SIPPS Reading Intervention

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Purpose of Report: To provide the School Board with information on new reading
interventions to support reading achievement at the elementary level.

As part of the District’s strategic plan to provide rigorous, effective, and engaging
curriculum and instruction for all students to emphasize growth and reduce the
achievement gap, with special focus on literacy, the District will implement the
Systematic Instruction in Phonological Awareness, Phonics, and Sight Words, (SIPPS)
Reading Intervention program at four elementary schools. Schools were selected based
on evidence of students who are reading below grade level as identified by the spring
2018 NWEA results (Cleveland, Garfield, Hawthorne, and Terry Redlin).
To ensure that all students develop the foundational skills critical to reading
success, SIPPS provides assessments to determine the specific skills students are
missing, as well as the explicit lessons the students need to fill skill gaps.
Grounded in change, the SIPPS Reading Intervention program also recognizes
to be effectively implemented, teachers must have a solid understanding of the
foundational skills of reading. The program includes a highly skilled full-time Literacy
Teacher on Special Assignment (TOSA) to help provide additional support to both new
and veteran teachers to help them confidently teach these foundational skills to
students.

Administrative Recommendation to School Board: Acknowledge the SIPPS

Reading Intervention Report.

Report Prepared by: Curriculum Services August 13, 2018

Presented by: Dr. Teresa Boysen
 SIPPS Reading Intervention

Purpose of Report: To provide the School Board information regarding reading

interventions to support reading achievement at the elementary level.

District Priority Area 1: Student Outcomes

Priority Statement 1: SFSD will provide rigorous, effective, and engaging curriculum
and instruction for all students to emphasize growth and reduce the achievement gap,
with special focus on the following areas:
a.) Literacy, particularly in early years, to build a strong foundation for academic
success across all grades;
b.) Maximizing time on instruction and learning;
c.) Differentiated and engaging pathways;
d.) Equitable access to highly effective programs;
e.) College readiness and/or career preparedness;
f.) Holding all schools to high expectations for students’ social and emotional
growth and development.

Strategic Initiative:
1.3.1 Implementation of Literacy Teacher on Special Assignment (TOSA) and
Systematic Instruction in Phonological Awareness, Phonics, and Sight Words (SIPPS)
curriculum and teachers to support struggling readers’ interventions.
1.5.1 Study of full-time elementary instructional coaches vs. part-time instructional
coaches

Explanation: The Sioux Falls School District (SFSD) is committed to finding creative
and innovative ways to improve literacy instruction and reduce the achievement gap by
maximizing time for instruction for struggling readers. To ensure that all students
develop the foundational skills critical to reading success, the District will implement the
SIPPS reading intervention in 2018-19. The implementation of the SIPPS reading
intervention will be grounded in the theory of change, which requires that actions taken
to achieve the long-term goal (all students reading on grade level by the end of third
grade) are carefully measured and monitored for effectiveness so that effective actions
are adopted, partially effective actions are adapted, and ineffective actions are
abandoned.

The SIPPS reading intervention includes the Best Practices for Effective Reading
Programs established by the National Reading Panel, What Works Clearing House and
the District Management Group Research Team:

1. Setting clear and rigorous grade-level expectations for reading proficiency.

2. Conducting frequent measurement of student achievement and growth, adjusting
instruction accordingly.
3. Identifying struggling readers starting in kindergarten.

Report Prepared by: Curriculum Services 1 August 13, 2018

Presented by: Dr. Teresa Boysen
 4. Ensuring balanced core instruction in reading with 160 minutes each day.
5. Providing immediate and intensive additional instruction for struggling readers,
averaging 40 minutes a day and using more than one pedagogical strategy.
6. Explicitly teaching phonics in the early grades.
7. Connecting remediation and intervention seamlessly to each day’s core
instruction.
8. Ensuring a highly skilled teacher of reading is guiding reading instruction.

The SFSD made a significant investment in the Collaborative Classroom materials

selected in 2017-18 for the English Language Arts curriculum for K-5 students. The
Collaborative Classroom curriculum was selected because of its strength in
systematically introducing foundational reading skills and creating a framework to
support balanced core instruction in the five areas of reading. The staff participated in
professional development throughout the year to deepen their understanding of the
Collaborative Classroom curriculum and to ensure implementation with integrity.

Data collected through the NWEA MAP Growth assessment shows that, while many
students are able to make expected progress with Collaborative Classroom’s Being
Reader sets, a significant number of students need additional explicit instruction to learn
to decode. The SIPPS reading intervention will use Collaborative Classroom’s
intervention tool, Systematic Instruction in Phonological Awareness, Phonics, and Sight
Words, (SIPPS). SIPPS provides assessments to determine the specific skills students
are missing as well as the explicit lessons the students need to fill skill gaps.

In order for the SIPPS lessons to be effectively implemented, teachers must have a
solid understanding of the foundational skills of reading. Over the past several years
through our work with the South Dakota Literacy Grant and the Collaborative Classroom
implementation, we have discovered that we have both new and veteran teachers who
have limited knowledge of the specific foundational skill development necessary for
students to make the progress necessary to read on grade level. While our Instructional
Coaches are highly skilled and able to support teachers in all areas, they also need
additional support from a highly skilled person in the area of literacy to confidently teach
these foundational skills. To ensure teachers and coaches build this essential
understanding, the SIPPS reading intervention model includes a full-time Literacy
Teacher on Special Assignment (TOSA).

The key components of the SIPPS reading intervention are:

Literacy TOSA
The Literacy TOSA, a highly skilled teacher of reading, will provide targeted
support and training to build teacher, coach and administrator capacity based on
the theory of change.

Report Prepared by: Curriculum Services 2 August 13, 2018

Presented by: Dr. Teresa Boysen
 The TOSA will support effective reading instruction by:
• Setting clear and rigorous grade-level expectations for reading
proficiency.
• Training administrators, coaches, and teachers on best practices in
building foundational skills for improved literacy.
• Supporting teachers through a focus on curriculum, coherence, and
consistency to ensure that balanced core instruction is being
implemented.
• Supporting instructional coaches in interpreting the information
gathered through SIPPS Assessments and the NWEA MAP Skills
Checklist to guide instruction.
• Using common conversation with teachers, administrators, and
coaches to connect remediation and intervention seamlessly to
each day’s core instruction.
• Conducting curriculum walkthroughs to track trends in
implementation to target professional development needs.
• Providing Districtwide consistency for curriculum implementation.

SIPPS Curriculum
The SIPPS curriculum will provide instructional resources to support explicitly
teaching foundational skills and connect remediation and intervention at four
elementary schools with the highest percentage of students reading below grade
level as identified by the spring 2018 NWEA results (Cleveland, Garfield,
Hawthorne, and Terry Redlin).

Full-time Instructional Coaches

Starting with the 2018-19 school year in addition to the SIPPS implementation,
eight elementary buildings will have full-time Instructional Coaches. In addition to
their regular responsibilities of mentoring new teachers, modeling and providing
individual feedback to teachers in all areas of the curriculum and assisting with
implementing strategies aligned with the building School Improvement Plans, the
coaches will have an additional targeted focus on reading instruction.
Specifically, they will:
• Provide teachers in-classroom support to implement best practices in
teaching reading.
• Guide teachers as they monitor student progress using the
Collaborative Classroom Assessments and the NWEA MAP Skills
Checklist. (Used between MAP Growth administrations to see what
struggling students are missing.)
• Support in-depth analysis of NWEA MAP Growth data with grade
level teams to monitor effectiveness of the interventions.
• Attend collaboration to participate in conversations about student progress
and skill development.

Report Prepared by: Curriculum Services 3 August 13, 2018

Presented by: Dr. Teresa Boysen
SIPPS Teacher Pilot - Two buildings (Hawthorne and Terry Redlin)
Hawthorne and Terry Redlin, the schools with highest percentage of
kindergarteners not on target to be on grade level, will each have one additional
teacher dedicated to SIPPS. In alignment with research on best practices on
reading intervention, first grade students who scored below the 41%ile on their
spring 2018 (kindergarten) NWEA MAP assessment will receive 200 minutes of
SIPPS interventions per week. A highly skilled teacher of reading, the SIPPS
teacher will work with the first-grade team utilizing the flooding model of
intervention. In the flooding model, all first-grade classrooms have the same time
period set aside for intervention. During this time students are grouped
according to skill development. All classroom teachers, ELL teachers, Special
Education teachers, and interventionists “flood” into the classrooms, working with
the groups on the skills those students need to work on. In addition to providing
instruction for the most struggling readers during the “flood” time, SIPPS
teachers will provide one-to-one and small group instruction for struggling
readers throughout the school day.

Costs: $299,626
Literacy TOSA, Instructional Coaches, and SIPPS Teachers $256,626
SIPPS Curriculum $41,000

Summary: The SFSD is committed to finding innovative ways to improve literacy

instruction and reduce the achievement gap by maximizing time for instruction for
struggling readers. The SFSD recognizes students need additional support in the early
foundational skills to ensure they are reading on grade level by the end of third grade.
The implementation of struggling readers plan with a Literacy TOSA, full-time
Instructional Coaches and SIPPS teachers will provide the consistency of curriculum
implementation, build teacher capacity and provide the early intervention necessary for
students to achieve the goal of reading on grade level by the end of third grade.

Recommendation to School Board: Acknowledge the SIPPS Reading Intervention

Report.

Report Prepared by: Curriculum Services 4 August 13, 2018

Presented by: Dr. Teresa Boysen