RTI: An Update 4

My principal forwarded a referral to the PPT last week. I had the chance to present it to the team to have them review it and decide if we would accept it or not. I have learned that my teammates and I have the same philosophy on RTI, and I knew that they would have questions about the referral. The big question: Where was the data? I sat in on the meeting when the RTI team decided that this particular student "flat-lined" and wasn't making progress. My response was, "What about Tier 3?" My question was met with this response from my principal, "The administrators met and we were told not to get hung up on what is a Tier 2 intervention and what is a Tier 3 intervention." So I accepted this referral knowing that my team would reject it. This was better than me outright rejecting it at the RTI meeting, even though I could have. So the referral was missing some key information, such as the starting and end dates for interventions, the dates for some of the tests, and the pre- and post-test data for the interventions. Essentially, a lot of pertinent data was missing, and they needed to provide it.

Once again, the issue is that those that are properly trained and well-versed in RTI are not responsible for it. Nor do we want to be. But regular ed teachers have no clue how to do this and they aren't providing the right information nor are they conducting proper progress monitoring. This whole operation has been piecemeal and the worse refrain that the administration has used is "this will look different in different schools." So there is no expectation of uniformity, except in really lame cases such as the form that people fill out. We wanted more information and felt that the RTI form is inadequate because it tends to lead to underreporting. When I suggested changing it, I was met with some resistance. Can we add an additional form? It's obvious that this whole thing is a mess because people have no concept of what we are doing. People are frustrated because they aren't sure of when PPS gets involved. I've been running interference between my principal and the speech and language pathologist because there is a misunderstanding on how language issues should be detected. I suggested to my speech and language pathologist that she create a screener that looks at articulation and some basic language issues. She should spell out each step with boxes and charts and labels so that each part is completed. There should also be a criteria of 80% proficiency, so that teachers know what is expected. Then each teacher gets one when they suspect some sort of language issue. That should stave off the mob that's slowly building. Unfortunately, my SLP hasn't received any directives from her supervisor, so she is at a loss. Hopefully, this language screener will appease my principal and we can keep this process moving along.

BBC

Bearer of Bad News

I had a PPT where I had to tell the parents that their son has significant issues and needs to attend a program in another school. Fortunately, the son was previously identified. It's hard being the bearer of bad news. Most parents don't take that kind of news too well, and who can blame them? There is no way around it, but as a member of the PPT I have to give the information as honest as possible. I think that some people find it easier to sugarcoat their news, or downplay the seriousness of their information. Unfortunately, the parents leave these meetings not understanding how limited their children are.

My most recent case involved a student that if he was a year younger (4 years old) he would have qualified under the disability of Developmental Delay. But since he was already 5 years old, no one wanted to revisit this case in less than a year to give him a new label. He entered my school as a kindergartner with a disability of Speech (Language) Impairment. Obviously to us he had more issues. These issues came to light during our evaluation. The good news was that the mother was aware that he had some limitations. n her words, she "hoped the news would have been better." The good part of the job is that we usually offer great recommendations to help the child. In this case, the child needed to be placed in a different school with a smaller, more intense kindergarten program. The parents agreed that it was a good recommendation and he entered the program today.

BBC

Stuck in a Corner

It always happens this way: I plan out my day, know where I need to be each minute of the day, and the unforeseen happens. I was observing a child in p.e. when he decided to have a meltdown. He was participating in a shooting contest where the students had to make the most baskets in 30 seconds. He missed a few shots at the beginning, but started to make them before the time was up. He became upset because he thought that one of the student's that was supposed to retrieve the balls for him impeded his performance. Luckily I was there to witness the whole thing and felt that he was being unrealistic about what actually happened. He stormed off the court and went through the emergency exit into the stairwell. I followed him and tried to coax him out of his funk and back into the classroom, to no avail.

We sat in the hallway for over 30 minutes as he repeatedly said "no" to every request I made. I ended up recruiting the principal to sit with him because I was supposed to finish an evaluation. I wasn't in the mood to sit with him, especially when he was being so non-responsive. He was stuck and I was stuck. Of course, I was the reason he stayed there, so once I left, he was willing to leave with the principal. I try not to take it personally when that happens, but it still gets to me. Sometimes I feel absolutely helpless when a kid refuses to leave the classroom, hallway, gym, etc. There really is nothing I can do when a student doesn't want to leave. I can't physically force the student to move. I have to somehow convince them to do so, but it is impossible if the child has a) emotional difficulties, b) a language impairment or c) general behavior issues or d) problems with authority. That accounts for about 80% of my school, so when a kid doesn't want to be removed, they put up resistance and we have a standoff. I guess the one thing I have going for me is that I never let the child see me annoyed by the situation. I try to stay pretty calm no matter what. I just wish that I could get some negotiation training from the FBI or something. I need to know some tricks on getting kids to give in and do what I need them to do. That might be beneficial in the long run.

BBC