This document provides an agenda and materials for a START Inclusion Mini-Conference on New Jersey's Tiered System of Supports (NJTSS). The conference includes keynote speakers on self-advocacy and an overview of NJTSS. It also has breakout sessions on implementing NJTSS in school districts and a parent engagement activity. NJTSS is a framework adopted by New Jersey to provide multi-tiered academic and behavioral supports to all students. It aims to improve outcomes through early intervention, data-based decision making, professional learning communities and family involvement. The conference aims to educate participants on NJTSS and strategies to support inclusion through this approach.
NJ Tiered System of Supports: Strategies for ALL Students to Succeed
1. The START Project is a collaboration of the
New Jersey Department of Education Office of Special Education (NJOSE)
and Statewide Parent Advocacy Network (SPAN)
Funded by IDEA Part B funds
START Project Inclusion Mini-Conference
New Jersey Tiered System of Supports:
Strategies for ALL Students to Succeed
4. START Inclusion Mini-Conference Agenda
Key Note Speaker: Michelle Vinokurov, self-advocate
Overview of NJ Tiered System of Supports: Peggy McDonald,
NJDOE Deputy Chief Learning Supports and Specialized Services
Officer
Break
Panel Discussion: Old Bridge School District- Caitlin Colandrea,
Psy.D., NCSP Supervisor of Intervention Services and
Deborah Lynam, Haddonfield School District.
START Project Parent Engagement Activity and Resource Links
Conference Evaluations, Attendance & Professional
Development Certificates
5. START INCLUSION MINI-CONFERENCE
NJ TIERED SYSTEM OF SUPPORTS:
STRATEGIES FOR ALL STUDENTS TO SUCCEED
Keynote Speaker:
Michelle Vinokurov
Self Advocate
8. FRANK DUGAN ELEMENTARY
SCHOOL
3rd grade
Resource classroom – Math and Reading
General Education classroom- Social Studies
and Science
Progress is made with supported inclusion
11. MARLBORO MIDDLE
SCHOOL
Inclusion continuing to work for me
First school with siblings
Minivan to big bus
Social Skills Class
Made my first group of Best Friends
12. ATA BLACK BELT ACADEMY
5 years of Taekwondo
Self-Defense
Motor Skills and Self-Control
Black Belt at 10 years old
13. COLTS NECK
HIGH SCHOOL
General Education classroom-
ALL SUBJECTS – Inclusion
Working!!!
Peer Mentor in Cougar
Connections program
Dare to Dream 2016 Key Note
Speaker
Don’t be afraid to ask for help!
14. BROOKDALE COMMUNITY
COLLEGE
No teacher aide
Registered through
Disability Services
Alert Form (list of
accommodations)
Advocate for yourself!
17. NEW JERSEY TIERED SYSTEM OF
SUPPORTS (NJTSS)
New Jersey Department of Education
START Inclusion Mini-Conferences
March 18 and 25, 2017
18. AGENDA
• What is NJTSS?
• Why is the New Jersey Department of
Education supporting NJTSS?
• How will NJTSS support the inclusion and
students with Individual Education Programs
(IEPs)?
• How can parents be involved in multi-tiered
systems of support such as NJTSS?
19. WHAT IS NJTSS?
• A framework or structure for a school to support the
needs of ALL students and improve achievement and
other student outcomes
• Includes academic and behavioral supports and
interventions
• Based on the basic components of Multi-Tiered Systems
of Support (MTSS) and Response to Intervention (RTI).
20. WHAT IS NJTSS?
• Includes 3 Components Important for
All Schools
Positive Climate and Culture
Effective District and School
Leadership
Family and Community Engagement
22. WHY NJTSS?
NJ School Boards Association Task Force on Special
Education
2014 Report Recommendations
Early Intervention—To address over-classification
State should develop a multi-tiered system of supports
Provide free access to materials and technical
assistance
Ensure fidelity to the multi-tiered process and
alignment to the common core curriculum (New Jersey
Student Learning Standards)
23. WHY NJTSS?
Special Education Task Force on Improving Special
Education for Public School Students
2015 Report Recommendations
Early Identification and Remediation of Reading
Disabilities
Need for a systematic, coordinated system of early
intervention that is data-driven
Student progress is monitored with fidelity and frequency
Program and instruction adapted appropriately
24. WHY NJTSS?
Gives teachers and service providers opportunities to work
together to prevent learning difficulties, intervene when
necessary and provide enrichment opportunities
• The right supports and interventions at the right time
• Builds capacity of the classroom teacher to teach students
who learn in different ways and at different rates
• Calls for a continuum of supports to help students work
toward grade level knowledge and skills
• New Jersey Student Learning Standards
• Essential Elements
25. WHY NJTSS?
Provides multiple, integrated environments for
instructing students with IEPs
Supports Professional Learning Communities as
a mechanism for teachers to share strategies for
addressing challenges in the classroom and get
professional development
Coordinates supports and post-school outcomes
26. WHO DEVELOPED NJTSS?
Leadership Team: assistant commissioners, executive
directors and executive county superintendent
representatives
Steering Team: staff members from offices across the
department
Development Team: educators, higher education,
parents
Intra-divisional Planning Team: experts in Special
Education, Bilingual/ESL, Title I, Culture and Climate,
etc.
State Stakeholder Organizations: NJPSA, NJSPAN
27. BASED ON RESEARCH
Small group Tier 2 and 3 interventions improved
achievement in mathematics (Powell and Fuchs, 2015)
The right supports to the right students at the right time
help every student on the path to college and career
readiness (Talent Development Secondary)
Students’ academic success is highly dependent on
academic enablers (engagement, interpersonal skills,
study skills, and motivation) (DiPerna & Elliott, 2002)
NJ district data: reduction in referrals to the Principal’s
office and inappropriate referrals for special education
28. (9) ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS
Foundational Components
Positive School Culture and Climate
District and School Leadership
Family and Community Engagement
Instructional Components
High-quality learning environments, curricula, and
instructional practices
Universal screening
Data-based decision making
Collaborative problem-solving teams
Progress monitoring
Staff professional development
29. Tier 1
High-quality learning
environments, curricula,
and instructional practices.
Provided to approximately
80% of students
Tier 2
Targeted, Supplemental
Supports and Interventions in
English Language Arts,
mathematics and behavior
15% of students
Tier 3
Individualized, Intensive
Academic and Behavioral
Supports and
Interventions
5%
30. NJTSS ALIGNMENT WITH ESSA
ESSA §1114: Schoolwide Programs
Plan must address the needs of all students with activities which
may include:
“schoolwide tiered model to prevent and address
problem behavior, and early intervening services,
coordinated with similar activities and services
carried out under the IDEA”
ESSA §1115: Targeted Assistance Programs
Schools may serve participating students through:
“schoolwide tiered model to prevent and address
problem behavior, and early intervening services,
coordinated with similar activities and services
carried out under the IDEA”
31. NJTSS AND INTERVENTION AND
REFERRAL SERVICES
Identify learning, behavior and health difficulties of
students
Implement action plans to help students and
teachers with appropriate school and/or community
resources
Involve parents in development
Provide professional development for teachers and
service providers
Review action plans to see if they are effective and if
not, what other support or intervention might assist
the student or teacher
32. NJTSS AND SPECIAL EDUCATION
State Systemic Improvement Plan Indicators
State-Identified Measurable Result (SIMR)
Improve Graduation Rate for Students with Disabilities
Improve achievement of students with disabilities
Reduce disproportionality
Reduce suspension/expulsion
Improve post-school outcomes
33. NJTSS AND INCLUSION
Collaborative Problem-Solving Teams
Accommodations and Supports at all Tiers
UDL and differentiation in all classrooms and
environments
Integrated small group interventions
Progress Monitoring
Schoolwide family and community engagement
Positive Climate & Supports for behavior at all
tiers
34. NJTSS AND PARENTS
Family and Community Engagement
Parent Involvement in identification and review of
interventions
Dual Capacity Framework
NJTSS- ER Grant
35. NJTSS FOR EARLY READING
5-year, 6 million dollar grant from USDE
Partnership with Rutgers University
Partnership with SPAN, New Jersey Principals and
Supervisors Association and Dumont School District
Provides intensive ‘coaching’ to school coaches on
implementing NJTSS and early reading strategies to
improve reading achievement for students with
disabilities and other students who struggle
60 schools
Includes improving family and community engagement
36. IMPLEMENTING NJTSS
Exploring
Will this meet our student’s needs
Planning
Develop a plan for implementation – minimum of 3 years
Implementing
Implement the Plan
Sustaining
Evaluate implementation
37. RESOURCES
New Jersey Tiered System of Supports (NJTSS)
http://www.state.nj.us/education/njtss/
New Jersey’s Student Learning Standards
http://www.state.nj.us/education/cccs/
Universal Design for Learning
http://www.state.nj.us/education/udl/
Dynamic Learning Maps Essential Elements – State
Alternate Assessment Expectations
http://www.dynamiclearningmaps.org/erp_im#EELMR
43. RTI DIFFERENCES
Previous System RTI in Old Bridge
Identification system (I&RS) and
intervention programs (Basic Skills)
run independently of each other.
RTI combines identification system
and intervention service programs into
one cohesive unit.
Summative assessment for decision
making.
Universal screening to identify student
strengths and weaknesses early on;
Appropriate use of assessment tools
(highly predictive, valid and reliable).
1-2 tiers of service. Multiple tiers of service with each
building onto the previous one.
Little opportunity for collaboration
among teachers and
interventionists; Teachers with
specialized training do not have
the opportunity to provide peer
coaching.
Collaborative RTI Data Team
meetings should be held on a
monthly basis.
45. WHAT STORY IS DATA TELLING
US ABOUT CURRENT
EDUCATIONAL TRENDS?
46. ASSESSMENT AND RTI
- Assessment is ongoing and diagnostic
- Excellence is defined by measuring individual
growth through a starting point
- Students readiness, interest, and learning profile
shape instruction
- Reflect readiness-level rather than grade-level
- Fair does not mean equal- Eye Glasses
50. WHAT HAPPENS TO OUR STRUGGLING
LEARNERS?
Anxiety, Avoidance. Inattention
51. OUR STRUGGLING LEARNERS
Main reasons why students continue to struggle:
Have poor background knowledge
Have no toolbox of fix up strategies to apply
when decoding or comprehension breaks down
Often have poor motivation and engagement
52. INSTRUCTION
Learning is an emotional experience for
students.
To increase intrinsic motivation, students
need to have the skill and will to learn new
material
Early years we have the greatest window of
opportunity to support learners
53. MAKING IT MEANINGFUL
Learning can be increased through positive emotional
responses
The problem: struggling students experience stress
and anxiety from tests and school in general
This stress and anxiety causes the brain’s higher
order thinking processing center to shut down
making retention of learning very low.
The brain focuses on reducing the cause of the
anxiety; learning objectives become a low-priority.
Students may remember the situations, that’s it.
54. MOTIVATING LEARNERS
Keys to motivation:
Interest
Confidence
Lower achieving students often over-emphasize
their limitations believing they are worse than
they really are until they give up
Dedication- avoidant students do not make the
connection between their efforts and outcomes
57. INTERVENTION PLANS (MEDICAL
MODEL)
What is the primary area of focus?
Baseline: What assessment should be used?
Assess student proximity to target area
What strategies and interventions can we use in
the mainstream classroom? What are the
necessary prerequisite skills?
Any accommodations and modifications
needed?
Keep the plan simple and consistent across
environments
58. Big Five of Reading
Phonemic Awareness
Phonics
Vocabulary
Fluency
Comprehension
(National Reading Panel)
62. Parent Engagement
Parent engagement in schools is defined as parents and
school staff working together to support and improve the
learning, development, and health of children and
adolescents.
Parent engagement in schools is a shared responsibility in
which schools and other community agencies and
organizations are committed to reaching out to engage
parents in meaningful ways, and parents are committed to
actively supporting their children’s and adolescents’
learning and development.
63. The Evidence on Parent Engagement
Studies have found that students with involved
parents, were more likely to:
• Earn higher grades
and test scores and
enroll in higher level
programs
• …Pass their classes
and earn credits
• Attend school
regularly
• Have better social skills
• Graduate and go on to post
secondary education
• Show improved behavior
• And adapt well to school
64. Activity- How does NJTSS inform the ways that we
can engage and involve families in NJTSS?
Tier 3-Tiers 1 and 2 plus:
• Intensive, sustained,
individualized academic and
behavioral supports and
Interventions
• Frequent progress monitoring
• Provided to a few students
Tier 1
• High-quality le arning
environments, curricula,
and instructional
practices
• Planning for learner
variability and
differentiation
• Multiple means of
engagement,
representation, and
action/expression
• Provided to all students
Tier 2 -Tier 1 plus:
• Supplemental supports and
interventions in English
Language Arts, mathematics
and behavior
• Small groups
• Targeted sustained
interventions
• Regular progress monitoring
• Provided to some students
65. Strategies for Family Engagement in
NJ TSS
• District or school Literacy Nights
• Special Education Parent Advisory
Group (SEPAG)
• Use of multiple means of culturally-
responsive, ongoing communication
including review of district and school
level performance and progress data
• Scheduling of intervention planning
meetings to facilitate meaningful
parent participation and review of
student progress data.
• Involved in the process of creating
clear district and school vision and
mission statements, developed
collaboratively by the leadership
teams, that include a commitment to
build capacity and sustain the NJ TSS
framework
• District and building leadership teams,
with representation from
administration, staff, students, families
and community partners, that meet
regularly and approach instruction and
interventions in an integrated manner
• Identification of strategies and
resources to accommodate cultural
and linguistic differences and link
families, staff and students to
appropriate service providers and
community partners
• SEPAG leadership position
• Chair of Literacy Planning Committee
66. Resource Links
New Jersey Department of Education NJTSS Website
National Center on Universal Design for Learning(UDL)
A wealth of information on UDL for parents and educators
Universal Design for Learning Tech Toolkit
Free Technology Toolkit for UDL and accommodations in classrooms
Function-Based Problem Solving Resources (Behavior)
Boggs Center in collaboration with NJ DOE OSEP resources.
Check Function-Based Problem Solving Resources in left column for information for
behaviors supports aligned with NJ TSS
Great Things Happen in Inclusive Schools
Activities to promote inclusion in schools
Swift Guide
SWIFT Field Guide outlines five steps for a school to get started. With each step are
links to practical, downloadable resources.
67. Activity- Next Steps
• Write your name and address on an envelope
• Within the next 6 weeks, what concrete actions
can I take based on the information gained
today? Write up to three actions on an index
card.
• Place the index card in the envelope but Do Not
seal the envelope
• The envelope will be mailed to you in about 6
weeks
68. Thank you
for joining us for the
START Inclusion Mini-Conference
Please complete the evaluation
35 Halsey Street, 4th Floor
Newark, NJ 07102
Phone: 973-642-8100 x-123
Toll Free: (800) 654 - SPAN
Fax: (973) 642 - 8080
www.spannj.org
