[6 Tips] Effective Intervention Programs

Having an outstanding intervention program is a necessity for identifying struggling students and helping them to get back on track academically. However, with all of the buzzwords and trends related to intervention floating around, it can be difficult to determine what truly makes a program effective. Read on for some simple tips that apply for any kind of intervention program.

1. Leverage your data

Make the most of your student data by identifying discrete, measurable objectives and monitoring them in a regular, consistent manner. This data can be used to determine where your students fall on the instructional hierarchy and tailor instruction appropriately to move them along to the next level. Tools like Exact Path can help to put this type of relevant data at your fingertips so that you can easily understand and act on it.

2. Utilize assessments correctly

Within Intervention frameworks, assessments should be used to serve two different purposes: identification of students who are at-risk and to monitor student progress. Assessment performance should be used to identify targeted interventions for different student groups, and determine if students in targeted groups are making progress as expected. A comprehensive and balanced assessment system supplies educators with the right information to inform instruction, and can help to place and prescribe content for your students so that you can spend more time working with them directly on the topics they need help with.

3. Be consistent in your processes 

One of the most important aspects of any intervention program is a clearly and consistently implemented process. Teachers and administrators school or district-wide (depending on the program) should utilize the same instructional practices and invention criteria. In a successful intervention program, all students are part of a single research-based instructional system.

4. Identify and intervene early 

Intervening early on when a student is struggling is critical, and in order to identify these students you have to have the proper procedures, training, and assessments in place. If you are missing any of these elements it is much easier for students to fall through the cracks and for the student to become discouraged. Every student wants to be successful, and with the proper programs in place every student can find success, even if it looks a little different than the person sitting next to them. As students reach the later grade levels, intervention programs can also be a critical dropout prevention strategy. By identifying struggling students early on, they can be kept engaged and motivated and stay on track to graduate.

5. Focus on professional development 

A huge predictor of success in regards to intervention programs is the fidelity of implementation, which refers to the correct and consistent use of curriculum and instructional practices. What’s the best way to ensure this? Prepare teachers and administrators! Make regular training sessions a priority, keep lines of communication open, and offer resources to keep everyone involved in the program following the same processes.

6. Listen to the research

At the core of every successful intervention program is scientific, evidence-based curriculum and instructional practices. All students should be provided with rigorous and relevant core curriculum that is aligned to standards.

Do you want to learn more about Intervention programs and how Edmentum can partner with your school or district to provide effective solutions? Explore our programs here, and check out our blog, Acceleration vs. Remediation vs. Intervention: What’s the Difference?

This post was originally published January 2015 by Sarah Cornelius and has been updated.