Academic Intervention: Help or Harm?

Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Education Judith Pandolfo's interim report on the implementation of Scientific Research-Based Intervention in the Darien public schools, left the Board of Education questioning whether the state mandate has added unnecessary pressure to precious special education resources.

First introduced in March of 2007, SRBI now requires every Connecticut school to create a plan that provides a tiered level of support to students in their district. Where the old system prompted teachers to take action only when there was a major discrepancy, the new plan is designed to benefit all schoolchildren, recognizing that the academic spectrum is broad and varying.

Teachers assess and monitor test scores, progress reports and in-class behavior as a means of determining just how much support any one child needs in order to meet curriculum goals. Pandalfo presented an interim report on SRBI to the Board of Education last Tuesday, and her review was met with some concern.

"Although this is mandated, it's worth the time and effort," said Pandolfo. "Through the process we are honing our skills at diagnosing students and figuring out exactly what it is they need to move forward and maybe circumventing larger problems."

The plan was introduced to Darien's elementary schools in September of 2008; the hope this year is to successfully extend SRBI through the high school level.

"It went into effect very, very well and very smoothly when it was introduced last September," said Pandolfo of the elementary introduction.

The Kindergarten through fifth grade level curriculum, which focuses on literacy, lends itself to the SRBI model, said Pandolfo. Children learn to read and write under the purview of one teacher and are assessed on a regular basis.

Behavior was also considered.

"We're looking for ways to help children access teaching in the classroom if behavior is interfering," said Pandolfo.

Last year SRBI specialists provided services to 324 students at Tiers II and III (Tier III notes the highest level of special needs) and have since returned a substantial number to the Tier I classroom.

"What that shows is that when the interventions are very targeted, and we measure the student growth, the children progress and can get back on track," said Pandolfo.

It's proving a slightly different story with the middle school and high school students, said Pandolfo. The logistics of identifying and providing for a child with special needs becomes increasingly challenging when children take a number of classes with a number of teachers. Difficulties may be particular to a subject or to a teacher, not to the child. Where the problems are mild, teachers have to invest a lot of time in defining that "special" need, Pandolfo said.

Going forward, the focus will be on helping "regular" teachers identify and respond to special needs beyond Tier I. As it stands, teachers spend a huge amount of time "diagnosing," and then look to special education specialists to carry out the "intervention." The board worries that the plan is putting an unnecessary strain on special education resources.

"I wouldn't like to think that children who are perhaps easily distracted or fooling around in class are draining special education resources," said Board of Education Secretary Clara Sartori. "I'd like to think that a regular teacher would know how to deal with that."

Sartori also questioned how a quantitative model could reliably diagnose a behavior problem. Board of Education Member Betsy Hagerty Ross said board members "all have the same question."

Pandolfo said that in comparison to many schools, Darien sees very few cases where a child's behavior interferes with his or her leaning; but when a teacher notes attention or concentration to be particularly challenging for a student, special education teachers are valuable "consults." A short time spent with a special education teacher could help curb a small problem that, left unattended, might develop into a greater special need.

"I've already heard from some staff that we're having fewer evaluations of special needs for children," Pandolfo said. "Because of this process, children are making progress."

Pandolfo will present further information and data in a full-report presentation to the Board of Education scheduled for May.