R10 MTSS Newsletter: January 2020
Prevention, Enrichment, and Intervention for All Students
Kimmie's MTSS Reflection
But recently, when I was feeling completely alone, someone managed to bring me back to reality by showing me all that has been accomplished in just a year's time. All because I made one friend who believed in what I was saying. And that friend made a friend who made a friend who made a friend. And in a blink of an eye, I woke up to realize all that we, as the R10 Education Service Center, as LEAs, as a MTSS Consortium, and as a MTSS Team, have accomplished in just one year of connecting with each other. Here are just a few accomplishments:
- In one year, our MTSS Newsletter went from a team of one to a team of sixteen. Sixteen!!! That's AMAZING!!!
- We had a MTSS Institute that 472 people attended! I wish I could give all of you a high five right now. And then I would have to give you another one because that number represents over 30 teams from LEAs from all over the state. That's AMAZING!!!
- We had the impeccable Dr. Sharon Vaughn present for us at the MTSS Institute. And guess what? She's agreed to come back for the September 23-24, 2020 MTSS Institute. That's AMAZING!!
- We continue to grow as a R10 MTSS Consortium. We continue to bring in speakers about diverse topics. And it has grown from just me facilitating the meeting to several MTSS team members standing shoulder to shoulder with me to deliver important messages and supports. That's AMAZING!!!
- I was asked by the Technical Assistance Network 5 to find LEAs that could be used as MTSS Exemplars for TEA's statewide modules. I submitted three. I think all three will be in the Technical Assistance Network 5 Modules rolling out late Spring. ALL three! That's AMAZING!!!
All these AMAZING things are happening because you are doing AMAZING things. We have done AMAZING things together. You may not see it because you may be feeling overwhelmed as you continue to work on bridging the silos in your LEAs and strengthening the systems of communication in order to build a sustainable MTSS Framework. You will not always score a strike, but you will hit a spare or just one pin. And that is also still AMAZING because that's one more pin that you didn't have. Keep up all the AMAZING things you are working on. All it takes is a little clarity to see how far you have come.
Progress Monitoring Tip of the Month
Let pre-assessments before instruction of new information and formative assessments during instruction be the norm.
MTSS Framework Survey Participation Request
Hello MTSS Friends,
As a MTSS community, you are being asked to participate in a research study. Brandy West is a doctoral student at Southern Methodist University and is conducting what I think is a study that is greatly needed, Addressing Barriers of Response to Intervention: Teacher Perceptions, Teacher Training and Tier 1 Instruction.
She is asking for your participation in a brief survey. The window opens Sunday, January 19, 2020, and closes Sunday, February 2, 2020. If you complete the survey, you will be eligible to win a $100 Amazon gift card if you enter the drawing.
As we know, the MTSS Framework houses the component of academic interventions or RtI. You will be asked questions concerning the Universal (Tier 1), Targeted (Tier 2) and Intensive (Tier 3) levels of support an intervention.
I hope that you will participate as your experiences and opinions will only help us grow as a state and help us to further develop our common language and common practices. Ms. West is asking that you read the consent to participate in the survey here: http://bit.ly/38r6Oy7.
Once you have read through the consent and feel that you would like to participate, please click on the link at the end of the consent form to complete the survey.
Sincerely,
Kimmie L. Conlon
ALL MEANS ALL. PREVENTION. ENRICHMENT. INTERVENTION.
We need to bring clarity to the systems of support needed and potential roadblocks that stop us...
DID YOU KNOW....
HAVE YOU SEEN....
The following is new Texas Education Agency Correspondence. Please take a moment to check it out.
2020-01-17: School Programs Division
House Bill 3 (HB3) Implementation: Reading Practices Survey
2020-01-17: School Programs Division
House Bill 3906 Implementation: Assessment Educator Advisory Committee
2020-01-17: Governance and Accountability Division
2019-2020 Assignment of Accreditation Statuses
2020-01-17: School Programs Division
LET'S HEAR FROM THE R10 MTSS TEAM!!!
The Compassionate Classroom with Dr. Caryn Sawlis
During my training session yesterday, the first one of 2020, a male participant spoke my own truth. He said, “I am here at this training to get away from my kids. They are driving me nuts.” I let out a strong, “Yes” as I raised my fists to the ceiling. In many ways, I too, couldn’t wait to get back to work to, let’s be honest, just go the bathroom without someone yelling, “Mom!”
Now, don’t get me wrong I love my children, even the neighbor child who comes to our house to play with my son or get away from his four other siblings. But the cooking, cleaning, shopping, then the smells. I have boys, all boys, including my husband. Lifetime Fitness smells better than my house. I fight with my dog to see who can stick their nose out the window of the car the furthest so we don’t have to smell the combination of yuck and more yuck they all left behind. Whew!
But the reality is even though I am tired beyond measure, I did take time to really be present with my kids. I watched my son in his delight build a Star Wars million piece Lego set. I cooked cookies, even though the first batch I put in had too much butter. I helped my 16-year-old find the “perfect” birthday gift for his new girlfriend. I told him to also shower twice before his dinner date with her family.
I hugged them. I snuggled them. I saw them for who they are and I didn’t feel guilty for not having them do holiday homework, have an itinerary each day, or rush them off to the latest sport. We were just… a family.
I have had many moments of clarity thanks to my pastor as he reminded us recently in a sermon not to boast, but to boast about our beliefs. I won’t do that part but I will remind us all as parents, are we boasting too much of what we do for our kids and what our kids do? Or do we just see our kids for who they are? Do we love them and be with them? Is there a device that comes between us and them? Are we there in the moment? Whether it is a nervous 16- year-old boy going to his first sweet sixteen dinner or a 10- year-old with a nervous stomach because his mom said to not do that holiday homework and he feared his recess would be taken away.
We know real relationships are important for health and brain health. Take a look at the article by Dan Sigel on parenting and see if you come away with your own clarity of the year and your role as a parent.
MTSS in Early Childhood
It all begins in Early Childhood. Often overlooked, it remains the place to begin if you want to truly have biggest impact on a child's future educational endeavors that can still be felt as the move from child to a scholar graduating from high school. After all, it is the beginning of the educational journey.
Take a minute to check out these resources that can be done through Early Childhood Math an Reading. The more we resources we have and the more we know can make all of the difference in the world.
Another great resource is this blog post from Region 13 regarding Five Mind Frames for Teacher Clarity. It’s a good quick-read for educators at all grade levels.
McKinney-Vento/Foster Care Highlights with Deon Quinn
Supporting the Attendance of Students Experiencing Homelessness
Ask any educator the impact of attendance and you may hear something like, “students are most successful in school when they are present daily and ready to engage.” But what about students who are experiencing homelessness? Research shows that students experiencing homelessness are chronically absent from school at a rate at least twice that of the overall student population, and significantly more often than their housed, low-income peers.[i] This brief shares strategies that schools, districts, and communities are implementing to help ensure that students experiencing homelessness are in school, every day.
[i] https://nche.ed.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/chron-absent.pdf
THE BILINGUAL BLURB WITH VERONICA CLACK
So much is happening in the world of English Learners! I am very excited to share that the TEA English Learner Support Division has partnered with the TEA Division of Special Education to create LPAC Guidance for Deaf or Hard of Hearing (DHH) English Learners, along with an explanatory training video. These resources are currently posted on our TEA Bilingual/ESL Programs webpage.
Please check out all of the resources currently posted on the TTEA Bilingual/ESL Programs webpage.
You Down With CTE, Yeah You Know Me! ~ Julie Anderson
Growing up, I remember consistently being asked “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Then, as most children do, I would answer professions to which I had previously had interaction. I had gone to the doctor, so I knew what a doctor was. I had seen firefighters and teachers, I had interacted with employees at stores, and my father was a Computer Engineer, although, I had no idea what that meant. So, naturally I told everyone I was going to be one of those professions, in most instances I chose “doctor.” My opinion of my profession was colored by experience and parental input and expectation. Once in high school, I was exposed to alternate careers. While limited in the scope of career exposure, I found that I loved, and still love, education. As we look at the educational environment of our students today, they are far more fortunate than those of my generation in their opportunity and exposure regarding post-secondary living.
Imagine if our students were only invited to explore those careers that they see in their everyday lives. Some might be fortunate in that they obtain a vast array of experiences. Others, however, may only be exposed to low-wage, low-demand, low-skilled opportunities. This emphasizes the importance of CTE programs in our schools. Career and Technical Education courses are sometimes referred to as “non-core” or “non-academic.” This vernacular is detrimental to the power that CTE possesses. CTE has the ability to open doors and give students skills, exposure, industry certifications, and the ability to practically apply all they have learned through the content programs available.
The average college student changes their major a number of times. A large portion of the student population does not enroll in college, nor do they have a profession to enter upon graduation. How powerful could CTE be in helping students create better lives for themselves? By allowing students to explore career areas, giving them actual skills and industry certifications, and training them in a way that maximizes their potential, gives students a career, not just a job. In addition, students become engaged in Career and Technical Student Organizations that allow them to meet new people, travel, and become those that will lead our industries.
Educators are constantly asked to do better for students. We are asked to do more with less. We are asked to give students a future. CTE is doing that for the students that are enrolled. The State of Texas has seen the importance of CTE and has made the commitment to fund 7th and 8th grade CTE courses that count for high school credit so that students can begin their pathways earlier. Texas has committed to paying for one Industry Based Certification, that is passed, per student during their high school career so that they are career ready. We expect a lot from our students.
We ask them in middle school to decide which career they want when they “grow up.” Some days, I still don’t even know what I want to be when I grow up. But, I do know this…CTE is opening doors and inviting students in. Students are walking through the doors of hospitals, computer labs, manufacturing facilities, welding shops, automotive repair facilities, HVAC units, and a vast array of other doors they may have not even known existed. They are walking through the doors as well educated, certified, skilled employees that can create success in their post-secondary endeavors. Students can create lives in which they thrive instead of just survive and that makes CTE more than worth it.
If you have any questions that are not addressed here, please feel free to contact me @ julie.anderson@region10.org.
Did You Say Assessment? ~ Melissa Shaw
The Assessment Con 2020 is finally here! If you want to build you capacity on how Assessment truly plays a role in every setting, then you should be attending! I hope to see you here!!
There is still time to register for the Assessment Con 2020 Conference on January 22, 2020!
Cultural Bias: Just a Buzzword or Unspoken Reality? ~ Jennifer Hernandez
To refresh your memory from our last talk….
In Texas, English learners were the lowest subgroup to graduate but yet, were the most present (attendance). Why?
The article shared in November was about cultural bias and discipline infractions of minorities. Is there a connection between these two pieces of information?
According to the study (image below), minority children are more likely to be pushed out whether lenient or zero tolerance policies are implemented. According to this publication,
- where a child attends school is highly correlated with their chance of receiving a discipline referral because there is wide variation in discipline procedures throughout school districts
- African American and Hispanic students are disproportionately impacted by a schools’ use of discretionary discipline
- High dropout rates for students in disciplinary placements may suggest that discipline procedures use are adversely affecting students and interventions are not meeting their needs
R10 MTSS RADAR ALERTS
R10 Quarterly Meeting for Directors and/or Coordinators of MTSS
Our next R10 Quarterly Meeting for Directors and/or Coordinators of MTSS is right around the corner and we will be hosted by Celina ISD. A big thank you to Mr. Russell McDaniel, principal of Celina Junior High for making this happen for us! See you there on February 10, 2020.
Please note that we will do our best to Zoom these meetings.
February 10, 2020: Session #2625262 -http://bit.ly/February-Celina
April 16, 2020: Session #2625263: http://bit.ly/April-Bells
R10 MTSS Consortium Meetings
The R10 MTSS Consortium is designed to be an opportunity for all voices to be heard and is open to teachers, campus administrators and district administrators. These meetings are not for credit as there is no fee associated with this meeting. There is one remaining MTSS Consortium Meetings this year. We want to thank Plano ISD for hosting our April MTSS Consortium Meeting.
April 27, 2020: Session #2625521: http://bit.ly/ConsortiumApril-Plano
CREDIT UPDATE: R10 MTSS CONSORTIUM MEETUP (JAN. 14, 2020)
Thank you to everyone that was able to join us for the January 14, 2020 MTSS Consortium. A survey was not sent out for the event, however, credit was still awarded. Please log into your account and look under Registration and Certificates. You may need to then go to Past Sessions. If you do see a certificate in this location, please email elaine.fackler@region10.org.
Thank you!
R10 GENERAL RADAR ALERTS
Assessment Con 2020
Assessment Con 2020: Region 10 & 11 Assessment Conference
We are hosting the annual conference at the Hurst Conference Center, and this year's conference is going to be one of the best yet.
Register today to learn, network, and catch up with your colleagues at This link will take you to a web page that allows you to select the ESC region in which your district resides. Please make sure you select your region to register.
The registration cost is $25.00 per person.
Remember, if you are presenting at the conference, the registration cost is waived. If you have submitted a proposal to present, please wait till you hear from us about your proposal being accepted before registering.
If you have any questions please reach out by email to melissa.shaw@region10.org or eschrader@esc11.net.
Wednesday, Jan 22, 2020, 08:00 AM
Hurst Conference Center, Campus Drive, Hurst, TX, USA
LOTE Summit
Please click here to register.
Saturday, Jan 25, 2020, 08:30 AM
400 East Las Colinas Boulevard, Irving, TX, USA
Global Education Symposium
Please click to here register.
Thursday, Jan 30, 2020, 08:30 AM
400 East Spring Valley Road, Richardson, TX, USA
MTSS Institute Presents... Data Based Individualization and the Taxonomy of Intervention Intensity with Dr. Sarah Benz/National Center on Intensive Intervention
he 2020 MTSS Institute: The Power of Us! presents.....Data Based Individualization Work Shops. Please note: Data Based Individualization (DBI) is the Texas Education Agency's identified best practice of Intensive Intervention (Tier 3) for both academic and behavior supports and services.
Do you feel overwhelmed with trying to determine whether a student's intervention is working or is even the right one for the student? Frustrated with all the layers needed to implement an intervention plan with fidelity?
Join Dr. Sarah Benz from the National Center on Intensive Intervention as she walks participants through not only what Data Based Individualization (DBI) is, but how it works within the Taxonomy of Intervention Intensity.
The Taxonomy of Intervention Intensity (Fuchs, Fuchs, & Malone, 2017) includes the following dimensions:
- Strength: the evidence of effectiveness for students with intensive needs;
- Dosage: the number of opportunities the student has to respond and receive feedback from the teacher;
- Alignment: how well the intervention matches the targeted academic skills or behaviors of concern, as well as incorporates grade-appropriate standards or behaviors we would expect for a particular context;
- Attention to transfer: whether the intervention is explicitly designed to help students make connections between the skills taught in the intervention and skills learned in other contexts and environments;
- Comprehensiveness: how well the intervention incorporates a comprehensive array of explicit instruction principles; and
- Behavioral or academic support: whether an academic intervention incorporates behavioral strategies that may support students with self-regulation, motivation, or externalizing behaviors that may impact their ability to learn, or whether a behavioral intervention considers academic components as part of the intervention.
- Individualization, focuses on the ongoing use of progress monitoring data and other diagnostic data sources to intensify and individualize the intervention based on student need. This approach mirrors the remaining steps of the DBI process that consist of data collection and modification in an iterative process until improvement is seen.
To register for the ZOOM option, please click here.
To register for the Face-to-Face option, please click here.
Friday, Jan 31, 2020, 09:00 AM
400 East Spring Valley Road, Richardson, TX, USA
CCMR Conference: Dual Credit, Early College, and CTE
Region 10’s 3nd annual CCMR Conference: Dual Credit, Early College, and CTE is quickly approaching! It will be held on Friday, February 28, 2020 at Region 10 ESC, Spring Valley Conference Center. The theme for this year's event is " Connecting Silos in Support of Student Success." We’re excited to partner with North Texas Community College Consortium addressing CCMR, Dual Credit, Early College and CTE in our schools.
Administrators, counselors, and teachers are all encouraged to register to learn more about strategies that impact College, Career, and Military Readiness. When everyone is connected and working together, student’s succeed. The conference strands will be based off the needs of our stakeholders, examples include:
- TSIA and College Prep Courses
- Dual Credit and OnRamps Courses
- Advanced Academic Supports (AP, IB, SAT, ACT)
- Pathways to Careers/Industry Certification
- Partnerships between secondary and post-secondary education
- Strategies to maximize CCMR success
- Social Emotional Learning
- Mental Health Issues/Barriers to Success
- Perkins V
- Programs of Study for CTE
Please click here to register.
Friday, Feb 28, 2020, 09:00 AM
400 E. Spring Valley Road, Richardson, 75081-5101
ADDITIONAL TRAINING/CONSORTIUM OPPORTUNITIES AROUND THE GREAT STATE OF TEXAS
MTSS/RTI 101 with Dr. Althea Woodruff
In this session, Dr.Althea Woodruff will guide participants through the essential components of an RTI framework with a particular focus on the multi-level prevention system and academic requirements for Tier I, II, and III. Participants will receive guidance and resources to help them implement an effective RTI program.
This session is for teachers/interventionists/administrators at the beginning level of RTI implementation.
About Dr. Althea Woodruff
Dr. Althea Woodruff provides support to Texas state-level partners, districts, and schools through the Building RTI Capacity for Implementation in Texas Schools project at UT Austin’s Meadows Center and occasionally lectures at the University. She is also the lead author on Texas's Literacy Achievement Academies, K-3, and Reading to Learn Academies, 4-5 (2016-17). Prior to this work, Dr. Woodruff was the reading specialist and English/language arts coordinator for Del Valle ISD.
Before her work as a district administrator, Dr. Woodruff was a project director, researcher, and instructor at The University of Texas at Austin. At the University’s Vaughn Gross Center for Reading and Language Arts, she directed the Texas Reading First project and worked on several research projects related to reading instruction and interventions and professional development with teachers, including a project examining the implementation of a 3-Tier Model in reading for K-3 students.
Additionally, she provides professional development and technical assistance related to research-based literacy instructional practices, understanding and using data, and response to intervention (RTI) to states, districts, and schools
Registration: https://www.escweb.net/tx_r16/catalog/session.aspx?session_id=727019
Need more information?
Amy Duggan
Learning Leader; MTSS/PBIS/Behavior
Haley Esters
Education Support – Dyslexia & RTI/MTSS
Friday, Jan 24, 2020, 08:30 AM
ESC 16 - Bell Street - Lecture Hall 5800 Bell Street, Amarillo, 79109
Important Can't Miss MTSS Resources (please see the R10 Newsletters below for additional nuggets)
Have You Read These Other R10 Newsletters?
R10 MTSS Contact Information
Kimmie L. Conlon, MTSS Consultant
Need Direct Services, Consultations or Specialized PD? Please click this link: bit.ly/R10PDRequestForm
Email: kimmie.conlon@region10.org
Website: www.region10.org
Phone: 972.348.1166
Twitter: @R10_MTSS
Julie Anderson
Veronica Clack
Vanessa DeLacretaz
Susan Delarosa
Counseling Consultant
Contact Information:Nancy Disterlic
Brandi Fennell
Jennifer Hernandez
Miriam Kelley
Angela Neal
Deon Quinn
McKinney-Vento & Foster Care Program Coordinator
Contact Information:
972-348-1786
Kimi Riley-Mills
School Improvement/Effective School Framework Consultant
Contact Information:
972-348-1468
Robbie Rowan
Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports Consultant
Contact Information:
Keya Saleh, LSSP, NCSP
Licensed Specialist in School Psychology Consultant
@getschoolpsychd
972-348-1598