Jim Wright's Workshops on Innovative Response-to-Intervention (RTI) Practices Jim Wright is a national presenter on topics that cover the essentials of Response to Intervention (RTI). Most recently, Jim published The RTI Toolkit: A Practical Guide for Schools, which provides school administrators, teachers, and support staff with the essential techniques, resources, and guidelines to successfully implement 'Response to Intervention'. Jim's workshops contain practical ideas to: prepare schools to adopt the RTI model; create and carry out research-based academic and behavioral intervention plans to help struggling students; establish effective school-based problem-solving teams; conduct student progress-monitoring using efficient tools such as Curriculum-Based Measurement and Daily Behavior Report Cards.. Jim is also available for keynote addresses on RTI and strategies to bring about innovative change in schools. Below is a listing of Jim's most popular full-day trainings. If you are interested in scheduling any of these workshops for your organization or school district, email Jim at jim@jimwrightonline.com (Please include the words 'Information Request' in the subject line of your email.) Implementing 'Response to Intervention': A Guide for Schools 'Response to Intervention' (RTI) is an emerging approach to the diagnosis of Learning Disabilities that holds considerable promise. In the RTI model, a student with academic delays is given one or more research-validated interventions and the student's academic progress is then monitored frequently to verify that those interventions are effective. If the student fails to make academic progress despite several intervention attempts, this failure to 'respond to intervention' can be viewed as evidence of an underlying Learning Disability. This workshop provides participants with an overview of RTI and an explanation of how this framework can better support struggling learners. The workshop also includes tutorials on essential elements of RTI, including the creation of effective school-based intervention teams, use of Curriculum-Based Measurement and other monitoring tools, and ideas for putting together scientifically based academic and behavioral interventions. Participants receive a listing of RTI resources available at no cost on the web and learn about the key 'first steps' that a school or district should follow to implement RTI successfully. Using Curriculum-Based Measurement to Measure Response to Intervention Schools adopting the 'Response-to-Intervention' (RTI) model need a convenient, sensitive assessment tool that will allow them frequently to monitor student progress in basic academic-skill areas. Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) is a method of academic evaluation that an ideal component of RTI. This workshop trains educators to administer, score, chart, and interpret CBM in the major subject areas of reading, math, and writing. The workshop provides participants an opportunity to actively practice their CBM assessment skills. Participants also learn how to use CBM both to collect baseline information on student performance relative to peers and to monitor student progress during academic interventions. A series of free Internet tools are demonstrated that can reduce much of the labor of using CBM in classrooms. An Introduction to RTI Intervention Planning Teams The engine that powers any school-wide Response-to-Intervention program is the RTI Intervention Planning Team ('RTI Team'). The RTI Team is a diverse group of school professionals that meet with referring teachers to assist them in identifying their central concerns about struggling students and to design intervention plans to help those students to achieve success. This workshop trains teachers and other school staff to set up an effective RTI Team. The team problem-solving model presented in the workshop is adapted from the highly successful School-Based Intervention Team (SBIT) Project, a pioneering initiative piloted in the early 1990's by the Syracuse (NY) City School District. (The SBIT Intervention Team model continues to the present day and has been adopted by a number of school districts across the country.) Workshop participants are trained to perform each of the RTI Team roles (facilitator, recorder, case manager, time-keeper).and to follow the problem-solving steps of the RTI meeting. The training also prepares participants regularly to collect data about the RTI Team's effectiveness and to anticipate and avoid common intervention-team 'pitfalls'. The workshop provides modeling of effective team problem-solving through a brief video of an RTI Team meeting. Participants also have an opportunity to engage in a practice RTI Team meeting to build their meeting-facilitation skills. Making RTI Work at the Middle and High School Level To be effective at the middle and high school level, Response to Intervention (RTI) must be tailored to accommodate teams of teachers, compartmentalized instruction, highly demanding curriculum expectations, complex schedules--and students who are approaching adulthood and have a significant voice in their own educational program. This full-day workshop presents an RTI Intervention Team model specifically designed for the realities of secondary school settings. The RTI Secondary School model includes a streamlined and flexible team problem-solving process, a core collection of intervention ideas and progress-monitoring methods that can realistically be used in middle and high school classrooms, and strategies to motivate struggling learners in secondary grades to become invested in their intervention plans. The training also presents guidelines for linking students to appropriate community services and resources if those students' primary barriers to academic success fall outside of school. RTI: General Academic Interventions For Difficult-To-Teach Students Students who struggle academically often require individualized interventions carefully tailored to their areas of academic deficit. Indeed, effective academic interventions can be thought of as the foundation that supports the entire structure of Response to Intervention. This workshop provides educators with useful conceptual tools--such as the Instructional Hierarchy, the Learn Unit and the Schoolwork Motivation Assessment-- that will aid them in matching struggling learners to the right interventions. The training then reviews the three key academic domains: reading, mathematics, and writing. For each academic domain, participants learn about common 'stumbling blocks' that can prevent students from achieving success and review a sampling of effective, classroom-friendly, research-based interventions. All intervention ideas are tied to the three-tier 'Response to Intervention' framework now being widely adopted in schools across the nation. RTI: Best Practices in Elementary Math Interventions Schools often find it challenging to locate effective research-based math intervention ideas feasible for use in classrooms. This full-day workshop presents a series of specific individualized interventions to support at-risk students in grades K-6 who need targeted interventions in the development of 'number sense' and math computation, as well as strategies to solve word problems and correctly employ higher-level math operations. Workshop interventions are tied to the three-tier 'Response to Intervention' (RTI) framework now being widely adopted in schools across the nation. Workshop participants learn about the key foundation skills and concepts required for success in mathematics and practice using a math-skills checklist to assist them in identifying individual students' barriers to success in math. The workshop also provides efficient and effective methods for monitoring students' in various math subskills, including 'number sense', math computation, and higher-level problem-solving skills. Participants also review a range of helpful Internet resources for school-based math assessment and intervention. RTI: Best Practices in Writing Interventions The act of writing contains its own inner tensions. Writers must abide by a host of rules that govern the mechanics and conventions of writing yet are also expected-within the constraints of those rules-- to formulate original, even creative, thoughts. It is no wonder that many students find writing to be a baffling exercise and have little sense of how to break larger writing assignments into predictable, achievable subtasks. This workshop presents writing interventions suitable for both beginning and advanced student writer. The training links the identification and remediation of writing skills to the 'Response to Intervention' problem-solving model. The components of good writing are highlighted. The training then identifies common 'blockers' that can prevent students from becoming successful, confident writers. Participants learn how to break the global writing process down into subtasks in order to more easily select appropriate interventions to address specific writing problems. Additionally, the training reviews methods for monitoring student progress during writing interventions. RTI: Strategies for Working With 'Emotionally Unpredictable' & Defiant Kids Students who are chronically angry or confrontational can easily disrupt an entire classroom. In this workshop, educators learn how students and teachers can easily become caught up in power-struggles--escalating through phases of the 'anger curve' until they are enmeshed in full-scale confrontations. This training is intended to teach the core concepts of good behavior management and provide educators with research-based strategies needed to work effectively both with non-compliant and defiant students and with challenging classrooms. The workshop uses 'Response-to-Intervention' (RTI) as a problem-solving model to identify factors that can bring about student misbehavior and to select appropriate interventions to reduce or prevent those behaviors. During the training, participants have the opportunity to (1) identify the stages of the escalating 'anger cycle' and discuss techniques for managing student behaviors at each stage of that cycle; (2) practice verbal-communication tools that educators can use to defuse power struggles with non-compliant students; (3) learn techniques to increase academic engagement and reduce defiance; (4) explore interventions to boost motivation for learning among 'difficult-to-teach' students At the conclusion of the workshop, participants review several methods suitable for monitoring students' progress during behavioral interventions and learn about additional free Internet sites with valuable behavioral measurement and intervention resources. Teaching the Tornado: Classroom Strategies for Working With the Disorganized, Inattentive, Overactive Student Teachers often report that children in their classrooms with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) can be among the most challenging to teach. The good news is that there are specific strategies that teachers can master techniques to effectively teach students with ADHD. And educators who know and use these ADHD strategies are also prepared to manage almost any behavioral or academic issue that comes their way. This workshop presents targeted research-based intervention strategies that teachers can use right away to help students to focus attention, organize work materials and assignment, turn in work on time, manage study time, reduce hyperactive or other inappropriate behaviors, and monitor and manage their behaviors As a result of participation in this workshop, teachers will have strategies that they can use immediately to meet the instructional and behavior-management needs of students whose barriers to academic success include disorganization, inattention, or overactivity. All intervention ideas are tied to the three-tier 'Response to Intervention' framework now being widely adopted in schools across the nation.     Who Is Jim Wright? Jim Wright is a school psychologist and school administrator who lives and works in central New York. Until recently, Jim served as a program developer and trainer for the School-Based Intervention Team (SBIT) Project for the Syracuse City School District. Jim has presented extensively to educators across New York state and in other parts of the country on effective school-based academic and behavioral interventions, curriculum-based measurement, and violence prevention. A past winner of the “Leadership in School Psychology” award from the New York State Association of School Psychologists, Jim is also the creator of the Intervention Central website (www.interventioncentral.org). Most recently, Jim published The RTI Toolkit: A Practical Guide for Schools. You can email Jim at jim@jimwrightonline.com.