http://www.spectrumk12.com/ en bethdubose@spectrumk12.com Copyright 2010 2010-03-09T18:49:00-05:00 http://www.spectrumk12.com/blog/spectrum_k12_response_to_intervention_rti_solution_passes_400000_student_mi/ http://www.spectrumk12.com/blog/spectrum_k12_response_to_intervention_rti_solution_passes_400000_student_mi/#When:17:49:00Z EXCEED™ RTI Software Selected By K-12 School Districts in 8 States and the District of Columbia Towson, MD - Spectrum K12 School Solutions Inc., the leading provider of Response to Intervention (RTI) software and student achievement management solutions for K-12 school districts, today announced that it recently passed the 400,000 students served mark in school districts employing its EXCEED™ RTI software. EXCEED RTI is a web-based software application that automates and delivers the Response to Intervention process, simplifying an otherwise cumbersome and paper driven process. Tracking, monitoring and managing intervention and student performance data, EXCEED RTI ensures fully-informed decision making and high quality instruction. To manage the growth of its business and customer base, Spectrum K12 has grown the employee base 15% and is actively recruiting to fill additional positions. The increase in the number of districts using EXCEED RTI to manage and streamline their Response to Intervention processes and data management reflects the accelerated rate of RTI adoption as noted in a recent survey. The survey, jointly conducted in April 2009 by Spectrum K12, the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE), the Council of Administrators of Special Education (CASE), the American Association of School Administrators (AASA), and the National Association of State Title 1 Directors, showed the number of districts in some stage of implementing RTI rising from 60% in 2008 to 71% in 2009. Survey results can be downloaded from www.spectrumk12.com/campaign/rti_survey_results In addition to rapid adoption by customers, Spectrum K12 has also received extensive industry recognition for their innovative solution including: • 2010 CODiE Finalist for “Best Classroom Management Solution”, “Best K-12 Enterprise Solution", and “Best Education Solution” with winners announced at the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) Ed Tech Industry Summit May 24th, 2010 • 2009 CODiE Award Winner for “Best K-12 Enterprise Solution” presented by SIIA • 2008 “Readers Choice Top 100 Products” presented by District Administration Magazine • 2008 “Best of NECC” presented by Techlearning.com • 2008 CODiE Award Winner for “Best Education Solution” presented by SIIA Response to Intervention 2010-03-09T17:49:00-05:00 http://www.spectrumk12.com/blog/race_to_the_top_finalists_announced/ http://www.spectrumk12.com/blog/race_to_the_top_finalists_announced/#When:18:43:01Z The finalists for the highly sought after $4 billion in Race to the Top grants were announced Thursday, March 4. The list was longer than anticipated with 15 states and the District of Columbia now in the running. The 16 finalists are: Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Each of these states scored above 400 points out of a 500 point scale on their application. Of the 16 finalists, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan estimates there would only be seven or fewer winners sharing in the $2 billion dollars up for grabs in part one of the competition. The remaining $2 billion will be handed out in September for part two of the competition. The next step for the finalists is to have an in-person presentation with the individuals that reviewed their application. These presentations will be made the week of March 15 in Washington, D.C. and the winners will be announced in April. At that time the videos of the presentations will be posted and made public, as will the state scores and reviewers’ notes. Read more about the Race to the Top finalists at Education Week , eSchool News, and the US Department of Education. General 2010-03-05T18:43:01-05:00 http://www.spectrumk12.com/blog/spectrum_k12_finalist_in_siia_codie/ http://www.spectrumk12.com/blog/spectrum_k12_finalist_in_siia_codie/#When:18:26:00Z Spectrum K12 School Solutions announced today that their EXCEED™ Student Achievement Manager software has been selected as a finalist for a 2010 CODiE Award in three separate categories; “Best Classroom Management Solution”, “Best Education Solution”, and Best K-12 Enterprise Solution”. Spectrum K12 is one of only 5 companies named as a finalist in three or more categories from a total of 124 companies who submitted nominations. EXCEED is a universal Student Achievement Management solution that manages, administers and prescribes the personalized learning process and data required for all students: in general, compensatory, gifted or special education. EXCEED gives teachers an easy to use, automated way to drive day-to-day activities, interventions and progress monitoring to help all students achieve success while giving administrators the ability to see what’s working and surface achievement gaps at the individual student, class, grade, group, and district level. “To have our software judged and selected as a finalist in three separate categories by such a cross-section of the education industry is recognition of the scope, power and ease of use of our Student Achievement Management solution,” stated Jim Marshall, president and CEO of Spectrum K12 School Solutions. Established in 1986 by the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), the CODiE Awards recognize and honor excellence in the education, software and digital information industries. Nominated products underwent an intensive review by subject matter experts, analysts, journalists, and others with deep experience in the field. The products that qualified will now be reviewed by members of SIIA, who will vote on winners for all 24 categories. The winners will be announced at a special CODiE Awards Dinner on May 24th, which will be held in conjunction with the 2010 Ed Tech Industry Summit in San Francisco, CA. To view a list of all the finalists, visit http://www.siia.net/codies/2010/finalists.asp   General 2010-02-25T18:26:00-05:00 http://www.spectrumk12.com/blog/secondary_rti/ http://www.spectrumk12.com/blog/secondary_rti/#When:18:11:00Z The National Center on Response to Intervention interviewed Dan Deshler about what work or research is currently being done around secondary RTI that we will see in the future. He states that they are currently looking at middle and high schools that have implemented a RTI process and have been successful. They will look at what they are doing for universal screening, progress monitoring, and tiered instruction. Because Elementary schools typically have the same students all day, it is easier to administer tiered instruction to their students. What Deshler wants to find out is how are the middle and high schools that have been successful with RTI implementing tiered instruction. You can see the interview here. Response to Intervention 2010-02-24T18:11:00-05:00 http://www.spectrumk12.com/blog/scaling_beyond_the_rti_pilot/ http://www.spectrumk12.com/blog/scaling_beyond_the_rti_pilot/#When:18:22:00Z Machele Stefhon had a great session last week with over 30 educators that attended the Scaling the RTI Pilot: Steps to Implementing a District RTI Initiative webinar.  Attendees to webinar heard about the latest research from leading national organizations and RTI experts, and saw a demonstration of tools for RTI implementation success. You can view the recorded webinar here. You can also sign up for future webinars in the series. Response to Intervention 2010-02-23T18:22:00-05:00 http://www.spectrumk12.com/blog/obama_is_pushing_for_additional_funding_for_education/ http://www.spectrumk12.com/blog/obama_is_pushing_for_additional_funding_for_education/#When:16:04:00Z In the State of the Union address on Thursday, January 27, 2010, President Obama discussed a $4 billion increase in the education budget. A large part of the billion dollar increase, $1.35 billion, will go to increasing the amount of funding in the Race to the Top funds. As well as increasing funding, he will also have these grants, originally limited to states, opened up to school districts. The 2011 budget is expected to be realesed on Monday, along with plans to consolidate 38 Educational Departments into 11 and elimate 6 programs. No news, yet, on which departments or programs will be affected. Read more about the $4 billion proposal General 2010-01-29T16:04:00-05:00 http://www.spectrumk12.com/blog/tiered_instruction_is_an_essential_component_in_a_response_to_intervention_/ http://www.spectrumk12.com/blog/tiered_instruction_is_an_essential_component_in_a_response_to_intervention_/#When:18:33:00Z It seems that when we think of RTI we focus the discussion on universal screening and progress monitoring. Though these are very important, the core of RTI is the instruction that is provided to the student. Universal screening is important because it helps us determine where our students are struggling so we know what instruction to provide. Progress monitoring is important because it shows us if the instruction that is provided is helping the student meet their goals. Without appropriate and effective instruction, students will not progress. In his article, Tiered Instruction and Intervention in a Response-to-Intervention Model, Edward Shapiro discusses the most common Three Tier RTI model and how to determine where a student falls within those tiers. Tier 1 is the typically core instruction that all students receive. Tier 2 contains students that are struggling being pulled into small groups, usually ranging from 5-8 students per group. Tier 3 are those students that are significantly struggling, and are worked with in even smaller groups of 3-5 students, or even one-on-one. Determining if a student should fall into Tier 2 or 3 can be difficult. This is one of the core discussions in Shapiro’s article. He claims that based on the model that is used in the school or district will determine if a student falls into Tier 2 or 3. The models can be based on the intensity of the instruction, the frequency of the delivery of instruction, or a combination of the two. Shapiro also discusses where Special Education fits into the Response to Intervention model. Some models use Tier 3 as Special Education, others use three tiers of instruction and see Special Education as Tier 4. Collaboration is stressed as a key component in a successful RTI model. Staff and parents must work together to determine appropriate interventions and provide adequate instruction for the success of the student. To read the entire article, visit the RTI Action Network Response to Intervention 2010-01-28T18:33:00-05:00 http://www.spectrumk12.com/blog/making_data_matter_tools_to_accelerate_achievement/ http://www.spectrumk12.com/blog/making_data_matter_tools_to_accelerate_achievement/#When:17:27:01Z Education Week Leadership Forum April 7, 2010, Chicago, IL April 19, 2010, Washington, DC With the amount of RTI data and other educational data that schools and districts are collecting, are they using it to maximize student achievement? At the Education Week Leadership Forum, they will be looking at: Best Practices for Making Teachers Smart Data Users and Collectors  Techniques for Using Data to Raise Your Graduation Rates Practical Tips for Keeping Important Data From Being Swamped Innovative Approaches for Leveraging Data to Make AYP New Methods for Ensuring Safety and Continuity of Data Strategies for Making the Most of Statewide Data Systems Click here for more information 2010-01-22T17:27:01-05:00 http://www.spectrumk12.com/blog/great_resource_for_reading_intervention_lessons/ http://www.spectrumk12.com/blog/great_resource_for_reading_intervention_lessons/#When:16:45:00Z Read Write Think was created by the International Reading Association (IRA), the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and the Verizon Foundation to provide educators, parents, and afterschool professionals with access to the highest quality practices in reading and language arts instruction. The resources and lessons are FREE and are not only aligned to the IRA/NCTE English Language Arts standards, but also individual state standards as well. The content is written by literacy experts including professors, teachers and consultants across the country. A large number of lessons are for small group, and can be used as small group intervention activities. Each lesson provides research indicating the validity of the activites. There is an instructional plan with each lesson, taking you step-by-step in the development of the lesson and activites. Each lesson also includes a materials list, ncluding links to printable documents and websites that will enhance the lesson. This site is a great resource! I wish it was around when I was teaching! Visit www.readwritethink.org Response to Intervention 2010-01-22T16:45:00-05:00 http://www.spectrumk12.com/blog/making_decisions_about_adequate_progress_in_tier_2/ http://www.spectrumk12.com/blog/making_decisions_about_adequate_progress_in_tier_2/#When:16:33:00Z This article, by Douglas Dexter and Dr. Charles Hughes of Penn State University, discusses the identification of students not progressing adequately in Tier 2 of an RTI model, and provides recommendations to improve Tier 2 instruction and identify those students needing Tier 3 interventions. Because a lot of states are considering Tier 3 interventions Special Education or a step to refer to Special Education, the success of students in Tier 2 is critical in decreasing the number of students referred to Special Education for specific learning disabilities. As indicated in the article: "D. Fuchs and Deshler (2007) estimate that the number of students, based on the assumption of a normal distribution, who do not show improvement in response to the increasingly intensive Tier 2 interventions and are moved into Tier 3 should fall between 2% and 7% of the general population. However, there is no clear methodological definition of how or when a student is to be identified as a nonresponder to intervention, what intervention is to be used, who is to deliver the intervention, or how nonresponsiveness is to be measured. This lack of clarity creates the potential for inconsistencies in identification of students not progressing adequately in Tier 2 and for highly variable prevalence rates at the school, district, state, and national levels (D. Fuchs et al., 2008)." The article discusses six methods that are currently being promoted for identification of students struggling in Tier 2: a) dual discrepancy, b) median split, c) final normalization, d) final benchmark, e) slope discrepancy, and (f) exit groups. A description of each method and the data gathered on percentages of struggling students in Tier 2 through each method is provided in the article.   Response to Intervention 2010-01-21T16:33:00-05:00