Pre-Referral Intervention Essay

All schools have different pre-referral interventions when they suspect a student may

have a learning disability or autism. “The purpose of the pre-referral process is to ensure your

child tries reasonable accommodations and modifications before she’s referred for special

education assessment” (eatschools.org/gk/articles/pre-referral/)

In M.S.A.D.#37 we have a multi-step approach to identifying these students. We call ours

Levels of Academic Interventions. We also have Levels of Behavioral Interventions. I will focus

on the academic interventions in the first half of the paper and the behavioral ones in the second

half.

Level 1 is the identification of student learning styles using a learning style inventory that

is administered

We send home progress reports home to parents after the first 4 weeks of each

quarter. At this time we may ask for a meeting to discuss any concerns we have. At the end of

the first and third quarter we have parent teacher conferences and the school secretary will

contact the parents we need to see. Unfortunately, many do not attend.

Level 2 incorporates all the interventions in level 1 in addition to the following. We

require the student to participate in a skill building program that may include online programs

that targets certain areas of concern. At this point after contacting the parent and individual

teachers’ efforts to help a child be successful the student’s teachers suspect a disability they will

bring the student’s name to our Student Assistant Team (SAT). This team is made up

administration, the guidance counselor and all their classroom teachers who meet once a month.

The parent is invited to attend via personal communication and a letter from the principal. The

student is also invited to attend. The purpose of this team is to brainstorm and problem solve

ways to offer additional support to the student so they can see success in the classroom.

This is our school’s Response to Intervention (RTI)

program as well.

If after the previous mentioned interventions have been completed and the student

continues to not be successful in their current academic program the school moves on to the last

level. Level 3 includes all the elements in levels 1 and 2 in addition to a formal referral to

special education.

Our Behavioral Intervention Plan is quite extensive as well. In level 1 the teachers review

the handbook and policies with all students and they are sent home for the parents to review and

sign acknowledging their child’s responsibility to follow the expectations. The importance of

good school attendance is shared in classrooms with students, at open house, family nights and at

parent teacher conferences. Teachers discuss their classroom expectations with the students and

parents. Teachers and staff provide on-going relationship building activities and programs with

the students and parents. The district guidance staff provides social and emotional skill

development programs. The teachers offer differentiated instruction conducive to behavioral as

well as academic needs. The staff offers opportunities for students to work in a variety of