What procedure should a pre-referral team follow before formally referring a student for special education services?

Before formally referring a student for special education services, the pre-referral team should document the effects of intervention strategies. This process is crucial because it ensures that the team has already attempted various interventions or supports within the general education setting to address the student's unique challenges. By systematically documenting these interventions, the team gathers reliable data on what has been tried, how effective those strategies were, and whether the student continues to struggle despite those efforts.

This documentation serves multiple purposes: it helps to clarify the specific academic or behavioral concerns being addressed, demonstrates to parents and other stakeholders that the school has made efforts to support the student, and provides valuable information that can guide future interventions or evaluations. Effective documentation also aids in creating a clear picture of the student's needs and helps to establish whether the severity of their challenges warrants a referral for special education services.

Implementing a standardized test, while informative, does not capture the comprehensive data necessary to understand the impact of interventions tailored specifically for the student. Gathering testimonies from classmates might yield subjective impressions but lacks the structured observations required for a robust assessment. Conducting social skills training, while potentially beneficial, does not fit into the pre-referral framework, which prioritizes data collection and intervention analysis before formal assessments are initiated.