Midwest Instructional Leadership Council Newsletter Archive

miLc Matters

Building and sustaining capacity for increasing the achievement of all children.

Volume #1, Newsletter #4

November 2011

IN THIS ISSUE

Implementing RtI at the Early Childhood Level

Midwest Leadership Summit V - Leadership Strand Overview

Curriculum Alignment

Hello,

Welcome to the November issue of miLc Matters. In this issue Amanda VanDerHeyden addresses.... Collette Fischer, UW-Madison graduate student, provides an overview of the Midwest Leadership Summit V Leadership Strand... Brad Niebling continues his ongoing discussion regarding alignment between curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

It is our hope that you will find this issue of miLc Matters of value to you as you work to support and increase learning outcomes for all students.

QUICK LINKS

miLc Website

News and Updates

Upcoming Events

Secondary Applications of Response to Intervention: Emerging Frameworks and Effective Practices

November 7, 2011 Stoney Creek Inn Onalaska, Wisconsin For more information please click here

Second Annual Early Learning/Early Childhood Research to Practice Institute March 2, 2012 Wilderness Territory Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin For more information please email John H Faust at jhfaust.milc@gmail.com

6th Annual Midwest Leadership Summit October 1-2, 2012 River Center St. Paul, Minnesota

Implementing RtI at the Early Childhood/Early Learning Level by Amanda VanDerHeyden

I often imagine that if I were an early childhood teacher or administrator, I might wonder what the interest in response to intervention (RtI) systems is all about. After all, the conceptual underpinnings of RtI are the same as the conceptual underpinnings of early intervention (EI). That is, RtI seeks to identify children who are struggling to meet important learning milestones and provide effective intervention that causes those children to have greater success in their current learning environments and prevents longer term learning failures. The conceptual similarities between RtI and EI make EI settings a natural host for RtI implementation. However, to implement RtI well, most early childhood teams must consider the following requirements and incorporate into their instructional routines and practices.

1. The use of RtI requires that essential learning outcomes be specified and linked to instruction and assessment. Specifying essential learning outcomes offers teachers and administrators an opportunity to gain consensus about which learning and development targets merit particular priority at certain age levels. This consensus is important because it provides stability across classrooms and the opportunity (and expectation) that all children will be equipped with a certain skill set prior to the next school year.

2. RtI requires direct child data for decision making (see Table 1). Data are collected to make three types of decisions, (1) Who is at risk? (2) What type of intervention is needed? And (3) What are the effects of instruction and intervention? To answer these questions, data are needed that accurately reflect current child performance and forecast what future learning will be without substantial instructional changes for essential learning outcomes at preschool. These data form the basis for problem-solving discussions at the program level to improve learning outcomes program wide, to determine where resources should be allocated, and to set and evaluate mastery of instructional targets. These data also form the basis for troubleshooting individualized child instruction and evaluating the effects of intervention efforts on a child’s learning progress.

3. RtI requires that adults respond to child data to make instructional adjustments and ensure that key outcomes are improving over time. Child data are examined to determine when supplemental instruction or intervention should be initiated, adjusted for intensity, or discontinued.

Midwest Leadership Summit V -Leadership Strand Overview by Collette Fischer, UW-Madison

The Midwest Instructional Leadership Council’s 2011 Summit V included a strand that focused on the significance of leadership in the Response to Intervention (RtI) systems change model. Facilitated by George Batsche and Judy Elliott, nationally known speakers at the forefront of the field, the Leadership Strand charged participants to be resourceful and effective leaders in their school systems’ implementation process. Batsche and Elliott presented the Leadership Strand in a dynamic manner, encouraging participants to consider practical approaches to RtI roadblocks.

It goes without saying that the common theme throughout the two-day Strand was “leadership.” Batsche and Elliott shared much insight into the roles and responsibilities of effective leaders. First and foremost, it was stressed that an effective leader is highly proficient at problem-solving. Such leaders resolve to take a problem-solving approach in every aspect and at every level of their work. According to Batsche, a strong leader recognizes that “every moment is a teachable moment.”

Furthermore, leaders were urged to be mindful of the very nature of people and change. Take home messages included “go slow to go fast” and “it’s about gentle pressure, relentlessly applied.” As the presenters pointed out, people resist change when it coincides with something being lost; when they are proposing a change to a particular system, good leaders think about what the other stakeholders stand to lose. Being considerate change-agents allows for collaboration and consensus – key components to effective implementation.