In PALS: A Reading Strategy for Grades K-1, the staff of Washington Elementary is looking for a way to improve the reading success of all their students. Come along with kindergarten and first-grade representatives Mrs. Doris and Ms. Chandler as they look for research-validated instructional practices to supplement the core reading program for their grade levels. Will the PALS approach be able to accommodate the individual learning needs of Washington Elementary's diverse student body? Join Mrs. Doris and Ms. Chandler as they implement PALS with their students. To view PALS: A Reading Strategy for Grades K-1, please go to:

http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/palsk1/chalcycle.htm

In PALS: A Reading Strategy for Grades 2-6, when she learns that her new school's reading scores have fallen below the proficient level, Mrs. Nash, a fifth-grade teacher and recent transfer to Miller Elementary, begins the search for a research-validated approach through which to improve her students' reading skills. Soon, Mrs. Nash discovers PALS, a peer-assisted learning strategy. Join Mrs. Nash as she learns how to implement PALS in her classroom. To view PALS: A Reading Strategy for Grades 2-6, please go to:

http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/pals26/chalcycle.htm

In PALS: A Reading Strategy for High School, you'll join Charlotte Garcia as she undertakes a search for an approach to improving the comprehension skills of her remedial reading class. Mrs. Garcia would like her students to increase their ability to answer the "big picture" questions about the materials they read: Who are the main characters? What is the main idea? Join Mrs. Garcia as she discovers the PALS approach and learns how to implement it in her classroom. To view PALS: A Reading Strategy for High School, please go to:

http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/palshs/chalcycle.htm

RTI: Progress Monitoring is intended to be a supplement to the IRIS Center's RTI and classroom assessment module series, providing additional opportunities to practice the application of basic progress monitoring concepts, including the administration and scoring of probes and the graphing of student performance. To view the case study, log on to

http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/case_studies/ICS-011.pdf

RTI: Data-Based Decision Making stresses the importance of data-based decision making within response to intervention (RTI). The case study covers topics related to determining performance level and rate of growth, using the dual-discrepancy approach, making tier placement decisions, and communicating with parents. To view the case study, log on to

http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/case_studies/ICS-012.pdf

Written Expression Case Study This case study set presents a number of writing strategies to help students in the elementary and middle-school grades who struggle with writing. In order for students to benefit from instruction in written expression they must possess some prerequisite skills. These are Transcription skills - handwriting and spelling; and Grammar skills - knowledge of sentence form and structure.

http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/case_studies/ICS-013.pdf

Functional Behavior Assessment: Discovering the Reasons for Problem Behavior and Developing a Behavior Plan Ms. Rollison's second year of teaching started off well. She encountered few behavioral problems, and she easily handled those that did occur. That is, she encountered few problems until December, when a new student named Joseph joined her class. Joseph makes smart-aleck remarks, is rude, and teases his classmates. Sometimes he makes disruptive comments when Ms. Rollison calls on him in class. Ms. Rollison isn't happy about the atmosphere that Joseph is creating in her classroom. She's tried some of the behavioral interventions she learned during her first year, but they are not working. She wonders what else she can do to stop Joseph's behavior.

http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/fba/chalcycle.htm

In High-Quality Math Instruction: What Teachers Should Know, you'll meet the staff of Lyle Elementary School, who have recently focused their attention and resources on improving reading instruction and are now ready to do the same for mathematics. The principal invites a district-level consultant to observe and to informally interview teachers about the practices and activities they implement during math instruction. The consultant indicates that the teachers' instruction is not promoting conceptual understanding and the ability to make connections between math topics. Upper-elementary teachers often have to reteach topics covered in the earlier grades. He explains that these issues would be addressed and school personnel would see an improvement in student performance were the teachers to implement high-quality math instruction. Unfortunately, the staff at Lyle is unsure what high-quality math instruction is and how to provide it. Find out how the teachers and staff of Lyle Elementary go about providing high-quality math instruction by viewing the module at

http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/math/chalcycle.htm

Evaluación en el salón de clases (segunda parte): Evaluar el progreso en la lectura Ms. Begay is a first-year fourth-grade teacher. Earlier in the year, she met with her mentor teacher, Mrs. Hernandez, because she was concerned with the progress of three of her students, Luke, José, and Louisa. At their last meeting, Mrs. Hernandez explained progress monitoring to Ms. Begay and gave her some information about how to implement it. Ms. Begay read the information and started tracking her students' spelling progress.

La Srta. Begay es una maestra nueva del cuarto grado. Al principio del año, ella se reunió con su maestra mentora, la Sra. Hernández, porque ella estaba preocupada por tres de sus estudiantes, Luke, José y Louisa. Durante su reunión, la Sra. Hernández le explicó la monitorización del progreso a la Srta. Begay y le dio un poco de información sobre cómo implementarla. La Srta. Begay leyó la información y empezó a seguir el progreso de la ortografía de sus estudiantes.

Follow along as Ms. Begay learns how best to track her students' reading progress at http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/rpm_spanish/chalcycle.htm