ERF Tier-2 Intervention Guidelines

MA 12-8-8

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ERF Tier-1 and Tier-2 Intervention Guidelines

Overview

The purpose of Early Reading First is to train teachers how to deliverappropriate and sufficient instructional capacity that leads to improved child outcomes in pre-literacy and oral language development. Instructional capacity is built by providing effective general and more intensive differentiated instruction dependent on child need. In order to structure such a system, our Wy-ERF project has two levels of instruction: Tier 1 and Tier 2. Tier 1 instruction is universal in that every child in the preschool class receives the same instruction of pre-literacy and oral language skills. The purpose of Tier-2 intervention is to accelerate the academic outcomes of preschool children who are performing below benchmark on assessments by increasing the intensity of instruction.When teacher fidelity of implementation checklists indicate that teachers are skilled at Tier-1 instruction, it is appropriate for theTier-2 implementationprocess to begin.

Tier-1

A Tier-1 developmentally appropriate preschool environment is exemplified by effective teacher instruction in the early literacy areas ofphonological awareness and print knowledge and the active, thoughtful extension of oral language skills. Teachers create a developmentally appropriate environment using Creative Curriculum, Kansas Early Childhood, and Head Start guidelines. Tier-1 instruction is structured around the evidenced-based Scholastic Early Childhood Program (SECP) Curriculum. Teachers use the teacher's manual to purposefully plan lessons for circle, small group, free play (center), and storybook reading.Additionally, effective teaching includes skillful delivery of instructional content. Throughout the day, teachers use following defined steps of scaffolded instruction:1) model desired behavior or skill, 2) provide guided practice in which teacher(s) and children practice the behavior or skill together, and 3) present opportunities for independent practice in which the children demonstrate the ability to perform the behavior or skill on their own.

Tier-2

Two Tier-2 Components

Tier-2 instruction has three major components to consider. They are 1) the methodology for increasing intensity of instruction, 2) skill content of what will be delivered, and 3) intervention to be used.It should be emphasized that these three components provide a menu of possibilities for Tier-2 instruction. Teachers will chose from these categories and learn to implement only the chosen intervention and delivery methodology.

Increasing intensity. There are three research-based methodology options for increasing the intensity of instruction that ERF will use.These options can be used separately or combined with one-another. One optionis double-dose. During the double-dose lesson, the teacher repeats content that was taught earlier in the day. The repetition of a skill set gives children extra time to practice, learn, and master basic skills that have been recently taught. A double-dose lesson should be shorter than the original lesson and should last no longer than 10 minutes. The teacher may need to prioritize the most important and/or easiest portion of the lesson to repeat.A second methodological option to increase intensity of instruction isgrouping size.By implementing intervention that is individualized or with a small groupsize of four or fewer children, teachers have the opportunity to provide more focused scaffolded instruction. The child's opportunity to respond (practice the skill) can be dramatically increased with a change in grouping size. This methodology is usually has a shorter time in instruction. The instructional intervention can be as short as 30 seconds with quick individualized intervention that is repeated multiple times throughout the day or as long as 7 to 8 minutes when a small group of children are gathered together for an intervention session. A third methodological option to increase intensity of instruction is to narrow skill set being taught. For example, in order to learn the concept of rhyme, children must understand the concepts of beginning, middle, and end. A pre-skill lesson(s) for rhyming would be to teach the child(ren) where the beginning, middle, and end of a word are found. Another example of narrowing the skill set is to restrict the scope of the skill being taught. For example, if the ultimate goal is for a child to learn the letters in her name, the increased intense focus of instruction could be to master the first letter of the name instead of all of the letters in the name.Instruction with a narrow skill set should also be completed within a short time frame of less than 6 to 7 minutes. The important focus is on a very small skill set which is repeatedly practiced.

The best methodologicaldelivery option toincrease intensity of instruction depends upon 1) number or children who need Tier-2 intervention, 2) the number staff available to provide Tier-2 instruction, and 3) the level of intervention that is needed. For example, if over half of the children in the classroom need Tier-2 intervention, the individualized option is probably not practical. A double-dose repeating the materials learned during a second small group might be the most feasible methodology for increasing intensity. Available personnel are another consideration when choosing a methodology.For example, if it is determined by the classroom team that one teacher from the team will become responsible for Tier-2 intervention, teacher preference of methodology and the team's decisions about the best time to provide Tier-2 instruction should be taken into consideration. A combination of small group with a narrowed skill set might be the best option.For children who need the most intensive interventionnarrowing the skills set is usually a "must-do". The narrowed skill set is best provided on an individualized basis or in a very small group.

Skill content. The second major component of Tier-2 is the content or skill set to be delivered. This content is based on each child's progress monitoring data. Progress monitoring data provides specific information about the child's letter knowledge, phonological awareness knowledge, and expressive oral language.

Interventions. Regardless or the method of delivery or skill content, Tier-2 interventions should be multisensory and as concrete as possible. Multisensory means that children do more than just look and/or listen during instruction. There is active involvement that uses more than one sense, movement, or memory aid. For example, a concept set to music is a memory aid that uses rhythm and auditory and sometimes motion and visual. During a multisensory activity children might 1) write and say the letter they are writing (fine motor, sight, & speech), 2) write the letter in the air while saying the letter (large motor movement & speech), 3) raise hand when a word that begins with a certain letter appears (large motor movement & visual), 4) trace a letter on sandpaper (feel, fine or large motor, & visual), 5) clap syllables (feel, move, hear), or 6) move a series of objects while counting (fine motor movement, visual, & speech). Prompts such as pictures and objects should be used a frequently as possible.

The matrix below lists each intervention.The appendix includes procedures for each intervention.

Suggested Intervention Strategies by Skill and Intensity Methodology
Methodology for Increasing Intensity of Instruction
Skills / Double Dose / Smaller Group (4 or fewer) / Individualized / Reduced Skill Set
Phonological Awareness / Repeat of the PA activities from small group / Phonological Awareness Routine (PAR) / Pocket Intervention Card (PIC)
Phonological Awareness Routine (PAR) / Pocket Intervention Card (PIC)
Phonological Awareness Routine (PAR)
Letter Knowledge / Repeat the LK activities from small group / Review, Introduce, Practice (RIP) Letter Review/ Multisensory letter Introduction /Practice / Pocket Intervention Card (PIC)
Review, Introduce, Practice (RIP) Letter Review/ Multisensory letter Introduction /Boxed Letter Practice Sheets / Pocket Intervention Card (PIC)
Review, Introduce, Practice (RIP) Letter Review/ Multisensory letter Introduction /Boxed Letter Practice Sheets
Expressive
Vocabulary / Repeat the expressive vocabulary activities from circle or small group / Common Word Intervention Procedures (CWIP)
Book Reading Scripted Vocabulary Response / Pocket Intervention Card (PIC)
Common Word Intervention Procedures (CWIP)
Book Reading Scripted Vocabulary Response / Pocket Intervention Card (PIC)
Common Word Intervention Procedures (CWIP)
Book Reading Scripted Vocabulary Response

Implementation Overview

  1. Children identified for Tier-2 will have been assessed on standardized assessments and are classified as below benchmark.
  2. Classroom teachers will have been assessed with Circle, Center, Small Group, and Storybook reading Fidelity of Implementation Checklists and received an 80% combined score average score across all teachers and content areas.
  3. The Tier-2 team of teachers, mentor coach, and intervention coach will meet to look at data and number of children who need Tier-2 intervention.
  4. Based on discussion, a Classroom Intervention Plan Tier-2 (CIPT) will be created (See appendix for sample classroom plan). The plan will include 1) the methodology for increasing intensity of instruction, 2) skill content of what will be delivered, 3) intervention(s) that will be used, 4) who will provide the intervention(s), and 5) when the intervention will be provided during the instructional day.
  5. Based on the team's CIPT choices, teachers and mentor coaches will receive Tier-2 training. There trainings will include
  6. Training and reliability checks focused on how to complete progress monitoring assessments.
  7. Guided practice in using progress monitoring data to determine Tier-2 intervention.
  8. Guided practice in the creation of lesson plans for children in Tier-2 intervention
  9. Training in the expectation of documentation for additional instruction.
  10. Additional training in the use of small group instructional techniques
  11. Training in the use of individualized student skill work.
  12. Intervention coaches will model strategies for teachers, observe teacher implementation and, collect fidelity of implementation data. Mentor coaches will also provide teacher feedback.

Roles and Responsibilities
JuniperGardens / EAGLE / Sites
  • Assess children on standardized assessments.
  • Assist in conducting monthly progress monitoring,
  • Determine below benchmark children
  • Provide Tier-2 training
  • Provide intervention coach who will work with mentors and teachers to plan and implement strategies
  • Conduct fidelity of implementation for Tier-2 intervention
/
  • Provide mentor-time to work with intervention coach to plan Tier-2 implementation for each classroom that meets Tier-2 conditions.
  • Assist in conducting monthly progress monitoring
  • Through the process of coaching activity reports, mentor coaches will report on the use of Tier-2 implementation
/
  • Assist in conducting progress monitoring.
  • Based on data, teachers will plan Tier-2 intervention with mentor and intervention coaches.
  • Teachers will provide Tier-2 intervention.
  • Prior to the end of the 2010 school year, classrooms will independently conduct progress monitoring, plan, and implement Tier-2 instruction.

Appendix

Phonological Awareness Sequence of Introduction

Phonological Awareness Routine (PAR)

Letter Knowledge Sequence of Introduction

Review, Introduce, Practice (RIP)

Letter Review/ Multisensory letter Introduction /Letter Practice

Common Word Intervention Procedures (CWIP)

Book Reading Scripted Vocabulary Response

Pocket Intervention Card (PIC)

Sample Classroom Intervention Plan Tier-2 (CIPT)
Phonological Awareness

Phonological Awareness is the ability to manipulate the sounds of a language. It requires separating or blending different units including: word, syllable, groups of letters, and individual sounds.

Sequence of Phonological Awareness Skills
Skill / Pre-skill
1. Separate sentences or titles into words. (e.g., clap out words in a title) / Concept of word – Makes up sentences
Understanding terms-start, beginning, middle, last, end
2. Separate words into syllables or beats (e.g., clap out syllables in words) / Concept of syllable – Natural short pause within word. The technical definition of a syllable is a group of letters with one vowel sound.
Understanding terms-start, beginning, middle, last, end
3. Recognize rhyming words. (e.g., children can correctly identify words that rhyme.) / Concept of rhyme – two or more words that sound alike at the end
Understanding terms same and different
Understanding terms start-beginning, middle, last, end
4. Generate rhyming words. (e.g., children make up new rhyme with real or nonsense words) / Concept of rhyme – two or more words that sound alike at the end
Understanding terms-same and different
Understanding terms-start, beginning, middle, last, end
5. Recognize words that start with the same sound. / Concept of alliteration- repetition of the same sounds at the beginning of words
Understanding terms- start and beginning
6. Generate words that start with the same sound. / Concept of alliteration- repetition of the same sounds at the beginning of words
Understanding terms-start and beginning
7. Recognize words that end with the same sound. / Understanding terms-end and last
8. Generate words that end with the same sound. / Understanding terms-end and last
9. Segment words into sounds. (e.g., the sounds in cat are /c/-/a/-/t/) / Concept of phoneme – smallest sound unit
Understanding terms-take apart and separate
10. Blend sounds into words. (e.g., /c/-/a/-/t/, put together says cat) / Concept of phoneme – smallest sound unit
Understanding terms-put together and blend
11. Move sounds around to create new words.( e.g., If I take the letter c off of the word cat and put on the letter h, I have the word hat.) / Understanding terms-delete, take-off, replace

Phonological Awareness Routine (PAR)

The reading research consistently reports that the children who have good phonological awareness skills in kindergarten become good readers in later years. Phonological awareness is a learned skill and should be taught to young children. Phonological awareness skills are sequential in natureand lead children from the pre-reading into the beginning reading stages of development. The purpose of this intervention is to improve phonological awareness skills. The intervention is meant to last 7-8 minutes.

Procedure / Example
1) Select at the lowest level phonological awareness skill that child(ren) need to master / Child is not able to clap the words in a title or identify a word from a letter.
Select the lowest phonological awareness skill
2) Start instruction with a review of the subskill. Continue to work with this subskill until the child(ren) is able to correctly answer questions about the subskill(s). This may require a lesson or more of working on the subskill until they are mastered. / "Today we are going work with words in title of several books. What is one of the words in the title, Clifford Goes to School?"
"Show me the beginning of the title. Now show me the end of the title.?
3) Introduce and practice the phonologicalawareness skills.
Use the "I do it; We do it; You do it" / "Let's clap out words in title of several books."
4) Have the (each) child demonstrate the skill. / "Now I want to see you clap out the words in the title." If a group, go around to each child in the group.
5) Extend with a more phonological awareness manipulating. / "Let's take away the first word in title. What is the rest of the title. In Clifford Goes to School, the first part of the title is Clifford."
6) Quick review of the lesson. / "Today, we worked on clapping the words in the titles of books. Let's clap one last title together."

Letter Knowledge Sequence

Alphabet knowledge is a major predictor for future reading success. The following is a suggested sequence of skills for improving letter knowledge achievement.

Sequence of Letter Knowledge Skills
Skill / Pre-skill
1. Sing the alphabet.
2. Say the alphabet with the middle letters l,m,n,o,p clearly and separately said. / Concept of letter – letters are combined to make words and tell a meaning. Ex., Cat has three letters. The combination of the letters in the right order names an animal.
3.The child can recognize the letters in his or her first name. / Concept of letter – letters are combined to make words and tell a meaning.
Concept of upper case – Block or capital letters are at beginning of some words.
Concept of lower case – most printed letter are lower case.
4. The child can write the letters in his or her first name. / Concept of letter – letters are combined to make words and tell a meaning.
Concept of upper case – Block or capital letters are at beginning of some words.
Concept of lower case – most printed letter are lower case.
5. The child can recognize the letters in his or her last name. / Concept of letter – letters are combined to make words and tell a meaning.
Concept of upper case – Block or capital letters are at beginning of some words.
Concept of lower case – most printed letter are lower case.
6. The child can write the letters in his or her last name. / Concept of letter – letters are combined to make words and tell a meaning.
Concept of upper case – Block or capital letters are at beginning of some words.
Concept of lower case – most printed letter are lower case.
7. The child can recognize and write the current upper and lower case letters of the week. / Concept of letter – letters are combined to make words and tell a meaning.
Concept of upper case – Block or capital letters are at beginning of some words.
Concept of lower case – most printed letter are lower case.
8. The child can recognize and write the upper and lower case letters that have been introduced over the last month. / Concept of letter – letters are combined to make words and tell a meaning.
Concept of upper case – Block or capital letters are at beginning of some words.
Concept of lower case – most printed letter are lower case.
9. The child can recognize and write the upper and lower case letters that have been introduced over the three months. / Concept of letter – letters are combined to make words and tell a meaning.
Concept of upper case – Block or capital letters are at beginning of some words.
Concept of lower case – most printed letter are lower case.

Procedures for Review, Introduce, Practice (RIP)