Monthly Updates

March - April 2007 Central Dauphin School District March and April were two very busy and productive months for the MP3 and CD staff.  We engaged in many activities designed to improve current instruction as well as plan for next year, both at Phillips and our two new schools. In order to ensure that the interventions the Phillips teachers have been implementing during skill groups are as effective as possible, the Lehigh Staff spent the month of March observing each skill group and collecting treatment integrity data.   Integrity data evaluates to what degree an intervention is being implemented as it was intended.  This is very important to evaluate for the RTI process because in order to say that a student has not responded to an intervention, it is important to know that the intervention was implemented correctly.  The results of our assessments were extremely positive, with teachers implementing all interventions with an average of over 95% accuracy!  Great job Phillips!!! We also spent a lot of time over the past two months planning and preparing for next year.  In March, the principals from Lawnton and Rutherford met with principals who had experience with RTI to discuss issues related to scheduling.  Specifically, Erica Willis and Bob Miller met with Debbie Stover and Thomas Shaffer, the principal of Tri-Community Elementary School.  Debbie has had one year of practice as the principal of Phillips and Tom Shaffer has had a few years experience working at TRI-C, another school in the district that has been implementing an RTI model for several years.  This meeting provided the opportunity for the principals from the new schools to learn from the experiences of those who have been through the process already.  The discussion focused mostly on how best to set up the schedule and the best way to begin.  With the information learned from this meeting each principal of the MP3 schools will attempt to have the schedule for next year in place prior to the end of school. In addition to the scheduling meeting, we also had two planning meetings related to training and division of responsibilities for next year. To help prepare our two new schools for next year we also had two professional development sessions focused on topics related to MP3.  In March, we had a full day in-service with all three MP3 schools held at PaTTAN.  While the Phillips teachers had a Project READ work session, Lawnton and Rutherford met with the Lehigh staff to review the project, discuss teaming, and the use of data when making instructional decisions.  Deb Fulton from PaTTAN also met with the Lawnton and Rutherford teachers to discuss the 5 Big Ideas of Reading.  In the afternoon, all three schools came together to review the interventions that will be used next year.  Teachers from Phillips provided brief descriptions of the interventions they teach and answered questions from other teachers.  This opportunity to share knowledge and experience seemed to be beneficial for all.  In addition to the training in March, we also had follow up training sessions with the two new schools in April.  During these 45 minutes professional development meetings we further discussed data analysis and using data to make decisions at the grade-wide level.  Additional training on data management and analysis will continue throughout the fall. Finally, Phillips hosted visitors from the Pennsylvania Department of Education who were interested in learning more about how RTI is being implemented at Phillips. Dr. John Tommasini, Director of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Special Education, Dr. Edward Vollbrecht, Director of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Teaching and Learning Support and Ms. Angela Kirby-Ware, Special Assistant to the Secretary joined the Phillips staff on April 26th to observe MP3 in action, as well as to talk with the Phillips staff about the process.  Our guests arrived at 8:00am and observed the monthly grade level team meetings.  Teachers at each grade level reviewed student data and made determinations regarding appropriate changes.  After the meetings Dr. Tommasini, Dr. Vollbrecht, and Ms. Kirby-Ware met with Debbie Stover, Dr. John Scola, Superintendent of CDSD, and other representatives of the district to discuss the barriers and successes observed with the implementation of MP3.  After a rich discussion about the realities of implementing school change, our visitors had the opportunity to visit several classrooms and observe skill groups in action.  Over all, it was a very positive day that benefited all involved.  A huge thank you to all of the Phillips staff for making that day, and the entire year, a great success! Check back at the end of June to hear how the school year ended and what we have planned for the summer and beyond! Alexandra Hilt-Panahon, Ph.D. - Project Coordinator, Lehigh University Back to Monthly Updates Main Page