What are the four essential elements of a proactive intervention plan and which do you

believe is the most critical to the success of a plan?

There is an old saying “Don’t fix it if it ain’t broke” which may work fine for some
mechanical devices but what happens when someone’s life depends upon the function of
the equipment? In this case, someone’s life does depend upon function and that someone
is the student.

The first element of a proactive intervention plan is simply having a published plan which
outlines student, parent, and teacher roles and responsibilities before a student starts to
fail. By acknowledging that a plan is in place, you put the students and parents on notice
that failures are NOT an expectation instead a path forward for all students will be
described with certain triggers.

The second element of the PIP is a described triggering mechanism such as a GPA that is
starting to slip or a demonstrated difficulty with word problems on the last homework or
quiz. Note that the triggering element is typically before mid-terms or finals when it is
too late to go back and fix a broken understanding.

The third element is having some basic intervention plan in place so students know what
they will need to do in order to increase understanding. In the example above, it could be
some additional vocabulary work, It could be student writing word problems from
concrete data so that they understand what elements to strip from a word problem when
they cross paths later.

The fourth element is shared accountability. This means that both student and teacher are
responsible for resolving the learning issue. The teacher has certain duties which she has
already began to fulfill by having a plan. The student has certain responsibilities to follow
the plan as laid out and to help the teacher diagnose what else may be wrong. For ex, “I
understand the math but I have difficulty reading the problems.”

There is as with all things a “Fifth element” just like in the movies. That Fifth element is
a demonstration of faith (love) that the student is capable of success. If we believe in our
students it makes it so much easier for them to believe in themselves. Yes I added this
last part and it is not in the book.

2. What important error should we avoid in helping students to grapple with challenging
materials?

The biggest defect in a teaching plan is one in which a teacher knows an area where the
students will have difficulty, they anticipate it but they don’t communicate it until after
the lesson is over.
If a teacher knows a passage or concept will be difficult for students for a particular
reason, they should focus students on that aspect in advance. This doesn’t mean removing
any sense of discovery for the students, it means understanding areas where students have
difficulty and covering those areas in advance of work efforts.

3. How are the supports we should put in place for advanced students similar to the
supports we have in place for struggling students?

Both sets of supports have similar triggering mechanisms and anticipations in place but in
the case of the advanced students, the interventions will typically seek to mystify or
increase complexity/uncertainty to provide a more challenging work effort for the
mastery student.. If your student already knows how to solve quadratics, how can you
make them a bit more challenging so that the mastery student develops some nuances the
others might not get. Remember this student could be a future math teacher for your own
children!

4. What is your current process for supporting struggling students and how do you need
to adjust it to be more proactive?

My current process for helping stuggling students is walking around and helping them for
five or ten minutes during class and also offering after school sessions on Monday,
Tuesday, Wednesday. All of these interventions are optional and no triggers are currently
in place except for informal ones to get students to come to class. Perhaps a more
evaluative process is needed with some anticipatory guidelines so that both I and my
students know when they will be expected to come in for help.