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

Prereferral intervention teams (PITs) have been shown to successfully address student difficulties. Teacher perceptions of the process have garnered less attention. Using self-determination theory (SDT), a records review (Study 1) and a prospective study followed teachers through their PIT experience (Study 2) and examined positive characteristics of the PIT process. Study 1 found that in 117 records, 610f the teams had high "intervention novelty," whereby team members proposed new or modified interventions; 14% advised teachers to continue using existing interventions or did not propose any interventions. The study found that intervention novelty was linked to "intervention utility" or usefulness. Additionally, when taking into account intervention novelty, PIT-proposed interventions addressing non-academic referral goals were more likely to be useful than those addressing academic referral goals. Study 2 followed 33 teachers through the team process. The study found that teachers on teams with high levels of intervention novelty and teachers who experienced their teams as supportive and caring were more likely to have students who made progress on referral goals. Implications for schools and PITs are discussed.

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