Student Success Team (SST)

Personalized Education Plan (PEP) Prior to referral for SST, a PEP must be developed or revisited from the previous year A PEP is a plan for focused intervention and differentiation that is tailored to address a specific student’s individual needs

PEP: Triggers A PEP will be developed: At any time a student displays academic/behavior risk or is performing below grade level For any student who will be retained, has an achievement level of I or II, or is performing below grade level, a PEP will be developed Immediately following the decision to retain and/or EOC testing

SST: Purpose Ensure that every child has the best possible chance for success in the regular classroom Provides targeted academic/behavioral support to students Documents the school/teachers efforts to support students who are functioning below grade level

SST: Membership o SST is a multi-disciplinary, regular education, problem-solving team o Membership may vary from school to school o Members should include the following: *Principal *School Counselor *Regular Education Teacher *EC Teacher *Referring Teacher *Strongly encouraged to attend Parent involvement should be included at least through parent contacts/interviews

SST: Meetings Establish a regular schedule of meetings at least monthly Teams should be prepared to meet on more flexible basis, if needed However, schools can meet more often if needed (i.e., every other week) How often the SST will need to meet is dependent on the anticipated number of referrals

SST: Referrals Anyone can refer a child to SST If someone other than the student’s teacher is making the referral, best practice is to notify classroom teacher as they will be required to submit data.

SST Process: Getting started PEP developed and implemented for 4-6 weeks (revisit if from last year)- continue documentation Teacher meets with SST Chair to review concerns SST Chair gives pages 1-3 to teacher to complete and gives completed RE2 to teacher to send home SST Chair notifies appropriate personnel (i.e., ESL teacher, Nurse, Speech, PE teacher, etc.) of referral/meeting and obtains screenings SST Chair distributes observation forms

SST: Process All referral information (i.e., completed RE paperwork pages 1-3, both observations, all screenings) should be turned into SST Chair one week prior to scheduled meeting SST Chair will ensure that target skills are identified and baseline data has been collected prior to first meeting

SST: Target Skills Good target skills should follow SMART criteria Attainable does not mean grade level! The more specific/concrete the skill or behavior, the easier it is to measure Choosing an academic skill: Look for the prerequisite skill to target Choosing a behavior: Give a clear behavioral definition Use data collection forms in SST manual in addition to RE obs forms

SST: Behavior Target Skills Determine if you should address: the most bothersome behavior? a keystone or pivotal behavior that influences other behaviors? a positive new behavior instead of trying to eliminate a negative behavior? a behavior that will generalize to other settings? a behavior that the student selects?

SST: Collecting Baselines Should be specific to target skill(s) Three data points should be collected for each target skill and median score should be used for baseline Example: Target skill: Decoding unknown words Baseline measure: DIBELS NWF Baseline data: 7, 10, 12 (on NWF measure) Baseline: 10 letter sounds per minute

SST Process: First Meeting Student’s strengths and needs are discussed with team Referring teacher presents target skills and baseline data If teacher does not have necessary data, reschedule the meeting Interventions are developed in areas of concern

SST: Interventions An intervention is that which is above and beyond what is being received in the classroom It is in addition to a strong “core” experience with PEP interventions and differentiated instruction Goal is to accelerate growth In essence, if it is something you are doing with the rest of your class, or a small group in your class, it is not an SST intervention!

Intervention: Provide direct, explicit instruction directed at increasing skill levels Actively involves the student and teacher Accommodation: Includes environmental changes that accommodates the student’s difficulties Changes in the way a student accesses learning/testing Construct does not change; assignment/content does not change Intervention vs. Accommodation

SST: Interventions Interventions should be specific to target skills Intervention frequency and duration should follow written description of intervention Recommend 3-5 times a week for 15 minutes At least two interventions should be implemented during SST process If only one area of concern, two interventions should be implemented in that area If two or more areas of concern, one intervention should be implemented in each area

SST: Speech/Language Referrals Referral process proceeds like any other referral, pages 1-3 must be completed only If the concern is related only to articulation, voice, and/or fluency and there are NO other concerns, the case can be referred for evaluation(per SLP recommendation after screening) If there are language and/or academic concerns, interventions must be developed in the areas of concern

Why Referral for Speech/Language Must send RE2 home for screenings to occur If a language deficit is noticed during screening then teacher has to start over at beginning of SST process Language deficits could also identify with Specific Learning Disability which would again require teacher to start over at beginning of SST process.

Progress monitoring is a scientifically based procedure used to assess the effectiveness of targeted instruction/intervention that involves frequent assessment of a skill Progress monitoring measure(s) should be the same as the measure(s) used to collect baseline data Progress monitoring should be collected at least one a week for each area of concern SST: Progress Monitoring

Intervention Form Use RE 5 and RE 5a for documenting progress monitoring Make sure that your data collection process is the same for each Progress Monitoring session EX: 30 flashcards for math vocabulary skills – use same set of cards for each progress monitoring session Record data at least on a weekly basis to be able to track growth of skill

SMART Goal Interventions PM Tool/ Baseline Date/Data Area __________________________________ Using_______________________________ to address (intervention) ________________________, the teacher will work with (specific problem area) student at least _______________ with the goal (frequency/# days) of_________________________________________ by (REASONABLE GOAL) ____________________________. (Date) List Progress Monitoring Tool & student score List date & student score Guiding Thoughts:  Intervention should be an appropriate match for problem area.  When selecting a goal, consider what improvements a student can reasonably make within the time frame allotted.  A good SMART goal will help the team to better assess and evaluate student progress and appropriate next steps.  For concerns in more than one area, make sure you have at least ONE intervention for each area (Reading, Writing, Math, Behavior, Speech/Language)  For concerns only in one area, make sure you have at least TWO interventions in that area

SST: Closure When a referral is closed or when a student moves out of district, the SST folder becomes an "inactive" confidential record. If SST or 504/EC Director decides to refer student to evaluation, give original RE packet to the rep, indicate the decision on page 6 of 6, retain a copy of the RE paperwork and attach student SST information form for documentation.

Outside Evaluations All outside evaluations should be given to the school administrator to be faxed to the EC Director immediately upon receipt. Ask the purpose of the evaluation. If parents are asking for special education or 504 consideration, have them place request in writing, give to EC/504 representative. EC/504 Representative will conduct either DEC 1 or 504 with parent invitation for meeting to act on information.

Parental Request for Evaluation All parental requests for evaluation should be given to the school administrator immediately and have faxed to EC Director. Make sure parents indicate specific concern (math, reading, behavior, etc.) School administrator will have the regular education teacher to begin the RE process, if not already in place. School administrator will have the EC teacher to begin the DEC 1and 2 process simultaneous with RE process. EC teacher will fax request for evaluation to EC Director. Full RE process must still be conducted regardless!

SST: Best Practice Timelines Students that are retained or were at risk of failing should have a PEP drafted prior to the end of the school year. All new PEPs must be completed by the end of the first nine weeks All initial student referrals to SST should be completed by the end of second nine weeks. However, referrals may be made anytime Always exceptions to the rule – kids move in to district, experience trauma, etc.

SST: Baseline/Progress Monitoring Resources DIBELS Teacher-made worksheets Behavior charts/graphs

SST: Intervention Resources Intervention books (Hawthorne)