High Versus Low Implementation of Instructional Support Teams

Abstract

In 1990, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania implemented a statewide instructional support team (IST) process to provide prereferral assessment and intervention for at-risk students in 500 school districts. The current study examined the academic performance of students affected by this process as contrasted with other at-risk students who did not have access to it. The dependent measures were academic learning time (time on task, task completion, and task comprehension). The results indicated that students supported by ISTs had greater levels of academic performance only when their schools implemented the IST process to a high degree. Low IST implementation produced no differences in academic performance in schools that had not implemented IST. The importance of implementing a promising program according to critical design features is discussed.