Is Your Teacher Assistance Team Effective?

Most schools throughout the nation have teams of professionals (Teacher Assistance Teams) who meet regularly to discuss students, who for a variety of reasons, are behind socially, emotionally, and/or academically. Historically, these teams were created to slow the number of unfounded referrals for special education services and to provide regular education teachers with suggestions, and in some cases, new methods in how they respond to students needing intervention. Prior to the creation of Teacher Assistance Teams the regular education teacher, when faced with a student not meeting social, emotional or academic standards was often at a loss for a remedy. The knee-jerk reaction by many teachers at this time was simply to refer the student for a special education evaluation.

With the creation of Teacher Assistance Teams, classroom teachers can receive tips (intervention ideas) on new ways to assist the student who lags. In some cases, immediate special education screening is necessary--but this is more the exception than the rule. This pre-referral intervention process has resulted in providing staff with more skills to work with challenging students and has kept some students in their regular education classes without the need for additional services.

The degree to which the TAT is successful often hinges on how the team is structured and how well it functions. Here are some questions to consider:

Is the team broadly represented?

Regular and special education teachers need to serve on the team as does a representative of the administration, the counseling department and a school psychologist. A social worker and the school nurse may also be needed depending on the nature of a referral. Without a cross-section of professionals on a Teacher Assistance Team, pinpointing the student's problem or generating enough ideas for effective intervention can be difficult.

Is your team focused on problem solving?

Some teams simply agree that the student has a problem but do not design a plan for remediation or evaluate whether the plan is working. After specifying the problem(s), the team must decide what new behaviors they would like to see from the student as well as the performance level the student must achieve to satisfy expectations. A well functioning Teacher Assistance Team documents the problem and the specifics of the intervention plan. Before anything is reduced to writing, the team should make certain the plan is realistic. Intervention should also be natural and as non-intrusive as possible to be effective.

Does your intervention plan specify the person(s) responsible for each intervention component?

The person who heads the team, i.e., an assistant principal, should not be involved with the intervention itself if she is responsible for coordinating the efforts of others. It is her job to facilitate the team's efforts and oversee its work. An especially important job of the team leader is to make sure the team operates efficiently. This includes limiting the discussion on each student referred so that comments fit the teams' purpose of: identifying the problem, developing the remediation plan and assessing the effectiveness of the intervention. The team leader must be certain that each component is addressed but not over addressed. It is common for teams to spend too much time on the problem identification stage and not enough time on intervention and evaluation. Teams must be careful not to overly focus on one student and neglect another.

TATs must also remember that the Individual with Disabilities Act of 1997 (For more information: IDEA 1997 ) limits the teacher assistance team to discussions of teaching methods, lesson plans, and coordinated services, if these items are not addressed in an IEP. Discussions that go beyond these areas triggers the requirement that parents be given notice and be provided an opportunity to be part of the meeting.

Good questioning by the team leader is essential to ensure best efforts are being made on behalf of the referred student. Asking good questions throughout the process also makes team members more accountable for the role they are to play in assisting a student toward learning or behavior improvements. Overall, good questions can lead to better results by all involved. But too many questions or the wrong questions can quickly erode trust and cause a break-down in teamwork.

Many referrals to the Teacher Assistance Team are the result of inappropriate student behavior. The Advantage Press, Inc. publishes Behavior Improvement Packets that focus on a student's wrongdoing and help those who misbehave understand the importance of school and classroom rules. Packets encourage students to think about where they have gone wrong and guide them toward developing realistic behavioral improvement goals. Behavior Improvement Packets also provide Teacher Assistance Teams with the documentation that they need to determine whether a student is reaching behavior goals. It is this component that can help every TAT in the evaluation phase of its work with a student. Behavior Improvement Packets can be one of many resources Teacher Assistance Team's can bring to bear on student problems that are referred to TATs.

A number of schools have posted their TAT procedures on the internet. Many schools reference their TATs in their school or district handbook while others have chosen to make the TAT's operation as part of school board policy. The list below, while by no means complete, will provide you with a fair sampling of the make-up and functions of TATs:

Plainville Schools

Shrewsbury Schools

Patton Schools