Student Support Team Multi-Tiered Systems of Support

The school-level intervention team first emerged in the late 1970’s (Chalfant, Pysh & Moultrie, 1979¹) and has steadily grown as an effective tool. The outcomes of such teams have been remarkable. Studies show that individual student interventions resulted in a positive impact, not only on the identified student, but also on other students, entire classrooms, and schools as a whole. Documented outcomes of effective intervention teams include:

1) use of appropriate consequences

2) increased student engaged time and academic achievement

3) improved student social competency

4) an improved school climate and collaborative culture

“The team is … a model that encourages communication and enhances the classroom teaching and learning environment, recognizing the value of the relationship between students and staff …” (Noel, Love 2002²).

Our challenge is clear, to ensure high learning outcomes for all. The school level intervention team clearly establishes a process to meet this challenge. This handbook provides guidance on the development and implementation of effective and efficient school intervention teams to assist all struggling students. In DoDEA where many intervention teams are already in place, these guidelines are intended to assist teachers and administrators in planning effective interventions for struggling students through the intervention team process. Where an intervention team is not in place, these guidelines will assist in the establishment and effective functioning of such a team (Guidelines for Student Support Teams, p. 4).

¹Chalfant, J.C., Pysh, M., & Moultrie, R. (1979). School: A model for within school based problem solving. L earning Disabilities Quarterly, 2, 85-96.

²Love, N. (2002) Student assistance program: A guidebook for implementing and maintaining a core team process. Round Rock, TX: Rising Tide Publications.

The Pacific East District’s student support teams and structure has positively impacted students through:

• • Developing and implementing policies and guidelines outlining the systems of support process

  • Providing ongoing professional learning for schools regarding implementing student support teams

  • Monitoring and adjusting the school support team process to better meet the needs of students

  • Has begun introducing the idea of Multi-Tiered Systems of Supports (MTSS)

  • The use of Focused Collaboration as an early mechanism for teachers to better understand their students’ strengths and weaknesses, leading to increased preparation when requesting support from Student Support Teams and increased participation in the process by teachers requesting help.

DoDEA Headquarters (HQ):

• Positive Interventions Schoology Group

• DoDEA Regulation 2095.01 School Attendance. This Regulation establishes policy and assigns responsibilities for student attendance in DoDEA schools. (25 AUG 2011)

• Memorandum for DoDEA Personnel- Administrative Change 1, DoDEA Regulation 2906.01, “School Attendance.” This Regulation establishes policy and assigns responsibilities for student attendance in DoDEA schools. (12 AUG 2013)

• Guidelines for Student Support Teams (SST) -This handbook provides guidance on the development and implementation of effective and efficient school intervention teams to assist all struggling students. In DoDEA where many intervention teams are already in place, these guidelines are intended to assist teachers and administrators in planning effective interventions for struggling students through the intervention team process. Where an intervention team is not in place, these guidelines will assist in the establishment and effective functioning of such a team.

• Attendance Parent Trifold (11 FEB 2012)

• Inter-Component Operating Procedures (ICOP) for the Overseas Provision of Medically Related Services and Transition to Preschool Services (16 AUG 2018)

• US Department of Education, Issue Brief: Student Support Teams: The HSS defined student support teams (SST) as a team of high school staff dedicated to identifying and supporting students who exhibit academic or behavioral problems by providing early systematic assistance to students and to connect them to appropriate interventions and supports (14 JAN 2020)

• MTSS and PBIS were introduced to school psychologists, school counselors and school nurses (PPS) during Quarterly Trainings from Headquarters during the 2020-2021 School-year

• BOY How to Create Asynchronous Coping Skills Lessons for Students

• Q1 MTSS Important Notice: MTSS Links- PLEASE READ!

  • 1. 1. 1. • Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness Continuum of Evidence

             • Center on Positive Interventions and Supports

• Q1 MTSS Overview of MTSS and Relevant DoDEA Policy

• Q2 MTSS Benchmarks, Progress Check-ins, and Evaluations

• Q3 SEL Organizing Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Efforts

• Q4 SW-PBIS School-Wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports

DoDEA Pacific Region:

• Administrator Guidance: Families in Medical Evacuation Status (1 NOV 2018)

• Social Studies Access to Resources for SpEd and ELL/ESOL Instructions for access to the following (21 AUG 2020):

  • • Access to HMH ED! My Friend In Learning

    • McGraw Hill US Government, US History, and Global Studies (same text for grades 9 and 10)

    • SAVVAS (frmly PEARSON)

Pacific East District:

• Medical Referral for Behavioral Concerns (MRBC)- This document outlines the procedure of student referral for identification of medically related behavior concerns (MRBC), following the recommendations of the 1994 DoDDS conference addressing A-D/HD. This process is designed for the Japan District, consisting of six different complexes, multiple Medical Treatment Facilities (MTF), and emphasizes the need for identification and implementation of school-based strategies through a Student Support Team (SST) prior to any medical referral. Some documents in the packet were developed in June 2002. This document is not signed by anyone and if one was signed, it is not in the record (OCT 2004).

• Memorandum of Agreement Between the Europe Regional Medical Command and The Department of Defense Dependent Schools- Europe. Medical referrals and evaluations of DoDDS students with behavioral characteristics suggestive of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The MRBC process was developed in a similar way as this memo with participation from medical treatment facilities and EDIS) (30 SEP 2005)

• SST Procedures (6 MAY 2014)

• Emails regarding EDIS, SST and the pre-CSC Referral Process (16 AUG 2018)

• Example Intervention Manual(This link can only be seen from @student.dodea.edu) Includes: (Fall 2018)

  • • • Progress Monitoring

      • Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM)

      • Early Development/School Readiness Interventions

      • Reading Fluency Interventions

      • Reading Comprehension Interventions

      • Written Expression Interventions

      • Math Problem Solving Interventions

      • Math Calculation Interventions

      • Behavioral Interventions

      • Identifying Behavior Interventions: Elementary, Middle, High

      • Intervention Tracking Sheet

      • Norms: Oral Reading Fluency

      • Probe Websites

      • Definitions

      • RTI-B1- Behavior Observation

    • SST Meeting Request (19 SEP 2017)

• Action Plan Severe Behaviors - obligation to refer to CSC despite parent disapproval (look through emails?)

• Local medical treatment facilities (MTFs) stopped accepting MRBC packets, but EDIS only assesses when students are being referred for possible special education eligibility. This left a gap where parents who believed their children had ADHD, but did not seem to need special education services had no one to go to for an assessment/diagnosis. It was agreed that the MRBC process would be discontinued in its current form and that further guidance would be provided (MAR-APR 2018)

• Emails regarding EDIS, SST and the pre-CSC Referral Process (16 AUG 2018)

• Interim Guidance - Due to Discontinued MRBC Process. The following information is presented as interim guidance for Pacific East District schools regarding expectations now that the MRBC process has been discontinued. This guidance is pending the issuance of formal regional or agency memoranda. School administrators should provide this information to school staff and teams (i.e. SST, 504, and CSC teams). This guidance is in alignment with all existing DoDEA regulations and policies and represents best practices (We were later told that no issuance would be provided, because nothing from DoDEA started the MRBC process)(7 JUN 2019).

• Developed, provided, and made available to all interested staff a Virtual SST Training (14 AUG 2019)

• PBS in the Classroom: Classroom Management Self-Assessment. The purpose of this assessment is to: a) determine the extent to which effective general classroom management practices are in place and b) develop an action plan for enhancement/maintenance based on this information. (14 JAN 2020)

• Differentiation - Best Practice Definitions, Generally speaking, we as educators (especially school psychologists, 504 Team Leads, and special educators) reserve the word "modify" or "modification" to mean changing the expectation of meeting the standards. We tend to only use it for our more challenged students with special needs who are not expected to be learning the CCR standards, but show progress through meeting their IEP goals. The following links have definitions that may be better understood by our stakeholders. The following links have similar definitions (14 JAN 2020)

  • • • http://www.readingrockets.org/article/what‐differentiated‐instruction

      • https://education.cu‐portland.edu/blog/classroom‐resources/examples‐of‐differentiated‐instruction/

      • http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/117032/chapters/What‐Differentiated‐Instruction‐Is%E2%80%94and‐ Isn't.aspx

      • file:///H:/NASP%20or%20NCSP/KnoffChapter1.pdf

• Designing SST Evaluation Rubric (14 JAN 2020)

• SST Meeting Request (19 SEP 2017)

• SST Parent Notification Letter example (14 JAN 2020)

• Progress Monitoring with Curriculum-Based Measures. Intervention Central 14 JAN 2020)

  • • SST Academic Progress Monitoring Template

    • SST Behavior Progress Monitoring Template

    • SST Graphs - Blank

    • SST Data Review Team Meeting Minutes Sample

    • Tier 2 Intervention Integrity

• SST Resource Links (14 JAN 2020)

• Strategy vs Intervention vs Accommodation vs Modification (18 FEB 2020)

• Shared this NASP training Ask the Experts Webinar Series: the Pandemic’s Impact on Academic Instruction and Student Progress (This link can only be seen from @student.dodea.edu) (18 MAY 2020)

• SST Resources-Interventions (18 MAY 2020)

  • • • PBIS World

      • Intervention Central

      • Center on Response to Intervention (AIR)

      • Institute for Education Sciences: What Works Clearinghouse

      • National Center on Intensive Intervention: tools, charts, and Implementation Rubric

      • Mississippi Department of Education Intervention Services (several great links)

      • NASP considerations for Academic Assessments and Interventions Upon the Return to School

      • Reading Proficiency Tool (RPT) Facilitator Team Training Resources

• SST Data Summary School Year 2018-2019 Pacific East District (Spring 2020)

• Added a Reading Proficiency Tool (RPT) Folder to the Pacific East SST Google Shared Drive with the facilitator information and module training presentations (2 JUN 2020)

• Provided Training about Developing SST including their school’s processes and procedures

  • • • Intervention Inventory: Intervention Continuum Mapping (16 JUN 2020)

      • SST Evaluation Rubric (16 JUN 2020)

      • SST Referral Process (16 JUN 2020)

      • SST Record Keeping (16 JUN 2020)

  • SST Core Team Meeting Schedule (16 JUN 2020)

    • • A Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Committee of Instructional Systems Specialists was developed and an action plan to include Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) roll-out starting with the adult instruction phase for three schools in 20-21SY, adding a few more schools each year, starting with instruction the first year and implementation the second year. By the fifth year, all schools would be at some level or even legacy.

• Most Challenging Aspects of SST per interviews during annual and pop-in visits (24 NOV 2020)

• Shared Charlotte-Mecklenburg School’s Problem Solving in a Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) (2 DEC 2020)

• A Checklist for Designing an SST (11 FEB 2021)

• Tier Sorting Activity (11 FEB 2021)

• NASP COVID-19 Resources: Considerations for Academic Assessments and Interventions Upon the Return to School (18 MAY 2020)

• SST Tracker - Now that we can include private information in our private Teams Channels, teams can keep an online tracker. This is a blank version (2 JUN 2021)

• Along with a small group of ISSes, developed an action plan for rolling out SW-PBIS through-out the district over a 5-year plan to be initiated in the 2021-2022 school-year with instruction and training.