The Exceptional Strategy Kit

Helping Teachers Help All Students to Succeed

Volume 1
RTI and ADHD

Welcome! This is the first in a series of kits meant to help

teachers process all the different strategies that exist in
the world of teaching exceptional learners. I have designed
this kit in a card format-meaning that the name of the
strategy will be on one side and the explanation on the
back.

Introduction

Kit guide
In this kit you will find three sets of strategies:
1. RTI Strategies- Strategies for implementing response to
intervention.
2. Learning Disability Strategies-Strategies for meeting
the needs of students with LD in your classroom.
3. ADHD Strategies- Strategies for meeting the needs of
students with ADHD in the classroom.

How Do I use this kit?

The possibilities are endless! Well, maybe not quite but the
point is that you should use this kit in whichever way works
best for you. Some of my recommendations:

Print out the cards and use them as flashcards.

Print out the cards, punch a hole in the corners, and attach them with a binder ring.
Refer to them whenever you need to.
Use the kit in a team meeting to discuss certain strategies and decide how and when to
implement certain ones.

1. RTI Strategies
Not all students with learning needs qualify for special
education yet require extra help to succeed in the
classroom. One solution recommended by the IDEA is to
provide a response to intervention (RTI) as a means of
preventing learning and behavior difficulties. In other
words, RTI is a prevention and intervention model. The
following strategy cards provide ways of planning,
implementing, and assessing aspects of RTI in the classroom.

Monitor Student Progress:

Screen all students in the fall.

Identify lower-achieving students in each grade or
classroom.
Set goals for individual students.
Use frequent progress monitoring with students identified
as low achievers.
Create graphs that provide visual displays of students
progress.
Evaluate progress-monitoring data regularly using a
systematic set of decision rules.
Revise interventions as necessary in response to the
data.

(Vaughn, 52)

Individualize intervention by
using a problem-solving model over
the standard treatment protocol:

1. Define the problem- have other teachers or specialists

come and observe the student in the classroom.
2. Analyze the problem- use samples of work to discuss what
the child is struggling with.
3. Develop a plan.
4. Implement the plan-schedule in additional instruction and
monitor progress every week and retain data in a folder.
5. Evaluate the plan- Determine if the child is making good
progress.
(Vaughn, 53)

Determine if a student is a high

responder or a nonresponder:

A student is a high responder if the gap narrows between the

students rate and level of progress and that of his or her
peers.

When the gap keeps growing between a student and his or her
peers they are usually nonresponders and may need more
intensive long-term interventions.

Examine data from the screening of all your students to

determine how a specific student is doing in relation to
his/her peers.
(Vaughn, 55)

Identify why children do not

respond to instruction:

The current method is not effective with this child, and a

different approach would yield better results.
The level of instruction might not be a good match for the
child.
The environment might not be conducive to learning.

(Vaughn, 56)

Determine whether individual

interventions are needed:

Examine the program to determine whether it has been

validated with students like those in the class.
Determine whether instruction is at an appropriate level
for students and the program is well implemented.
Establish whether teachers are sufficiently
differentiating instruction to meet diverse students
needs.

(Vaughn, 57)

Create a successful RTI model for

students who are culturally and
linguistically diverse:

Make sure you have access to team members who have expertise
in cultural and linguistic diversity and be knowledgeable
about interventions that have been effective with culturally
and linguistically diverse students with different needs.

(Vaughn, 57)

Monitor progress effectively with

ELLs:

Monitor progress of ELL as frequently as you monitor

progress of all other students.
Consider students accents and pronunciations when scoring
English measures and provide appropriate interpretations
when words are mispronounced.
Do not penalize students for dialect features.
Consider that students may proceed at a lower-thanexpected rate when they are focusing more on word
meaning.

(Vaughn, 58)

Work with families:

Describe the RTI process

Provide families with written intervention plans that are
clearly explained.
Obtain families consent.
Provide families with regular updates about their childs
progress.

(Vaughn, 59)

What to include in a written

intervention plan:

A description of the specific intervention.

The length of time that will be allowed for the
intervention.
The number of minutes per day the interventions will be
implemented.
The persons responsible for providing intervention.
The location where the intervention will take place.
Guidelines for determining students success.
A progress-monitoring schedule.
How often parents can expect reports about their childs
progress.

(Vaughn, 59)

Give appropriate and effective

feedback:

Nod, smile, and make eye contact with students to

indicate approval.
Be specific when when providing feedback on what the
student did well.
Describe what the student could say or do to make the
answer more correct.
Summarize what students should have learned and then ask
them to identify what they learned.
Ask one student to build on what another student has
said.
Ask students to explain how their work is correct or
incorrect.

(Vaughn, 63)

2. Learning Disability Strategies

Physical disabilities are often easy to recognize, however
not all disabilities are as obvious. Learning disabilities,
sometimes referred to as the invisible disability, are
discovered as educators get to see how a student learns. The
following cards focus on strategies for identifying learning
disabilities along with some instructional techniques.

How to recognize students with

learning disabilities:

Notice if there is :

Unexpected difficulty- general impressions of the child

do not match a low performance in one or more academic
areas.
Ineffective or inefficient information processing- the
student may demonstrate difficulty with memorization,
lack use of important learning strategies, and have
trouble integrating ideas across text.

(Vaughn, 151-152)

Ensure that you are appropriately

referring children you suspect of
having a LD:

Ask yourself the following questions:

Have you provided effective instruction?

Has the student responded differently to effective
instruction than his or her peers?
Have you modified your instruction for the students?
Is this student a distinct learner compared to other
students you have taught in the past?
Are there explanations for this students learning
problems other than a possible disability?

(Vaughn, 156)

Provide a Framework for

Learning:

By using an advance organizer...

Three factors for the success of an advance organizer:
1. Students with LD are taught how to listen for and use it.
Ex. student completes a worksheet as he/she listens to
the teacher introduce each part of the organizer.
2. After using the worksheet, student and teacher discuss
the advance organizers effectiveness and when and how it
might be used again.
3. The teacher cues the student that the advance organizer
is going to be used.
(Vaughn, 158)

Use Thinking Aloud and

Instructional Conversations:

Instead of asking questions like What is this story

about? or Who is the main character?, try modeling and
discussing cognitive strategies. You can do this by engaging
the students in a discussion about the story. Start by
saying tell me about this and then remind the students of
cognitive strategies to help guide them to a correct and
more thoughtful answer.

(Vaughn, 158)

3. ADHD Strategies
Students with ADHD, attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder, come to school with behaviors that interfere with
their successful learning. As educators, it is important
that we cater to the needs of these students so they can be
successful in and out of the classroom despite their
attention problems. The following cards focus on strategies
for modifying instruction to fit the needs of students with
ADHD.

Promote Self-Regulation:

1. Provide task-related feedback- be specific in what the

student is doing well and how they could improve their
performance.
2. Link students behaviors to outcomes.
3. Provide encouragement- show them they can be successful!
4. Point out success.
5. Point out personal challenges and successes.
6. Encourage students to take responsibility for their
successes and their failures.
(Vaughn, 170)

Organize tasks to promote

success:

Find out the students interests and what they enjoy doing in
school. It will allow you to determine which ways are best
for organizing their assignments and responsibilities so
that they are more likely to succeed.
(Vaughn, 170)

Help reduce the trauma of

homework:

Keep homework assignments separate from unfinished

classwork. Unfinished classwork should remain in class.
Establish routines for assigning, collecting, and
evaluating homework so students know what to expect.
Make sure to have consistency with the homework scheduleit is essential!
Use homework as practice for material that has already
been taught.
Let the student design their own attractive homework
folder that the student knows goes home and returns to
school consistently.
Involve families and help them understand the value of
homework. (Vaughn, 176)

Plan educational interventions:

Visually highlight important instructions and key points.

Maintain a schedule.
Prepare students for transitions and provide support in
completing them.
Emphasize time limits.
Provide organizational assistance.
Provide rewards often.
Be brief and clear in instruction.
Allow for movement and postures other than sitting.

(Vaughn, 174)

Arrange the environment to

facilitate attention:

Make sure the student is sitting with peers that will

promote good behavior and organizational skills
Be able to quickly and easily maintain eye contact as
well as physical contact with the student.
Consider how to minimize distraction. Are there a lot of
unnecessary posters on the wall?

(Vaughn, 174)

Promote active participation

through effective questioning
techniques:

Effective questioning techniques include:

High level questions that require the students to think

critically about the material.
Adjusting content for individual skill learners.
Using language that is understandable to students.
Pausing so that students have time to organize a
response.
Valuing all responses instead of accepting only the
correct answer.
Rephrasing or summarizing student responses for the rest
of the class.

(Vaughn, 174)

The Exceptional
Strategy Kit Volume
2 Soon to come!