Frequently Asked Questions about
Instructional Support Teams (IST)
1. Is IST a replacement for a child study team?
The simple answer is no. The goals, focus, and problem solving processes of the two teams are quite different.
The goal of the child study team is to determine if a student requires a comprehensive evaluation to determine eligibility for special education. Even when the child study team collaborates with the referring source through discussion and suggestions, the classroom teacher is usually left to implement the classroom recommendations with little assistance from the team members. The focus of child study teams is on student characteristics, student deficits and the underlying causes that lie within the student. The referral system to child study is based on a student failing to a significant degree.
The goal of the instructional support team is to enhance, improve and increase student and staff performance. Teachers are encouraged to request assistance at the first signs of a problem rather than wait for failure. The critical arena for success is the student-teacher relationship within the general education classroom. Therefore, the focus is on instruction rather than student characteristics. Through a systematic problem solving process the instructional support case manager and requesting teacher work together to identify student needs and develop interventions to create an instructional match. The teacher is provided on-going assistance and follow-up until an agreed upon goal for the student(s) is attained. The problem solving community is the foundation for professional and student learning while the instructional match and setting is the focus of the problem solving. The intended outcome of IST is a more instructionally responsive school for students and teachers alike.
2. Do teachers have to use the IST process before referring a student to the
child study team?
Instructional support teams (IST) are not a part of the eligibility process for special education. However, because the team employs a collaborative, data driven process that uses curriculum-based assessment and research based instructional strategies implemented in the classroom, it provides a depth of information that is useful for child study teams. The IST process provides the classroom teacher with a clearer understanding of what the student knows, what the student can do, how the student thinks, and how the student approaches what he/she is unsure of. In addition, the teacher has data to share with the child study team to explain how the student responded to the intervention(s) that were used in the classroom. All of this information can be beneficial to the child study team.
The need for child study teams diminishes when a well functioning IST exists in a building. One does not supplant the other. Requesting assistance from an IST is voluntary and should not be prerequisite for making a referral to child study. Because the goals of the two teams are so different, it is possible for a teacher to refer to both teams at the same time or a case manager and a teacher may decide after working with a student that a referral to child study is necessary. Thus, the two teams are complementary.
3. How can a student be taught on instructional level when SOLs are on
grade level?
Teaching students at their instructional level when the SOLs are at grade level can be accomplished by differentiating instruction, teaching essential concepts and vocabulary specific to the SOL content area, and aligning your assessments to mirror the SOL assessment format. Differentiating instruction allows for extending or scaffolding instruction to accommodate a variety of learners having various instructional levels. Incorporating differentiation into daily classroom instruction is essential to maintaining instructional level within the general education curriculum. Some examples of differentiation include using flexible groupings and reciprocal reading activities such as Trio-Quad Reading. Both activities are used with reading materials at a variety of reading levels. The different materials allow students to keep pace with their peers while reading instructional level materials on the same content. Secondly, it is important to teach critical content vocabulary and concepts from the SOL Curriculum Framework (located on the VDOE website) to increase student understanding of key vocabulary and accelerate mastery of critical concepts required by the SOL. Using advanced graphic organizers and mnemonics in concept or vocabulary lessons, for example, allows instruction to be aligned with a variety of instructional levels. Lastly, aligning of classroom assessment formats with the SOL format allows students to become visually accustomed to what the SOL looks like, the multiple choice format, and the use of SOL language ( i.e. direction words, key vocabulary, and concept terms). Using differentiated instruction to teach essential content, vocabulary, and concepts, in addition to aligning assessments with the SOL will meet a variety of instructional levels within the classroom making it possible for students to navigate the grade level SOL with success!
4. Do you have to do an instructional assessment or can you use other
assessments in its place?
Every case, behavior or academic, requires an Instructional Assessment to identify the concern and determine the student’s instructional level. The instructional assessment is an essential component of the Instructional Support Team (IST) process because it makes it possible to match the design of the intervention to the students’ needs. IST case managers must always, for each case, not only administer an Instructional Assessment but also have the requesting teacher present and participating in the assessment. When a case manager and teacher are in the initial part of problem identification in the IST process, they may use any information, such as class work or standardized test results, to help clarify the area of concern. The additional information is not required as part of the IST process. The additional information should be considered optional, whereas, the data from the Instructional Assessment is considered mandatory.
5. Is the Instructional Support Teacher always a full-time position?
Yes, the Virginia IST model is designed for a full time Instructional Support Teacher.
6. How does a school fund an IST teacher position full time?
There are several options for funding the Instructional Support Teacher position. Many school systems are finding creative ways to pool funding from both general and special education sources. For example, some school systems are using a combination of Title 2 monies for professional development with funds from special education. The justification for the use of Title 2 funds is that the IST teacher provides professional development through his/her role as the facilitator of the team and through working with teachers in their classrooms. Another option for funding is monies also from special education but designated by IDEA 2004 legislation as being earmarked for early intervening activities. The special education director in your school division can answer additional questions regarding this source of funding. Grants are another source for funding the IST teacher position. One school division partnered with a university and is receiving funding through the university’s research grant. Different grants are available that might be a source for the monies needed to support the IST teacher position.
7. How do you find the time to do the intervention when the pacing guides
move the curriculum forward?
When the case manager and teacher design an intervention to address a student concern, it is important that they consider a strategy that can be used regularly in the general education curriculum to benefit not only the student with the concern, but other students with similar concerns. Many of these interventions are short-term and designed to fill the gap so students will be able to keep pace with the class. Additionally, developing instruction using the SOL Curriculum Framework (located on the VDOE website) provides teachers with the essential, understandings, knowledge, and skills to be taught in a specific content area. Textbooks are considered a resource and generally are not aligned with the SOL assessments and include information not on the SOL. Textbook teaching guides often present an amount of information that can overload a student’s working memory thereby impacting mastery of the critical content. Designing interventions that benefit many students including the student with a concern and using the essential knowledge outlined in the SOL Curriculum Framework that honors working memory, better prepares students for the SOL assessments and allows teachers to complete course instruction in step with the pacing guide.
8. Is parental permission required for IST?
Formal parental permission is not required before requesting assistance to the Instructional Support Team (IST), but there are several key points to consider while supporting parents since they are key stakeholders in the process. The classroom teacher requesting assistance is the main contact person with families and can inform them when considering IST. Parents are less likely to feel caught off guard if they have been provided information describing the IST function as a professional collaboration effort in their child’s school. This can be accomplished through a presentation at a PTA meeting, or in grade level informational sessions led by the IST teacher, team members, or principal. This kind of communication can take place at the beginning of the school year, or as soon as possible. Parents can be informed that a focus of the IST is to provide instructional support to classroom teachers and the team will be working toward developing a culture of collaboration and problem solving within their child’s school. In order to ensure support, parents may be given opportunities to ask questions and offer input as it relates to the IST process. Although IST doesn’t require parent permission similar to the paperwork involved in the child study eligibility process, the culture of the school and the administrators will best determine if the IST will simply notify parents, or require written permission from parents when beginning a case.
9. How many initiatives can a school successfully implement at one time?
Because the Instructional Support Team model is a complex, systems change initiative that has a ‘steep’ learning curve during the first phase, a school should consider limiting the number of other intensive initiatives in which they are involved. The school must look at how many new initiatives are already in the process of being implemented in the school/school system. Although IST can complement many initiatives already in place, too many new initiatives can dilute the effectiveness of all the initiatives. Therefore, a school should closely examine the needs of their students and faculty, what the accreditation data supports, if there are other projects that might conflict with IST, and what resources presently exist within the building that would support this initiative.
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