Spotlight 3-Tier Project

Principal Investigator

Pam Bell Morris

Funding Agency

Texas Education Agency (TEA), Special Education

Description of the Project

The Spotlight 3-Tier Project offers support to four Texas elementary schools in their efforts to implement a 3-Tier Reading Model (a response to intervention, or RTI, model). The project will chronicle the successes and challenges of the Spotlight schools’ implementation processes on its own Web site so that other educators can learn from the Spotlight schools’ experiences in their own implementation of a 3-Tier Reading Model.

In addition to the Web site, the project is revising a parent booklet that explains to parents how an RTI model will benefit their children. Short, informational videos will be placed on the Web site. These videos will portray effective Tier I comprehensive reading instruction and its relationship to the Tier II intervention provided to a small group of students. The Web site also will have videos about RTI, and the steps Spotlight schools took to implement a 3-Tier Reading Model.

Population/Participants

The four elementary schools selected as Spotlight schools three years ago represent different school sizes and characteristics, Texas demographics, and different geographic locations in Texas. Reading First schools were not selected because they have specific requirements and available resources due to their grants. During the 2007–2008 school year, project staff members are serving as resources to facilitate the initial start-up efforts of additional schools by providing information and networking with neighboring schools that are implementing a 3-Tier Reading Model. Additionally, project staff will continue to work with the Spotlight schools on a limited basis during 2007–2008. Regional education service center (ESC) representatives are included in the project’s annual conferences to build capacity within the state to support 3-Tier Reading Model implementation as an RTI model in Texas schools beyond the life of the project.

Sites

The Spotlight 3-Tier Project facilitates and documents the implementation process of a 3-Tier Reading Model at four campuses in the Central and Gulf Coast regions of Texas.

Timeline

Beginning in 2004–2005, Spotlight 3-Tier Project staff worked with TEA to identify four prototype schools to follow through the process of implementing a 3-Tier Reading Model. With the schools on board, the team began the process of informing school personnel about the implementation of a 3-Tier Reading Model and assisting them through professional development, on-site support, needs assessments, and action plans. This ongoing implementation process will continue until the end of the project in the 2007–2008 academic year.

Web site

The Spotlight 3-Tier Web site is a resource to allow other schools to learn about the implementation process experienced at the prototype schools. The Web site chronicles the schools’ implementation with summaries, planning resources, and examples of professional development. In addition, revision of a parent booklet on RTI is under way. It also will be posted on the Web site.

To learn more about the Spotlight 3-Tier Project and the four Spotlight 3-Tier schools, visit the Spotlight 3-Tier Web site.

Contact information

For more information, contact Project Coordinator Kathleen Walker.