To provide guidelines for the implementation and organization of the Student Intervention Team (SIT) and Student Support Team (SST), as part of a larger multi-tiered system of support designed to provide early identification and support to students with learning and behavior needs.
Both the Board of Education and the system shall, through all actions, prioritize educational equity by removing institutional barriers and ensuring that social identifiers, ACEs, and/or Community Performance Index measures are not obstacles to accessing educational opportunities and support.
The Board of Education further affirms the right of all students to have equitable access to a quality education that promotes college and career readiness, social/emotional learning, and supports the holistic wellbeing of the student. (Board Policy 0101)
Referral to the SIT
Classroom teachers, other staff members, and parents/guardians (hereinafter “parent(s)”) may refer a student to the SIT. School staff may submit a referral either by letter in writing or through the RtI Online Tracking Tool. A parent may request a SIT meeting by notifying a teacher, administrator, or professional school counselor.
The SIT chairperson reviews identified concerns, and the SIT serves as a vehicle for facilitating positive change and/or generating ideas for Tier I interventions.
The following steps provide a guide for the SIT process:
) Members of the SIT team use their insight and expertise to discuss the specific and decide on appropriate informal classroom-level interventions to implement.
) Examples include:
extra time to complete tasks,
agenda check,
behavior checklist,
strategies outlined in the Pre-Referral Intervention Manual (Hawthorne Press), and
Behavior Intervention Manual (Hawthorne Press).
) The SIT will establish goals and timelines for the intervention. These goals may be qualitative or quantitative, but should demonstrate appropriate student improvement. In many cases, a behavior, academic, social and emotional or attendance intervention will not eliminate the referrer’s concerns, but the goal of the intervention should be to elicit growth over the determined timeline.
) Once the interventions/strategies have been identified, they must be consistently administered for a predetermined time frame, not to exceed nine (9) weeks, depending on the intervention(s) and the student’s response to the intervention(s).
) The SIT will identify a staff person who will monitor and document progress no less than weekly. The referring teacher/staff member will make follow-up contact with the student's parent(s) regarding progress.
) Report outcomes back to the SIT within an appropriate progress window. A follow-up meeting date as appropriate to the intervention(s) should be determined at the initial meeting. The team may modify or discontinue support as evidenced by available data.
) Refer to the SST if desired progress toward identified goals has been demonstrated.
SIT Design and Membership
School principals are responsible for deciding on the most suitable SIT organizational model and frequency of meeting for their school. It is recommended that the SIT convene at a minimum of once a month. Models may include any one or a combination of the following:
) Grade-Level Model: Collaboration through a specific grade
) Content/Subject Area Model: Collaboration through specific content/subject
) Vertical Model: Collaboration across grades
Membership of the SIT includes:
)General Educator(s);
) Professional School Counselor(s);
) Administrator(s);
) School-based Specialist(s) (e.g., Reading Specialist, Math Specialist, Instructional Lead Teacher (ILT), Special Area/Elective Subject Teachers);
) School Nurse; and
) Parents and other staff as appropriate.
Student Support Team (SST)
Purpose of the SST
The SST is a multidisciplinary team with expertise in teaching and learning, problem solving, and interventions. It is used when strategies and/or interventions facilitated by the SIT for a student have proven unsuccessful. Additionally, the collaborative problem-solving processes followed by the SST promote shared ownership for student, school, and district success and help to reduce the disproportionate identification of certain student groups for special education services.
) As a result, when a student is referred to the SST, except in cases of crisis, evidence of a previous problem-solving SIT process and early interventions are required. Additionally, students receiving Home and Hospital Teaching (HHT) services should be monitored by the SST while they are receiving HHT services. If the student remains on HHT for more than 60 consecutive school days, the SST should determine if referral to the Section 504 Team or IEP Team is necessary to ensure proper processes are being followed for a student with a suspected disability.
SST members use their expertise to analyze student performance data and recommend classroom accommodations and interventions aimed at increasing academic achievement and participation as well as positively impacting social and behavior growth. SSTs review identified concerns and serve as the vehicle for facilitating positive change and/or generating appropriate referrals to other school teams like IEP or 504 teams. The SST can address the following:
) Learning challenges
) Poor attendance
) Acceleration/Enrichment
) Behavioral/Socio-emotional concerns
) Health concerns (to include students who are on Home and Hospital Teaching due to a physical or emotional conditions that precludes school attendance)
) School/Classroom climate
) Substance abuse
) Grade changes
) Retention
The SST is not meant to:
) Operate as a special education eligibility or placement committee;
) Operate as a Section 504 eligibility team;
are critical partners in student success and must be consulted throughout the process.
Referral to SST
If after the referring teacher/staff has implemented the SIT process and still has concerns, the referring teacher or staff member should then complete the SST referral form and submit to the SST chair/facilitator (See attachment). Teachers, parents, staff, and students can request the assistance of the SST. If it is determined that a parent’s referral to SIT would be best suited for SST, the meeting will be granted within 30 days of the request. The team uses a collaborative problem-solving process to assess the needs of students who are struggling academically and/or behaviorally or are in need of support for acceleration. The process is data-driven with team members reviewing collected evidence to document the concerns and monitor the effectiveness of subsequent interventions.
SST Membership
Each school is required to have an SST whose membership includes the following core members:
) Referring Teacher
) Principal/Assistant Principal
) Professional School Counselor(s)
) School Nurse
) School Psychologist
) Pupil Personnel Worker (PPW)
) Other staff: Instructional Lead Teacher (ILT), Special Education Teacher(s), Reading Specialist, Speech Language Pathologist (include as appropriate)
) School Resource Officer/Probation Officer (include as appropriate)
Intervention Plan
After positive goals have been established, the team members identify strategies and interventions to support each student in reaching the established goal(s). The implementation plan includes a timeframe for monitoring progress and a determination of the effectiveness of the plan. A method for data collection directly related to the goal should also be included in the plan. The team determines:
) Appropriate interventions;
) Timeline for implementation;
) Responsible staff for implementation and data collection; and
) Intended outcome of the intervention
The SST Plan must be distributed to all employees who provide services to the student relative to the intervention. The principal or designee must provide substitute teachers, both long- and short-term, with appropriate information regarding a student’s SST Plan.
Follow-up Meeting
Generally, most SST plans will be evaluated every six (6) to eight (8) weeks. However, some circumstances may dictate the need for the team to reconvene earlier. Before the follow-up meeting, the case manager must solicit specific feedback regarding the specific goals and strategies determined during the initial meeting. During the follow-up meeting, data must be reviewed for each goal previously developed to determine progress. The team should review any additional input from the parent(s) and teacher, along with current performance (grades, quarterly assessments, etc.).
The team determines whether interventions and strategies have been provided as intended and determines the level of progress made by the student as it relates to these interventions. Teams should discuss pre-intervention performance compared to post intervention performance. If the team determines the plan was not fully successful, strategies may be modified or replaced with new interventions.
If the student has made the desired progress, the intervention should be deemed successful and no further intervention is needed. Progress monitoring, however, is expected to continue. If the student has had mixed success, the intervention plan or goals may continue or be modified. If at any time the team suspects a disability, the team should refer the student to the appropriate Team for assessment (i.e., IEP or Section 504 Plan). If a parent requests a special education evaluation, an immediate referral to the IEP Team must be made; however, the SST process continues.
Health Issues
In cases where there are students who present with health, medical, or substance abuse issues, the Team should consider an immediate referral to the appropriate school staff or agency for support.
Data Management
Team decision making and student progress is to be documented in the RtI Online Tracking Tool by the SST Facilitator and SST Chairperson.
Record Management
Two (2) sets of notes shall be kept for all SST meetings. One (1) set of notes shall be maintained with the student’s most recent report card in the student’s cumulative folder. The second set shall be stored in the RtI Online Tracking Tool.
Parental Notification
Parents shall receive written notification of all SST meetings to include the following:
) Meeting invitation – The SST shall provide the parent an invitation to all Team meetings and advance notification of the purpose of the meeting at least five (5) school days prior to the meeting date.
) In lieu of consent from a parent to participate as a member of the SST, the refusal shall be documented in writing. If after provision of services a parent disapproves of SST services, the SST members shall convene a meeting to reevaluate the student’s progress. If it is determined that the student, for whom the parent disapproved services of the SST, continues to have academic and/or behavioral concerns, the Team’s decision to continue/update services must be documented and explained in writing to advise the parent. This written documentation will be provided to the parent by the principal/designee.
Minutes
Parents shall be provided a copy of typed minutes of all SST decisions and a copy of the intervention plan within 15 school days of the SST meeting.
Roles and Responsibilities
The school principal/designee shall decide who will serve in each school-based role. These roles may vary in each SIT or SST meeting.
) Chairperson (Administrator): The Chairperson coordinates and monitors team functions, establishes the annual meeting schedule, assigns case managers, ensures that initial meetings take place within 30 days of referral, and serves as the liaison for referrals to other school Teams (i.e., Special Education and Section 504). The Special Education chairpersons, IEP facilitators, or resource teachers may not be the SIT or SST chair.
) Facilitator: The Facilitator receives referrals, prepares and distributes agendas to appropriate personnel, invites participants, and manages documentation.
) Recorder: The recorder takes notes in the RtI Online Tracking Tool, makes sure forms are properly completed, and organizes the documents discussed at SIT and SST meetings. All aspects of the SIT and SST process must be documented.
) Case Manager (Teacher, Administrator, Professional School Counselor, PPW, Teacher, Nurse): The case manager's primary role is to monitor intervention strategies and assist in collecting and reviewing data.
) Parent: In addition to school-based personnel, parents are a critical component and are invited to be involved throughout the process.
A parent(s) must receive advance notice of the meeting date and time inviting them to participate in the meeting. (See PGCPS SIT and SST Staff Manual) Parents must always be informed of program changes involving their child, including the starting date and outcomes of interventions. A summary of student progress is to be communicated to the parent by the referring staff member/case manager at minimum at the end of the intervention’s implementation.
It is expected that prior to a referral to the SIT or SST, the referring staff member should have made parent contact, either through a phone call or conference regarding their concerns about the student. Parent contact is to be documented and filed along with all SIT/SST documentation in the student’s cumulative folder.
An important factor for teams to remember is that a student with an existing Section 504 Plan or IEP may be discussed at SST meetings that include the student’s Section 504 or IEP case manager.
Example: A student with a 504 Plan due to medical concerns such as Sickle Cell Anemia or Diabetes or a student receiving speech/language services for articulation concerns who is having behavioral issues in class can be discussed at SST, and a plan established. If the SST feels that the behaviors are related to the student's disability, then a formal Section 504 team meeting or IEP Program Review would need to occur.
Response to Intervention (RtI)
Response to Intervention (RtI) is an approach to facilitate early identification and support of students with learning and behavioral needs. The RtI process begins with high-quality instruction and universal screening of all children in the general education classroom. The following are key features of an RtI process:
RtI is primarily a general education initiative designed to address the needs of struggling learners early in their educational experience.
RtI is based on a problem-solving model that uses data to inform decision-making. This model of using data will be critical to driving the decision-making that will occur at SIT and SST meetings. When teams chose to continue, discontinue, decrease or intensify interventions, it will be based on data that indicates a student’s “response to intervention”
RtI interventions are systematically applied and derived from research-based practices.
RtI is highly dependent on progress monitoring/data collection.
It is essential SIT and SST chairpersons provide parents with information about RtI, especially parents whose children may be served in Tier II and Tier III interventions. This understanding can best be accomplished through:
Dissemination of written materials explaining RtI to parents;
Formal or informal presentations to parent/family groups;
Home support plan;
Explanation during parent/teacher conferences; and
The referral process for special education services.
RtI aligns resources to deliver effective interventions that produce improved outcomes. Implementation is based on a documented research-based process developed to help struggling students academically and behaviorally at the earliest signs of difficulty.
Tiered service delivery cannot be used to delay identification of students with disabilities; therefore, school personnel need to ensure that parents understand their right to request an evaluation as guaranteed under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) or the Americans Disabilities Act (ADA), which governs Section 504.
The Relationship between Multi-Tiered Systems of Support, Response to Intervention, SIT AND SST
Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) is a model that promotes early identification of students who may be in need of additional academic/behavior support. MTSS refers to the instruction, intervention, services and support all students receive before, during and after SIT and SST. Decisions about the types of support and frequency of support provided to a student will be informed by that student’s Response to Intervention (RtI). RtI may be one component in the process that a school uses to determine whether a student needs specific systems of academic and/or behavioral support. A critical theme of MTSS is the adherence to the problem-solving process in identifying and meeting student needs:
Step l: Problem Identification
Problem behaviors, whether academic or behavioral, will be fully defined in observable and measurable terms to include baseline data. A functional behavioral analysis or academic analysis may be required in order to fully define the difficulties.
Step 2: Establish Goals of Intervention
Academic and/or behavioral goals (expectations) will be fully defined in observable and measurable terms.
Step 3: Develop Intervention
Academic and/or behavioral difficulties are targeted using research-based interventions and strategies. Procedures are clearly defined, and roles established (i.e., data collection, handling materials, etc.)
Step 4: Implement Intervention
Intervention is implemented as planned, and adherence to the plan is monitored.
Step 5: Monitor Progress
Data is analyzed periodically. Progress toward the desired goal is documented. Revisions and modifications to the plan are made as needed.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA 2004)
Code of Maryland Annotated Regulations (COMAR) 13A.05.05
These procedures originate with the Department of Student Services and will be updated as needed.
This Administrative Procedure cancels and supersedes Administrative Procedure 5124, dated September 29, 2017.
September 3, 2024
Last Revised: September 3, 2024
