Two-Day Train‑the‑Trainer Institute: Train-the-Trainer: RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION - Powerful Strategies to Strengthen Your Tier 1 and Tier 2 Reading Instruction (Grades K-6) Presented by Kelly Harmon Outstanding Educator and National Trainer

Specifically Designed for Staff Development Trainers, Literacy Coaches, Reading Specialists, General Education Teachers, Curriculum Directors, Title I Staff, and Administrators Serving Grades K-6

• Train your teachers and interventionists to implement the key components of an effective Response to Intervention (RTI) Reading model in Grades K-6 for Tiers 1 and 2
• Learn proactive approaches to share with your staff for supporting students with reading needs before they "fail enough" to qualify for special education
• Learn how to more effectively intervene with students before they fall too far behind
• Tips, tools and practical strategies that you and your staff can use immediately in your RTI reading program

Practical Ideas and Strategies

For years, many schools and districts only served students when a "need" was shown based on a "discrepancy"; an outdated model that looks at the difference between a child's ability and the child's actual achievement. The "discrepancy" model is dependent upon a child falling "behind enough" to qualify for special education services. It is a "wait for failure" model that no longer needs to be used. Now schools and districts can use the Response to Intervention (RTI) model, focused on providing a child with the assistance when the student needs it. To help strengthen the training of your teachers, Kelly Harmon, a national presenter on RTI has developed an exciting, cost-effective train-the-trainer opportunity you won't want to miss.

This two-day train-the-trainer institute focuses on practical ideas for implementing and strengthening RTI in your reading program with ready-to-use strategies for your classroom and school. Participants who complete this two-day institute will be able to better train Grades K-6 educators at their school site(s) on ways to implement and strengthen RTI in their reading program at Tier 1 and Tier 2.

A Practical, Two-Day Train-the-Trainer Institute to Support Teachers in Using RTI to Identify and Serve Students in Reading

Plan to attend as a school or district team, a representative team member or district leader to increase the effectiveness of your RTI program. You will learn how to build on the success of your current process, identify the key components that have the greatest impact on student achievement and find the specific areas you need to target for implementation and improvement. Leave equipped with a wealth of the most effective RTI strategies and training materials needed to train an unlimited number of teachers in developing or refining your reading Response to Intervention program for Grades K-6. Join Kelly to learn how to better support and accelerate your at-risk students' achievement in Grades K-6.

Develop a Plan to Structure Your RTI Program for Greater Results and to Boost Teacher Expertise

If you are interested in providing higher quality training in the RTI reading process to your teachers, whole schools or your entire district, this is the perfect opportunity. Send one trainer or a team of trainers to this two-day program and they will walk away with an extensive digital resource handbook filled with the strategies and tools needed for their own training, along with classroom proven strategies they can use to demonstrate RTI in action. The focus of the two days will be on implementing the crucial components of an effective Response to Intervention program, how to maximize your time to provide quality interventions, defining the roles of the school support team, implementing research-based interventions, and how RTI works in a variety of K-6 schools. Most importantly, participants will discover dozens of tips and techniques for providing the best possible training to your teachers.

You will leave this training ready to train other teachers and interventionists how to…

• Optimize Tier 1 instruction and interventions for struggling readers by using a variety of assessments and grouping configurations
• Infuse lessons and activities with active participation strategies that boost the engagement of even passive and reluctant learners
• Intervene within whole and small group lessons to effectively scaffold students' reading growth
• Use visual, tactile and kinesthetic strategies and supports to increase struggling students' understanding of literacy skills and concepts
• Establish Tier 2 assessment/intervention cycles, monitor students' progress and adjust instruction as needed
• Structure Tier 2 small group lessons in ways that boost learning for struggling readers
• Maximize the quantity and quality of Tier 2 interventions without exhausting staff or students
• Increase the positive impact of team meetings on the reading growth and achievement of struggling learners
• Create a variety of targeted learning opportunities for struggling readers in order to accelerate their reading progress
• Implement the key components of an effective Response to Intervention model
• Use proactive approaches for supporting students with reading difficulties before they fall too far behind
• Use strategies and tools to identify students needing interventions
• Strengthen the assessment process by documenting student progress efficiently and accurately
• Scaffold and support struggling readers to accelerate their progress
• Reach at-risk students earlier and more quickly
• Expand the circle of support for students in Tier 1 and Tier 2
• Take the appropriate steps to intensify instruction

A Message From Your Seminar Leader

Dear Colleague:

As educators, we have all worked with the student who struggled, didn't respond or who needed more than we could provide. In the past, we searched for a program to help these students; often, special education was their only hope to get intensive, focused assistance. We also know the students who didn't "make it" - who didn't qualify for special education and continued to flounder until next year's teacher could refer them for more testing. Response to Intervention (RTI) is an exciting strategy that districts and schools may opt to use as a better way to meet students' needs earlier and more quickly.

In this two-day train-the-trainer institute, I will focus on strategies for developing or strengthening RTI that you can take back and share in your own school(s). Throughout the two days you will also learn how to more effectively provide instructional models for teachers in your building. Some of the questions you and your teachers may be asking about RTI are:

• How is RTI different from what I've been doing?
• How do I effectively use RTI techniques to meet the needs of my at-risk students?
• What are the most effective strategies for working with an at-risk student?
• For each potential problem, what strategies can I use to quickly address the problem?

I will help you answer these questions and more. We will discuss the key elements in developing a model and how school teams can collaborate to make the process efficient and effective. I will give you strategies to organize your interventions to include intensive, systematic and multi-level instruction. Most importantly, you will gain strategies and training techniques you can use immediately in helping your teachers implement RTI in your school(s). We will focus on proactive interventions to support and scaffold students before they fail. This institute is not just about students with disabilities, but also about all students who are struggling.

Sincerely,
Kelly Harmon

P.S. You will learn dozens of specific instructional strategies you can use to greatly increase the success of your Grades K-6 students.

Who Should Attend

Staff Development Trainers, Literacy Coaches, Reading Specialists, General Education Teachers, Curriculum Directors, Title I Staff, and Administrators Serving Grades K-6

Special Benefits of Attending

Extensive Digital Resource Handbook
Each participant will receive an extensive digital resource handbook giving you access to countless strategies. The handbook includes:

• Strategies for creating a learning environment for accelerating achievement
• Instructional strategies for at-risk students
• Tips for more effective assessment and teaching
• Ideas for developing even greater teacher expertise
• Key concepts and practices of RTI
• Sample strategies of research-based interventions
• Ideas to include intensive, systematic and multi-level instruction
• Steps for documenting student progress

For in-person seminars, registrants will also receive a printed copy of the resource handbook as long as their registration is received in the BER office at least 15 calendar days before the event.

Share Ideas
This institute provides participants a wonderful opportunity to meet and share ideas with other educators interested in increasing the effectiveness of their RTI programs.

Consultation Available
Kelly Harmon will be available for consultation regarding your questions and the unique needs of your own program.

Semester Credit Option
Up to four graduate level professional development credits are available with an additional fee and completion of follow-up practicum activities. Details for direct enrollment with University of Massachusetts Global, a nonprofit affiliate, will be available at this program.

Meet Inservice Requirements
At the end of the program, each attendee will receive a certificate of participation that may be used to verify hours of participation in meeting continuing education requirements.

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