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Instructional Intervention Teams (IIT)

The Howard County Public School System (HCPSS) has a long history of commitment to prevention and early intervention services. Effective prevention and early intervention practices have resulted in positive outcomes for students, families, teachers, and the community. Effective and energetic problem-solving teams reflect this commitment to prevention and early intervention. The HCPSS has been widely recognized for its innovative and progressive problem-solving team practices.

The Instructional Consultation Team (ITT) model (Rosenfield and Gravois, 1996) has been integrated into our problem-solving team approach and is called Instructional Intervention Teams (IIT). All Howard County elementary and middle schools are implementing this model in an effort to enhance the academic and behavioral outcomes for students and teachers.

Goals

Student outcomes: Students served by IITs will acquire skills to continuously improve toward achieving grade level or above outcomes.

Teacher outcomes: Teachers and team members who engage in problem solving will enhance their knowledge of instructional assessment and intervention implementation

Critical Assumptions

• All students learn.
• Early intervention is preferable to waiting for failure.
• The critical arena for intervention is the student-teacher relationship within the general education setting.
• The instructional match and setting is the focus of problem solving.
• A problem solving community is the foundation for professional and student learning.
• Teachers, as professionals, are entitled to consult and collaborate.
• Change is a process, not an event.

Components of Effective Problem Solving Teams

• Explicitly define concern in observable terms.
• Collect baseline data.
• Develop goals.
• Develop an intervention that links with the identified concern.
• Implement the intervention with integrity.
• Graph data to monitor student progress.
• Compare graphed data with baseline to determine if intervention is effective; adapt as necessary.

Getting the Most Out of Your IIT

• 100% of the team attends 20 hour training (Level I) in problem solving skills.
• The administrator attends meetings, guides process, and connects with School Improvement Team (SIT) and other school-wide data.
• Administrative support is provided (e.g., attend training, use active problem solving, voice support for team across school).
• The team analyzes referral patterns.
• The Team Facilitator provides training to IIT members based on identified and observed needs.

Team Functions

In order for the IIT to effectively meet the needs of staff and students, each IIT has a variety of functions. The most critical functions include the following:

Essential Functions

• Skill development for team members in problem solving
• Skill development for staff who request assistance
• Monitor school-wide data (e.g., disproportionality data of special education referrals, office referrals, suspensions)
• Problem solving for individual and/or small groups of students for academic, behavioral, social-emotional, other concerns

Additional Functions

• Addressing attendance concerns
• 504 plans
• Substance Abuse Prevention (SAP)
• Health issues
• Crisis post-vention/follow-up

There are two approaches that schools may use to support teachers who have student with academic, instructional, and behavioral needs. Common to both approaches is the existence of a single building-level problem-solving team, called the Instructional Intervention Team (IIT). Elementary schools may use IIT with Case Management or with Kid Talk. Middle Schools will commonly use IIT with Kid Talk.

Team Membership

• Administrator
• Student Services personnel (e.g., psychologist, counselor, PPW, or nurse)
• Grade level representation
• Related arts
• Reading specialist, reading/math support teacher (as appropriate)
• Alternative education teacher
• Special education teacher
• Other specialists as needed (English for Speakers of Other Languages Teacher, Speech-Language Pathologists, Occupational Therapists, etc.)

Case Management
(Option for elementary schools only)

Process Overview

When a teacher has a concern regarding a student's academic performance or behavior, he or she implements informal strategies typically used by teachers to address these concerns. These may include: changing instructional groupings, providing additional structure in the form of rubrics or outlines, instituting a simple behavior management system, or rearranging classroom seating. If these informal interventions are successful in alleviating the concerns, the teacher will continue to institute them as long as they are necessary. If, however, the student is not making sufficient progress academically or behaviorally, the teacher requests assistance from the building-level IIT.

Once the Request for Assistance form is completed, a copy is given to the individual designated as the team's Systems Manager. The Systems Manager is responsible for presenting the Request for Assistance to IIT members during a regularly scheduled meeting time. The time between the receipt of the Request for Assistance and presentation to the team should be one week or less. When possible, the requesting teacher may be present at the IIT meeting in which the Request for Assistance is being presented in order to clarify the concern. The Systems Manager of the IIT is also responsible for recording updates of all cases during each meeting.

Once the request is presented, a Case Manager volunteers from the IIT to work with the teacher in a collaborative, consultative fashion using a systematic problem-solving process. The Case Manager is responsible for working with the requesting teacher to identify the problem, set goals, develop interventions, and monitor the effectiveness of interventions.

Case Managers and requesting teachers use the Student Documentation Form (SDF) to document the problem solving process. One component of the form, the Goal Attainment Scale, is used to identify referral concerns in observable, measurable terms; prioritize concerns; record whether the student is at instructional level; record the student's current level of performance (i.e., baseline data); and record reasonable and attainable short- and long-term goals. The form provides a location to record the specifics of the intervention, that is developed collaboratively by the case manager and referring teacher, as well as a graph upon which the student's progress towards goals is recorded on a regular basis.

The team Facilitator, who has received training in group process and problem solving, facilitates the weekly IIT meetings. The Facilitator is responsible for organizing team meetings to ensure that all items on the agenda are discussed, that minutes are recorded, and that each teacher who requests assistance for a student is assigned to a Case Manager. The Facilitator also plans and delivers training for team members in problem solving skills and collaborates with the administration to ensure IIT is supporting school goals (i.e., SIT goals, decrease disproportionality).

Requesting teachers are invited to all formal case reviews in order to provide input on their students progress and to get additional ideas and support from the team. As part of the case review process, the data collected by the requesting teacher and Case Manager are analyzed to determine the effectiveness of the interventions. If the student is meeting short-term goals, the intervention is continued. If, after a well-designed intervention has been implemented, the team determines that the student has made insufficient progress towards goals, one of two courses of action ensue: (1) modifications to the intervention may be made and implemented; (2) the team may consider whether or not to refer a student to the IEP team.

IMPORTANT: When a parent or teacher suspects that a student may have a disability, the timeline begins. All assessments for an initial evaluation must be recommended and completed concurrently within 60-calendar days from receipt of parental consent for the evaluation or 90-calendar days from the receipt of the referral, whichever comes first, to the completion of the Evaluation Report at the IEP team meeting. The provision to refer to IEP from the IIT cannot delay the process.

Characteristics of Schools

• There is a building-level team that meets regularly (once every two weeks at a minimum) to discuss students with academic and/or behavior difficulties.
• One general education teacher from each grade is represented on the IIT and agrees to participate in the following activities:
  • Receive training in systematic problem-solving
  • Attend IIT Meetings
  • Act as a Case Manager for teachers who have requested assistance
  • Maintain Student Documentation Forms (SDFs) for cases.
• Representatives from Student Support Services (e.g., school counselors, school psychologists) are regular members of the IIT.
• Teams use standard agendas, minutes, and case review formats.
• Case Managers are assigned to collaborate with teachers request assistance in order to:
  • Operationally define concerns about the student
  • Assess instructional variables that may impact student performance
  • Develop data-driven interventions including systematic assessment of baseline, treatment and outcome data.
• A System Managers is assigned in order to:
  • Maintain a tracking system to monitor student performance following implementation of intervention

Kid Talk Teams
(Used by all middle schools, and optional for elementary schools)

Process Overview

When a teacher has a concern regarding a student’s academic performance or behavior, he or she implements informal strategies typically used by teachers to address these concerns. These may include: changing instructional groupings, providing additional structure in the form of rubrics or outlines, instituting a simple behavior management system, or rearranging classroom seating. If these informal interventions are successful in alleviating the concerns, the teacher will continue to institute them as long as they are necessary. If, however, the student is not making sufficient progress academically or behaviorally, the teacher requests assistance from the grade-level Kid Talk Team.

The student is discussed at the weekly Kid Talk meeting using systematic problem-solving. The problem is clearly defined and baseline data are collected regarding how much or how little the behavior of concern is noted or the degree to which the student has mastered particular instructional objectives. Hypotheses for the gap between current and expected performance are generated and analyzed. Measurable goals are set and an intervention is developed which addresses the hypotheses deemed to be most relevant.

After one to two weeks, the Kid Talk Team analyzes data based evidence regarding the effectiveness of the interventions. If the student is meeting short-term goals, the intervention is continued. If, after a well-designed intervention has been implemented, the team determines that the student has made insufficient progress towards goals, one of three course of action ensue: (1) modifications to the intervention may be made and implemented; (2) the Kid Talk Team requests assistance from the IIT, where further suggestions regarding intervention strategies may be made or a referral to the IEP team may be recommended.

IMPORTANT: When a parent or teacher suspects that a student may have a disability, the timeline begins. All assessments for an initial evaluation must be recommended and completed concurrently within 60-calendar days from receipt of parental consent for the evaluation or 90-calendar days from the receipt of the referral, whichever comes first, to the completion of the Evaluation Report at the IEP team meeting. The provision to refer to IEP from the IIT cannot delay the process.

Characteristics of Schools

• Each grade-level has a team that meets regularly (once every two weeks at a minimum) to discuss students with academic or behavior difficulties.
• One general education teacher from each grade-level Kid Talk team serves as a member of the IIT and agrees to participate in the following activities:
  • Receive training in systematic problem solving
  • Facilitate Kid Talk meetings and ensure that all components of effective problem solving are addressed
  • Maintain a Kid Talk notebook containing minutes, agendas, and Student Documentation Forms (SDFs) for all cases at intervention
  • Attend IIT meetings.
• Representatives from Student Support Services (e.g. school counselors, school psychologists, pupil personnel workers) are regular members of the grade-level team.
• Teams complete a Student Documentation Form (SDF) for all cases at that have an individually designed intervention.
• Teams use standard agendas, minutes, and case review formats.
• Teams operationally define student academic/behavioral concerns.
• Teams assess instructional variables that may impact student performance.
• Team develop data-driven interventions including systematic assessment of baseline, treatment, and outcome data.
• Teams maintain a tracking system to monitor student performance following implementation of intervention.
• Teams maintain a tracking system to monitor patterns of referral concerns.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Instructional Intervention Team?

Instructional Intervention Teams help teachers provide better instruction to students. The team works with the teacher to look at the students strengths and skills, what the student is being asked to do, and how well they do it. They use this information to develop a plan for instruction.

What is the goal of the Instructional Intervention Team?

The goal of the Instructional Intervention Team is to make sure that all resources in the school are working together so that all students can work toward achieving at or above grade-level.

Is the Instructional Intervention Team special education?

No, it is not special education. It's a team that works with teachers to ensure that all students are successful. If, over time, your child's teacher feels that more services are needed, such as special education, you will be notified so that you can participate fully.

How does the Instructional Intervention Team work?

The Instructional Intervention Team provides support to teachers by giving them a chance to talk with other teachers and professionals within the school. Information is collected about the student in the classroom and what he or she is currently doing. Short-term goals are set, and a plan is developed to help the student be successful in the classroom. Students are monitored frequently in order to ensure that they are making progress.

Will my child have to leave his classroom?

Most of the plans that we develop to help students are used by your child's teacher in the classroom. There are some instances in which students may have plans that call for assistance from other professionals in the school. In cases such as these, your child’s teacher will notify you about the details.

Do I have to sign anything?

No. The plans that are developed for students use instructional and teaching strategies that are commonly used by teachers in schools. Because of this, you do not have to sign anything.

How will I know how my child is doing?

Your child's teacher will contact you on a monthly basis in order to let you know how your child is doing.

What can I do to help my child?

In order to determine how your child learns best, the teacher needs information from you about your child's strengths and skills. If you have not already completed a Multiple Intelligences Checklist or an Instructional Preference Booklet, the teacher may ask you for that. This is very valuable information for planning for your child.

How long will my child be in the Instructional Intervention Team?

All students are different. It may take different amounts of time for different students to reach the goals that teachers and staff have for them. Members of the IIT are committed to taking the time that is needed in order to help each student be successful.

Who can I contact for more information?

You can contact your child's classroom teacher for additional information.