Pyramid Response to Intervention: RTI, Professional Learning Communities, and How to Respond When Kids Don't Learn

Finalist: Association of Educational Publishers 2009 Distinguished Achievement Award

Accessible language and compelling stories illustrate how RTI is most effective when built on the Professional Learning Communities at Work™ process. Written by award-winning educators from successful PLC schools, this book demonstrates how to create three tiers of interventions--from basic to intensive--to address student learning gaps. You will understand what a successful program looks like, and the many reproducible forms and activities will help your team understand how to make RTI work in your school.

Benefits:

• Develop a comprehensive understanding of the three tiers of RTI: the core program, the supplemental level, and the intensive level.
• Learn why RTI is most successful when built on the foundation of a PLC.
• Discover the role of behavioral interventions and their effects.

Contents:
Chapter 1: What Is Pyramid Response to Intervention?
Chapter 2: The Facts About RTI
Chapter 3: RTI Models
Chapter 4: Laying the Foundation: A Professional Learning Community
Chapter 5: Learning CPR
Chapter 6: Tier 1: The Core Program
Chapter 7: Tier 2: The Supplemental Level
Chapter 8: Tier 3: The Intensive Level
Chapter 9: The Role of Behavioral Interventions
Chapter 10: Meeting Legal Requirements
Chapter 11: Putting It All Together
Epilogue: A Moral Responsibility

Austin Buffum, Ed.D., is retired as the senior deputy superintendent of the Capistrano Unified School District, which serves more than 51,000 students in South Orange County, California. For his excellent leadership, Dr. Buffum was selected 2006 Curriculum and Instruction Administrator of the Year by the Association of California School Administrators. During his 37-year career in public education, Dr. Buffum also served as a music teacher and coordinator, elementary school principal, curriculum director, and assistant superintendent. In addition to articles published in the Journal of Staff Development, American School Board Journal, and Leadership, he contributed a chapter, "Trust: The Secret Ingredient to Successful Shared Leadership," to The Collaborative Administrator (Solution Tree, 2008). He shares his in-depth knowledge of building and sustaining PLCs with schools, districts, and state departments of education throughout North America.

The leadership of Michael Mattos, M.S., principal of Pioneer Middle School in Tustin, California, has resulted in consistently outstanding student achievement. Pioneer was named a California Distinguished School in 2003 and 2007, and was one of only eight schools in the nation featured in the professional development video series The Power of Professional Learning Communities at Work: Bringing the Big Ideas to Life. Previously, as principal of Marjorie Veeh Elementary School in Tustin, Mike helped create a powerful professional learning community; in 2004, Veeh was one of only 18 California elementary schools to be named both a California Distinguished School and a National Title I Achieving School. Mike's chapter,"Walk the Lign: Aligning School Practices With Essential PLC Characteristics," appeared in The Collaborative Administrator, and he contributed to Revisiting Professional Learning Communities at Work: New Insights for Improving Schools (DuFour, DuFour, & Eaker, 2008). Mike is a nationally recognized presenter and consultant, sharing his knowledge with educators throughout North America.

Chris Weber, Ed.D., has been a teacher at all grade levels, from Kindergarten through 12th grade, and an administrator at the elementary and secondary school levels. The former principal of Richard Henry Dana Elementary School in Dana Point, California, he now serves as director of K-6 Instructional Services in Garden Grove Unified School District in Orange County, California. Dr. Weber is a former Air Force pilot and a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy.