Big changes coming to the ORTIi Project!
As you may know, the contract for the ORTIi project was held, since its inception, at Tigard-Tualatin School District. As of July 1st, we will be moving to Northwest Regional ESD, which will now hold the contract. We are excited about this opportunity for collaboration at the ESD level.
What does this mean for the ORTIi team? First, let us assure you that we will still be a state-wide project, providing support to districts throughout Oregon.
- We will continue to advocate for and provide training in MTSS, the Science of Reading, the use of aligned materials, data literacy, and coaching & support in Oregon.
- We will continue to provide both our virtual and in-person conferences to support educators all across the country with high quality professional learning about reading instruction within a MTSS.
- We will continue to support our current cadres of elementary and middle school districts for one more year and then, in the winter/spring of 2023, begin accepting applications for new districts.
- Our resources, including our ORTIi website, the conference digital programs, our YouTube channel, and all our Google drives will be maintained. Our emails will be forwarded for a while until everyone has the new ones.
- Our goal remains the same: ensure every child gets the instruction they need and deserve to become a reader.
Now for the hard news: not everyone on our team will make the move with us.
Christie Rivas, who has been our admin assistant for 13 years, will stay in TTSD. Christie has been the one that makes everything we do possible, from all of the logistics of our events to communicating with district leadership teams, ensuring deliverables get to ODE on time, fielding calls and emails from all across the country about our project, and being a great source of historical knowledge of the work of the ORTIi project. In her new role in Student Services, she will be able to continue to support teachers, students and families to ensure ALL students learn.
The ORTIi team,
Brad, Jon, Beth, Nicole, Lisa, and Christie
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Webinar: Too few or too many? Preventing Over- or Under-Identification for Special Education Services
(Audience: District and building teams, literacy specialists, special educators, and more)
This is a big question for teams as we finish up our 3rd year of Covid impacted instruction. This webinar gives teams a lot to talk about - a reminder of why you need an MTSS, including screening and diagnostic data, high quality core and intervention materials and instruction, and good teaming processes. The presenters refer to FastBridge but what they say can apply to any CBM universal screening tool.
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Got a bit of time to read this summer?
Here are a few recommendations from our team:
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Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know by Adam Grant
(Audience: All)
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Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen Hardcover by Dan Heath
(Audience: Leaders)
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Building to Impact: The 5D Implementation Playbook for Educators
(Audience: District and Building Leadership Teams)
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The Art and Science of Teaching Primary Reading
(Audience: Elementary Teachers and Leaders)
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The Phonics Brain
Skill Tracking Pages
(Audience: Elementary teachers, Secondary reading teachers)
In many of our trainings we have emphasized the importance of sharing with students and their families the skills students have mastered and the ones that they are still working on. We have been on the lookout for a student friendly way to explain this and just found a great example that is appropriate for all ages. This phonics brain graphic is 3 pages. The first page is more basic phonics skills: "Sounds and Letters I know". The phonics skills on the next 2 pages are more advanced. Once a student is automatic at a phonics rule (both reading and spelling it), they can color in that part of the brain. This can be used to share information with families and also when reviewing progress in interventions.
Although it is likely too late to use this for the current school year, we wanted to share it now so your teams can think over the summer how they might use this great resource. The creator, Bri Luna, is going to write a blog post about how she uses it, so we will also share that when it is done!
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Webinar: Engaging and Fun Summer Literacy Activities
(Audience: Elementary teachers and leaders)
This webcast, presented by Lara Speights, Vice President of Family Support and Adult Literacy, Neuhaus Education Center is a good resource for families about more than just activities that can help students avoid the "summer slide". It gives a brief overview of the Simple View of Reading, the essential components of reading instruction, structured literacy, and then some actual activities families can do with their children in the summer and beyond. There are a few minutes in the beginning that are not really relevant to families outside of Texas and are also a promotion for Neuhaus, but other than that, there is good stuff in here for families who want to know more about how reading works and how they can support their children.
District teams could also use this webcast as a basis for a literacy night - maybe breaking it into chunks to talk about what these practices look like in your district or even just to get some ideas about what and how to share with families.
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Supporting ELs, Biliteracy, and more!
In the past month or so we have heard from some amazing experts in the world of English Language support, biliteracy, cross-linguistic transfer and the role of data in supporting literacy development in ELs. We are putting several of the highlights in one place here:
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Phonics instruction is not enough for English Learners, or anyone. But it’s still foundational for all by Dr. Claude Goldenberg,
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The National Center on Intensive Intervention has created a handout explaining how to use their Taxonomy of Intervention Intensity when selecting, evaluating, and intensifying interventions for students who are English learners (ELs).
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Amplify: Season 5, Episode 06. Why skepticism is essential to the Science of Reading, with Dr. Claude Goldenberg. In this episode about the science of reading, Dr. Goldbenberg also discusses the importance of using practices aligned with science for language learners as well as his own biliteracy journey.
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Videos Still Available!
Now that the conference is over, you have access to ALL the session videos and materials by clicking here to access the digital program.
We also have an archive of previous training events. The Fall 2021 Reading Symposium and the Winter/Spring 2020 Annual Conference Series are all at our Video Recordings and Modules page on our website. As you begin to plan for next year's professional learning in your setting, these videos can be a great resource for you to have access to amazing experts in the fields of reading and MTSS.
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ORTIi's
MTSS Component Modules
Now including the Tier 3
Modules and Rubric
(Audience: ALL)
As district teams begin to reflect on the state of MTSS after several tough years of interrupted school, the ORTIi rubrics and accompanying modules may be a good place to turn to remind your team what it looks like to have a solid system in place to recover from this crisis. The modules could also be useful for you as you bring in new staff, especially school and district leaders through the summer and fall.
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