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Question 4: What should high schools think about or consider when designing tiered intervention systems to address the needs of struggling learners? |
Here are some important things high school planning teams should consider when designing a tiered intervention system for struggling high schools students.
- What areas should be addressed through our tiered intervention system? Existing school data should be used to identify areas of need that can be addressed through tiered interventions. Because core academic testing and high school exit exams are common, academic areas such as reading and math are often the first area that comes to mind for most planning teams. However, tiered intervention systems can also be designed to address other school outcomes, such as social/emotional well-being, behavior, and dropout/graduation rates.
- How will students be identified for tiered
interventions? A key factor in the success of a tiered
intervention system is the ability of the system to identify and match students
to appropriate supports. Planning teams need to consider how students can be
efficiently identified as early as possible. First, teams need to consider what
screening measures or approaches will be used to identify struggling students.
Appropriate screening approaches should provide results in timely manner and
not take away from essential academic instruction. Depending on the area being
screened, this may include published academic screening tools or ongoing
reviews of the number of discipline referrals or missed days conducted by a
data team. Second, planning teams should consider for whom the screening tools
will be administered. For example, will all students regardless of grade and
academic level be screened or will the focus be only incoming 9th graders?
These decisions may depend primarily on the focus of the interventions and the
resources of the school. Third, planning teams should consider how frequently
students will be screened. Typically screening is conducted three to four times
a year and may coincide with natural transitions in high schools, such as
semester changes or mid-terms. At the end of February, the National Center on
Response to Intervention will release its review of submitted screening tools.
Once the planning team determines how students will be identified, the next step is to determine how identified students will be matched with appropriate supports. Planning teams should consider creating data teams (e.g., school, grade, content area) whose responsibilities are to review screening data, identify students, and identify appropriate supports based on problem solving approach. - What interventions will be used? Research-based interventions should be selected based on the students’ individual needs. Planning teams have access to a variety of web sites that have reviewed common interventions in a variety of areas. We recommend checking out the following:
- Kansas MTSS Resources (www.kansasmtss.org) - Folks from the SEA provided a skeletal outline that their pilot sites helped develop resources for in their first year of implementation and continue to build upon in this second pilot year. Some of the documents listed are for elementary schools, but some are for secondary schools. The “innovation configuration matrix” is a kind of readiness tool that they developed for schools and districts. It’s the first document listed under the resources section of the web site. Another useful document there is the Secondary MTSS fact sheet which provides some guiding questions for schools to consider.
- Readiness Tool from Colorado
- What Works Clearinghouse (http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc)
- Florida Center of Reading Research (www.fcrr.org)
- Best Evidence Encyclopedia (www.bestevidence.org)
- National High School Center’s list of research on dropout prevention and other publications, including the Early Warning System Guide and Tool and a brief on appropriate interventions.
- How will the interventions be scheduled? The structure of a high school day is very different than elementary schools, where tiered intervention systems are more common. In high schools, scheduling additional academic or behavior supports can be challenging. Unlike elementary schools where students may work primarily with 1 or 2 teachers, high school students can have up to 8 different teachers in a single school day. Planning teams need to consider the pros and cons of a variety of approaches to scheduling interventions. For example, if the interventions are delivered during the school day, will students miss essential courses or course content needed to meet graduation requirements? If they are delivered after school, will attendance be a problem or will staff be available? Scheduling interventions in a traditional high school setting can be one of the most challenging aspects of designing a tiered intervention program. It is recommended that all stakeholders, including parents, be involved in the planning discussion in order to identify potential challenges and solution early.
- How will you know if students are benefitting from the tiered interventions? Planning teams should consider two important things in addressing this question. First, what progress monitoring tools or approaches are most appropriate to monitor student progress? Appropriate tools will assess the area being addressed by the intervention. For example, if the goal of the intervention is to increase attendance, then the progress monitoring approach should include a measure of attendance. If the intervention is targeting comprehension, the progress monitoring approach should include an indicator of comprehension. As with screening tools, progress monitoring measures should technically adequate and efficient to administer. For more information of available progress monitoring tools, see the National Center on Response to Intervention release of its technical review of submitted progress monitoring tools at the end of February. Secondly, planning teams should consider what decision criteria will be used for demonstrating responsiveness or non-responsiveness to the intervention and who will participate in the decision making. For example, who will serve on data teams (e.g., grade, content area) and how often will they review progress monitoring data? In addition, what criteria will they use to make decisions about continuing, changing, and ended the current intervention. Establishing guidelines for data teams, especially in initial implementation, can improve effectiveness and efficiency of the team decisions.
- What will happen if students are not benefitting from tiered interventions? In some cases, despite participation in research based interventions students may not show progress. The planning team needs to consider what the process for addressing non-responders is. For example, do students move immediately to a more intensive intervention, is the intervention changed or are they referred for special education evaluation? Establishing clear decision criteria from the beginning can ensure students’ needs are being addressed as well as prevent students from remaining in ineffective programs.
- How will you know if the all aspects of the tiered intervention system are being implemented with fidelity? Fidelity is an essential component of a tiered intervention system. After designing the system, the planning team needs to consider how the fidelity of the components of the tiered intervention system will be measured and ensured. While most are familiar with specific intervention fidelity (e.g., specific academic programs) many often forget about other aspects of fidelity. For example, how will you ensure decision criteria are being implemented as intended or that screening and progress monitoring tools are being used appropriately? Lack of fidelity in any one of these areas can lead to bad decision making and unintended outcomes for students.
Disclaimer
It is important to note that the National High School Center does not endorse particular programs or practices.
