di: Interventions overview

[Don Crawford]

Lately I've been seeing a need for an overview and quick diagnosing tool
for students who aren't being successful.  It is NOT always a case of
putting a given student back a bunch of lessons.  Sometimes there's stuff
that can be done.  Anyway here's my quick overview of possible
interventions and how to figure out what to do.

*Note: Don’t accept “comprehension” as a student problem.  “Comprehension”
is usually code for “incorrect answers on written work.”  You have to dig
further to know what is really the problem.  *

*Diagnosing: *1) Watch the student during the lesson. Is the student paying
attention, participating, correctly answering or completely confused? 2) Do
parts of the lesson one-on-one with student and see if student can do it
when motivated, paying attention or participating, or is still completely
confused.

1.     *Is this a **shared** problem?*  Several students in the room have
the same issue and therefore should be a change in teaching practice or a
small group intervention or a whole class intervention?

2.     *Is this a **behavior** problem?*  The problem is that the student
is not participating in instruction and therefore should be a behavior
intervention?

a.     *Fix:* Have the teacher move the student to the front and more
closely monitored and frequently redirected by the teacher and/or have a
reinforcement system in place.

3.     *Is this an **attention** problem?*  The student is not attending to
the lesson, following the instruction or correctly writing answers or doing
what he should during the lesson.

a.     *Fix:* Have the teacher move the student to the front and more
closely monitor and frequently redirect or to be taught or pre/taught in a
smaller group.

4.     *Is this a **practice** problem?*  The student has a skill but needs
to get better, or more fluent with it, e.g., not improving in reading
fluency, math fact fluency, or spelling accuracy.  Needs more practice time
daily.

a.     *Fix: *Set up times for more practice during remediation time or
other time with a peer or another adult. Monitor progress. Increase
intensity until successful.

5.     *Is this an **English** problem?*  The student does not know enough
English to understand the lessons as they are progressing—unable to do it
one-on-one.

a.     *Fix: *Set student up with bilingual buddy or coordinate with ESL
teacher.

6.     *Is this a **specific skill** problem? *Usually skills like blending
in beginning reading or counting or borrowing in math, students can be
missing specific skills that are assumed to be already learned.  Student
may be able to do other things, but not this particular skill.

a.     *Fix: *Set up a small group to be taught this specific skill by a
skilled teacher (not an aide) using selected scripts from the DI programs.
Intervention specialist supervises.

7.     *Is this a **placement** problem?*  Is the student placed into too
high a group—unable to do it one-on-one (and can’t pass placement test)?
Don Crawford
(503) 298-8656
14435 SE Donatello Loop
Happy Valley, OR 97086
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