Running head: PYRAMID

Pyramid of Intervention
Gregory Boston
Grand Canyon University:
EDA-561
April 23, 2012

Pyramid of Intervention Ideally, each scholar should be given an equivalent opportunity for education that will lend the appropriate amount of supports that is needed to reach their educational goals and to provide for their academic needs. This right references an individual’s constitutional entitlement and it is the right of each scholar. It is the basis of their right to receive the same free and appropriate instruction as their peers. When scholars are having difficulties accomplishing their academic goals and are not achieving as excepted, adequate supports are to be provided that will promote the integration of the pupil. The Pyramid of Intervention (POI) allows for a process that supports the scholars that continue to struggle to reach designated goals. Pyramid of Intervention is a term that is assigned to apply to systems of support. Such supports collectively collaboratively make available the needed supports for the student that has difficulties using traditional strategies. The mentioned supports and accommodations that may be able to generate a significant difference in the progression of educational achievements of the struggling learner. The author of this essay will attempt to elaborate on the definition and the purpose of the Pyramid of Intervention. It also elaborates on the use of the POI, and the process of creating one for a given district. The paper will outline the relationship among the Pyramid of Intervention, the program of study, and instructional intervention or lines of attack. The author will address the allowances and accommodations that are believed to be helpful for the Pyramid of Intervention by essayist.
The Purpose The primary purpose of Pyramid of Intervention is to allow for a pre-referral process and an appropriate use of resources that will minimize the need for enrollment into the exceptional children’s program. It allows for procedures to begin addressing the child’s individual needs and for support persons to begin working identifying accommodations that are best fitted to what may really promote success. This process allows for the involvement of “parents and instructors” (Miller, 2008). Through this process is a creation of the idea that there is a shared obligation to the learner and that the student’s education is embraced with a system that has multiple procedures in place to monitor while assuring the completion of and advancement within educational goals. Through the reauthorization process, a new portion of the Response to Intervention was identified. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) of 2006, a new system was put into place to assist individuals through the Pyramid of Intervention that was designed to accommodate children who struggle with traditional learning strategies. It utilizes the multiple leveled processes that allow for the collection of data which will dictate services to be provided to the individual student. The Pyramid of Intervention works within a Response to Intervention through a scaffolding approach to classifying the scholars and the interventions that will be most productive to use for the pupil. Pyramid of Intervention ideally identify and assess the strategies to resolve their efficiency at growing abilities of distressed learners.
Development for Schools In an attempt to generate Pyramid of Intervention for a classroom, school or district it is of most importance that one gives recognition to the school’s existing phase of the plan for intervention. Multiple stages of development exist. The four stages are pre-initiation, initiation, development, and sustaining. In the stage of the Pre-Initiation there is not a plan in place to supervise or monitor the pupil’s accomplishment or lack thereof. This demonstrates that the school is deficient in their collegial essentials that led to the learners’ success. Collegial institutions are motivated through professional advancement and pupil achievement (Glickman, Gordon, & Ross-Gordon, 2004). In the event that there is no measure in place the pupil’s achievement towards the desired growth is limited. In the beginning stages, accomplishments are identified, described and appraised. In the initial stage, supports are provided tutorial or interventions prior to and after normal school hours that are designed to aid the student in reaching their goals. These added resources are not mandatory and as a part of the development stage, similar internal school efforts are given as supports to the student who has demonstrated difficulties in their learning. Ultimately, this indicates that at certain times of the day scholars are given special support services. Numerous of the identified scholars are given support; however there is a need and opportunity for scholars chosen not to receive the assistance that is made available. Finally, the sustaining stage embraces the developmental process that are found to be more proactive, and a part of coordinated structure. In this area accomplishment are monitored on a consistent bases and the scholars must use supports that are provided.
Following the determination of the phase in Pyramid of Intervention, it is very significant that there is an understanding of the chosen interventions that will be included in the pyramid. Seven levels exist in the Pyramid of Intervention. The first Step calls for the classification of strategies that can be used in the school setting. These strategies can be complicated and can be recognized throughout the school. They may be a simple as students helping one another on special assignments. In the second Step each strategy is categorized as being either that of an academic nature or that of a behavioral focus. This is better described as category A or category B. Ranging from the least restrictive to the most restrictive. A ranking from intervention levels one through ten can be used with the highest level of restriction being represented by ten. In the third Step the use of data is needed to determine the potency of the chosen intervention and how it is classified. This entails an alliance of purpose and procedure with every strategy used. A good example is, when trying to increase problem solving ability of math skills of a student, it may not make much sense to try strategies initially designed to increase the fluency of the students reading. In the fourth Step resources are sought out that differ from those used before. Research is done on the any additional programs that may be used by other institutions or in other areas that may support the scholar. It is noted as being important that strategies be data and researched based and that the program be assistive in nature. Step five develops a structure to trail pupil achievement and strategies that are to be utilized within the plan. This is information that should be assessed to establish the impact on the pupil achievement. Step six permits for a collaboration of observations found within the interventional pyramid to all those that are vested and stand to gain from the additional input. In the final step seven a review of strategies is completed and it is determined if some will be added and others taken away to increase the progress of the student and best support the student and the instructors needs. Even though the teacher is a key component of the documentation of the data and relevant information that may initially be a part of the Student Success Team (SST) may also be recognized to incessantly assess pupil and instructor information. (Schonewise &Weichel, 2007)
The support of the instructor and Student Success Team can be utilized in multiple methods if advancement is not noted and the student continues to fall short of the current goals and the standards of their grade level. An instructor should be communicating with the student’s parents, modifying the amount and type of interventional maintenance, and asking for meeting with the Student Success Team to ensure success. The Student Success Team is also given the responsibility of being aware of details of the student and their needs. Every stakeholder is charged with meeting one another and reevaluating the relevance of strategies suggested.
POI, Curriculum, and Instructional Strategies It has already been noted that the teacher should be the lead recorder of data and interventions used. It has been further noted that the process is for the most part, the instructor’s responsibility to provide the presentation of the program of study. The curriculum that is to be presented should be state endorsed and should include a multitude of resources that has accumulated and accommodations for success in the class must be made. Instructors are obligated to the monitoring of the progress that the scholar is making and the required observation by assessing them in both a formal and informal way. Since all scholars learn at varying rates, instructors will have knowledge on what a specific student needs to make progress possible when compared to their fellow students. Intervention can be used here to see if a smaller resolution to the learning task can be applied.
Further Consideration/Recommendations Additional factors for other issues considerations related to the Pyramid of Intervention could very well be based on the processes used by the classroom teacher. The premise for the Pyramid of Instruction is that there is a primary teacher available in the student’s class and that they are available and certified to teach the typical grade level program of study for the chosen subject matter. Provided there is a deviation or those inconsistencies are found, the child’s ability to advance academically is also affected. It is possible that regrouping may need occur or that additional teachers be brought in to equation to assure the success of the scholars that have been identified as having struggled. An instructor who struggles with being able to a given subject may miss the fact that the child is struggling in that area as well. Sometimes, coming up with strategies with fellow teachers can be used to assist the child that is struggling. If the pupil is not demonstrating benefit from the strategies being applied, there are a number of students who may be best served through the individualized attention to the student’s needs. In conclusion, there is a common vision that keeps the pupil’s accomplishments as the center focus. This vision is one that will cultivate all learners. With specialized attention specifically on the educational needs of the student, an assessment can occur to determine what each child may need to be successful. This assures that the focal point remains the children and their academic successes, and supports that need to be provided to the student during the learning process. In the event that a student begins to have difficulties, the recommended supports should be made available and put to practice to help enhance the probability of the pupil’s success. This essay was designed to outline the process and the purpose of the Pyramid of Intervention and the methods by which the POI is used to generate strategies to strengthen the productivity of each student within the school setting. This paper demonstrates the association among the Pyramid of Intervention, the program of study and instructional strategies, which are designed to outline the author’s thoughts and commendations for a Pyramid of Intervention. Keeping the needs of the scholar at the center, equal educational opportunities can be afforded to the individual learner.
References
Glickman, C., Gordon, S. & Ross-Gordon, J. (2004). Supervision and Instructional Leadership: A Developmental Approach. Sixth Edition. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Kaiser Elementary. (2001). Kaiser Elementary School: POI. Retrieved from http://www.kaiserelementary.org/about/The_Pyramid_of_Intervention.pdf
Miller, N. J. (2008). Pyramid of Interventions: Results of a School Counselor's Action Research Study at One Suburban Middle School. Georgia School Counselors Association Journal, 1(1), 16-26. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Schonewise, E., & Weichel, M. (2007). Pyramid of interventions: A progression of academic support. Principal Leadership, 8(4), 28-28-31. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/233336205?accountid=27965