & Voice sections
Will be sent to you in coming weeks
Use of screeners will be made available as a Tier 2 intervention
Academic (Reading, Writing, Math)- Diagnosticians
Speech- Language and Articulation only
Diagnosticians and SLP’s will become part of the Tier 2 SAT meetings
Why make changes??? Special Education
Performance-Based Monitoring Analysis System (PBMAS)
Performance levels (PL)- 0, 1, 2, 3, 4
0 is better than 2, 3, 4
Two indicators of major concern:
Indicator 13- SPED Representation
State Goal- 0- 8.5% of total student enrollment
Fabens ISD (2015)- 10.5%= PL 1
Fabens ISD (projected 2016)- 10.7%- PL 1 but close to PL 2
Indicator 16- SPED LEP Representation
No more than 1% point difference
Data from 2013-14
LEP rate for all Fabens ISD students= 41.9%
LEP rate for SPED students= 48.8%
Difference was 6.9= PL 2 but close to PL 3
Point is that too many students are in special education and too many of those students are identified as LEP!
SAT Team Required Members
Please submit your campus team list to me by October 30th
Administrator
Counselor
Teacher(s) of Record
Regular Education Teacher
LPAC Representative
SAT Team Members- Others to Consider
Dyslexia Teacher
Instructional Facilitator
Parent
Other Core Area Teachers
School Nurse
PE Teacher
Diagnosticians- Upon completion of screeners only
SLP’s- Upon completion of screeners only
Data Sources- What should be reviewed (not an exhaustive list)?
Home life situation
Discipline referrals/incidents
Parent information
Health screening
Medical conditions
Attendance history
Retention history
Chronological Age
Current At-Risk Indicators
Sibling information/history
Emotional status
LEP Status
STAAR
TELPAS
IPT
DRA/EDL
Benchmark results
TPRI/Tejas Lee
Motor skills
Achieve 3000
Grades
Any other achievement data
Data Sources- What can we use to implement effective interventions?
PRIM Manual- You should have this manual at your respective campuses.
Online Resources (see next slide)
TEA Accommodations Triangle
Program summary/interventions/scaffolds- ex. Achieve 3000
Screener results/recommendations
Tiered interventions triangle
Curriculum supports- ex. TEKS Resource System
***Human capital
Any other resources available at your respective campuses.
Online Resources (not an exhaustive list)
Texas Education Agency Response to Intervention http://tea.texas.gov/Curriculum_and_Instructional_Programs/Special_Education/Programs_and_Services/Response_to_Intervention/
Intervention Central http://www.interventioncentral.org/
Response to Intervention- Special Education Guide http://www.specialeducationguide.com/pre-k-12/response-to-intervention/
RtI Action Network http://www.rtinetwork.org/learn/what/whatisrti
What Works Clearinghouse http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/
Tiered Interventions
A tiered triangle will be sent to you in the coming weeks once the triangle is finalized.
Assistance with what can be offered at different tiers (not an exhaustive list) Tier 1- 85-90% of student needs met
Tier 2- 5-10% of student needs met
Tier 3- 1-5% of student needs met
Request for Assistance Packet
Fill out paperwork as completely as possible!
Request for Assistance
Interventions- Can be filled out by teacher AND parent
General Ed Teacher Input- Can be filled out by multiple teachers
Current information- Pay close attention to scientific, research-based interventions
Additional Information
Health Screening- rule out hearing/vision issues
SAT Action Plan
Filled out at SAT meeting
Heart of the SAT process
Multiple action plans can be filled out for same student
Monitoring of plan key!!
If not proceeding to Tier 3 (SPED referral), only first 2 pages need to be completed
Set timeline for follow-up meetings and stick to those timelines!
Action Plan
Goal Page- observable, measureable and specific goals
Environmental and Cultural Factors Worksheet- to be completed by entire SAT team
Direct Observation- may be conducted by any member of the SAT team
Psychological Evaluation Checklist- for psychological evaluations only
SPED Referral Packet
Fill out ONLY for SPED referrals
Checklist page
Referral for SPED Services- Pay close attention to Reason for Referral and Subject Area
Information from Classroom Teacher or Parent- both can fill out form
Parent Questionnaire
Attendance Report
Speech Referral- This part of the packet will be moved to the Request for Assistance section and will be revised Changes to be shared in November
Screeners Now part of Tier 2 process
Academic
Reading, Writing and Math
Completed by diagnosticians
Speech
Language & Articulation
No screeners for Fluency and Voice
Completed by SLP’s
Can be requested if SAT team has questions as to whether a SPED referral is warranted
Case-by-case basis
Not appropriate for majority of students
Not meant to delay a referral
Helps provide SAT team with more specific data/interventions
Interventions recommended need to documented on SAT Action Plan
Consent for Screener form (see attachment) Parental permission required for use of screener
Completed by TAT Coordinator with Parent
Send to diagnostician/SLP immediately upon parental consent
Timeline for completion is 30 school days (at the latest)
Parent Requests
Parents have right to request a SPED evaluation Discuss with parent reason for request at campus level
Appropriateness
Proactive interventions
Fill out Parent Written Request form with parent and submit signed form to Mr. Saenz immediately (see attachment)
If sent to SPED, referral can be sent back for further interventions at campus level
Will only be considered for rejection if referral is clearly inappropriate
Majority of parental referrals will be completed
SAT Action Plan (more detail)
Description of Interventions
List of interventions to assist student
What has been tried AND what will be implemented?
Tiered Triangle can help you with this section
Examples- After school tutoring, Saturday Camps, Lexia, small group assistance, ICU, Grammar Bytes, Parent Contact, Thinking Maps, SIOP, etc., etc., etc.
Task/Resources Needed/Person(s) Responsible
Identify tasks that you would like for the student to be able to do
List any resources needed
Who will assist the student carry out the task(s) developed?
Examples
To able to complete assignments/Use of timer & tangible rewards/Regular Education Teacher & Counselor
To improve in reading comprehension skills/Thinking Maps, Read 180 instruction, & STAAR Coach workbooks/Regular Education Teacher
SAT Action Plan continued (more detail)
Data Collection Method
How is data being collected on intervention(s) utilized?
Examples- Lexile reports, benchmark results, student work samples, discipline referrals, attendance reports, grades, etc., etc., etc.
Academic/Behavioral Goal(s)
State clearly what you want for the student to be able to do
Related to task, but more in depth, targeted & specific
Documented intervention(s) to be used
Set timeline for goal(s) developed
No more than four goals
Goal(s) must be measureable and specific
Improve reading skills- Is that measurable?
Improve reading Lexile level to 800/Achieve 3000, Reading Lab, After-school Tutoring
Read 50 sight words from Dolch/Fry list- Small group instruction, flash cards, Peer Tutor
Let’s Practice!
Case Study #1- Juan is a 2nd grader reading at the preprimer level. He can read 11 sight words from the Dolch List. He has poor phonetic and phonemic awareness skills. He also has a tendency to squirm in his seat, fails to complete assignments on a consistent basis, and tends to bother other students.
Case Study #2- Juanita is a 9th grader struggling in reading. She has not passed the STAAR Reading test since 4th grade, is currently failing in all core areas except for math, and has shied away from hanging out with her friends or talking to her teachers.
Thank you for your time, attention, positive attitude and professionalism!