Early Intervention-Karen Pavlansky

Schools today are responsible for meeting the educational needs of an increasingly diverse student population.  The Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) 2009 (No Child Left Behind (NCLB) 2001 goal of improving academic achievement of all groups of students, including low-income and minority, English Learners, and students with disabilities.  The new focus is on ensuring that all students are learning what they need to succeed and be prepared to transition from high school into college or career ready. 

The new ESEA calls for:

Ø  Raising standards for all students in English language arts and mathematics;

Ø  Developing better assessments aligned with college- and career-ready standards; and

Ø  Implementing a complete education through improved professional development and evidence-based instructional models and supports.

Students need a well-rounded education to contribute as citizens in our society.  Teachers and school districts need to share the responsibility in ensuring all children receive a complete education.  The whole child has to be developed.  It will take a team effort with specific goals of collaboration to achieve success.  Special Education and all other services, supports and aids are an undeniable necessity.   All of which have a shared responsibility including regular education and special school programs in meeting the needs of all children including those with exceptionalities. 

The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) believes “The developmental, academic, and lifelong success of the nation’s 7 million children and youth with disabilities relies on innovative research and development.  To implement the ESEA/NCLB, educators are required by law to utilize scientifically based strategies and interventions.” (CEC 2012)

The general education classroom is the place in which the general education curriculum (College and Career Standards CCSS at all levels K-12) is most likely to be taught to students with disabilities.  96 percent of all classrooms are inclusive today.  Effective instruction begins when educators create learning environments in which students learn to respect and value each other and everyone’s individual differences, understand their roles and responsibilities, work in self-directed manner and participate in setting classroom rules. Teachers create an effective learning community by discovering the abilities of all the students, developing systematic ways to collect information on student progress for use in planning future lessons and using collaborative teaching grouping, and differentiated instructional strategies to individualize student education experiences. 

There are three research based, proven school wide strategies that could be implemented at any school level that targets and provides intervention for all students at all levels. 

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is the first strategy that is used in the general education curriculum to ensure all students can access academic content information.  UDL provides a blueprint for creating instructional goals, methods, materials, and assessments that work for everyone, not a single, one-size-fits-all solution but rather flexible approaches that can be customized and adjusted for individual needs.  There are three elements of UDL.  First, multiple means of representation, which relates to the materials the teachers use to represent the content they are asking their students to learn.  Second, multiple means of action and expression, concerns how the materials provide alternative ways for student to demonstrate knowledge.  Third, multiple means of engagement, deals with how the materials take advantage of student interests and motivation to engage them in learning. 

The second strategy for intervention is Response to Intervention (RTI).  RTI is a means to determine whether any student, regardless of type of disability, needs more intensive instruction.  RTI is a multilayered system for struggling learners that provide increasingly intense levels of academic interventions and assessment.  CEC’s stance on RTI as a school-wide initiative, with special education as an explicit part of the framework, spanning both general and special education in collaboration with families.  The RTI process represents an inclusive partnership between all school personnel and families to identify and address the academic and behavioral needs of learners beginning as early as the preschool years. (CEC 2011)  RTI is a multi-tiered approach that may reduce the numbers of students referred for special education.  RTI promotes effective early intervention, provides diagnostic information to consider in the identification of a disability, and may reduce the impact of a disability on a child’s academic progress. 

Positive Behavior Support (PBS) is the third strategy.   Schools actually are required to have school-wide Positive Behavior System in place.  PBS is a systems-level, problem solving, data-based approach to reducing problem behavior, improving appropriate behavior and achieving important academic, social and communication outcomes for a particular student and for all students, throughout the school building.  Teachers instruct students to replace their problem behavior with appropriate behavior, enabling them to benefit much more effectively from the general curriculum. 

All three of these strategies work and require very little cost.  Even if schools are not utilizing them school wide, individual teachers can implement them within their classroom.  I use all three.  I am able to get some support for RTI from our Intervention Specialist Administrator at my building.  There is an overwhelming amount of resources available through the internet to provide supports for implementing UDL, RTI and PBS.  Intervention Central is a favorite of mine, that I often refer colleagues and parents to.