Friday, March 20 , 2015, 9:00 10:05 a.m. Meeting Notes

Friday, March 20rd, 2015, 9:00 ? 10:05 a.m. Meeting Notes

Members: Ami Aalgaard, Stephanie Hubbard, Kim Kusler, Kathy Palm, Wendy Templin, Kathy VanWert, Tami Wesely, Jason Luksik, Vince Beyl, Adam Boles, Karie Hougard, Lia Henningsgaard, Travis Whittington, Jessica Hoffman, Ryan Schafer

1. Intervention Topics Behavior Intervention Manual o TAT Training dates have been set; 3:30 ? 5:00 p.m., curriculum pay and CEUs provided. March 30th at JW Smith ? Attending so far: Marquardt, Whalen, Ness, Bolte, Norgaard (JW Smith); Podmore, Bahr, Templeton, Jensen, Annette, Holmstrom (Central) April 8th at Lincoln ? Attending so far: Kieson (JW Smith); Fairchild & Whittington (Horace May); Sherwood, Johnson (C.), Sande, Johnson (D.), Hollmann (Solway) April 14th at Northern ? Anderson (Northern); Gelen, Quillin, Marsh, VanWert (Paul Bunyan) Lincoln will register by March 25th. We should have at least one more representative from Northern, as well.

o We reviewed the agenda and training materials that will be used at the TAT Behavior Intervention trainings. Tanya Adams, Adam Boles, and Kim Kusler will provide the training. Each participant will receive a Behavioral Intervention Manual.

o Lincoln Elementary will pilot the Behavior Intervention Manual. Teachers using an intervention from the manual will asked to complete a brief survey upon completion of the intervention. A request was made to revise Question #7 on the survey. Tanya, Adam, and Kim will look at this and get a revision out to Jason soon. The TAT Chair at Lincoln will complete a tracking worksheet that will provide data regarding the effectiveness of the interventions in the manual versus interventions used from other sources.

o The Behavior Intervention Manual will be posted on First Class after the first TAT training on March 30th.

o Jason requested that a district behavior intervention processes timeline or action plan be developed as a resource for staff members. Teachers need to see the direction the district is headed regarding this process, and they also need a reminder that the intervention is not a "hoop" to jump through in order to get a student special education services. The intervention is a strategy we try in order to avoid special education services if they truly are not needed. Kim will work on this timeline. Travis also suggested that the RtI flowchart be included in the reading, math, and behavior intervention manuals.

 Math Intervention Videos ? Three more math intervention videos have been posted on the district RtI website, with one more currently in development. All ten intervention videos will be posted by the end of the school year. Lia volunteered to help with this process after MCA testing is completed. Kim will send a CEU out to the principals, who can distribute it to teachers who watch the videos.

Grants o The "Advanced Guided Reading Workshop Grant, Part 2" was approved, and training is in process. Forty-six teachers from grades K-8 are attending the training, which is focused on advanced, pinpointed lesson design. o For the next round of district staff development grant funding, Kim will write a grant for teachers outside of Lincoln to attend the Houghton Mifflin Expressions Training on June 10th. (Lincoln already has a grant for their teachers.) Teachers will receive curriculum pay to attend this training.

PALS Training ? There were not enough K and 1st grade teachers interested in PALS training to make a workshop worthwhile. While there were enough Grade 2+ teachers interested, some of them were requesting just a "refresher" or a more advanced training than the one they initially received. Because buildings would have had to support a PALS training monetarily, and only one principal indicated interest in doing so, PALS training was put on hold for now. Next year, we may revisit having a training, which may entail an inhouse "refresher" or more advanced support instead of an initial training from PALS staff.

OAE Hearing Screening ? Jess Hoffmann and Stephanie Hubbard expressed a need in the district to have hearing screenings completed on all students entering the TAT intervention process, if a screening hasn't been completed within the past six months. Waiting until the child is referred to the CST for evaluation doesn't provide enough time for a hearing evaluation to be completed if a screening leads to a hearing referral. The committee decided that the staff member notifying the parents at the start of TAT-Level interventions will also inform parents that their child's hearing will be screened. Kim will add this requirement to all RtI/TAT process documentation, and revisions will be posted online.

In our discussion, Jess indicated that a vision screening must also be completed on students entering the TAT intervention process. Kim will consult with Susan and Stephanie with regarding to adding vision to the RtI/TAT document revisions.

2. Assessment, Data, & Progress

May AIMSweb Benchmarking (11th-22nd) ? Principals were asked to let Kim know if they would like the test proctors to administer the AIMSweb May benchmark assessments. So far, Solway, Horace May, and Lincoln will be completing their assessments in-house. Northern and Paul Bunyan will use the proctors. Kathy VanWert asked that Paul Bunyan students be assessed at the beginning of the assessment window. Kim will contact Pat to ask about JW Smith and Central.

3. RtI/SGT Team Meetings Some principals are reporting that their RtI Teams are stagnating a bit. Some of the teachers are reverting to discussion topics that aren't appropriate for RtI meetings (i.e. field trips). Kim shared that generally, the most effective RtI Teams in the district are doing the following: o Effective teams have a plan or a list of tasks for their next meeting, and they make sure they discuss this plan before their RtI meeting ends. Typical tasks have included: bringing math or reading tests to the next team meeting to review and

analyze, trying a new strategy (i.e. a gifted/talented instructional format) and being ready to report back to the team regarding its effectiveness, or bringing student work related to their math or reading goals to the meeting (assignments, running records, checklists, etc.) o Effective teams bring assessment data to each meeting, and they use the data to plan strategies. This data may include AIMSweb progress monitoring reports, results of screenings or curriculum assessments, sight word checklists, etc.

Wendy suggested that because we've backed off on the number of SGT meetings, the leadership element within the RtI Team may have been lost. The committee agreed that SGT meetings should be held once a month again, and we need to always be reinforcing the leadership role of the SGT member within the RtI Team. Kim will set up April SGT meetings, and will revisit appropriate and inappropriate discussions and ideas for revitalizing teams.

4. Items to Revisit Math Specialists' Topics ? Karie shared the success JW Smith K-5 teachers are having with the Number Worlds math intervention. Using this intervention and its diagnostic placement component, teachers are able to pinpoint specific areas of student need and implement the parts of the program that will address those needs. She also indicated that a vast majority of the teachers at JW Smith are pleased with the new HM Expressions core program. Karie suggested that members of last year's math curriculum committee be thanked for their work on selecting good curricular programming for our students. Travis indicated that Horace May students are having good success with Khan Academy, Moby Max, and the Expressions diagnostic and RtI components. Lia indicated success with Moby Max, as well. Lia described the ability of the Moby Max program to diagnose specific standards students have not yet achieved, and gear their instructional activities toward those standards. Both of their schools are doing a lot of "achievement grouping" and pinpointing of student needs, as well.

District RtI Guide ? After the RtI/TAT process documents are revised to include the new hearing screening information, the completed District RtI Guide will be posted on the RtI website, and hard copies of the guide will be printed and sent out to the schools.

5. Next Meeting Date ? Friday, May 15th, 9:00 a.m. at the District Office Board Room

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