The Web Based Teaching Tool
-- The Ministry of Education's early screening and intervention tool

What is the WBTT?

History of the WBTT

Related Articles on Early Intervention

Accessing the WBTT

Frequently Asked Questions

Contacts

Select this link to download and/or View the French Version PowerPoint Presentation for the Web Based Teaching Tool

What is the WBTT?
-- The Ministry of Education's early screening and intervention tool

a. Overview and Goals

The Web Based Teaching Tool (WBTT) is a multi-functional database available on the Internet at a low cost to schools and child-care centers. The goals of the Web Based Teaching Tool program include:

• Supporting the Ministry of Education's literacy and numeracy strategy to assist 75% of children to succeed on provincial tests

• Acknowledging which children between ages four and eight are at-risk for school failure

• Providing teachers with a variety of intervention techniques and resources to help ensure appropriate and timely remediation

• Providing teachers with a system that allows them to differentiate between those students with non-remediable learning problems and those who require extra support in order to catch up to their peers

• Decreasing the wait time for assessments

• Reducing behavioural and emotional problems in children with learning difficulties

• Supporting teachers in their quest to best meet the educational needs of all students in their class

WBTT provides a model for educators to identify students at-risk of school failure, and a database of interventions to address areas of need. The Dynamic Screening and Intervention Model (DSIM), encompassed in WBTT, uses screening tools to acknowledge those students who may not be as school ready as their peers. The screening is non-categorical in nature, meaning that the children are determined simply to be "at-risk" without specifying a particular diagnostic category or identification label.

Using the student's screening results as an initial a guideline, the teacher can search the extensive database for appropriate interventions. The database of interventions, accessed through the WBTT site, includes teaching strategies, teaching materials, “take home” strategies for parents, and strategies for behaviour and classroom management. Teachers can find programming and planning ideas geared toward skill building. Curriculum-based checklists, allow teachers to track student's progress and response to interventions, further developing the student's learning profile and a better understanding of where their strengths and needs lie. If the student does not make the gains expected, additional interventions can be found within the database and applied. The result is a dynamic process in which the student is continuously supported. Information about this process can be shared with parents shared with parents, colleagues and individual student's future teachers to create well-informed plans.

The WBTT program provides resources for teachers (Kindergarten to Grade 3), schools and school boards. Teachers use the secure WBTT site over the course of a school year to:

• Access the screening tools and record results

• Access a searchable database for interventions and resources that may be useful for the students in their classroom

• Track student progress over the current year on a secure database

• Generate a growth plan to monitor response to interventions, screening results and tracking for current and future reference

Please note: Teachers are trained on the appropriate and effective use of the WBTT, including the screening tools, and are supported throughout the school year via optional face-to-face workshops, telephone, email and an online training forum.

Based on the concept of a learning continuum and the premise that each student learns differently, WBTT helps teachers to better recognize the strengths and weaknesses in each student's learning style. Teachers gain new strategies to tailor their lesson plans and classroom strategies to meet individual needs. WBTT provides teachers with ideas and strategies to create and maintain a classroom environment that not only manages, but also meets the needs of all students in the class.

The Dynamic Screening and Intervention Model, encompassed in WBTT, ensures that supports are placed around the student from the start, eliminating the need for students to fail consistently in order to receive support, as they often do within the current system. Increased accuracy and economy in the use of psycho-educational assessments can be developed because students referred for assessments have not simply consistently failed but rather failed to respond to repeated, targeted interventions. The model moves away from a “wait and see” approach, by empowering and supporting teachers through the provision of resources to better support struggling students in their classrooms.

The goal of WBTT is to ensure that all learners' needs are met in the regular classroom. When students with learning difficulties, differences, and disabilities are supported from the outset, these students are less likely to become formally identified as exceptional students and require ongoing placement in special education programs. Avoiding the frustration that many LD students experience prior to identification can also help reduce the behavioural and emotional issues that often arise.

The Web Based Teaching Tool model ensures that:

• Screening is followed by intervention

• All students receive appropriate and adequate instruction in a timely fashion

The project to develop the Web Based Teaching Tool was made possible with funding support from the Ministry of Education.

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b. Preview the WBTT

c. Power Point Presentation of WBTT

d. The Online Training Program

Teachers using the WBTT will first participate in an online training course. This training program focuses on:

• The philosophical and pedagogical foundations of the model, such as reflective practitioner theories
• Effective use the screening tools, interventions, tracking framework and growth plan
• Computer skills and site navigation

The course is five to six units long (depending on the grade) and takes approximately six hours over two months to complete. The course is self-directed and can be accessed by teachers at any time throughout the school year.

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e. The Screening Tools

The WBTT consists of carefully selected screening tools that measure school readiness and phonological awareness. The extent of a student's learning difficulties can be established within the classroom by comparing an individual to same age peers on various global and standardized measures of academic progress, or by determining whether he or she meets age-appropriate "benchmarks" or milestones. Students who fall below age specific cut-offs are determined to be at-risk of academic failure if no additional support is provided.

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f. The WBTT and Learning Disabilities: Success For All Learners

The Web Based Teaching Tool is to be used with students who have not been formally identified with any exceptionality. In other words, it is pre-identification. Students who are flagged as at-risk as a result of this process will not necessarily go on to be identified with Learning Disabilities, or any other exceptionality. The goal of WBTT is to ensure that those students who simply need extra or different support receive it, while those with more organic difficulties (i.e. Leaning Disabilities) receive the formal assessments and support they need as early as possible.

Research on the development of early reading skills, particularly reading decoding, suggests that children with Learning Disabilities begin to lag behind their peers even at this early stage of skill acquisition. Similarly, children with written expressive language difficulties also manifest differences from their peers at an early age of development (this includes production and memory problems). Finding and supporting these students as early as possible can help ensure long-term success.

By providing teachers with reliable and easy to use screening tools, paired with suggested teaching strategies and resources, there is:

• A greater incidence of successful learning outcomes for all students

• A decrease in the number of students who present with indicators of Learning Disabilities (i.e. with a wide discrepancy between the their ability and potential), when in reality they may not have a Learning Disability.

• Early and effective support for students with Learning Disabilities

Using the WBTT model, remediation is begun before a concrete school-based learning problem is manifested, eliminating the need for students to fail consistently before being eligible for support and reducing the number of students who require special education programs. WBTT will also allow teachers to differentiate between those students with more serious learning needs and those students who need extra support in order to catch up to their peers. Should the latter not receive this support, it is unlikely that they will catch up, and as a result may begin to show a wide discrepancy between the their ability and potential, which is an indicator of a Learning Disability, when in reality they may not have a Learning Disability.

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g. The WBTT and Learning Disabilities: Success For All Learners

• The JK, SK and Grade 1 applications of the model are currently available to all publicly funded School Boards across Ontario at no cost to Ontario school b oards , due to funding support from the Ministry of Education's Learning Foundations program.

• For more information on how your Board or organisation can gain access to WBTT select this link

Future Plans

• Our goal is for the WBTT to be available for use in Junior Kindergarten through to Grade 2 beginning September 2005 to all provincially funded School Boards

• Grade 3 will be available September 2006

History of the WBTT

A. The Promoting Early Intervention Initiative ( PEI )

The PEI initiative was a government-funded initiative aimed at creating significant change within Ontario 's educational system for young children who have Learning Disabilities. The initiative began in 1999 as LDAO's response to the McCain-Mustard Early Years Report, “Reversing the Real Brain Drain.” (explained below). The goal was to promote early intervention for students aged 4-8 at risk for learning failure. A series of Working Groups that brought together a variety of professionals from across Ontario studied the facts and issues, and identified the need for a resource like WBTT.

PEI 's Working Groups were governed by two central beliefs. Firstly, that most children whose cognitive and behavioural characteristics are poorly developed in their early years have difficulty succeeding in the school system, which can lead to higher levels of:

• Antisocial behaviour

• Delinquency

• Crime as teenagers and young adults

Secondly, that students entering SK arrive with highly diverse experiences and various degrees of readiness. Learning difficulties may result from different factors, such as:

• The tendency toward a certain learning style

• English as a second language

• Vision or hearing impairments

• Socio-economic circumstances

Initially, 14 focus groups with School Boards around Ontario determined that there was a wide range of practice regarding screening and assessment. These focus groups determined there was n o standardized approach to screening and no guarantee that screening leads to intervention with flagged students.

The PEI Working Groups recognized that educators work on the front lines of detection and solutions in the battle against Learning Disabilities. It became apparent that there was no easy way for these educational professionals to obtain the information they needed to make the best decisions for the special needs learners in their classrooms in a timely fashion.

As well, the market for educational resources changes rapidly. New products are released every week. Illuminating research is generated constantly, and teachers everywhere develop great ideas every day that could be shared with their peers. However, there was no way to make all this information available to the education community in a cost-effective way. WBTT was created to provide teachers with a place to go for the most up to date, research based approaches while allowing them to share tried and true strategies from their own classrooms.

The PEI initiative produced the Web Based Teaching Tool (WBTT) as one of its outcomes. In addition, the PEI produced:

• A new definition of Learning Disabilities

• Recommended practices for assessment, diagnosis and documentation of Learning Disabilities

• Recommendations about how to enhance the level of education, support and services presently available to educators working with young students with Learning Disabilities and Differences

Read more about the PEI Initiative

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B. The McCain-Mustard Report

The McCain-Mustard Early Years Study Report, “Reversing the Real Brain Drain” (1999), stated that brain development in the period from conception to six years sets the stage for learning, behaviour, and health over an individual's life cycle. Children whose cognitive and behavioural characteristics are poorly developed in their early years have difficulty succeeding in the school system, which can lead to higher levels of antisocial behaviour, delinquency, and crime as teenagers and young adults. Studies have found that boys who exhibit antisocial behaviour in kindergarten and disruptive behaviour later in school classrooms are more likely to drop out of school early; 28 percent will be delinquent by age 13. By flagging and supporting struggling students early, the Ministry of Education and LDAO through the WBTT seek s to improve all students' chances of long-term success.

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C. Web Based Teaching Tool Pilot Outcomes

2001-2002

PEI Sample Statistics

• 35 School Boards from across the province participated

• 114 Schools returned evaluation data

• 3,251 students screened using the Teacher's School Readiness Inventory (TSRI) and the Rosner Auditory Analysis Test

Sample Characteristics:

Student Gender and Age:

Males = 1,669 51%
Females = 1,582 49%
Average Age = 5.5 years
Minimum = 4.1 years Maximum = 7.1 years

Total number of students flagged as being “at-risk”

• 838 students or 26% were flagged as “at-risk”

• Of this group 63% were male and 37% females

• Average age of flagged students was 5.4

TSRI Scores

• Overall TSRI Average: 17.2 out of a possible 25

• Average TSRI among Non-flagged students: 19.1

• Average TSRI among Flagged Students: 11.7

Phonological Awareness Scores

• Overall Rosner Average: 4.3 (Expected range for Kindergarten 3-5)

• Average Rosner among Non-Flagged students: 5.1

• Average Rosner among Flagged Students: 2.2

Gains Made by Students Flagged as “At-risk”

Average gains in TSRI Flagged Students

Average gains in Phonological Awareness Scores

Academic Gains based on Teacher ratings

The following results are reflective of a 4-point report card rating scale:

1= Significantly Below Curriculum Expectations
2= Below Curriculum Expectations
3= At Curriculum Expectations
4= Exceeds Curriculum Expectation

Academic Gains based on Teacher ratings

Academic Gains based on Teacher ratings for Mathematics

Additional Notes

Surveys from participating principals, resource teachers and classroom teachers indicate broad support for the program.

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D. A Note on Learning Disabilities and Education in Ontario

Of the 2.1 million students in Ontario high schools, 95,000 have been formally diagnosed as Learning Disabled. Research indicates that 62 percent of high school graduates with Learning Disabilities are unemployed one year after graduation and that 35 percent of students with Learning Disabilities drop out of school (twice the rate of their non-disabled peers). More than one third of the functionally illiterate population copes with a learning disability. The number of students diagnosed with Learning Disabilities increases as educators and mental health professionals become more adept at recognizing and evaluating these important needs. However, early identification and remediation is essential to ensuring success for students with any learning difficulty. Students with Learning Disabilities consistently make up more than fifty percent of the special education population in this province. WBTT has the potential to the reduce the number of students who need to be referred to special education, thereby allowing school boards to focus special education resources on the students most in need of specialized assistance.

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Related Articles on Early Intervention

• Responsiveness-to-Intervention — New Way to Identify LD , May 2004 Schwab Learning Website

• Catching Them Early - The Kitchener-Waterloo Record Life , Monday, March 4, 2002 , p. D1

• Bright Ideas - Canadian Living Magazine , October 2002

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Accessing the WBTT

Schools Access to the Web Based Teaching Tool is provided to all publicly funded School Boards in Ontario free of charge due to support from the Ministry of Education 's Learning Foundations program . Ontario 's publicly funded school system has access to WBTT includes unlimited technological and pedagogical support, an online, self- self- directed teacher-training program, and access to WBTT throughout the year. Face to face training with teachers is also available on request. Other organizations, private schools, and those outside of Ontario should contact the Ministry of Education for information about permission to use this early screening and intervention tool.

Access to WBTT will be granted on an annual basis to schools signed up by their Boards. Boards will be asked to provide LDAO with the:

• Number of schools and their contact information
• Principal name and email
• Teacher names, emails and grade level(s) they are responsible for

User names and passwords will be provided to each individual teacher involved and will be the responsibility of the school administrators to manage. Student and class records are housed under each individual teacher's password and cannot be accessed by any other individual without this password.

The WBTT has the highest level of security certification currently available. It is the same security certification as online banking. Individual teachers only have access to the records of their own students. Passwords are encrypted. Student information cannot be accessed by the LDAO.

To complete an intent to register form select this link

For more information, please contact:

Amy Coupal, Project coordinator
Select this link to send a message
416.929.4311 x. 31

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Frequently Asked Questions About the Web Based Teaching Tool

Select the question to see the answer.

1. Is WBTT a tool for teachers or students?

2. What grades is the Web Based Teaching Tool for?

3. Do all schools in a School Board participate?

4. How secure is the WBTT web site and the student information it stores?

5. Should we be labeling kids this early?

6. Does an at-risk identification mean those students will need special education?

7. What is the benefit to teachers to use the WBTT?

8. How much time does the online training require?

9. Are all students screened using the WBTT

10. Whom can I contact if I require more information?

11. Are there any costs that boards incur?

12. Can school authorities access this training?

Contacts

Please contact Amy Coupal, Project Manager for further information.
Select this link to send a message
416.929.4311 x. 31

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