# data[].attributes.headline
Accommodations Checklist for ELL Students

# data[].attributes.subject
Accommodations Checklist for ELL Students

# data[].attributes.headline
Small Group Instruction for Reteaching and Support

# data[].attributes.subject
Small Group Instruction for Reteaching and Support

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
One way to help educators identify students in need of intervention and implement evidence-based interventions to promote their reading achievement is a framework called "Response To Intervention."

The Education Department's Institute of Education Sciences convened a panel to look at the best available evidence and expertise and formulate specific and coherent evidence-based recommendations to use Response To Intervention (RTI) to help primary grade students overcome reading struggles. The panel made five practice recommendations.

The fifth recommendation is to:

Tier 3

Instruction should be intensified by focusing on fewer high priority reading skills during lessons and scheduling multiple and extended instructional sessions. One-on-one or small group instruction also provides intensity as students have more opportunities to practice and respond. One-on-one instruction includes giving students feedback based on their individual responses, teaching students to mastery based on individual learning progress, and planning instruction with materials and an instructional sequence that meets individual student needs.

There is no reason to believe that a tier 3 program should consist primarily of one-on-one instruction - though such instruction should be part of a student's daily program. Student progress should be monitored regularly using progress monitoring measures to assess whether the program is on course and to determine whether a team of professionals needs to refine the instructional program to enhance achievement growth.

How to carry out this recommendation

1. Implement concentrated instruction that is focused on a small but targeted set of reading skills.

Focusing on a small set of reading or reading-related skills is essential to tier 3 in kindergarten through grade 2 because having too many instructional objectives for struggling readers makes it more difficult to learn the skills well enough for proficient reading (Blumsack, 1996; Foorman et al., 1998; Gillon, 2000). In the opinion of the panel, too many instructional objectives can overwhelm students. Achieving proficiency is also difficult for students when instruction is scattered across different aspects of reading.

Diagnostic assessments can help determine why a reading problem is occurring and which reading skills or performance deficits need to be addressed to improve reading performance. Specifically, educators can ask: what aspects of reading are blocking the student from achieving reading proficiency? When these obstacles are determined, high priority skills are identified as the focus of tier 3 instruction. For example, the panel believes that if a student is struggling with decoding, it does not make sense to use tier 3 instructional time for summary writing, comprehension monitoring instruction, or clarification strategies because the primary reading obstacle for the student is sounding out and reading words accurately. Here, decoding is considered a high priority skill because it underlies the student's overall reading difficulty.

Additionally, the panel believes that there should be depth in modeling and practice with feedback in tier 3 instruction - perhaps requiring limited breadth. Such focus provides opportunities to review, practice, and reinforce newly learned proficiencies so that students can demonstrate sustained and consistent levels of proficiency across lessons. Often a sustained 90 percent or higher criterion of correct responses on taught material is considered mastery. Tier 3 instruction often focuses on phonemic awareness and decoding, especially for younger students or those with very limited reading proficiency. However, comprehension and vocabulary are also critical (National Reading Panel (NRP), 2000).

For a student receiving tier 3 instruction, several sessions each week might focus on phonemic awareness and decoding in depth. The other sessions might focus on comprehension and vocabulary in depth. To date, there are no clear-cut empirical guidelines to determine how to balance competing demands for instructional time.

2. Adjust the overall lesson pace.

To provide greater focus to tier 3 instruction, teachers can adjust the overall lesson pace so that it is slow and deliberate (that is, more intensive). Teachers implementing tier 3 instruction can focus the pace of lessons by focusing on a single component of a lesson. For example, teachers might focus only on introducing the new skill rather than implementing a full lesson that includes introduction, extended practice, and application. Subsequent tier 3 instruction might review the new skills (with modified or shortened instruction from the lesson's introduction) and practice the new skills. Instructional pace is slowed and focused by implementing a series of lessons concentrating only on a variety of review and practice activities. Rather than practicing how to identify the main idea in one lesson, several lessons would practice identifying the main idea.

3. Schedule multiple and extended instructional sessions daily.

While research does not suggest a specific number of intervention sessions or duration of instructional intervention (such as weeks, months, or years) for tier 3, studies do suggest that students needing tier 3 intervention require more reading instructional time than their peers without reading difficulties. On average, students participating in tier 3 interventions receive an additional 75 minutes of instruction per week. Additional instructional time ranges from about 45 minutes per week (Blumsack, 1996) to 120 minutes per week (Gillon, 2000).

In the opinion of the panel, schools could provide an additional 30 minutes of instruction by creating a "double dose" of reading time for struggling readers. Rather than more of the same, a double dose of instruction means a teacher might introduce skills during the first session and then re-teach with added practice during the second.

Duration, or extended implementation of tier 3 intervention, also intensifies instruction. Further research is required to examine the total hours of instruction needed and relative impact of tier 3 duration.

4. Include opportunities for extensive practice and high quality feedback with one-on-one instruction.

To become proficient in the application of newly acquired skills and strategies, students with the most intensive instructional needs will need multiple opportunities to practice with immediate high-quality feedback. According to panel opinion, tier 3 students might require 10 or 30 times as many practice opportunities as their peers. An example considered by the panel includes the use of technology for aspects of the reading program. Technology can be a good means for students to receive the practice they need, such as practice in letter sound recognition (Barker and Torgesen, 1995; Chambless and Chambless, 1994; NRP, 2000).

One-on-one instruction is an effective way to maximize practice during tier 3 instruction. If scheduling one-on-one instructional sessions is not possible, the panel suggests students be organized in small groups of homogenous reading needs. One-on-one or small-group instruction provides the greatest opportunity for continuous and active learning. For example, in whole-class instruction, individual students have few opportunities to respond, practice, and interact with the teacher.

Meanwhile in one-on-one instruction, a student has many occasions to respond and practice. When working with small groups, educators can increase opportunities to respond and practice by encouraging unison group responses.

With one-on-one and small-group instruction, teachers can also provide immediate and individualized feedback (Blumsack, 1996; Gillon, 2000; McMaster et al., 2005; O'Connor and Jenkins, 1995). A key feature of instructional feedback is error correction. By correcting student errors when they are first made, it is much less likely that errors will become internalized and therefore repeated. For example, if a student incorrectly segmented a word, the teacher could model the accurate response, give the student another opportunity to segment the word, and return to the missed word later in the lesson to reinforce the correct application of the skill. This type of ongoing, guided practice provides students with the support and feedback they need to become fluent with critical reading skills and strategies.

5. Plan and individualize tier 3 instruction using input from a school-based RTI team.

In the opinion of the panel, tier 3 instructional planning requires an increased level of detail because of the individualized nature of the instruction and particular student reading needs. Students with intensive reading needs require substantial supports during the initial stages of learning.

As students progress in their understanding and knowledge, these supports are gradually withdrawn so that students can begin to apply skills and strategies independently (Blumsack, 1996; Foorman et al., 1998; Gillon, 2000; O'Connor and Jenkins, 1995). For students with learning disabilities, instruction that is carefully scaffolded is essential to successful learning (Swanson, Hoskyn, and Lee, 1999). Teachers should introduce concepts and skills beginning with easier tasks and progressing to more difficult tasks (Blumsack, 1996; Foorman et al., 1998; Gillon, 2000; McMaster et al., 2005; O'Connor and Jenkins, 1995).

When teaching oral segmenting, for example, it is easier for students to isolate the first sound than to completely segment the word. Material supports also play a role in individualizing student learning. Graphic organizers, procedural facilitators (like color-coded question cards representing questions to ask before, during, and after reading), and concrete manipulatives are all visual prompts or reminders that provide support to struggling readers as they internalize skills and strategies. For example, a story map can be used to teach students how to identify a story's critical components.

As students become more adept at applying segmentation skills or using a story map to aid retelling, these material prompts are progressively faded out. Teachers can optimize limited instructional time and instruction by teaching skills or strategies that reinforce each other. For example, emerging research suggests that teaching spelling promotes reading for struggling readers (O'Connor and Jenkins, 1995).

Students see spellings as maps of phonemic content rather than an arbitrary sequence of letters. Practice in using the alphabetic strategy to spell words seems to transfer to reading words.

6. Ensure that tier 3 students master a reading skill or strategy before moving on.

Emerging research on tier 3 instruction focuses on individualizing instruction by teaching students to mastery. Before a student moves to the next lesson, skill, or activity, they must demonstrate that a reading skill or strategy is mastered. When teaching a series of phonemic awareness activities (Gillon, 2000). Teachers should discontinue activities when a student reaches 100 percent accuracy on all of the items in the activity. Teachers can keep notes or records about how students perform on different reading tasks. For example, a teacher could record the exact words that a student practices reading, the student's word reading accuracy, and the number of times it takes for students to practice a word before reading it accurately (O'Connor and Jenkins, 1995).

Roadblocks and suggested approaches

Roadblock 5.1. The distinction between tier 2 and tier 3 instructional interventions can often be blurry.

Suggested Approach. Teachers should not be too concerned about tier 2 and tier 3 differences; the tiers are merely a way to continually vary resources to match the nature and intensity of instructional need. Remember that at present, distinctions between tier 2 and tier 3 are not clear or well documented. The terms are conveniences for school personnel.

Many tier 3 students will also have tier 1 and tier 2 instruction as part of their reading program. A student receiving tier 3 instruction focused on decoding and fluency might also participate in a tier 2 heterogeneous group focused on vocabulary and comprehension.

One limitation with individualized, one-on-one tier 3 instruction is that there are few opportunities for students to engage in comprehension building discourse. Increasing comprehension through discourse requires different levels of student language, vocabulary, and comprehension skills. Small, heterogeneous groups are optimal for building student language and vocabulary because students have opportunities to hear different language examples, new vocabulary words, and content that helps connect understanding. Discourse-based vocabulary and comprehension activities are often included in tier 2 interventions.

Roadblock 5.2. Because most tier 3 students have problems with decoding and fluently reading connected text, some may have tier 3 interventions that only highlight these areas.

Suggested Approach. Targeting important comprehension proficiencies (summarizing, use of story grammar elements, vocabulary development, listening comprehension development) need to be part of any solid tier 3 intervention.

Roadblock 5.3. School and staff resources are often too limited to support individualized instruction for tier 3 students.

Suggested Approach. Consider creative alternatives for school and staff resources. For example, use community resources, such as parent or senior citizen volunteers, to help reinforce tier 3 instruction. While an experienced teacher or interventionist should teach new skills, volunteers can help reinforce and practice reading in focused one-on-one sessions. Community tutoring programs are also options. Technology is another resource to consider, and remember many individualized instruction activities work well with small, homogeneous group instruction.

Roadblock 5.4. Schools tend to give the least experienced teachers the toughest-to-teach students.

Suggested Approach. Reevaluate school schedules to ensure that the more experienced teachers or specialists are teaching tier 3 instruction. This may require some professional development and ongoing mentoring even for skilled veteran teachers.

Many teachers do not have the training to teach students with intensive reading difficulties. Given the importance of carefully planning and individualizing instruction, scaffolding skill introduction, enhancing one reading skill or strategy with another (such as adding spelling to reading instruction), structuring multiple practice opportunities, and providing high quality feedback with consistent error corrections, professional development plans and ongoing mentoring should focus on the details of instructional design and planning.

Roadblock 5.5. Adding multiple and extended instructional sessions to a daily schedule can be overwhelming for some students and a challenge for schools in terms of scheduling.

Suggested Approach. If a student requires an additional hour of instruction per day, teachers should consider breaking that hour into smaller instructional sessions or using several short activities to help maintain student motivation and engagement (Gillon, 2000). One session could focus on decoding, and the follow-up on comprehension and vocabulary. The morning session could introduce new word reading skills, and the afternoon session practice and review. Early reading provides critical foundational skills; such skills and strategies need to be proficient before students enter the upper elementary grades. Thus, if critical decisions need to be made about adding tier 3 instruction to a student's reading program, using time typically allocated to social studies or science may be necessary. Other less intrusive scheduling options include providing tier 3 instruction to struggling readers while other students are participating in center activities, independent projects, or the tier 1 "add-on" enrichment activities. Tier 3 instruction could also be provided during whole-class spelling instruction.

Roadblock 5.6. Some students who require tier 3 instruction do not catch-up despite intensive, one-on-one instruction.

Suggested Approach. Remind school staff that a school's goal is to help each student reach proficient reading levels if at all possible. Obtaining significant progress toward reading proficiency should be the primary goal. Emphasize that the teaching process should involve more than merely providing students with an opportunity to demonstrate the reading skills that they already know. It must involve the integration of new knowledge with previously learned knowledge.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Best Practice for RTI: Small Group Instruction for Students Making Minimal Progress (Tier 3)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
After reviewing the research, the What Works Clearninghouse recommends that in tier 3 of Response To Intervention, schools provide provide intensive instruction on a daily basis that promotes the development of the various components of reading proficiency to students who show minimal progress after reasonable time.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Intervention and remediation (also commonly referred to as reteaching) have the same fundamental goal: supporting struggling students with focused learning opportunities to achieve academic success. But still, the differences between these two flavors of instruction are critical to determining what sort of environment, time, and approach might be required to best serve your students. We'll take a closer look at defining these terms and provide guidance on when and where they might fit into your instructional day.
Intervention
Intervention is often identified as a formal process for helping students who are struggling, where research-based instructional approaches are implemented around very specific skill deficits and where progress is regularly tracked. This intensive approach was first introduced with the 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) as a method to help identify students with specific learning disabilities. Some of the more popular models include response to intervention (RTI) or a multi-tiered support system (MTSS). In practice, most school districts use intervention to prevent learning gaps from widening in later grades and to identify students for special education referral.

Intervention frameworks are often divided into three sections, where about 80 percent of students are considered Tier 1 and receive core instruction and necessary remediation or reteaching. Tier 2 (5 to 15 percent of students) and Tier 3 (less than 5 percent of students) are then most directly involved in regular small-group or 1:1 interventions. To determine which students require intervention services, a formalized screening and diagnostic assessment process is often used, during which specific strengths and needs are identified, growth targets are set, and a regimented plan for delivery and progress monitoring is outlined.
Remediation
At a basic level, remediation (or reteaching) means "teaching again" content that students previously failed to learn. As a teacher recognizes misconceptions or errors in understanding, he or she may quickly redirect students through explicit remediation of that concept. This is done early on and for the benefit of all learners during core instruction in hope of preventing the majority of students from requiring more targeted, intensive interventions. Many teachers engage in remediation regularly as a natural part of instruction, without using a formal process or even explicitly recognizing their actions as intentional reteaching.

Remediation is also often guided by some sort of formative assessment, whether formal or informal, in order to gather enough insight to recognize the large breakdown in knowledge that students are experiencing. For this approach to be impactful, teachers must use a different method to the one initially used-one that builds on previous learning and focuses on the specific omissions in student thinking experienced the first time around. Ideally, remediation or reteaching is done early in the learning process, before additional skills are layered in or more formal mastery tests or summative exams are administered.
When to Employ Each Approach
The best educators recognize both intervention and remediation as central to their day-to-day instructional practices. In between delivering core instruction for a specific standard aligned to their explicit scope and sequence, these educators are constantly pausing to reflect and reteach, while similarly baking in intentional intervention time for those who might be struggling with underlying skills or concepts. This balancing act can often feel like navigating a decision tree but for instruction. Look at the following graphic for one such example.

When you understand the key differences of these instructional approaches and, better yet, the value each one holds, your practices as an educator can become even more intentional. For example, don't spin your wheels organizing all students into small groups for an intervention block when only 10 percent of them require this level of focused engagement. Also, don't stop to remediate a concept to the whole class when just a subset of learners would really benefit from a hands-on alternative instructional method to achieve understanding. Knowing what your students need and how to best meet student needs will make for a more balanced learning ecosystem where everyone is receiving the right level of services at just the right time.

Interested in learning more about tiered intervention? Discover how to support Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 students with proven programs.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Intervention vs. Remediation: What's the difference?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Intervention and remediation (also commonly referred to as reteaching) have the same fundamental goal: supporting struggling students with focused learning opportunities to achieve academic success. But still, the differences between these two flavors of instruction are critical to determining what sort of environment, time, and approach might be required to best serve your students.

# data[].attributes.body
Activity Accommodations Checklist for IEP Students

# data[].attributes.headline
Accommodations for Students with Learning Disabilities

# data[].attributes.subject
Accommodations for Students with Learning Disabilities

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Learning Disabilities Association of America

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
While the majority of a student's program should be as closely aligned with the general education curriculum as possible, some accommodations and modifications may be necessary. Listed below are some suggested ways to aid students with specific learning disabilities (SLD) learn more effectively at home or at school. Selection from these and other possibilities must be based on the individual needs of each child.
Information and ideas from a multidisciplinary team, including the parents and student, are important for developing an Individualized Education Program (IEP) that meets the unique needs of each student with learning disabilities. A carefully developed multidisciplinary approach will make classroom instruction meaningful for students.

1. For some students who read slowly or with difficulty, a "read-along" technique may be used with taped texts and materials to allow learning of printed materials.

2. For students with memory problems or difficulty taking notes, a fellow student might share notes; the student might tape the lesson; or the teacher might provide a copy of the lesson outline.

3. For students who read below expected levels, educational videos and films or talking books can provide the general information that cannot be acquired from the printed page.

4. For students with short term memory problems (e.g., understand math processes, but have short term memory problems that interfere with remembering math facts), a table of facts or a calculator could be provided.

5. For students whose handwriting is slow, illegible or includes many reversed letters, a cassette recorder or a computer with word processing software could be used for written work or tests.

6. For students who have difficulty with spelling, a "misspeller's dictionary" or computerized spell checker can help make written materials readable.

7. For students who have difficulty reading cursive, small, or crowded print, typed handouts, large print, or double spaced materials can help.

8. To develop memory and listening skills, poetry, rhymes, songs, audio-taped materials and mnemonics may improve performance.

9. To teach spelling, the teacher might use a multi-sensory approach that combines saying, spelling aloud, and writing words.

10. Ways to improve vocabulary and comprehension can include a student-developed file of vocabulary words and the use of word webs and visual organizers to relate words and ideas heard or read on paper. A dictionary or thesaurus, suited to the child's learning level, is also an excellent tool for building vocabulary, spelling and reading comprehension.

11. For students who have difficulty organizing time, materials and information, a variety of approaches can be used, including:

a quiet, uncluttered homework space

alarm watch

purchased texts that can be marked with a highlighter

a homework assignment diary coordinated between home and school

study skills instruction

a personally-developed date-book or scheduler

12. For students who copy inaccurately, but need written practice to solidify learning, changes that may help include: leaving a space directly under each word, phrase or sentence, or having handouts on the desk for those who can't copy from the blackboard or take dictation accurately. For left-handed students, place the list of words at the right margin. For students whose writing is large, provide enlarged spaces for "fill in the blank" activities.

13. For students who seem to process auditory information slowly (e.g., not fully understanding questions asked, recalling needed information, or forming an appropriate answer), be patient. Allow sufficient "wait-time for the answer or provide the questions in written form.

14. Oral and written language should be taught together as much as possible. Illustrations in a book being read should be used to generate conversation, vocabulary and concepts that will relate to what is to be read. Material that is read can be translated into a verbal summary, a word web, a visual organizer, or a computer presentation.

15. Students who find reading slow and difficult may benefit from supplementing the subject matter being read with video tapes, DVDs, captioned TV programs, or computer software.

More on Reading

Since reading is central to learning, children who do not learn to read by the second grade are likely to struggle with learning throughout their lives. Reading assessment should include skill levels in decoding, fluency and comprehension.

As children learn to read, they learn how spoken and written language relate to each other. Thus, the components of a reading program must also relate to one another, engage all children and meet their individual needs. Reading activities may include:

Listening to good stories and books, appropriate to the child's age, read aloud daily

Language games that encourage identification of rhyming words and creation of rhymes

Instruction and practice in phonemic awareness, alphabetic knowledge, alphabetic principles, decoding strategies, vocabulary acquisition, fluency and comprehension

Additional reading instruction in a small group or tutoring setting

Before/after school and summer school classes

Teaching Mathematics

Theories on mathematics disabilities view spatial visualization and verbal skills as critical. These two skill areas are important for anyone learning mathematics, but are especially important for students with learning disabilities. These areas should be heavily emphasized in the teaching and remediation of mathematical concepts and skills.

An individualized education program in mathematics would concentrate on developing concepts and skills within such strands as: numeration, geometry, measurement, collection and interpretation of data, estimation/mental computations, patterns and relations and word problems/applications. Concepts are best introduced with "hands-on" concrete materials. Knowing one-digit facts is important, but work with paper and pencil algorithms should not be emphasized, since calculations can be done with calculators if memory or sequencing is a problem.

Estimation strategies are often taught as mental computations skills are developed. Students should be encouraged to draw illustrations and representations whenever possible. They should consistently discuss, read and write as they solve more complex computational and word problems. For students with learning disabilities, confidence in the practical applications of mathematics to everyday life is also very important.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Accommodations, Techniques and Aids For Learning

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
While the majority of a student's program should be as closely aligned with the general education curriculum as possible, some accommodations and modifications may be necessary. Listed below are some suggested ways to aid students with specific learning disabilities (SLD) learn more effectively at home or at school.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Impulsive behaviors, such as flying paper planes in class, might be improved by 504 accomodations for adhd.

1 of 11

Low grades on assignments can be improved by 504 accomodations for adhd.

2 of 11

Two kids in a classroom focusing on their work aided by 504 accomodations for adhd.

3 of 11

A student causing a distruption in class which might be alleviated by 504 accomodations for adhd.

4 of 11

A student daydreaming in class which 504 accomodations for adhd could improve by encouraging focus and engagement.

5 of 11

A student fidgeting during a test which 504 accomodations for adhd can help ease and mitigate.

6 of 11

A teacher assigning homework on the blackboard, which 504 accomodations for adhd can help your child to complete by improving communication.

7 of 11

A teacher spending extra time explaining a concept to a student in accordance with 504 accomodations for adhd.

8 of 11

A student is isolated and gossiped about in class, which 504 plan accomodations can assist in by allowing her to expand her social network.

9 of 11

An apprehensive student contemplating his writing assignment, which 504 accomodations for adhd can help manage.

10 of 11

Student with ADHD writing out math problem on blackboard with teacher looking on

11 of 11

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Every 504 Plan Should Include These ADHD Accommodations

# data[].attributes.headline
Accommodations for Special Need Students: 

# data[].attributes.subject
Accommodations for Special Need Students: 

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The National Center for Learning Disabilities presents examples of accommodations that allow students with learning disabilities to show what they know without giving them an unfair advantage. Accommodations are divided into the following categories: how information is presented to the student, how…

# data[].attributes.headline
Reading Two and Three Syllable Word Activity

# data[].attributes.subject
Reading Two and Three Syllable Word Activity

# data[].attributes.headline
Open and Closed Syllable 2nd Grade Assessment:

# data[].attributes.subject
Open and Closed Syllable 2nd Grade Assessment: