January 2023
ORTIi News & Updates
If you attended the keynote at December's Reading Symposium, you heard that Dr. Jon Potter is leaving ORTIi to work for the American Institutes for Research (AIR). This is amazing news for school systems across the country who can now access Jon's superb coaching skills, but it is a big loss for us. We will miss Jon's great wisdom on our team.

We asked folks in school districts across Oregon to share a word or phrase that comes to mind when they think of the ways in which Jon has supported them in their work of implementing MTSS. Here are some of the words that were shared:
You can catch a session with Jon and his AIR colleagues at the Annual Spring Conference on April 28-29. See below for the link to register for the conference.

Thank you, Jon, for 14 years of supporting educators across Oregon, the country, and also our international virtual audience!

Lisa, Ryan, Nicole, and Beth
Big News for Oregon School Districts
ORTIi
Information Session
(Audience: District and School Leaders)

Thinking of applying for support from the ORTIi Project? On February 7, 2023 at 3:30, the Oregon Response to Instruction and Intervention Project will hold a virtual information session about the range of supports available to Oregon districts. Leaders interested in getting support for building, implementing and sustaining Multi-Tiered Systems of Support for Reading starting in Fall 2023 should attend. Previous ORTIi districts may also attend to hear about options for additional support. There will also be ample time for questions.

Monitoring the Reading Comprehension of Older Students
Dr. Tim Shanahan
(Audience: Upper Elementary and Secondary Educators)

Tim Shanahan's Saturday Blog Posts always give you something to think about over the weekend. And if you are someone who avoids reading the comments online, this is one place on the internet you should actually read the comments. Last month, he wrote a great post about reading comprehension. It was mostly about middle and high school but is also important for teachers in upper elementary (or maybe just everyone!). If you missed this one in the rush of December, you should check it out.

Sold A Story
Discussion Guide
(Audience: All)

Need to process what you heard on the Sold A Story podcast series? Emily Hanford and Margaret Goldberg have created a discussion guide just for you!


Oregon educators can sign up for a virtual discussion group sponsored by Decoding Dyslexia OR. It is 6 sessions, costs $25 and educators can get PDUs for participating.
Hey, did you hear...

Speaking of podcasts, here are our three favorite podcasts at this time. Check these out on your walk, drive or while doing chores around the house! Pretty much every week these podcasts give us something to talk about.




  • Literacy Talks. Three reading experts talk about improving reading instruction. You'll hear from an early elementary teacher, someone who teachers adults with dyslexia, and a university professor. Every episode gives teachers something they can do to immediately improve how they teach reading.

The Annual Conference
is BACK!

ORTIi is partnering with NWPBIS for a combined spring conference to meet all your MTSS needs: Building Equitable MTSS, Social Emotional and Mental Health, Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, and of course, READING. The conference will be held at the Hilton Portland Downtown, April 27-28, 2023. The pre-conference is on April 26th with 3 hour workshop sessions.

Click here to access the conference information page, including registration information. We can't wait to see you all in person!
ORTIi Resources
For Your Professional Learning Needs
Still need to catch up on a session or two?

Check out the Reading Symposium
video resource page HERE.
Science of Reading Professional Learning

Have you been asked to present some introductory information to your staff about the Science of Reading and don't know where to start? Here are some slide decks you can use to start to build understanding about what science tells us about how we learn to read and how that science informs what and how we should teach reading and writing. These are not videos, so you will need to lead the sessions yourself and can customize them for your setting, but everything you need to get started is here.

The topics include:
  • What is the Science of Reading Anyway?
  • Word Recognition
  • Language Comprehension
  • Explicit and Systematic Instruction
  • Reading Assessment
MTSS Components

Does your PD plan for the year include staff training on the components of MTSS? We've got you covered! We now have a facilitation guide for the Overview and Tier 1 Modules. Look for facilitation guides for Tiers 2 and 3 coming this winter.

If you are in an Oregon school district, you can schedule a Facilitated Team Time with an ORTIi coach to ask questions and/or discuss any action plan your team creates after watching the modules.

Email us at [email protected] to schedule a session.


Other Professional Learning Resources

Need some high quality professional learning? ORTIi's has resources! Just visit our Video Recordings and Modules page. These videos give you access to an amazing array of experts in the fields of reading and MTSS, including previous virtual conferences.