Simplifying Response to Intervention: Four Essential Guiding Principles (an RTI Book for Professional Learning Communities) (What Principals Need to

Simplifying Response to Intervention: Four Essential Guiding Principles (an RTI Book for Professional Learning Communities) (What Principals Need to

The sequel to Pyramid Response to Intervention advocates that a successful RTI model begins by asking the right questions to create a fundamentally effective learning environment for every student. RTI is not a series of implementation steps, but rather a way of thinking. Understand why bureaucratic, paperwork-heavy, compliance-oriented, test-score-driven approaches fail. Then, learn how to create a focused RTI model that works. Benefits: Use the four guiding principles to guide thinking and implementation. - Shift to a culture of collective responsibility, and build team structures for collaboration. - Define essential learnings in a program of concentrated instruction. - Develop a system of convergent assessment to identify students for intervention, determine their unique needs, monitor their progress, and revise or extend learning based on their progress. Contents: Preface: A Sense of Urgency Chapter 1: A New Way of Thinking Chapter 2: Collective Responsibility: Why Are We Here? Chapter 3: Building Structures for Collaboration Chapter 4: Concentrated Instruction: Where Do We Need to Go? Chapter 5: Convergent Assessment: Where Are We Now? Chapter 6: Creating a System of Interventions Chapter 7: Certain Access: How Do We Get Every Child There? Epilogue: A New Vision of Special Education "In our work with educators around the world, we have found they are hungry for sound information and proven, practical strategies to help them make a greater difference in the lives of their students. Simplifying Response to Intervention: Four Essential Guiding Principles provides just that! Buffum, Mattos, and Weber bring clarity regarding the intent of RTI and specificity regarding the steps educators must take to implement RTI within the continuous improvement framework of the PLC at Work process. The authors also offer an insightful and frank account of things educators must not do if they are truly committed to ensuring high levels of learning for all. But don't let the title fool you--there is nothing simple about the logic in this book. It is a profound must read for educators at all levels!" -- Richard DuFour and Rebecca DuFour , authors and consultants "A book whose time has come. This essential reading is refreshing and compelling while profoundly expressing a respectful, systematic approach for improving teaching and learning. The book illuminates the process of tiered instruction and intervention to provide educators with a reflective, proactive process for addressing the needs of every student." -- Jane Wagmeister , Ventura County RTI Task Force Chair; Director, Curriculum, Instruction and Continuous Improvement, Ventura County Office of Education, Camarillo, California "RTI: what is it? It is not a special education initiative but is in fact a general education obligation. Answering the question, How do we respond when learning did not occur?, that is the work. Simplifying Response to Intervention gives a great overview of the structures we need to build and the focus of work we must do daily to assure that every child is given the extra time and support needed to be successful." -- Marc Johnson , Superintendent, Sanger Unified School District, California; National Superintendent of the Year 2011 Austin Buffum, EdD , is former senior deputy superintendent of the Capistrano Unified School District, which enrolls more than fifty thousand students in South Orange County, California. Dr. Buffum attended the Principals Center at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where he was greatly inspired by the work of its founder, Roland Barth. He later led Capistrano's K-12 instructional program on an increasingly collaborative path toward operating as a professional learning community (PLC). During this process, thirty-seven of the district's schools were designated California Distinguished Schools, and eleven received National Blue Ribbon recognition. Dr. Buffum is coauthor of Pyramid Response to Intervention and Generations at School . He also contributed to the anthology The Collaborative Administrator. Mike Mattos is recognized throughout North America for his work in the areas of response to intervention and professional learning communities. He is coauthor of Pyramid Response to Intervention , which was a 2009 finalist for the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Association of Educational Publishers. He also contributed to the anthology The Collaborative Administrator. Mike is former principal of both Marjorie Veeh Elementary School and Pioneer Middle School in Tustin, California. In 2004, Marjorie Veeh Elementary, a school with a large population of at-risk youth, won the California Distinguished School and National Title I Achieving School awards. A National Blue Ribbon School, Pioneer is one of only thirteen schools in the nation selected by the GE Foundation as a Best-Practice Partner. Based on standardized test scores, Pioneer ranks among the top 1 percent of Cal