Student Study Team (SST)

The purpose of the SST is to identify and intervene early with regular education students who have not already been identified as requiring federally mandated forms of academic support such as Special Education or Section 504 (of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973) services. Through the SST process, teachers, parents, and support staff work with students who are at high-risk for academic failure due to any number of reasons including poor attendance, truancy, discipline issues, behavior problems, or other unidentified factors.

The SST is comprised of school staff, parents, and sometimes the referred student. Depending on issues and concerns initially presented, school staff participants may include the Teacher(s), School Psychologist, Resource Specialist, Speech and Language Therapist, Counselor, Nurse, Associate Principal, Principal, and/or others. The person making the referral and the SST coordinator will determine who should serve on the SST for each particular student. Thus, the team may not be comprised of the same individuals for every student.

If a student is still experiencing difficulties after less formal methods of intervention have been attempted (i.e., team discussion, teacher-parent conferencing, etc), s/he should be referred for a formal SST meeting. The SST Coordinator will schedule an SST meeting date, in conjunction with identified SST members (teacher(s), support staff, parents, and possibly the student). Before the meeting, it may be necessary for participants to gather relevant information, such as educational history information, work samples, and/or other desired information.

Team members discuss concerns about the student in positive terms. Participants share information and observations about the student, focusing on areas of strength, as well as concerns. After the team identifies the student’s specific needs, possible solutions are developed, and an action plan is put into writing. This plan includes detailed goals and objectives, a time frame for completion of the interventions, modifications, or program changes, the criteria for measuring the effectiveness of the changes, and identifies those responsible for specified follow-up tasks.