RISS News/Events

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RISS Events Year 2: August 2010 - May 2011

August/September 2010
The K-8 mathematics teacher group began identifying essential Common Core math standards and planning continued with the leaders of both RSU’s. RISS continued disseminating project information in several school districts and at the MADSEC conference.

 

August 2010

• RISS Design Team Meeting (Designated representatives of RSU’s 10 and 38)
  August 13, 2010 9:00 – 11:00 a.m.
  RSU 10 Central Office
• Moving to Mathematics (K-8 Mathematics experts from each RSU)
  August 17, 2010 9:00 – 3:00
  Location TBA
• Seamless Transition Study Group (CDS representatives and pre-Kindergarten and early elementary teachers from RSU 10)
  August 19, 2010 1:00 – 4:00
  Location TBA

 

September 2010

• RTI for Classroom Teachers (Topics to be determined by each RSU)
  September 15, 2010 3:30 – 5:30
  September 16, 2010 3:30 – 5:30
  Locations TBA
• Piloting the K-8 Response to ME intervention system (Literacy and curriculum leaders from each RSU)
  September 30, 2010 1:00 – 4:00
  LaFleur’s, Jay
  
  

October 2010

• Moving to Mathematics (K-8 Mathematics experts from each RSU)
  October 5, 2010 9:00 – 3:00
  Location TBA
• RISS Design Team Meeting (Designated representatives of RSU’s 10 and 38)
  October 6, 2010 9:00 – 11:00
  RSU 38 Central Office
• Middle/High School RTI Study Group (Principals and teachers from each RSU)
  October 15, 2010 12:00 – 3:00
  LaFleur’s, Jay
• The Classroom Intervention Cycle
  October 18, 2010 3:30 – 5:30
  RSU 38 Professional Development Center, North Road, Readfield
• Seamless Transition Study Group (CDS representatives and pre-Kindergarten and early elementary teachers from RSU 10)
  October 21, 2010 1:00 – 4:00
  Location TBA
  
  

November 2010

• Middle/High School Study Group
  November 12, 2010 12:00 – 3:00
  LaFleur’s, Jay
• Moving to Mathematics (K-8 Mathematics experts from each RSU)
  November 16, 2010 9:00 – 3:00
  Olsen Student Center, UMF
  
  

December 2010

• Collaborative Review
  December 3, 2010 9:00 – 3:00
  Location: TBA
• RISS Design Team Meeting (Designated representatives of RSU’s 10 and 38)
  December 8, 2010 9:30 – 11:30
  Wayne Elementary School

RISS Events Year 1: December 2009 - May 2010

May 2010

• RISS Design Team Meeting (designated representatives from RSU 10 & RSU 38)
  May 5, 2010 9:00 a.m. -- 11:00 a.m.
  Dixfield
  
  

April 2010

• 7-12 RTI Study Group
  April 8 12:00 -- 3:00
  LaFleur's, Jay
• In-Depth RTI for Principals (RSU 10 Principals)
  April 13 9:00 - 11:00
  RSU 10 Central Office
• Collaborative Review Training/Field Test
  April 29, 2010 9:00 -- 4:00
  Location: TBA
  
  

March 2010

• Aligning Everything! (K-12 Literacy Specialists from RSU 10 & RSU 38)
  March 1, 2010 9:00 -- 2:00 p.m.
  UMF North Dining Hall, Room C
  
  
• RISS Design Team Meeting (designated representatives from RSU 10 & RSU 38)
  March 3, 2010 9:00 a.m. -- 11:00 a.m.
  Readfield
• 7-12 RTI Study Group (Pilot Site Representatives)
  March 5, 2010 12:00 -- 3:00
  Dixfield
  
  
• In-Depth RTI for Principals (RSU 10 Principals)
  March 15, 2010 9:30 -- 11:30
  Dixfield
  
  

February 2010

• Introduction to RTI (RSU 38 Teachers)
  February 23, 2010 3:00 -- 5:00 p.m.
  RSU 38 Professional Development Center|
  Contact Heidi: hjmcginley@aol.com
  
  

January 2010

• Seamless Transition Study Group (CDS representatives and pre-Kindergarden and early elementary teachers from RSU 10 & RSU 38)
  January 11, 2010 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
  LaFleurs, Jay
  
  

December 2009

• RSU 10 and RSU 38 Principals Meeting
  December 1, 2009 from 9:00 a.m. -- 12:00 p.m.
  RSU 10 Central Office
  Directions
  
  
• RISS Design Team Meeting (designated representatives from RSU 10 & RSU 38)
  December 14, 2009 9:30 a.m. -- 11:30 a.m.
  RSU 10 Central Office, Dixfield
  
  
  

Monthly Updates

• June/July 2010

  In June RISS staff planned year 2 activities, discussed expectations and plans for next year with district administrators, and worked with the project evaluator to reflect on this year’s progress. In July RISS staff will prepare year-end reports and continue planning for the start of a new school year.

• April/May 2010

  The cross-district Middle/High School RTI study group continued to meet to design RTI structures at these grade levels, and RSU 10 principals continued our in-depth overview of RTI systems. Our K-8 cross-district literacy specialists group completed its work to identify the core reading program standards, skills, universal screeners, and grade level benchmarks both districts will use. We tested the RISS collaborative review process with Fayette staff, who graciously volunteered to share their work on RTI this year. We’ll be offering collaborative review for individual schools next year. We began seeking additional funding to expand and deepen our work with RTI and worked with the Maine Content Literacy Project (MCLP) and the Public Consulting Group in Portsmouth to submit a U.S. Department of Education i3 grant. Funding decisions should be made in late July.

• February/March 2010:

  In February RISS began disseminating tools and processes on its web site and through connections with other Maine professional organizations. The staff also continued to lead two-hour after school Introduction to RTI workshops and to support school and district RTI Leadership Teams. RSU 10 principals asked for more in-depth training in RTI, so the RISS team responded with a two-hour session in March and an additional session planned for April.
  
  The RISS 7-12 Middle/High School RTI Study Group, composed of teachers and principals, met twice in March to develop RTI models and guidelines for these two grade spans. So far, the group learned how Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School organizes RTI, reviewed and revised a set of questions developed by the National RTI Center, and identified the purposes and outcomes of RTI at the middle and high school levels.
  
  K-12 Literacy specialists from both RSU’s continued work begun in January to identify core program skills, universal screeners, teaching strategies, and progress monitoring tools, and a prototype interactive web site is being designed so teachers can use this material.
  
  The RISS “Seamless System” Study Group, which includes three CDS directors, pre-school leaders, pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten teachers, and special education staff, continued drafting an action plan and building bridges to support young children in their transitions to K-12 education.
  
  A school collaborative review process is designed and waiting for testing on April 29. One school has already volunteered to reflect on their RTI work this year.
  
  

• January 2010:

  School and district RTI leadership teams continued planning RTI implementation and more formal professional development activities began.  K-12 literacy specialists from both districts worked together for a day to identify the sub-skills associated with each of the five elements of literacy, identify universal screening tools aligned with those sub-skills, and list strategies and programs designed to increase student learning of the sub-skills.  The group’s next step is connecting these with the core literacy program and beginning to locate progress monitoring assessments.  The RISS staff took the opportunity to reflect on the first five months of RISS and the project’s third party evaluator completed an in-depth progress report.

• November/December 2009-/2010

  Teachers in both RSU’s continued to complete the RISS teacher-level needs assessment online, and schools continued to work on the school-level assessment and begin planning RTI implementation.  RTI leadership teams in both RSU’s began working on RTI assessments and plans at the district level, and the RISS Design Team, composed of representatives from each RSU, analyzed teacher and school needs assessment data.  The Design Team identified a menu of professional development needs within each RSU and across both.  All pilot site principals spent a morning together discussing RTI topics and practices.

• October 2009:

  The RISS teacher and school needs assessments were tested at Dirigo Middle School and Buckfield Jr. Sr. High School. “First Steps for Schools” and “First Steps for Districts” were distributed, and schools began scheduling dates for staff RtI awareness sessions, which include completion of the teacher RtI assessments, and decide on the process to complete the school needs assessment. The RISS Design Team met on October 28 to evaluate progress and discuss the next steps.

• August/September 2009:

  The RISS organizational meeting was held August 5 and included representatives from the two pilot RSU’s, the Maine Support Network, and the Western Maine Partnership. The RISS staff got to work on the classroom, school, and district RtI needs assessments, the project evaluation plan, and finalizing grant details with the Department of Education. Heidi McGinley began meeting with principals to explain the RISS approach to RtI, learn what each school already does with RtI in literacy, and identify the school RtI Leadership Team. She also met with leaders in each RSU to identify the district’s RtI Leadership Team.

Other RtI Events

Maine Support Network's Professional Development Offerings

• Please visit the Maine Support Network Calendar of Events to find out about all the upcoming RtI events.