Cohort 4 Model Demonstration Projects

University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Center on Disability Studies

Hawai’i Model Demonstration Project on Tiered Approaches to Improve the Writing Proficiency, Application, and Transfer Skills of Ninth-Grade Students

The Hawai'i Response to Instruction Model (RtI) is focused on providing tiers of support to 9th grade teachers through a highly structured professional development approach. The model assists teachers in improving the quality of their pedagogy in areas of instruction, practice, and feedback, while improving the quality and increasing the quantity of writing opportunities in their classroom. The Hawai'i model focuses on critical pedagogical elements, which are taught to participating teachers during an introductory teacher institute and reinforced during follow-up professional development sessions. After the initial teacher institute and follow-up sessions, teachers participate in ongoing cycles of activities that consist of:

1. Participating in observations
2. Receiving feedback from the observers
3. Reflecting back to the observers
4. Participating in a problem-solving approach.

Upon completion of each cycle of observation and support provision, the observer and the teacher conduct a review of observation data which includes written feedback, teacher reflection, and student data to determine if the situation would benefit from a change in type or amount of support. After a review of data generated during each cycle, observers and teachers use a problem solving approach to conduct a root cause analysis in order to determine where improvements may be made.

The projected outcomes of participation in the described activities include: a) improved quality of instruction, as aligned with increases in 9th grade students' writing proficiency, and b) increases in the quantity and quality of writing opportunities across subject content areas. 

Contact Information

Robert Stodden, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
University of Hawai’i at Manoa
stodden@Hawaii.edu