Do I Have a Part in the RtI Process?

Eating vegetables, wearing bicycle helmets, getting enough sleep and school are all good for kids. Right? What if you found out that the vegetables at your family dinner table were dangerously polluted with toxic chemicals, would you go ahead and serve them? That bicycle helmet your nine year old received for Christmas has a flaw in the design. Would you go ahead and allow that nine year old to wear it? Stupid questions, right?

Then why would we continue to use a system that is not best for kids? We would not! That goes against all that is valued by most in education. Response to Intervention, RtI, is not new. Idea 2004 and all the research that went into its compilation, ardantly reveal the potential dangers of the 30 year old discrepancy model.

RtI is a strange bird. It is not a federal mandate and does not carry with it the all too familiar tag of accountability. States cannot require school districts to follow the 30 year old discrepancy model of identifying students with special needs. The proposed regulation, suggested in IDEA 2004, does permit states to prohibit districts from using the discrepancy model. So, where do you stand?

First question - Is the principal on the campus an instructional leader? You must answer yes or no. If your answer is "no," then get in your travel machine and set the date to circa 1950. I'm not judging only reporting the obvious. If you answer "yes," then proceed.

Second question- To what extent does the instructional leader play a role in implementing RtI?
No going back to your time machine. Diagnosing learning concerns and prescribing solutions may require re allotment of staff, schedule changes, allocation of funds and support for proven- evidence based instructional models. Who is in charge of the decisions and resources needed to accomplish such lofty requirements? Hopefully, the principal has some influence over why and how the above should occur.

Third question- Is learning the direct result of instruction? John E. McCook contends that "Learning is the direct result of the intervention of three sets of variables- student skills, the curriculum and the instruction provided to the child" (The RtI Guide). The instructional leader must be at the helm overseeing the integrity of instruction and supporting changes that influence learning in a positive direction.

Life is a collaborative effort or we would all be hermits. Let me know what you think. What role does the principal play in the RtI process?

Making Rounds

What are the students doing? This question is crucial to our understanding of effective teaching. As principals and central office administrators, we need to focus not on what the teacher is doing, but what the students are doing. Recently, a teacher wrote me that we have spent so many years training teachers to be the "doers" that we have forgotten the role of the student.

Phillip Schlechty's, Working on the Work, provides us with a clear picture of the types of student engagement. Schlechty illustrates five types of student responses to a given task. At any time throughout the day we can find students that are authentically engaged or immersed in a value added activity that they see as beneficial to their lives. Students can be ritual engaged to simply get the grade. Extending effort to complete a task simply to avoid negative consequences is the description of the passive compliant response. Students can respond to a task by disengaging or creating their own task while disrupting each other. These students are responding by retreating or rebelling.

This month I would like to shift from Working on the Work to The Three Minute Classroom Walkthrough. While I find any type of prescriptive solution to be contrary to successful instruction, I do appreciate those researches that give me a way of looking at things with a new pair of glasses.

Take a look at the 3C's presented in the The Three Minute Classroom Walkthrough, content context and cognitive type. Take away references to teacher action and acknowledge the 3C's as crucial components of student engagement.

Content: Do the students know what they are learning? Are they aware of the skills, knowledge or concepts they are going to be learning?

Context: What are the students doing? Under what type of conditions are they pursueing understanding of the content?

Cognitive Type: What level of understanding are the students going to reach with the content? Knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis or evaluation.

I agree with Scheltchy, that no one can sustain an authentic response level throughout the entire day. Nor is it reasonable or sound instruction to assume all understanding takes place at the top of Bloom's Taxonomy.

I have to ask myself how I would respond if I shadowed a student throughout any given day. What percentage of my day would I spend authentically engaged at a high level of understanding and interest?

What is the Daily?

The daily life of a principal. So what is it like to be responsible for the education, safety and well being of students? Share your thoughts and ideas.

How do you stay focused on instruction while working through the logistical web of everyday operations? Delegation is a great tool. How do you ensure delegated projects are completed on time and with quality?

Admin. meetings- when do you meet? How do you keep those pesky interruptions from halting your meeting?