Effective practices in the implementation of intervention assistance teams

Valerie Mae Myers, Purdue University

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate practices related to the implementation of intervention assistance teams (IATs). Eleven research questions and hypotheses were developed. A survey entitled A Survey of Effective Practices in the Implementation of General Education Intervention Teams was sent to a random sample of 400 IAT coordinators in 200 elementary and secondary schools across the state of Indiana. Half the surveys were directed to team members and half to team users. The response rate was 24%. Results indicated that a majority of IAT practices are perceived by team participants to be used at least frequently, and team participants who identified their teams as effective were more likely to identify these practices as occurring frequently. Seven practices were found to contribute significantly to educators' perceptions of the effectiveness of four team factors—Team Membership, Team Procedures, Team Process for Developing Interventions, and Organizational Support. Participants' perceptions of effectiveness of the four team factors all contributed significantly to their perceptions of their teams' effectiveness of overall performance in helping teachers solve student problems. Comparisons of team relationship (member/user) and educational level (elementary/secondary) indicated that (1) team members are more likely to report frequency of having follow-up meetings to discuss the success or failure of an intervention; (2) secondary team participants are more likely to report frequency of having parents and students attend meetings; (3) elementary team participants are more likely to report frequency of having regularly scheduled meetings, having the referring teacher choose the intervention strategy, having the principal serve as the team chairperson, and having cooperation by faculty and staff. No significant main effects or interactions were found for team relationship (member/user) or educational level (elementary/secondary) on effectiveness of any of the four team factors or for overall performance in helping teachers solve student problems. Implications for public school IATS were identified, especially with regard to best practices. Finally, recommendations for further research on the topic of IATs and implications for local team implementation were presented.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Hirth, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Curriculum development|Educational administration|Special education

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