School Building Intervention Team Interview

School Building Intervention Team Interview

Source: The IRIS Center – Star Legacy Modules

Six Stages of Pre-referral[i]

There are six stages in the pre-referral process. This process is a linear process and all stages must be done in order.

Stage 1: Initial concern regarding a child's academic progress

In the first stage of the pre-referral process, initial concerns regarding the child's academic progress are voiced by someone. There are multiple people who can start this process. It can start through the classroom teacher. It could start through a content specialist. It could be started by a parent or an administrator. This initial process is usually brought to the classroom teacher's attention who then starts the process.

Question 1: How is an initial concern brought to the attention of the pre-referral team?

Stage 2: Information gathering

After the pre-referral process has been started the next stage is stage two, which is called information gathering. At that point various pieces of information are collected on the child. These can include things such as a review of school records, previous standardized and informal test scores, attendance records, disciplinary action, school screenings, information gathered from the child's previous teacher, information from conversations with parents, interviews with the child, example of a child's classroom work, behavioral observations in multiple settings, list of previous interventions that have been tried, and results of applicable informal assessments.

Question 2: What types of student information and/or data are collected for information sharing and team discussion?

Stage 3: Information sharing and team discussion

After information has been gathered, the next step is information sharing and a team discussion. The pre-referral team (teacher assistance team) generally consists of the general education teacher, a school psychologist or educational assessor, school counselor, content specialist, grade level or cluster teacher, health professional, and the parent. During team information sharing, all information is discussed by the team and decision making during pre-referral team (teacher assistance team) meetings follow a general set of guide lines that help structure the session and allow multiple perspectives to be presented. Team members understand that their purpose is to recommend and support effective interventions in general education. Discussion is always begun with the listing of the child's strengths, targets of concern are identified and prioritized, brainstorming is used to generate and then select intervention for each area of concern, and the intensity and duration of the intervention is agreed upon. In addition a monitoring system that assesses progress over time is developed. Finally a person responsible for implementation and monitoring of the intervention is selected.

Question 3: Who serves (what types of roles) on the pre-referral team?Are there written guide lines that help structure the discussion?

Stage 4: Discussion of strategy options

Stage four is known as the discussion of strategies option stage. During this stage, brainstorming is used by the pre-referral team (teacher assistance team) to generate and then select interventions for each area of concern. These interventions may include the following; modifications in the classroom environment, modifying classroom management procedures, modifications in instructional procedures, or curriculum modifications that involve altering or adapting the curriculum currently being used.

Question 4: How are potential interventions identified for each area of concern? What are some examples?

Stage 5: Implementation and monitoring of strategy

During this stage, the intensity and duration of the intervention is agreed upon by the pre-referral team (teacher assistance team). In addition a monitoring system that assesses progress over time is developed. Finally a person responsible for the implementation and monitoring of the intervention is selected.

Question 5: How is progress assessed over time using the agreed upon intervention(s)? How is the person responsible for implementation and monitoring of the intervention identified?

Stage 6: Evaluation and decision-making

The final stage is stage six, the evaluation and decision making stage. At this point the pre-referral team (teacher assistance team) comes back together to review information on the effectiveness of the strategy employed. The team decides whether the strategy should be continued, modified, or whether based on the information that the child should go from pre-referral into formal referral for special education.

Question 6: When would the pre-referral team (teacher assistance team) come back together to review the effectiveness of the intervention or strategy employed? How does the team decide whether the strategy should be continued, modified, or whether based on the results of progress monitoring, the child should go from pre-referral into formal referral for special education?

The IRIS Center
Special Education Resources for Inclusion,
Scientifically-Validated and Evidence-Based Instructional Strategies

[i] Dr. Donald Compton, Vanderbilt University