Using Get it Got it Go! Reports within a Decision Making Framework: Screening, Testing, and Evaluating with IGDIs

• What is the Decision Making Model?
• How do I use the reports to monitor my children's progress?
• How do I use the reports to decide if my child needs extra help?
• How do I determine what kind of supports my child needs?
• How will I know if the supports are working?

What is the Decision Making Model?

The Decision Making Model consists of 5 interrelated phases:

1. monitor
2. test/decide
3. generate options
4. implement options
5. evaluate options.

IGDIs are used during the first (Monitor) , second (Test/Decide) , and fifth (Evaluate Options) phases of the model.

Monitor: How do I use the reports to monitor my children's progress?

Monitor children's development over time using IGDIs. Use the data management tools in the “Get it” section to record and manage individual child profiles and IGDI scores. Create individual reports using the report feature to identify children in need of intervention, and keep track of progress of an individual.

Test/Decide: How do I use the reports to decide if a child needs extra help?

Use the IGDI to validate the need for intervention. Create an individual report for a child using the report feature to compare the child's progress on an IGDI with a pre-specified long term criterion (the aim line) or local standard (your group trend line). Intervention is needed when performance on one or repeated assessments indicates children are not making desired rates of progress toward prespecified long term criteria.

Generate Options: How do I determine what kind of supports my child needs?

Explore potential solutions to increase development. While IGDIs are well-suited to monitoring and evaluating developmental status and treatment effectiveness, they provide little information for planning changes in treatment. IGDIs were designed to be indicators of growth in a developmental area, just as thermometers, scales, and height measures are used to provide general information about whether a child is growing at a healthy rate. When a child's temperature, weight, or height is different from what is determined to be healthy, the doctor will look at other information about the child, or do more specific testing to identify the problem to treat. Likewise, when IGDIs indicate a need for change in intervention, interventionists and support professionals must turn to other data sources, including interviews and observations or curriculum-based assessment to achieve this aim.

1. The first step in determining what to treat is to explore possible explanations for the child's poor progress in an IGDI.

The following are examples of general exploratory questions to ask.

• What is our history with this child?
• Can we rule out a medical cause?
• Do we know what the child knows and what the child can do?
• Do we know the extent of the caregiver's support for these skills?

2. The second step is to identify opportunities with the child, between the caregivers and the child, and in the child's learning environment where intervention might be most effective. Research tells us that potential intervention areas usually include one or more of the following: (a) skills mastered by the child and skills to be taught, (b) child/caregiver behaviors most likely to enable the learning of these skills, and (c) elements of the child's learning environment most responsible for teaching these skills and supporting their generalization.

The following are examples of questions to identify potential intervention opportunities:

• Does the child have an opportunity to perform the behavior?
• When and how often? Where in their learning conditions should opportunities occur?
• Is the child supported and taught as needed?

3. After identifying the potential intervention area(s), the third step is to identify one or more specific and measurable variables within the area(s) that you can change to increase growth in the IGDI. The selected variable(s) will be your intervention target(s). Intervention targets might be one or more of the following : (a) the naturally occurring or structured situations in which instructional opportunities might be imbedded to teach these skills, (b) skills taught or needed in the child's daily life, and (c) opportunities for both generalization programming and inclusion of the child in age-typical activities and settings.

The following are examples of questions to help you identify and begin planning your intervention targets:

• What kind of intervention program should we provide?
• What environmental modifications should we make to facilitate development?
• What are the goals/objectives of instruction?
• What skills should we teach and how should we teach them?
• What instructional strategies/arrangements will be used for the intervention?

4. After specifying the intervention target(s), the fourth step is to identify potential instruction strategies or intervention procedures. For each intervention option, clearly state its goal(s), describe the current and desired behaviors and situations, and define the procedures and time necessary to carry out the intervention. Consider consulting or collaborating with parents, other teachers and education staff, and other individuals with the expertise and/or resources to help generate options. These various individuals can contribute to skills taught or needed in the child's daily life and opportunities for both generalization programming and inclusion of the child in age-typical activities and settings . The internet is also a useful source for information and ideas. For example, visit www.ed.gov for links to various intervention resources.

5. After you have generated intervention options, select one to implement, based on your knowledge of the child, available resources, and available empirical information.

The following are examples of questions to help you decide on an intervention to implement:

• How easy will the intervention be to implement?
• How long will the intervention need to be implemented before I should expect to see results?
• How reliable and valid is the intervention?

Implement Treatment

Implement the intervention as intended, paying attention to the details and time required in each step of the intervention procedure.

Evaluate Treatment: How will I know that the supports are working? What should I do if the intervention isn't working?

Evaluate the effects of intervention over time by using the appropriate IGDI to monitor progress during the intervention. Create an individual report for the child using the report feature to compare the child's progress on an IGDI with the pre-specified long term criterion or local standard. If the intervention does not produce desired results, the Decision Making Model cycles back to generating options (new interventions) to implement and evaluate.

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