Tiered Instruction Has Begun!
By now, you have received the email from Dr. Bates and me in
which we describe the start of our Massachusetts Tiered System of Support
program, more familiarly known as Tiered Instruction or RtI by students and
staff. This is our third year of
implementation of the program and we are excited by some of the changes that we
are including this year.
First, the entire faculty met last Saturday for professional
development to learn how to administer Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark
Assessments in literacy. Teachers in kindergarten
through sixth grade will record data in every student's rate of reading,
decoding errors, and comprehension. Though
we have used several different tools to track fluency, automaticity, and comprehension over the years,
this will be the first time we have vertical data from kindergarten through the
sixth grade using the same assessment tool to track children’s progress
throughout their education at Blanchard.
In addition, these initial weeks of school have been very
busy for both students and staff.
Students have taken several assessments in every grade and we are now in
the process of collecting data using other assessment tools in reading,
writing, and mathematics. With all of
this data, we then meet by grade level every month to discuss children’s
progress and determine the appropriate instruction and intervention for the
children. It is a time-consuming
process, but well worth it to understand the effectiveness of our instruction
and efforts. In the discussions,
teachers determine who will teach which intervention group and which children
will be in a specific group. In the
process of making these decisions, the meeting becomes a forum for teachers to
offer suggestions to one another and the development of shared responsibility
for all the students’ progress in the entire grade. The new
teacher evaluation system contributes to this because teachers develop team goals
for the grade level students’ progress as well.
Students who have been placed in intervention groups as in Tiers 2 or 3 will have a letter sent home to indicate the tier that the children have been placed and in which subject or subjects. If parents do not receive a letter, this means that the children are in Tier One and are engaging in enrichment activities. The groups of students in Tier One, Two, and Three will change throughout the year, depending on the curriculum and the children’s needs. If you have any questions about the tiers or the intervention instruction, please call at any time.
We are proud of the tiered instruction and interventions that
we provide at Blanchard. However, we need
your help. All students will benefit
from reading at home for 30 minutes a day and working on math problems on the
computer using the IXL program that children can access at home. Anytime that you could encourage your
children to write about family activities or their hobbies such as sports, music,
or dance, you will be helping your children to organize their thoughts,
summarize and sequence, and prioritize their ideas.
I know family life is busy and some days it
is all you can do to get dinner on the table and help the children to complete their homework. I have felt the same way with my own
children. However, if you can think of reading
every day in the same way that you stress brushing their teeth every day, you
will be establishing a great foundation for the rest of their lives. Thanks for all the help that you give your
children and the school.
Dr. Tower
