Specialized Training

istation offers professional development programs to show districts and schools how to incorporate the istation Reading Program (formerly The Imagination Station) into a Supplemental Education Services (SES) program or Early Intervening Services (EIS) program including Response to Intervention (RTI).

Supplemental Education Services

For authorized SES providers, including school districts that provide their own SES services, istation offers the Data Driven Model of Professional Development. This professional development program provides training to tutors, teachers, paraprofessionals and administrators on how to use istation, including how to inform small group instruction using ISIP™, istation’s Indicators of Progress, data and the Priority Report. Participants will also learn how to meet SES accountability requirements using ISIP data.

Under some circumstances, districts that are not authorized SES providers are granted SES funds to provide professional development to their teachers and administrators in scientifically based reading programs. Generally, a district with a school identified for improvement (i.e., failed to meet Adequate Yearly Progress [AYP] targets for two consecutive years) is required to earmark at least 10% of its Title I budget for professional development. For these districts, istation offers a professional development program that couples the Data Driven Model of Professional Development with student licenses to istation.

Early Intervening Services and Response to Intervention

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) allows districts to set aside up to 15% of IDEA funds for Early Intervening Services (EIS). EIS is designed to provide IDEA funds to support the general K–12 population's educational goals with an emphasis on scientifically based reading and math instruction for K–3.

The purpose of EIS is to reduce the over identification and labeling of children as learning disabled and to better address their learning and behavioral problems. EIS recognizes that many children are not learning disabled, but rather need additional academic and behavioral support to succeed in the general education environment.

Activities that can be funded under EIS include scientifically based literacy instruction and professional development. istation and the Data Driven Model of Professional Development make an ideal combination for EIS.

Estimates are that 50% of special education students are really reading impaired, but they have been failing so long they look like special education students. RTI is a subset of EIS that is encouraged in place of IQ achievement discrepancy as a method of identifying students for possible special education referral.

In the EIS professional development program, your teachers and administrators will learn how to use ISIP data to monitor the progress of racial and ethnic subgroups to ensure their academic progress. They will also learn to use data from istation's reporting system to help meet EIS reporting requirements and ensure fidelity of implementation. If RTI is also being implemented, teachers and administrators will learn how to use istation within a tiered RTI model.