It is an undisputed fact that in every school, there is always a portion of the student population who tend to be at-risk to drop-out, or get detention, or be suspended, or worse, expelled. There will always be a portion of the student population who are having problems with attitude, and also those who are not really doing so well in their classes. But, instead of giving these students a punitive response from their actions, implementing school intervention programs might be a better alternative. Having a school intervention program can help in uplifting these students and giving them the chance to make good rather than face consequences that might forever scar them, or worse, permanently affect their future.
Getting someone to do well is not always carrots and sticks. Sometimes, they just need the proper guidance and the proper monitoring for them to be able to avoid the bad things, and instead, focus on their own potentials. Thus, it is important that a school should be able to provide a well-tailored intervention program because if such intervention program becomes successful, this can really make an impact to the struggling students and guide them in getting back on track. But because there is so much research on student intervention along with recent trends that just seem to pop up at any time, it is really challenging for a school to really determine and provide a truly effective school intervention program.
So, if your school is in the process of improving the school intervention program, be sure that you are mindful of the next following items:
- Understand through data leveraging
Through data leveraging, this enables you to have a better understanding as to where your students are struggling given a particular objective. This can also be a regular and dependable means in determining the level of understanding. By aligning the data with your instructional goals or your intervention objectives, this can assist you in taking your students to the next level.
- Ensure effective utilization of assessments
The use of assessments usually serve for two different purposes – one, is to monitor the progress of students, and, the other is to identify students who are at risk. The performance on various assessments should be a tool used in identifying the targeted interventions for the different student groups and to determine if the students who belong in those groups are making the expected progress. These programs can be utilized to help suggest the content for your students so that you can be able to spend more time to work directly with them in subjects which they are struggling with.
- Be able to contain consistency with processes
Consistency is one of the most essential aspects of any intervention program. By way of ensuring that the teacher, administrators, and the parents are all on the same page can greatly impact the experience for all who are involved. To be able to achieve a successful intervention program, all of the students must become a part of a single, research-based instructional system.
- Be able to identify the special populations and intervene early on
If you are able to notice that a student is already struggling, then giving such student an early intervention is critical. To be able to identify these students, there should be proper procedures, pieces of training and assessments in place. If the school’s staffs are not properly equipped, then it can be easier for a student to fall through the cracks.
One example is, chronic absenteeism, this can be a major factor in a student’s success in school. When a student’s reach later grade levels, having an intervention program can also be a good prevention strategy for potential dropouts. Thus, by being able to identify students early on, you will be able to keep them engaged and motivated to stay on track and be able to graduate.
- Place emphasis on professional development
One key towards a successful intervention program is by having well-prepared staff. This can be attained by providing them with pieces of training and ensuring their professional development. Thus, the instructional best practices should be made as of the regular training sessions, ensure to offer your educators with plenty of opportunities for collaboration, and you should also ensure that the staff is well-trained as regards to technological resources that are available to them.
- Be sure that you listen to the research
In every successful intervention program, there is always at its core, the scientific, evidence-based curriculum, and the instructional practices. You should be able to take enough time to vet any new tool, approach, or online program before the implementation and then make sure that it is also backed by strong research. There are now programs which have already undergone thorough research and approval process.
The emergence of school intervention programs is indeed changing the old ways of punishing a student by detention and suspension. By having a school intervention program in place, the school is giving a more proactive approach on how to deal with at-risk students by giving them the reinforcement that they can do better, that they are more than whom they think they are. This type of positive reinforcement increases the chance of students to be more compassionate with their education, and also be able to make them feel that they are indeed worth giving the chance for.
There still a lot that needs to be taken into consideration to be able for a school to provide an effective school intervention program, but the main key would be to be able to know first the root cause of as to how or why the student is acting the way he or she is. Dealing with them and then to successfully pull them out and make them do better is a case to case basis. Therefore, it is really crucial that the school should have the proper framework in terms of dealing with a certain group of students because their needs and how they should be dealt with will always be different from the other.