Policy Challenges Webinar: Implementing Response to Intervention (RTI) in Mathematics: Research-Based Strategies for Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont Grades K–8 Schools
Please note this is a two-part webinar.
HOSTED BY
Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast and Islands
This event is for Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont stakeholders.
OVERVIEW
 Response to intervention (RTI) is an educational approach intended to provide effective, data-based interventions for students. The reauthorization of the 2004 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) included RTI as a means of early identification of special-education eligibility under the category of specific learning disabilities. In addition, RTI is sometimes seen as an overall school improvement initiative that combines universal screening and frequent progress monitoring with adjustments to general instruction and inclusion in targeted interventions based on screening and monitoring data. State education agencies (SEAs), including those in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, are responding to the 2004 reauthorization of IDEA and the high level of interest in RTI with statewide regulations. However, the RTI regulations in all three states were developed relatively recently, and all three states have left most implementation decisions to leaders at the district level.
PART 2 OF 2: Wednesday, March 3, 2010, 12:00–1:30 PM EST
PANEL DISCUSSION
This second webinar session will feature a panel of speakers including Dr. Bradley Witzel and mathematics RTI leaders with extensive experience implementing RTI in elementary mathematics. Dr. Witzel is co-author of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Practice Guide: “Assisting Students Struggling with Mathematics: Response to Intervention (RTI) for Elementary and Middle Schools.” The panel discussion will be followed by a Q&A session that will focus on: (1) addressing questions previously gathered through needs-sensing activities; (2) answering questions submitted in the online chat room during both webinars; and (3) sharing experiences as a result of the “bridging research to practice” assignment given at the end of Part 1.
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| Dr. Bradley Witzel |
FEATURED SPEAKER
Dr. Bradley Witzel is associate professor, coordinator of special-education programs, and assistant department chair of Curriculum and Instruction at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C. He has worked as a classroom teacher and para-educator in inclusive and self-contained settings, with a focus on math and science instruction.
At the university level, Dr. Witzel has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in special- and general-education methods, and his research focus is on mathematics and motivation strategies for students who learn at different rates and in different ways. Dr. Witzel has written several research and practitioner articles, books, and book chapters on mathematics education and interventions and has provided professional development to teachers and administrators in several states and school districts.
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| June Conley |
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| Kathy Durbin |
PANELISTS
- Bradley Witzel, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Winthrop University, Rock Hill, S.C.
- June Conley, Principal, Songo Locks School, M.S.A.D #61, Naples, Maine
- Kathy Durbin, Ph.D., Student Services Director, Lancaster County School District, S.C.
SUPPORTING MATERIALS
PART 1 OF 2: February 9, 2010
PRESENTATION
During this webinar, Dr. Bradley Witzel assisted district leaders and other educators in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont in learning how to better implement RTI in mathematics through a focus on the eight research-based recommendations in the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Practice Guide:
“Assisting Students Struggling with Mathematics: Response to Intervention (RTI) for Elementary and Middle Schools.” This event followed the November 2009 release of the REL-NEI Issues & Answers Report “Features of State Response to Intervention Initiatives in Northeast and Islands Region States,” which describes an analysis of RTI-related documents available on SEA websites in the Northeast and Islands Region.
ADDITIONAL IES RESEARCH
SIGN UP TODAY! (single registration for both events)
Registration is open to state and local policymakers; state education leaders; district and school administrators; representatives of professional associations and unions; and teachers, parents, and students from Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. For more information, e-mail Pam Buffington.
REL-NEI Webinars provide an interactive forum for state education agencies, superintendents, principals, district level specialists, association heads, state legislatures, teachers unions, and parent associations seeking applied education research to make policy and practice decisions leading to improved student achievement and reduced performance gaps. These sessions not only present findings but place a special emphasis on connecting applied education research to the work of field practitioners.
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