Prevention and Early Intervention through Intervention Assistance Programs

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Abstract
Intervention assistance programs are gaining increasing support as an alternative to the special education placement-oriented service delivery model that characterizes school psychology throughout mast of North America. Emphasizing consultative assistance to parents, classroom teachers and other school personnel, intervention assistance provides for an immediate response to student-related concerns. The research literature indicates that consultation, the basis for intervention assistance, is an effective problem-solving methodology. In addition to early problem resolution, studies also support the preventive value of consultation in demonstrating that it can lead to a variety of outcomes, such as increased teacher understanding of student-related problems, and improved teacher-student interactions. Further research regarding the benefits of intervention assistance programs as comprehensive and integrated service delivery systems is still needed. Nevertheless, preliminary results suggest that this approach can result in fewer teacher referrals for determination of special education eligibility, but an increase in the number of children served overall.