Blog Week June, 2011
This is a specialized design for teaching and supporting children with learning and behavior needs. RTI requires high quality instructional designs in which students receive differentiated levels of intervention to guarantee their learning results with their progress closely monitored. Decisions concerning the levels of instruction and types of differentiation are based on how the learners respond. RTI simply stated is quality differentiated instruction guided by outcome data that is carefully monitored.
There are four essential components:
- High quality research-based instruction.
- Differentiated teaching techniques geared to individual student needs.
- Ongoing multiple assessments
- Parent involvement and communication concerning their child's progress.
There is no single best model for RTI, just as there is no single best model for teaching. 4MAT is a instructional template based on the cognitive theories of Jung, Dewey, Piaget, Vygotsky, and Kolb, as well as more recently the work of Popham and Wiggins in assessment and Reznick and Zull in neuroscience. It delineates a cycle of learning that leads even the most novice teacher through the elements of thoroughly researched best practice. When the 4MAT Cycle is properly understood and used, it applies most auspiciously to all of the above four components. Teachers who are 4MAT trained adapt the 4MAT Learning Cycle to their particular students, in their particular place and in current particular time moving from individual student needs and personal meaning connections to conceptual rigor, to fluidity of skills and finally to transfer of the learning into their own lives.
Component One: High quality research-based instruction.
4MAT integrates best practices as most clearly researched and designed for the National Board Certification Standards.These standards link pedagogy, content and technology in relationship. Teachers who successfully integrate these three components are true master teachers. The 4MAT template is a useful tool in this task. The 4MATion web based software component requires teachers to answer the following questions:
What Essential Questions will be answered with this learning?
What is the Bridge from your concept to your content?
What are your Outcomes? What will learners be able to be and do after your lesson is complete?
These questions form the foundation of effective instructional delivery. The 4MAT software guides you through the process of defining these building blocks, then links these elements directly to learner meaning and engagement.
Component Two: Differentiated teaching techniques geared to individual student needs.
4MAT instruction begins with who the student is: style, brain processing mode, background knowledge and experience, situation, and environment, These qualifiers are used to set Learning goals and design differentiated techniques and strategies using the Learning Cycle
Component Three: Ongoing multiple assessments
Students are monitored for all the learning cycle steps: connecting, attending, imaging, understanding, practicing, extending, refining and integrating. This learning progression is fluid while rigorous and teachers learn to elevate content levels as well as reteach when required through ongoing observations. Multiple methods of assessment are used, in particular attention is given to both On-the-Way and At-the-Gate results; requiring answers to the questions, what have you learned? and also where are you in the learning of this?
Component Four: Parent involvement and communication concerning their child's progress.
4MAT training includes parent sessions in pedagogy as well as information about their child's progress and the academic and behavior goals for their child.
RTI and 4MAT are truly an exceptional fit.
