Prereferral Intervention Research Articles

Prereferral interventions: Quality indices and outcomes

Quality indicators of prereferral interventions (i.e., behavioral definition, direct measure, step-by-step plan, treatment integrity, graphing of results, and direct comparison to baseline) were investigated as predictors of prereferral intervention outcomes with a sample of regular education teachers and related services personnel on the same 312 students. The majority of the prereferral interventions were deficient in these critical areas; however, the presence of quality indices was related to positive student outcomes. The results suggested that (a) prereferral interventions varied dramatically in quality, (b) the use of quality indices influenced the outcomes of prereferral interventions, and (c) improved quality of interventions led to more successful outcomes for students.

Pre-referral practices: Under office of civil rights scrutiny

Generally, pre-referral interventions have been emphasized as a means of keeping students in the regular classroom unless such attempts fail and formal evaluation is warranted for a possible special education placement. The Office of Civil Rights, examining a number of pre-referral practices, has identified violations of guaranteed rights and has called for substantial changes. Recommendations are provided on how to preserve pre-referral practices and yet operate within legal mandates.

Prereferral Intervention For Students With Emotional Or Behavioral Risks

The use of prereferral intervention as a component of preassessment for students referred for special education services is becoming widely accepted. Prereferral intervention is defined as systematic activities designed to allow the student to remain in the general education setting while attempts are made to increase appropriate social and academic performance. Currently a need exists for standards regarding administrative structures, delineation of who should provide prereferral services, documentation of the implementation procedures, and guidelines for evaluating procedural effectiveness (see Nelson, Smith, Taylor, Dodd,&Reavis, 1991, for a review). The purpose of the present study is to provide a description of a prereferral intervention for students with behavioral disorders (BD) and risks, using a behavioral consultation model. A brief literature review describes the current state of prereferral intervention practices and a summary of program models and outcomes. A case study of the prereferral intervention process in a local, midwestern school district is then presented. Results over a 3-year span indicate that 43% to 64% of referred students remained in the regular classrooms following prereferral intervention, 14% to 22% of cases were identified as having other disabilities, and 23% to 39% were identified as having behavior disorders, with half of those students able to continue regular classroom placement with itinerant support.

Reflections on 'Effectiveness of Student Versus Teacher Monitoring During Prereferral Intervention'

(1993). Reflections on 'Effectiveness of Student Versus Teacher Monitoring During Prereferral Intervention' Exceptionality: Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 55-58.

Effectiveness of Student Versus Teacher Monitoring During Prereferral Intervention

We explored the efficacy of student versus teacher monitoring within the context of prereferral intervention. Each of 43 classroom teachers identified a most difficult- to-teach (DTT), nonhandicapped pupil at risk for referral to special education. We randomly assigned teachers and their DTT students to a student-monitoring plus teacher-student contracts, teacher-monitoring plus teacher-student contracts, or control condition. Observations of DTT pupils' classroom behavior and teacher responses to various rating scales indicated that student monitoring with the contracts was as effective, if not more so, than teacher monitoring with the contracts. We discuss implications regarding future use of student monitoring as prereferral intervention.

Functional outcome analysis: Do the benefits of consultation and prereferral intervention justify the costs?

Functional outcome analysis: Do the benefits of consultation and prereferral intervention justify the costs?

Who has a Problem, the Student or the Teacher? Differences in Teachers' Beliefs About Their Work with At‐risk and Integrated Exceptional Students

In this study, teachers' assumptions and beliefs are explored about the needs of at‐risk and exceptional students, and about their roles and responsibilities in meeting such needs. Teachers appear to hold consistent and coherent belief systems which differ along an ordinal scale. At one end, ‘restorative’ beliefs assume that problems reside largely within the pupil, and therefore the teacher's duty is to refer the pupil for confirmatory assessment as soon as possible. At the other ‘preventive’ end, teachers assume that the environment, including instruction, plays a part in a student's problems. The teacher therefore attempts prereferral interventions, and requests assessment to identify instructional alternatives. This study provides evidence for the validity of the restorative‐preventive construct, reporting the results of both quantitative and qualitative analyses of interviews with 27 regular class elementary teachers. Teachers' ratings on the construct correlated significantly with their self‐ratings...

Teamwork Among Teachers

This paper reviews the knowledge base on teamwork among teachers as expressed through Teacher Assistance Teams (TATS) operating in public school settings. The authors describe a range of prereferral intervention models and highlight the importance of collaboration and collegiality in effective TAT functioning. The paper presents a statewide model currently being tested in Kentucky to establish and maintain effective Teacher Assistance Teams for serving pupils placed at risk for school failure. This model, which is designed to provide maximum flexibility in the areas of team membership, targeted student populations, and team functioning within a variery of school ecologies, is described in terms of its most salient characteristics and primary funcoons. The paper concludes with a call for need research on the membership, dynamics, effectiveness and acceptance of teacher dominated TATS.

A Statewide Survey of Special Education Administrators Regarding Mandated Prereferral Interventions

Special education administrators in Utah were surveyed to identify the types of prereferral intervention approaches employed by school districts. These officials' perceptions regarding the effectiveness of the approaches for maintaining students in general education and of the prereferral intervention process were also elicited. The findings indicate that a variety of prereferral intervention approaches are used by school districts. Special education administrators were generally uncertain whether the approaches maintained students in general education. Similarly, they were uncertain as to whether the prereferral intervention process (a) benefits teachers, (b) is a bureaucratic hurdle, and (c) should be maintained. These officials, however, believed that teachers follow through with the prereferral intervention process and that it maintains students in general education and results in fewer referrals for formal assessment.

Prereferral Intervention: Encouraging Notes on Preliminary Findings

We review studies of prereferral intervention models and their effects on such variables as referral rates, student achievement and behavior, and consumer satisfaction. The models were found to vary in organization; some involved collaboration among a group of teacher colleagues, and others involved formal consultation between a teacher and a specialist. The work of Chalfant and Pysh best exemplifies the former; the work of the Fuchses and their colleagues best exemplifies the latter. The research to date has been more formative than summative in nature, and success has been achieved in different ways. Collaborative models enjoy great consensual validity and widespread adoption; research on consultative approaches has identified variables responsible for the success of behavioral consultation. We call for additional research and demonstration and advocate more systematic analysis of collaborative approaches and more widespread implementation of consultative ones.

Mainstreaming Revisited

This article provides an overview of critical issues and practices associated with the integration of exceptional students into regular education settings. Emphasis is on differentiating mainstreaming from the statutory mandate for education in the "least restrictive environment" appropriate to a learner's instructional characteristics. Specific topics include prereferral intervention, reintegration, assessment and special instructional strategies used with special learners in regular education programs, technological advances for special learners in mainstream settings, consultation and conferencing, and integration of learners with severe handicaps. Changing roles of elementary educators serving students with disabilities are highlighted.

Prereferral Intervention Practices of Regular Classroom Teachers

Relatively little is known about the specific strategies teachers use before referning a student for special education. We reviewed the literature and identified 10 frequently recommended prereferral strategies. A survey of teachers' use of these strategies was conducted to ascertain the frequency with which they are employed. The results indicate that elementary teachers implement more strategies to facilitate classroom adjustment and achievement than junior or senior high school teachers. Consultation with other professionals was ranked as the most frequently used strategy across grade levels, followed by parent conferences and behavior management techniques. Teachers expressed a willingness to work with support personnel, preferring a school-based team to an outside consultant. Recommendations for preservice and inservice training of regular and special education teachers are offered.

Overcoming Resistance to Prereferral Classroom Interventions

Although research supports the benefits of in-class remedial efforts for mildly handicapped youngsters, teachers often resist such practices. This article presents guideliens for educational consultants to use to overcome teacher resistance to prereferral intervention. Suggestions also are offered for engagin in constructive confrontation as well as for soliciting administrative intervention to help teachers adapt regular classroom instructional techniques for students at-risk.

Meeting the Needs of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Exceptional Learners

This article discusses three issues critical to meeting the individual needs of students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. These issues include prereferral interventions, mainstreaming, and appropriate education for all culturally and linguistically diverse exceptional (CLDE) learners. The article presents one approach for addressing prereferral intervention at the district or school building level and emphasizes the need to expand training to meet needs of minority non-Hispanic students in special and mainstream classes. Each of these issues represents a recurring or emerging concern that requires continued emphasis in teacher training programs to meet the future needs of all students. The article concludes with a discussion of implications of these issues for teacher preparation.

Learning Disabilities Definitions and Criteria Used by State Education Departments

This article reports the results of a survey of the 51 State Departments of Education (including Washington, DC) regarding their learning disabilities definitions, identification criteria, and operationalization procedures. A conceptual framework consisting of eight components was used in analyzing the definitions and identification criteria. While revealing variations, results showed the continued impact of the 1977 federal definition and criteria. For example, several state definitions now include the discrepancy component, and the use of language criteria is increasing. To determine current trends, the data are compared with those from a similar survey published in 1985. Findings are discussed in terms of trends, prereferral interventions, assessment instruments, and discrepancy models.

Prereferral Intervention: A Prescriptive Approach

This investigation assessed effects of three increasingly inclusive versions of the Behavioral Consultation (BC) model on problem behavior of students in mainstream classrooms in an effort to develop an effective and efficient approach to prereferral intervention. Subjects were 43 general educators, their 43 most difficult-to-teach students (without disabilities), and 12 school consultants, representing seven inner-city middle schools. Teachers and students were assigned to three BC groups, representing least (BC 1), more (BC 2), and most (BC 3) inclusive variants of BC, and one control group. Preintervention, postintervention, and follow-up observations of student behavior indicated that more inclusive BC versions exerted stronger effects than the least inclusive variant in reducing problem behavior. Theoretical and practical implications for consultation-related activity are discussed.

Prereferral Intervention to Increase Attention and Work Productivity Among Difficult-To-Teach Pupils

Prereferral Intervention to Increase Attention and Work Productivity Among Difficult-To-Teach Pupils

Prereferral Intervention to Increase Attention and Work Productivity Among Difficult-To-Teach Pupils

Prereferral Intervention to Increase Attention and Work Productivity Among Difficult-To-Teach Pupils

School Prereferral Intervention Strategies for Students Experiencing Learning Problems

School Prereferral Intervention Strategies for Students Experiencing Learning Problems

Prereferral Interventions: Progress, Problems, and Challenges

Special education has supported the implementation and study of a variety of prereferral interventions as a means of reducing the number of inappropriate formal referrals, especially in the field of learning disabilities. Programs of preservice teacher education are beginning to reflect the practice of prereferral activity programmatically by including preparation for teaming and consultation roles. In this article, the assumptions associated with the most prominent categories of prereferral interventions being adopted—consultation and informal problem-solving teams—are examined. A critical analysis of the benefits and limitations of each approach is offered, and alternative conceptions of prereferral practice are then presented.