January 2022

ORTIi News & Updates

Greetings from Oregon Response to Instruction and Intervention

Happy New Year! Well, a new year and new challenges with weather and a new COVID variant. And still we persist! And we look for the bright spots... For example, it was amazing to see in the Oregon School Closure announcements how many districts were able to quickly move to distance learning when the winter weather impacted the return to school this week. We know your time is precious, so we have a short newsletter this month. The new ORTIi MTSS Components website has a lot of content, and the multiple resources below for supporting English Language Learners are rich in amazing treasures, so take time to explore! Brad, Christie, Lisa, Jon, Beth and Nicole

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ORTIi's MTSS Component Modules (Audience: ALL) We are pleased to announce that we have now created brief videos to explain each of the components on the ORTIi Framework. Each module has reflection questions that allow you and your team to discuss what each component looks like in your setting. Additional resources are also provided for each topic. The modules are designed to follow the items on the ORTIi Implementation Rubrics and can be used in a few ways:. To provide professional learning to existing staff on the RTI/MTSS components To onboard new staff to the MTSS in your setting. To review the components, as either a district or building leadership team, before assessing your system using the rubrics. Each module can stand alone and begins with a brief description of the ORTIi Framework that is similar in each one. So if you are binge-watching all the modules, you can skip the first few minutes after the first one. To access the component you want to explore, click on one of the tabs in the top right of the home page. Additionally, we would love your feedback on the modules. There is a link to a feedback form on each page, so you can give specific feedback on each module you watch. Click here find the web page with all the modules!

Decoding Dyslexia Oregon presents Latinx Literacy Summit Tools for Families and Educators January 22, 2022 9:00-3:00 (Audience: Educators & Families) If you attended last year's Black Literacy Summit, you will recall what a terrific day of learning and advocacy it was for both families and educators. Here is another event with an impressive line-up of presenters. You are encouraged to forward this registration to the families in your community. Most sessions will be in Spanish with English translation. It is free for families to attend and sliding scale pricing for others. Click here for more info and to register

Check out this amazing resource for families: Supporting Reading at Home (available in Spanish & English) (Audience: Elementary) If you have not checked out the great resources at the MTSS for EL's website, you are missing out! One terrific example from their Tools page are pamphlets you can share with families. They help parents learn how to support their child's reading in a variety of ways using their home language, regardless of whether or not they can themselves read and understand the language their child is reading in.  Click here to find the pamphlets

Looking for even more ways to support English Learners? Check out this free PD from Multnomah ESD Boosting Language Development for English Learners Across the Curriculum: K-12 (Audience: Literacy Leaders and Admins) Join Multnomah ESD as they welcome Dr. Eugenia Mora-Flores, Professor of Education, University of Southern California, on Thursday, January 27th 9:00-10:30 on Zoom. This session will help educators understand the language opportunities English Learners bring to the classroom. Building on student assets supports ongoing academic language development across the curriculum. Attendees will... review the dynamics of language transfer to support language development discover the language opportunities across curricular areas explore the connection between thinking and language for academic development NOTE: THIS EVENT WILL NOT BE RECORDED Click here to register

Wondering what to do with all that winter reading data? Here's some help! (Audience: All Elementary Staff and MS Reading Teachers) According to Stephanie Stollar, "One of the most powerful ways to improve reading outcomes is to screen all students and provide instruction that matches each student’s skills. The middle of the school year is a great time to act on screening data by differentiating Tier 1 reading instruction." Just in time for the winter benchmarking, Dr. Stollar has sent out her small group instruction guide that can help you use your reading screening data to plan effective instruction for all the students in your classroom. Click here to get the Tier 1 Grouping document.

Registration Coming Soon! Look for the the ORTIi Annual Conference registration announcement in your inbox by the end of the month. We are excited to share the amazing lineup of reading experts who will be addressing topics from supporting early literacy to effective adolescent writing instruction. Once again, we are thrilled to be able to offer our virtual conference FREE OF CHARGE! Additionally, all sessions will be recorded and available on our website a few days after the conference. If it looks like you will have substitutes and funding available at the end of April, we encourage you to get as many of your staff to "attend" either the live or recorded sessions. Since there are no travel costs, we are hoping more people can access this great conference.