BLEDSOE COUNTY SCHOOLS
PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER

THE STUDENT INTERVENTION TEAM PROCESS
RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION
AND
REFERRAL PROCEDURE FOR SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL ASSESSMENT

Bledsoe County Department of Education

Response to Intervention
And
Referral to Special Education procedures
Manuel

2009-2010 school year
Authored by Maryanne McFalls, 
Edited and Approved by Patsy Morgan

Forward………………………………………………………..Pg. 3
The Student Intervention Team approach…………………..Pg. 6
Early Childhood: kindergarten and first grade……………..Pg. 8
Reading RTI and SPED referral……………………………...Pg.9
	Definition and purpose
	Tier one and Tier two
	Tier three and referral to SPED
Math referrals…………………………………………………Pg. 11
Written Language referrals…………………………………..Pg. 12
Behavior problems and attention problems………………....Pg. 13
Speech and language problems……………………………….Pg. 14
General comprehension/global learning problems………….Pg. 15
Other problems not otherwise addressed……………………Pg. 15
Vision Screening Referral Guidelines………………………..Pg. 16
Sample forms…………………………………………………..Pg. 17
Recommended Resources……………………………………..Pg. 27
Selected Interventions…………………………………………Pg. 28

Forward

Response to Intervention is a federally mandated approach to ensuring that all children receive appropriate education in the regular classroom to the greatest extent possible. It is based on the belief that most children can learn in the regular classroom with appropriate interventions and supports and the best setting for children to learn is the regular classroom unless an evidence-based assessment has demonstrated the child can only benefit from special education support. Special education support must be geared toward maintaining the student in the regular classroom to the maximum extent possible.
	What this means to educators is regular education and special education can no longer be separate entities, but must exist as two sides of the same coin, working together to ensure each child makes the maximum gains possible each year throughout their educational experience. Special education is no longer a place to shuffle kids that don’t learn, but rather a place to help figure out how each child can learn and how to best build a bridge into the regular classroom for that child.
	Of course, there will always be children that cannot be maintained in the regular classroom, children with significant cognitive and/or social disabilities that prevent them from participating, even marginally, in the regular classroom. However, the majority of students identified as needing special education support are those with average-to-low-average cognitive abilities. These students should receive most instruction in the regular classroom and the goal should always be to return them to the regular classroom for all instruction. Special education should be a resource for the regular classroom rather than a separate entity into which children are dumped for the duration of their scholastic careers.
Here is what the federal website states:
To ensure that underachievement in a child suspected of having a specific learning disability is not due to lack of appropriate instruction in reading or math, the group must consider, as part of the evaluation described in 34 CFR 300.304 through 300.306:
•	Data that demonstrate that prior to, or as a part of, the referral process, the child was provided appropriate instruction in regular education settings, delivered by qualified personnel; and
•	Data-based documentation of repeated assessments of achievement at reasonable intervals, reflecting formal assessment of student progress during instruction, which was provided to the child’s parents (italics added).
This is the part of the law that gives rise to the Response To Intervention (RTI) model. What the RTI model encompasses is given in the following passage of federal law:

If the child has participated in a process that assesses the child’s response to scientific, research-based intervention: 
•	The instructional strategies used and the student-centered data collected; and
•	The documentation that the child’s parents were notified about: (1) the State’s policies regarding the amount and nature of student performance data that would be collected and the general education services that would be provided; (2) strategies for increasing the child’s rate of learning; and (3) the parents’ right to request an evaluation.
What this means is regular education must put into place rich, research-based interventions to attempt to increase a student’s learning curve so that they may be maintained in the regular program if at all possible. Early, intense, research-based interventions should allow most children to remain in the regular classroom, learning at the best possible rate for them (This, of course, doesn’t mean some children won’t struggle in the regular classroom. Some children will always perform below average but still can learn, and learn best, in the regular classroom).
Further, the federal law mandates students receiving research-based interventions must be assessed regularly to scientifically determine if the interventions in place are working. This is called progress monitoring and this topic will be addressed at length later.
While this RTI model is currently mandated only for reading and math, with reading being the focus currently in TN, this RTI model is useful for all areas of disability, including written language, spoken language and behavior. With this in mind, the Student Intervention Team (SIT) model is being introduced county wide with the expectation that the support of a team of fellow teachers and other experts will enhance the Response to Intervention approach to all and to team-build interventions for a student and their parent(s) early on when trouble first starts to brew, rather than wait until a learning crisis forms for that particular student.

The Student Intervention Team

The Student Intervention Team (SIT) process is an excellent tool for insuring there is accountability and fidelity in the RTI process. With a team of professionals helping to implement interventions and management techniques for students experiencing difficulties, it is much more likely a teacher will feel supported in his/her efforts and the student will benefit from a well-constructed plan of action.
There are three different types of SITs depending on the purpose: instruction enrichment or child study.  The first two types are currently for reading only, due to an intervention process established in this area. These will be discussed at length in the reading response to intervention section. The third type of SIT is for any other learning problems besides reading. These include math difficulties, written language difficulties, general comprehension problems, language difficulties and behavior and/or attention problems.
This type of SIT is a student study type in that the team studies all information available about the child’s area(s) of difficulty and develops an intervention plan based on these pieces of information or evidence. The plan should be specific with measurable goals and there should be a method to assess the success of the interventions put into place. A good SIT plan has the following components:
•	An operational and observable definition of the student’s difficulty (i.e. “Ginny cannot regroup math problems”; “Johnny has difficulty maintaining himself quietly in his seat”, rather than  “Ginny is bad at math”; or “Johnny is badly behaved”.
•	A brief and specific set of interventions to be put into place (“Ginny will be provided with a set of manipulatives and be trained in how to use them in regrouping problems”; “Johnny will participate in a token economy in which he will earn one token for each 10 minute period he is quiet and in his seat”. The intervention plan should specifically state WHO will be implementing the intervention, WHEN the intervention should be implemented during the school day, and HOW data will be gathered to make a determination as to whether the intervention is working.
•	Finally, a good SIT plan states when the Student Intervention Team will re-meet to review the data and make a determination as to whether the interventions put into place are working or if the plan needs to be reworked.
The makeup of the child study type of Student Intervention Team may vary, but always includes the child’s regular education teacher and should also always include at least two other professionals. These other professionals may well be the other grade level teachers, the school psychologist, the principal, a special education teacher, the school counselor, the educational diagnostician or the special education director. The parent is always notified of the meeting and invited to come. However, the parent’s presence is not legally required for the team to meet. This is because this is a planning session for regular education instruction and is not driven by special education. Ideally, the teacher has kept the parent informed of the ongoing difficulties of their child and the parent is not surprised by the information that an intervention is going to be planned. Most parents are happy and grateful their child will be receiving specially planned help.
	The SIT process should be tried to rectify problems in the regular classroom. Ideally, referrals for special education assessment should grow out of the SIT process as an adjunct to interventions tried in the regular classroom.
	The SIT request form should be turned in to the principal of the school. He/she may then notify the school psychologist or the grade level special education teacher so a meeting date and time can be set.

 Early Childhood: Kindergarten and First Grade Referral Procedures

The Student Intervention Team (SIT) process is very effective for most early childhood learning problems. This is due to children’s problems at this age being primarily behavioral, rather than academic. In preparation for the SIT, it is useful to have the school psychologist, the counselor, or the educational diagnostician to do observations of the student in the classroom environment. This helps pinpoint the behaviors that are most impeding the child’s learning and/or peer’s learning as well.
  In general, children under seven should not be referred for special education assessment for academic problems. This is due to our use of the discrepancy model in finding learning disabilities. Young children simply have not learned enough yet for there to be a significant discrepancy between their performance and the performance of an average peer. For young children having academic problems, the best course is to put into place interventions and modifications and to consider retention so they may have an additional year to fill in gaps. That said, there are exceptions to this rule:
•	 A student who is having global comprehension problems will need to be tested to screen out language problems or low cognition.
•	A student who has made little or no progress prior to spring break in a specific area, in spite of an SIT process, needs to be screened for early learning disabilities.
•	 A student with ongoing behavioral challenges which interfere with his/her learning and the learning of his/her peers, and for whom interventions put into place by the SIT process have been less than successful, should be tested for a health impairment.
Reading RTI process and SPED referral

Definition and purpose
Tier one and Tier two
Tier three and referral to SPED

Tier-I reading instruction is the daily 90 minute block of reading instruction given in the regular classroom. For the majority of students, this 90 minute block of instruction is all that is necessary for them to progress in reading well enough to keep up with the curriculum. Depending on the makeup of the class, 10-30 percent of students don’t make sufficient progress with the 90 minute regular instruction block and need to be referred to the Student Intervention Team for consideration for Tier-II reading intervention. Tier-II reading interventions are more targeted to the student’s instructional reading level and are designed to place the student on track to catch up with his/her peers.
A Tier-II reading SIT should be held as soon as possible after the first DIBELS scores are in and indicating a student is struggling. In general, Tier-II reading interventions should be considered when a student has fallen into the “at risk-needs intensive intervention” level on their DIBELS scores. Though this is a good screening technique, some students may have scored higher on their DIBELS test, but still be a good candidate for Tier-II. For instance, his teacher may know Little Johnny reads fairly fluently, can parrot back what he has read, but doesn’t extract information or make inferences from what he has read. This is why the SIT process makes sense. Little Johnny’s teacher can bring in work samples and other data to present to the SIT team and a decision can be made whether to move him into the Tier-II intervention process.
The SIT for Tier II reading placements should be made up of the teacher of the child, other grade level teachers and the principal of the school. Parents should be notified of the procedure, but do not necessarily need to be invited to the meeting. Parents should be notified of placement decisions.
Tier II reading interventions should be an additional 30-45 minutes of targeted reading instruction daily in addition to the 90 minutes of reading instruction in the classroom. Once Tier-II instruction has been implemented, progress monitoring in the form of weekly DIBELS testing should be begun immediately.  Progress monitoring is the method of assessing whether Tier-II instruction is working. Progress monitoring should be done on the student’s instructional level. If a fourth-grade student is reading at a mid-second grade level, progress monitoring at fourth-grade level would not show progress as it is too advanced for the student to access.
Monitoring and tier-II instruction should continue for a minimum of 8 weeks, though 12-16 weeks is preferable. After the decided on intervention period, the SIT team should determine whether appropriate progress is being made. Appropriate progress is defined as an improvement trajectory that will eventually bring the student up to grade level reading ability. If performance on the progress monitoring is mixed or progress is not being made, Tier-III intervention needs to be considered.
Most underperforming students should make progress in Tier-II. For the few who don’t, Tier-III adds another 20-30 minutes of reading instruction to the Tier-I and Tier-II instruction. The student should now be receiving at least 2.5 hours of reading instruction daily. Tier-III should be very individualized within a very small group of students. The SIT placing students into Tier-III should involve the parent, the county reading and curriculum specialists and the I.E.P team, and may also include the county educational diagnostician and/or other grade level teachers. The I.E.P. (Individualized Education Team) is made up of the parent(s) of the student, the regular education teacher of the child, the special education teacher assigned to the child’s grade level, the principal and the school psychologist. The team may, at its discretion, decide to sign the paperwork to begin a special education assessment at this time. The parent must be present at the meeting to begin this process; however, if the parent is not present the team can still decide to begin Tier-III. Tier-III intervention and weekly progress monitoring must still be implemented even if a special education assessment is begun.

Math Referrals

Math will be targeted for the RTI process at some time in the near future as this has been mandated by the federal and state governments. At this time, we do not have a formal tiered response to math intervention. Research based math interventions are available on the internet. These are easily incorporated into the regular classroom and manipulatives, graph paper for problem organization, flash cards, etc. should be readily available to students who need them.
The child study student intervention team should be involved as soon as it becomes evident a student is not meeting expectations in math. The SIT will design an individualized intervention process for the student in the regular classroom and monitor the student’s progress. If the planned interventions are not working, interventions and processes can be changed to try to improve progress. The SIT team may also decide that a special education assessment is appropriate to test for math disabilities.
Parents are always notified of and invited to child study SITs. This is to allow the SIT team to be flexible about planning interventions and assessments. A child study SIT would ideally consist of the parent, the regular education teacher, the principal, the school psychologist and the grade level special education teacher. Other grade level teachers and the educationally diagnostician are also good additions to the team.

Written Language Referrals

Some students have difficulty organizing their thoughts on paper. Others may do well in spelling tests, but seem to lose their spelling skills when they write for assignments. Disgraphia is a learning disability in which a student reads well but cannot write. There are good informal interventions for disgraphia, but there is no formal RTI process yet available for this rather rare specific learning disability. The interventions available also work well for students who are struggling readers and writers. Please see the intervention suggestions at the end of the book.	
Students should be referred to the Child Study SIT team after normal classroom interventions in written language have failed and disgraphia is suspected. A child study SIT would ideally consist of the parent, the regular education teacher, the principal, the school psychologist and the grade level special education teacher. Other grade level teachers and the educationally diagnostician are also good additions to the team.

Behavior and/or Attention Problems

Behavior and attention problems are becoming more common in the classroom. This is due to a lot of factors as the home lives of some students become increasingly chaotic. In the classroom, behavior problems of a few students can eat up valuable instruction time for all. Instruction cannot flow in a solid sequence if there are constant interruptions to deal with behavior. This interferes with the learning of every student in the class. The principals of good behavior management should be implemented in all classrooms. In most cases disruptive behavior can be managed with minimal interruption of instruction with good behavior management. Please see the chapter on behavior management for suggestions.
If a student’s behavior is such that instruction is severely disrupted, the student should be referred the child study SIT. Prior to the referral, the teacher is encouraged to contact the school psychologist, the special education teacher, or the educational diagnostician and request an observation. It is also extremely helpful if behavior logs are kept so the team can view what the teacher is dealing with on a day-to-day basis. Behavior logs can be provided prior to the SIT upon request. A child study SIT would ideally consist of the parent, the regular education teacher, the principal, the school psychologist and the grade level special education teacher. Other grade level teachers and the educationally diagnostician are also good additions to the team.

Speech and Language Problems

Pronunciation errors that are not developmentally normal, as well as stuttering or stammering problems, should be immediately brought to attention of the speech pathologist. A form is included in this manual to request an observation by the speech pathologist. If the speech pathologist concludes the child needs a speech evaluation, she will provide you with the necessary referral form.
Language problems include language comprehension problems (the student appears to have difficulty understanding what is being verbally requested of them), a very low receptive vocabulary, and language expression problems (the student has a very difficult time expressing themselves in a comprehensible way). Language problems should be referred to the SIT and the speech pathologist should be included. Often this type of meeting actually becomes a special education assessment meeting, so it is strongly recommended the parent be present. A child study SIT would ideally consist of the parent, the regular education teacher, the principal, the school psychologist and the grade level special education teacher. Other grade level teachers and the educationally diagnostician are also good additions to the team.

	 

General Comprehension/Global Learning Problems

If a student is struggling in all academic areas and appears to be comprehending and expressing language on about the same low level, there may be a developmental problem, such as low cognition or mental retardation. This sort of disability is generally picked up in the very early grades, but occasionally a very well behaved child with low cognition may slip though until the academic demands of higher grades make the problem obvious.
If a teacher suspects a developmental disability, the child study SIT should be notified and a meeting convened. Often this type of meeting actually becomes a special education assessment meeting, so it is strongly recommended the parent be present. A child study SIT would ideally consist of the parent, the regular education teacher, the principal, the school psychologist and the grade level special education teacher. Other grade level teachers and the educationally diagnostician are also good additions to the team.

Problems not Otherwise Addressed

Sometimes there are problems that are not otherwise addressed in this manual. Physical problems, such as poor fine and/or gross motor, suspected hearing or vision problems, and other medical problems should be evaluated immediately. The SIT team and/or the principal should be notified so evaluation procedures can begin.
Any other problems with a student, including emotional problems, should be referred to the child study SIT. The teacher is encouraged to contact the school psychologist for an observation.

Children's Vision Screening Referral Guidelines*

Refer the child who shows possible appearance, behavior, or complaint signs of a vision problem.

•	Eye(s) turning inward or outward
•	Red-trimmed, encrusted or swollen lids
•	Styes or infections

•	Possible eye injury
•	Thrusting head forward
•	Squinting or frowning
•	Closing or covering one eye
•	Blurred or double vision
•	Sees blur when looking up after work
•	Watering eye(s)
•	Upper lid touching or partly covering pupil
•	Presence of white pupil when looking directly at the child's eyes, or in photo

•	Rigid body when looking at distant objects
•	Tilting head to one side
•	Excessive blinking
•	Headaches, nausea, or dizziness
•	Burning, scratchy, or itching eyes
•	Unusual sensitivity to light

*From the Tennessee State Department of Education
Speech Observation Request

Student Name:_________________ Teacher Name:_____________ Student DOB_______
Date:___________ Parent(s) name ____________________ 

This student has been observed to have possible problems with:
[ ] Age inappropriate articulation              [ ] Stammering                   [ ] Stuttering
[ ] Garbled or unintelligible speech          [ ] voice volume issues      
[ ] leaves off beginning/ending sounds

Teacher observations of this student: 

Please give this form to the speech and language pathologist so they may schedule an observation.
SIT Request

Student Name:_________________ Teacher Name:_____________ Student DOB_______
Date:___________ Parent(s) name ____________________ 
Reason for Referral:
[ ] Math progress                  [ ] Written Language Progress               [ ] language problems
[ ] poor overall comprehension   [ ] Behavior/attention problems        [ ] Other

Checklist(s) for each area checked should be filled out prior to the SIT (please see checklists in the manual). ONLY fill out the checklist for the areas checked as being problem areas for the referred student.
This form should be given to the principal of your school so that he/she can notify the rest of the Student Intervention Team. 

Please notify the parent that you are referring their child to the Student Intervention Team and why. Please let them know that you will be sending home a form with the date and time of the SIT.

When you receive the time and date of the SIT, please call the parent and tell them of the time and date and also send home the invitation to the meeting. It is important to communicate with the parent as they are more likely to respond and attend if they are communicated with regularly.

Dear _________________________________

As you know, your child____________________ has been having difficulties with their progress in the following area(s):

We want to be able to provide the best possible education for your child. A team of professionals, your child’s teacher and at least two other school personnel, are going to meet to plan ways to better meet your child’s needs in the classroom. You are invited to attend and encouraged to participate in this process. The Student Intervention Team meeting for your child will be held on the following date and time in the school conference room: ___/___/____ at __:___o’clock.

Thank you,

Please contact me at ____________if you wish to attend but need a different time.

SIT Observation: Math

___Difficulty identifying numbers
___Difficulty with rote counting
___Difficulty with one-to-one counting correspondence
___Difficulty with adding/subtracting one digit numbers
___Difficulty with adding/subtracting multi-digit numbers
___Difficulty with organizing number problems into columns (doesn’t keep them straight)
___Difficulty understanding carrying
___Difficulty with multiplication or division
___Confuses operational signs
___Uses fingers for computation
___Reverses Numbers
___Avoids math
___Works very slowly at math only
___Changes behavior when it’s time to do math
___Much higher in reading than in math
___Has difficulty with understanding how to apply math (measurement, money, etc.)
___Confuses which operation to use when applying math
___Has difficulty with basic concepts such as more/less
___Has difficulty with time, measurement, money basic concepts
___Has difficulty understanding story problems even if they are read to the student
___Has difficulty deciding what operation would be appropriate for a story problem
___Doesn’t know which information is relevant and which isn’t in a story problem.
___Has trouble with multi-step problems

SIT Observation: Written Language

___Spelling is not phonetically logical
___ Letters are very poorly formed
___ Drops beginnings/ends of words when spelling
___ Spells in isolation or on spelling tests, but spells very poorly on writing assignments
___ Has difficulty with capitalization and punctuation.
___ Illogical or jumbled sentence structure.
___ Illogical sequencing in sentences or paragraphs.
___ Inability to express thoughts in writing.

SIT Observation: Spoken Language

___Has difficulty attending to verbal stimuli.
___Has difficulty following verbal requests unless the requests are slow and simple.
___Has difficulty following multiple steps or requests.
___Doesn’t understand the main points of verbal information.
___Asks questions not relevant to the discussion.
___Can’t organize information into coherent sentences when trying to communicate.
___Sentence structure and vocabulary are very immature.
___Can’t answer who, what, when, where, why types of questions.
___Has difficulty with relational words such as ‘on’, ‘under’, ‘in’.
___Has difficulty with sorting and categorization.
___Can sort but not express how the items are alike or different.
___Cannot use questions to gather information.
___Doesn’t use appropriate conversational skills with peers.
___Doesn’t grasp jokes or figures of speech.
___Has unusual voice quality or cadence.
___Speech is ‘robotic’, or lacks normal inflection. 

SIT Observation: Behavior

___Is very shy and won’t talk to teacher or peers.
___Cries often and is difficult to comfort.
___Is clingy and afraid of classroom experiences.
___Is anxious, frightened and withdrawn.
___Complains about physical discomfort.
___Isn’t stable, has mood swings and is unpredictable in reactions.
___Exhibits inappropriate reactions, ie. Laughs when someone is hurt
___Is devoid of emotion.
___Becomes overexcited easily
___Is impulsive, poor self-control
___Is restless and fidgety.
___ Has difficulty remaining seated.
___Messes with items on desk or clothing continually
___ Is easily distracted from work by any noise or movement
___ Forgets what they are doing in the middle of an assignment.
___Has temper tantrums
___Is destructive to items in the environment
___Talks out or makes noises in class
___Threatens other students or adults
___Is physically aggressive to other students or adults
___Doesn’t comply with requests
___Is rude and doesn’t display conventional manners
___Lies or exaggerates
___Has extreme difficulty with changes in routine
___Doesn’t demonstrate appropriate behavior in any setting.
___Is socially disconnected.
___Is rejected by peers.
___Isn’t motivated by any normal rewards in the classroom

Child Study Student Intervention Team (SIT) Checklist

__Problem is clearly and specifically defined.
__Normal classroom interventions have been consistently applied for a minimum of four weeks.
__The principal and the special education teacher have been notified that an SIT needs to be held.
__A time and date for the SIT has been set.
__The time and date for the SIT has been sent home and the parent’s presence has been requested.
__Work samples, test scores(T-Caps, DIBELS, etc.), grades, behavior logs, and other pertinent documents have been gathered.
__SIT meeting held
__Follow up meeting has been set
__SIT plan fully implemented with fidelity
__SIT follow up meeting held and new plan developed.

Student Intervention Plan
Student Name:_________________ Teacher Name:_____________ Student DOB_______
Date:___________ Parent(s) name ____________________ Parent present?  Y__ N__
Team members:__________________________________________________________
Specific description of presenting problem(s):

Targeted Behaviors for intervention:

Targeted Behavior	Intervention Technique	Materials Needed	Person(s) Responsible	Duration and Frequency	

					
Date for Follow-up meeting __________________

Determination of Need for Evaluation Worksheet

Student Name: _________________________ Teacher: _________________________

Step One	Answer the following questions Yes or No:

_____	Were strategies or interventions recommended?
_____	Were those interventions/strategies in place for a sufficient length of time?
_____	Were those strategies/interventions ineffective in remediating the student’s progress in his/her deficit academic area(s)?
_____	Have appropriate general education interventions or strategies been attempted in the student’s area(s) of academic difficulty?
_____	Has the student received consistent remedial instruction over an extended period of time?

Step Two	Based on information available in the student’s record(s) and through the student’s general education teacher, make a preliminary determination that the following factors are not the primary factor causing the student’s underachievement.

_____ 	Limited English proficiency
_____ 	Environmental, cultural or economic disadvantage
_____	Lack of motivation
_____	Situational trauma (temporary, sudden, or recent change in the student’s life
_____	Frequent school transfers which have caused gaps in instruction or adjustment issues
_____	Lack of regular school attendance
_____	Medical condition(s)
_____	Visual, hearing, or motor impairment 

Step Three	If, after consideration of the above factors, the student exhibits a resistance to instruction based on a continued lack of progress, an evaluation to determine the presence of a learning disability may be appropriate.

Recommended Resources

Many good internet resources for designing interventions exist. Some of the most common ones are listed here and are a good starting point for ideas to try in the classroom.

http://www.interventioncentral.org/
This is a terrific site for information about the RTI process and for ideas to implement in any subject area for struggling students.

http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/srs/chalcycle.htm
This is the Vanderbilt University site and has modules to learn about learning strategies and working with children with disabilities. It has references resources. All the interventions on the site are well researched and effective.

http://www.k8accesscenter.org
The Access Center: Improving Outcomes for All Students K-8 (ACCESS) has created a national infrastructure of information and support for people using scientifically based practices that provide access to the general education curriculum for students with disabilities. It is a national technical assistance and dissemination project, housed at the American Institutes for Research in Washington, DC, that forms partnerships with national, regional, state, and local groups and trains educators to become better consumers of research.

http://www.k8accesscenter.org
The Access Center: Improving Outcomes for All Students K-8 (ACCESS) has created a national infrastructure of information and support for people using scientifically based practices that provide access to the general education curriculum for students with disabilities. It is a national technical assistance and dissemination project, housed at the American Institutes for Research in Washington, DC, that forms partnerships with national, regional, state, and local groups and trains educators to become better consumers of research.

http://www.tedcec.org
The Teacher Education Division (TED) of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) is comprised of teacher educators who support using scientifically validated practices in order for all individuals with diverse abilities and disabilities to achieve optimal educational outcomes. TED also supports the professional development of individuals who provided education and supports to individuals with diverse abilities and disabilities and to their families.

www.whatworks.ed.gov/
This is the federal government clearing house for information on interventions that have been well researched.

Interventions recommended by the State Board of Education:

Mathematics Instructional Strategies:

If a child is having difficulty because

overall skill levels are lower than grade level:
•	Assess the level for instruction.
•	Provide small group instruction on needed skills.

of difficulty remembering facts:
•	Separate the basic facts into “sets” or “fact families” – each to be memorized
successively by the students.
•	Make sure that the student has appropriate references/materials to assist in fact
calculation.
•	Use manipulative objects (e.g., abacus, base ten blocks, number line, etc.).

of inability to read text:
•	Align material with the student’s independent comprehension level.
•	Highlight key words in math problems.

of difficulty attending to important details:
•	Highlight key words in math problems.
•	Use a window overlay or Tachistoscope to isolate individual examples.
•	Use vertical lines or graph paper to help with organization of productions.
•	Reduce the number of problems/information on a page.
•	Highlight important information on a page.

of slow completion of work:
•	Reduce the number of items to complete.
•	Use manipulative objects (e.g., abacus, base ten blocks, number line, etc.).

of problems retaining and sequencing steps for math computations:
•	Review on a consistent basis those skills, concepts, tasks etc., which have been previously introduced.
•	Use a math reference sheet for the student to keep at his/her desk.
•	Verbalize steps of the computations (if this is a strength).
•	Use manipulative objects.
•	Use color coding, gradually reducing the use of colors as the student demonstrates success.
•	Use a calculator.

of failure to visualize concepts:
•	Use simple and consistent language.
•	Use visualization and verbalization techniques.
•	Assess and teach concept terminology.

of inability to solve word problems:
•	Use concrete experiences.
•	Use verbalization and/or visualization strategies (if these are strengths).
•	Use calculator.

of inability to compute time, money and measurement problems:
•	Use manipulatives.
•	Verbalize the concepts taught (if this is a strength).

of slow completion of work:
•	Reduce the number of items to complete.

Adaptive Strategies for General Education Interventions

This list of strategies and accommodations may be used to select appropriate interventions when students are having educational difficulties.  Implementation of strategies matched to the student’s needs can enable most students with educational difficulties to be successful in the general education setting and curriculum.

Environmental Strategies
•	Seat close to teacher, board or work area.
•	Seat away from distractions (e.g., doorway, noisy heater/fan/air conditioner, high traffic areas, visibly stored manipulatives).
•	Seat near well-focused and/or helpful student(s).
•	Be sure desk and chair are appropriately sized for the student.
•	Provide an alternative work space (e.g., study carrel).
•	Arrange classroom to accommodate preferential workgroups: individual, pairs, small groups

Response Strategies
•	Allow students to dictate responses when necessary in place of writing.
•	Provide alternative assignments to limit writing demands (e.g., oral reports, constructing models, labeled illustrations, demonstrations, etc.).
•	Reduce writing requirements (e.g., have students write answers only, answer a limited number of questions, etc.).
•	Reduce the number of items of a crowded page or worksheet by cutting the page in half and/or enlarging it.

Note Taking Strategies
•	Model what students should write (using overhead projector). Say the words while you write them.
•	Provide an outline or organizer so that the student needs only fill in key words and phrases.
•	When students are required to fill in a chart or organizer, provide sufficient space to accommodate writing if student’s writing is larger than average. (Provide an enlarged organizer if necessary.)

Assessment Strategies
•	Review important ideas before the test.  Provide a study guide.
•	Allow use of notes (make sure student has legible notes).
•	Level tests (i.e., students with different abilities may take different parts of the test).
•	Read all directions and test items when necessary.  It may be necessary to read one item at a time.
•	Allow dictation of lengthy responses.
•	Consider providing frame paragraphs in place of essay responses or provide a structure for paragraph development.
•	Allow alternative response formats - pictures, diagrams, graphic organizers, models, demonstrations, etc.
•	Reduce memory demands, provide choices for factual information (e.g., matching, multiple choice, answer box).
•	If unit objectives have been modified for a student, test only the selected objectives.

Organizational Strategies
•	Establish a consistent daily routine.  Post the daily schedule and point out any changes in the routine.
•	Minimize transitions throughout the day.
•	Have the student use a daily or weekly homework sheet, assignment notebook, or calendar for recording homework.
•	Establish a consistent place to post homework assignments and to turn in homework and class work.
•	Keep a master list of homework and class work assignments so the student can catch up if an assignment was lost, incomplete, or missed.
•	Distribute independent seatwork assignments one at a time or list in order of priority for completion.
•	Provide time for organizing materials (e.g., clear clutter from desk, clean out desk, file papers in notebook/binder). Provide assistance as needed.
•	Three-hole punch papers that are to be filed in a binder before distributing.
•	Have students number or color-code papers to be filed in binder.
•	Provide ample opportunities for discussion before students begin a writing assignment.  Teach students to jot down key words during discussion.
•	Provide/develop a proofreading checklist.
•	Give a time frame for completing parts of a long-term assignment and check progress periodically.
•	Provide a checklist of materials needed for a class or subject.
•	Provide a study guide for each unit.
•	Provide frequent opportunities for discussion to ensure understanding.
•	Provide a safe environment for verbalizing and responding without fear of ridicule.
•	Provide sufficient time for guided practice.
•	Summarize key points and review outcomes at the end of each lesson.
•	Utilize cooperative learning activities and paired practice when appropriate.
•	Do not teach similar skills or concepts on the same day (e.g., latitude/longitude).
•	Have student teach skill/concept to other(s).
•	Teach associative clues such as mnemonic devices to aid memory.
•	Provide a desk copy of board or overhead work to limit far-point copying.
•	Color-code, highlight, or box the directions so that they stand out from the rest of the activity and teach students to do the same.
•	Use visual “flags” to draw attention to important points, questions, directions, or steps.
•	Set aside a few textbooks with main ideas and key words highlighted.
•	Provide lower-level materials for independent reading assignments when possible. Use same-topic materials from a lower grade level or re-written text.
•	Read directions and passages aloud, if necessary.
•	Allow student to use manipulatives as long as necessary for each math concept/skill.
•	Teach students to highlight relevant information in a math word problem.