The intent of BTAM is to use information about the student and their behavior to determine the right types of interventions that will simultaneously benefit the student (address the concerning behavior to decrease the risk of harm) and also ensure the safety of the school community.
cite page 63 Ch 9: How Do BTAM Teams Develop Intervention Plans?
BTAM teams using a standard set of actions for every student they assess (our first response option) is counter to this goal.
cite page 63 Ch 9: How Do BTAM Teams Develop Intervention Plans?
Sample (N = 1380) · Appendix A table base (respondents answering the table question; see note for tables)
This was least commonly selected by principals, with only 16 percent indicating that their BTAM responded the same way in every case referred.
cite page 63 Ch 9: How Do BTAM Teams Develop Intervention Plans?
The other three responses described programs that customized intervention planning in different ways and reflected increasingly robust implementation of BTAM practices.
cite page 63 Ch 9: How Do BTAM Teams Develop Intervention Plans?
Sample (N = 1380) · Appendix A table base (respondents answering the table question; see note for tables)
The most common approach or option, selected by one-third of respondents, was that BTAM teams rely on their members to “bring intervention options from their individual professional disciplines to the table” during intervention planning.
cite page 63 Ch 9: How Do BTAM Teams Develop Intervention Plans?
Ensuring that this happens is a strong driver behind recommendations or even requirements for BTAM teams to be multidisciplinary (see, e.g., NTAC, 2018).
cite page 63 Ch 9: How Do BTAM Teams Develop Intervention Plans?
Notably, such practice also relies heavily on having the right people “at the table” for every case; if key BTAM team members are regularly absent from meetings or team meetings are unplanned or a team is affected by frequent staff turnover, a school’s BTAM program might reach inconsistent decisions about which interventions to use from case to case.
cite page 63 Ch 9: How Do BTAM Teams Develop Intervention Plans?
The other two approaches/options include building systems and decision aids that help teams design intervention plans, essentially providing a “support system for the team” to build a strong and consistent process for selecting interventions across different students assessed by the team while still developing plans that are consistent for students’ needs.
cite page 63 Ch 9: How Do BTAM Teams Develop Intervention Plans?
Both include building an inventory of interventions that are available to the school, so the team is not reliant on the memory and attendance of individual team members to be aware of what intervention options are available to meet a student’s needs.
cite page 63 Ch 9: How Do BTAM Teams Develop Intervention Plans?
Building such an inventory is a recommended practice in some BTAM models and in other models for school-based behavioral management (e.g., PBIS or MTSS).
cite page 63 Ch 9: How Do BTAM Teams Develop Intervention Plans?
Sample (N = 1380) · Appendix A table base (respondents answering the table question; see note for tables)
Twenty-eight percent of respondents indicated that their teams used such an inventory but did not have additional decision support tools to help them do so.
cite page 63 Ch 9: How Do BTAM Teams Develop Intervention Plans?
The most robust approach/option supplements the intervention inventory with structured decision support tools that help teams select interventions tailored to the student’s needs.
cite page 63 Ch 9: How Do BTAM Teams Develop Intervention Plans?
Sample (N = 1380) · Appendix A table base (respondents answering the table question; see note for tables)
Just under a quarter of respondents (23 percent) indicated that their BTAM team had both an intervention inventory and decision support tool that helped them as they designed intervention plans.
cite page 63 Ch 9: How Do BTAM Teams Develop Intervention Plans?
Compared with more ad hoc approaches, structured intervention planning—supported by tools and inventories—may help ensure airer and more consistent outcomes across students.
cite page 63 Ch 9: How Do BTAM Teams Develop Intervention Plans?
Sample (N = 1380) · Appendix A table base (respondents answering the table question; see note for tables)
Because both of these response options included having an intervention inventory available, taken together they indicate that more than half of schools (51 percent) support intervention planning with an inventory of available intervention options.
cite page 63 Ch 9: How Do BTAM Teams Develop Intervention Plans?
Sample (N = 1379) · Appendix A table base (respondents answering the table question; see note for tables)
According to principals’ reports, 91 percent of school BTAM teams typically involve parents or guardians of the referred student in the intervention and safety planning process; 84 percent also noted involving the referred student in the process.
cite page 63 Ch 9: How Do BTAM Teams Develop Intervention Plans?
Principals indicated that parents and students were generally consulted to provide information that informs the team’s decisions, as opposed to directly participating in planning decisions.
cite page 63 Ch 9: How Do BTAM Teams Develop Intervention Plans?
Sample (N = 1379) · Appendix A table base (respondents answering the table question; see note for tables)
For example, 72 percent of schools consulted with parents or guardians, but only 19 percent allowed parents to directly participate in planning decisions.
cite page 63 Ch 9: How Do BTAM Teams Develop Intervention Plans?
In short, although parents provide added value to the intervention planning process thanks to their knowledge, awareness, and buy-in, principals confirmed that trained BTAM team members are responsible for ultimately selecting appropriate interventions and supports.
cite page 63 Ch 9: How Do BTAM Teams Develop Intervention Plans?
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