Monthly Updates

March - April 2008 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 at all three schools. In order to ensure that the interventions the teachers have been implementing during skill groups are as effective as possible, the Lehigh Staff spent the month of March and April 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 accuracy.  It is very obvious from our observations that the teachers at all three schools have worked hard to learn the programs and implement them as intended.  Great job!!! We also spent a lot of time over the past two months planning and preparing for next year.  We held meetings at all three schools to discuss roles and responsibilities for the upcoming school year.  At Lawnton and Rutherford, we planned for the transfer of responsibilities from Lehigh to the data team and other school staff.  Given that Lehigh’s involvement at Phillips will be minimal next year, the team discussed what support they felt they still needed and how that could be provided.  With careful planning and continued support from the Lehigh team all three schools appear to be ready for next year!  As we move toward the end of the year the greatest struggle for all of our schools is to continue to provide high quality instruction until the very last day of school.  With the end of state testing and the onset of warmer weather, students are ready for summer vacation.  The teachers at all three schools spent time at our monthly grade level meeting in March planning ideas for how to continue to keep students attentive and motivated.  Intervention groups were “tweaked” and activities were planned to keep things fresh and interesting for students and teachers until the end of school. 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