Current prereferral intervention team (PIT) regulations, prevalence, membership, goals, and intervention information from two national telephone surveys are reported. Survey 1 obtained information about state PIT regulations and recommendations from employees of the 51 state education departments (50 states and Washington, DC). Survey 2 obtained information about elementary schools' PIT prevalence, membership, goals, and common intervention recommendations from employees of 200 elementary schools (4 per state). Survey 1 results indicated that although 69% of states mandate prereferral intervention and 86% require or recommend PITs, states provided little direction about how to implement such services (e.g., only 14% specified or recommended team composition). Survey 2 results indicated that 85% of schools had PITs, which were composed predominantly of multidisciplinary specialists (e.g., administrators and school psychologists). Remedial teachers and parents were sometimes PIT members, but community representatives were seldom on the PIT. There was no clear school-based consensus on PIT goals. PITs most commonly recommended additional services, testing, or easy classroom interventions and seldom recommended substantive instructional modifications. Existing PITs seldom approached problems or interventions from an ecological perspective. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
Success in collaborative school-based consultation depends on whether teachers implement interventions suggested by consultants. In business literature, Rational Persuasion (RP) has been identified as one potentially effective way to influence consultee perceptions about proposed interventions. RP includes intervention information, why it is important to decide to use the intervention, and potential objections to the intervention with arguments against those objections. The influence of these RP elements on potential school-based consultees has not been studied. This preliminary analog study investigated whether presenting RP importance and objections for behavioral interventions influenced teachers' ratings of acceptability, effectiveness, and commitment-to-implement. Participants included 71 teachers enrolled in graduate education courses. The within-subject design included three video vignettes of each of three conditions for three different behavioral interventions (total of nine possible videos, three presented to each group). Results suggest that the influence of RP on acceptability, perceived effectiveness, and commitment-to-implement ratings was inconsistent. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
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