Elementary teachers' attitudes toward preassessment procedures

Abstract

A questionnaire assessing their attitudes toward preassessment procedures was mailed to 300 elementary teachers; a 70% return rate was achieved. A 3 x 2 analysis of variance yielded main effects for years of experience and referral history. Teachers with more than 6 years of experience had significantly more negative attitudes toward preassessment than did teachers with less than 2 years of experience. Teachers who had made referrals to a preassessment team had significantly more negative attitudes than teachers who had no history of referrals to preassessment teams. Suggestions for modifying the preassessment process are offered.

A qualitative analysis of factors influencing the interpersonal dynamics of a prereferral team.

“…Consistent with our findings, the use of data-based documents to determine student needs was substantiated as an effective component of prereferral practices in a three-state survey-based study of school-based intervention teams (Bahr et al, 1999). The need for teachers to document student behaviors and interventions more clearly has been emphasized in the prereferral literature (Inman & Tollefson, 1988).…”

Prereferral Intervention Practices of Regular Classroom Teachers

“…There is growing sentiment that prereferral ¡ntervent ion will reduce the number of pull-out programs, increase regular class retention of at-risk students, and produce a more unified approach for meeting the needs of diverse populations of school-aged students (Inman & Tollefren, 1988). Although prereferral strategies have strong intuitive appeal, little has been documented on their use in schools (Fuchs, Fuchs, Bahr, Fernstrom, & Stecker, 1990), or their success (Carter & Sugai, 1989).…”

Teacher Experiences of Prereferral Intervention Teams from a Self-Determination Perspective

“…Unfortunately, these findings are not novel. The teachers in Inman and Tollefson's (1988) research expressed similar frustrations. Not only did 90% comment that the team asked them to re-implement previously attempted interventions, but teachers who more frequently referred children to the team had more negative views of the team.…”

“…Of great concern are findings that teachers do not learn or use new strategies through their team involvement. A number of studies indicate that teams often suggest vague, unsubstantive interventions or strategies that referring teachers have already tried (Inman & Tollefson, 1988;Papalia-Berardi & Hall, 2007;Slonski-Fowler & Truscott, 2004;Truscott et al, 2005;Wilson et al, 1998). To this end, Wilson and colleagues (1998) noted that "the preponderance of interventions were initiated prior to teachers contacting the prereferral intervention team for assistance, after which the development of new strategies all but ceased in favor of continuing prior, unsuccessful efforts, and pursuing documentation activities as a prelude to initiating a special education referral" (p. 56).…”

“…Although not previously conceptualized as such, the existing research and suggested best practices for PITs and teacher consultation are clearly consistent with SDT. Factors identified or purported to be critical to team success, including providing teachers with substantive intervention suggestions (Inman & Tollefson, 1988;Slonski-Fowler & Truscott, 2004;Truscott et al, 2005;Wilson et al, 1998), addressing teacher knowledge and skill deficits (Caplan & Caplan, 1993;Kampwirth, 2003) to promote treatment integrity (Gresham, 1989;Flugum & Reschly, 1994;McDougal et al, 2005;Telzrow & Beebe, 2002), ensuring teacher acceptability (Eckert & Hintze, 2000;Kazdin, 1981;McDougal et al, 2000;Noell et al, 2005;Witt & Martens, 1988), structuring dialogue so that teacher input is encouraged and valued (Kampwirth, 2003;Pugach & Johnson, 1989, 2000Slonski-Fowler & Truscott, 2004), and providing teachers with emotional and logistical support (Athanasiou et al, 2002;Doll et al, 2005;Etschedit & Knesting, 2007;Fuchs et al, 1990;Slonski-Fowler & Truscott, 2004) can easily be viewed as social-contextual conditions that serve to satisfy teachers' basic psychological needs of competence, autonomy, and relatedness. In the section that follows, the existing literature on PITs and teacher consultation is reviewed through an SDT lens.…”