Team Model

To optimize student learning outcomes, it is important to facilitate good communication among all team members. The parents, therapists, teachers, coaches, and tutors must try to work together to help the students.

When dealing with a child with learning challenges such as Attention Deficit Disorder, teachers often implement specific interventions designed to encourage new, healthy behaviors or skills while extinguishing certain maladaptive behaviors. Chris is a sociable eleven-year-old falling behind in several classes due to his lack of attention. He is a kind, friendly young man with a good relationship with his parents. When stepping into the classroom, Chris immediately becomes distracted and inattentive. After several minutes of class, his mind wanders, and he begins chatting with his classmates, disrupting the class. His teachers initiated a positive behavior support plan to keep Chris on-task and engaged in the lessons. The teachers give him a break every twenty minutes to rest or use the bathroom. If he cannot sustain his attention any longer, he needs to raise his hand and ask his teachers if he can take a break or use the restroom.

Additionally, Chris is given extra time to complete assignments and can leave class with a teaching assistant to finish his work in the resource room. We communicated with his parents to encourage them to implement a similar home-based system. His parents helped Chris create a study schedule with frequent breaks. We had regular check-ins with the parents to monitor Chris’ progress and determine if the interventions were effective.

After several weeks, Chris’ disruptive behavior had diminished noticeably. His off-task behavior was being replaced by hand raising and asking for help. Over several months, Chris learned he could finish his work if he asked for assistance and used his words. His verbal outbursts in class diminished, and his work improved.