Student Screening and Identification Using Intervention and Referrals Services (I&RS)

Student Screening & Identification

K-8 students within the Sparta Township Public Schools participate in a variety of assessments throughout the school year that are intended to measure students' growth and progress. Assessment types include universal screening, formative, summative, and benchmark. Data collected from assessments can be found in the district data warehousing system LinkIt. Specifically, K-8 students participate in the STAR 360 suite of assessments. These are standardized assessments used in-house to gauge individual and class progress towards meeting the standards. This suite of assessments is typically administered at the beginning, middle and end of the school year to identify students who are on level, below level and above level to plan for individual student learning needs. In addition, students are administered formative, summative, and benchmark assessments to measure growth and progress.

Typically, if a student scores within the Intervention or Urgent Intervention range (STAR Assessment) or below determined benchmarks, the student may be identified as needing additional support or intervention. Once data is collected and the student is identified as needing additional support, the student may be referred to Student Support Services.

K-8 Assessments

Grades K-3

• STAR Assessment

• Running Record Assessment

• Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessment

• Phonemic Awareness Assessment

• DIBELS

• The Pearson Realize Intervention Kit Assessment

• Math Running Records

• Grade 3: New Jersey Student Learning Assessments

Grades 4-5

• STAR Assessment

• Running Record Assessment

• Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessment

• Ready Math, Ready Reading, and Ready Writing.

  • Please note: The Ready program is used only for intervention students. Not as an indicator of the need for intervention. However, II teachers use it as the assessment for FIFA classes.

• New Jersey Student Learning Assessments

Grades 6-8

• STAR Assessment

• New Jersey Student Learning Assessments

• Running Record Assessment

• Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessment

• Analytical Reading Inventory

Defining "At Risk" Using Universal Screener

The universal screener is used to identify and intervene early with students who are struggling. Therefore, students who are identified as not meeting benchmark level expectations and scores within or below the “on watch” category are considered at risk.

In addition to the universal screening data, additional skill based assessments will be administered to determine the severity of academic difficulty and level of risk.

Student Referral

Once a student is identified as needing support or "at risk", the Student Support Referral Procedure is followed:

• The parent(s)/guardian(s) of the student are informed of the intention to request support services;

• The Student Support Services Referral Form is completed and submitted to the building facilitator of the Student Support Services Team by a staff member.

Student Support Services Building Team (I&RS)

As outlined in the Student Support Services Department Overview, the Student Support Services Building Team at each school building receives requests from staff members and families to address individual student needs. This team serves as Intervention and Referral Services (I&RS) for each school. The regulations make it clear that I&RS activities should be focused on concerns with students and that the result of I&RS activities should be student improvement. As a result, the Student Support Services Building Team uses a data-driven approach for supporting students that focuses on monitoring and providing targeted supports along a continuum using an individualized student support plan.

6A:16-7.1 Establishment of intervention and referral services

(a) District boards of education shall establish and implement a coordinated system in each school building for the planning and delivery of intervention and referral services that are designed to assist students who are experiencing learning, behavior, or health needs. District boards of education shall choose the appropriate multidisciplinary team approach for planning and delivering the services required under this subchapter.

1. The intervention & referral services shall be provided to aid students in the general education program; and

2. The intervention & referral services may be provided for students who have been determined to need special education programs and will be coordinated with the student’s Individualized Education Program, as appropriate.

P.L. 2016, c.48 Response to intervention

Functions of the Student Support Building Team

• Identify learning, behavior, social/emotional, and health needs of students

• Identify resource, support, and educational needs of families

• Serve as a venue to address concerns regarding student’s attendance

• Collect data on students

• Develop and implement individualized support plans

• Provide support, guidance and professional development to teachers

• Actively involve parents/guardians in the development and implementation of support plans

• Coordinate the access to and delivery of school resources and community services

• Maintain records for all support plans

• Review and assess the effectiveness of the provisions of each support plan

• Conduct progress monitoring and annual review of support plans

Progress Monitoring

Progress monitoring is a key component of our Instructional Intervention Program. Progress monitoring is used to monitor and assess students’ performance over time providing the opportunity to report student rates of improvement or responsiveness to the designed interventions. Progress monitoring also allows for the ability to compare the efficacy of different forms of intervention or supports put in place. Assessment data is collected frequently and is used to inform the Student Support Services Building Team whether changes in the individual student plan may be needed. Progress is defined and determined based on student performance in comparison to benchmark indicators and is determined during the development of the student support plan.

According to RTI 4 Success, if a student is making sufficient progress, the teacher will continue to implement the intervention for a suggested period of time. If a student is not achieving the expected rate of learning, the team experiments with instructional components (frequency, duration and intensity of interventions) in an attempt to improve the rate of learning.

In the Sparta Township School District, progress is monitored as outlined in the student support plan by members of building-level Student Support Services Team, including but not limited to the following:

• Building Facilitator

• RTI Coordinator

• General Education Teacher

• Special Education Teacher

• Instructional Intervention Teacher

• Guidance Counselor

Frequency

As part of our district progress monitoring practices, students are typically assessed at regular intervals (e.g., weekly, biweekly, monthly). However, for students identified for support services, progress monitoring intervals are determined by the needs indicated in the Student Support Plan and based on the tier of intervention or support the student receives.

Progress Monitoring Tools

Some of the progress monitoring tools used in our district, include but are not limited to the following:

• Student Support Plan

• Progress Monitoring Template

• STAR Assessments

• Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessments

• Running Record Assessments

• Math Running Records

• No Red Ink

• IXL Skill Completion/Diagnostics

• Read 180 Results

• Formative and Summative Assessments