Family Guide to Student Supports

• Universal screening for all students early in each school year
• Increasing levels of targeted support for those who are struggling 
• Integrated plans that address students’ academic, behavioral, social, and emotional needs
• The use of evidence-based strategies
• Teachers, counselors, psychologists, and other specialists work to assess students and plan interventions.
• Professional development so staff can deliver interventions and monitor progress effectively.
• Family involvement so parents can understand and provide support at home
• Frequent monitoring of students’ progress so educators can use this data to help decide if more interventions are needed.
• Celebrating students when they progress to no longer needing some supports

MTSS Slide Presentation

Restorative practices are all about building community and strengthening relationships. They represent a positive step forward in helping all students learn to resolve disagreements, take ownership of their behavior, and engage in acts of empathy and forgiveness. Restorative approaches are based on the idea that when we feel part of a supportive community, we respect others in that community and become accountable to it.
 

According to the International Institute for Restorative Practices, “The aim of restorative practices is to develop community and to manage conflict and tensions by repairing harm and building relationships.”

Restorative practices focus on resolving conflict and healing harm. It seeks to address the root cause behind an individual’s behavior rather than treating the behavior as an isolated symptom and punishing it out of context or judging the student as good or bad based on an isolated incident. 

• Regularly holding classroom community circles. These can either be content-specific or general community-building circles with questions like, “Where do you see yourself in ten years?”
• Respond to conflict with a conversation using the same questions. Ask a student to recount what happened, listen to them as they discuss their emotions and thinking. Work to create a mutual plan of action for making the situation right again.
• Incorporate the entire class when determining potential consequences for a problem. Bringing student voice into the decision-making process will likely result in a greater understanding of how actions affect the classroom as a whole. 
   

Contact your school principal with your questions. 

Introduction to Restorative Practices

Slide Presentation about Restorative Practices

• Students can learn behavioral expectations for different situations.
• Students learn expected behaviors for each school setting through explicit instruction and opportunities to practice and receive feedback.
• Stepping in early can prevent more serious behavior problems.
• Each student is different, so schools need to give many kinds of behavior support. This might include acknowledging positive behaviors, redirecting problem behavior, revising incentives, or creating individual support plans. 
• How schools teach behavior should be based on research and science.
• Schools gather and use data to make decisions about behavior interventions.
• School staff members are consistent in how they encourage expected behavior and discourage infractions through a culturally responsive lense. 
   

Contact your school's principal with your questions.

Click here to watch a video about PBIS.

PBIS Slide Presentation

A Coordination of Services Team (COST) is a site-based multidisciplinary team composed of service providers, school administration, and teachers. It is a strategy for managing and integrating various learning supports and resources for students. 

• Identify students who need additional support through a schoolwide referral system.
• Assess referred students and explore strengths and supports needed.
• Coordinate efforts to link referred students to appropriate supports by tracking progress and tailoring interventions over time.
• Assess learning supports and needs school-wide, make recommendations about resource allocation to the administration, and solicit potential new resources.
   

COST members can include principals, assistant principals, school counselors, school nurses, mental health therapists, special education staff, student support providers, community providers providing on-site services, Afterschool providers, Intervention teachers, Child Welfare and Attendance staff, parent liaisons/outreach workers, etc.

The team creates a weekly or biweekly forum for reviewing the needs of individual students and reviews school-wide student data. The team collaborates on linking referred students to resources and interventions; and supports students’ academic success and healthy development.

Contact your child’s teacher, the school principal, school intervention lead, or the school counselor with your concerns.

What is a Student Support Team (SST)? 
The SST is a school-based problem-solving team that works together to provide support to teachers to improve the quality of the general education program and reduce the underachievement of students. It offers an opportunity for school staff, family members, community agencies, and other vital people to present their concerns about an individual student. Through discussion and study, to plan a positive course of action, assign responsibilities, and monitor results for a student/family.

When is an SST utilized?
A Student Support Team is an important, student-centered collaborative problem-solving model within the school (focuses on intense and in-depth individual student focus), after Tier 1 and Tier II support. Interventions have been tried and monitored, and the student is not making adequate progress. 

The SST process can address such issues as:

• Learning difficulties
• Poor attendance
• Behavioral concerns
• Health concerns
• Social-emotional issues
• Substance abuse

What is the parent’s role at an SST?
Parents (including primary caregivers such as custodial parents, foster parents, and legal guardians) are critical members of the SST, and they are always included. At the SST the parent can share the familial perspective and concerns, contribute necessary problem-related information from home, and share practical and effective home interventions. Parents could also ask for support so they can assist their child at home.  Parents can also be given information about community resources. 

What is discussed at the SST?
The team will discuss and evaluate a variety of topics related to your child. Some examples may include: 

• Academic and behavioral functioning
• Attendance
• Previous interventions
• Set the meeting date for a follow-up meeting
   

What is a Section 504 Plan?
504 plans are formal plans that schools develop to give students with disabilities the  support they need. The plans cover any condition that limits daily activities in a major way. These plans prevent discrimination and protect the rights of students with disabilities in school. They’re covered under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which is a civil rights law.

What does a Section 504 Plan cover?
A Section 504 Plan supports students of all ages who have a physical or mental disability that substantially limits a major life activity. This can include but is not limited to reading, learning, and concentrating. 504 plans aren’t part of special education. So, they’re different from IEPs. 504 plans and IEPs are covered by different laws and work in different ways. But the end goal is the same: to help students with disabilities thrive in school.

What can a Section 504 Plan provide for a student with a disability?
Accommodations: Changes in the classroom environment to to help with how the child learns the curriculum
Examples:

• Extra time on tests, seating near the front of the class, etc.
• Assistive Technology: Tools that help the child work around barriers to learning
• Calculators, keyboards, graphic organizers, larger text, etc.
• School Services: Services that help the child get access to general education
• Counseling,  Occupational Therapy, etc.

How does a student with a disability qualify for a Section 504 Plan?
In order to qualify, an evaluation of the student and their disability is conducted. Schools look at information about a student from a few different sources for this evaluation. One source might be a medical diagnosis. Schools might also look at the student’s grades, test scores, attendance, classroom observation, and teacher feedback.  Once the evaluation is complete, the school will then hold a team meeting with key stakeholders, including the parent, to determine if the child qualifies and what supports are appropriate. 

Who do I contact if I have questions about a 504?
Contact the school principal, school intervention lead, or the school counselor with your questions.

Introductin to COST (video)