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Running head: NEW MEXICO’S SAT REFERRAL PACKET Selby 1

Professional Analysis of Developmental Appropriateness

Camille Selby

Seattle Pacific University


Professional Analysis of Developmental Appropriateness

As educators or school counselors preparing to enter the field, it is critical to take a look

at educational resources that are actually being used and apply a critical lens of evaluation for

developmental appropriateness. While in our chosen professions, we may experience little or no

control over the items with which we are expected to use to evaluate students; however, while

this control may not be in our hands, it remains vital to identify and explore the positives and

negatives of each and every educational artifact we are expected to use. Throughout this course,

it has become increasingly evident that the way in which students develop is certainly along a

continuum, a multi-faceted process, and while there may be ‘norms,’ this process of development

is a highly individualized and complex in its progression. With that key concept in mind, I hope

to aid my future students in ways that are appropriate for their own unique locale on the

continuum of development.

At this stage in my career, I have had some, yet very limited, experience in the classroom

setting. I graduated from Gonzaga University in the spring of 2010, having completed my

education certification program. I am now a licensed teacher for secondary education in the in

the content areas of English/language arts and social studies. I completed my student teaching in

a seventh grade setting with a humanities class, and thoroughly loved the experience. Since

graduating, I am now in my first year as a substitute teacher, and am loving this experience, as

well. In both of these unique educational experiences, I have had limited access to, and certainly

have not participated in, critical evaluation of educational resources used in the schools. Since

participating in this class, my eyes have certainly been opened to the necessity of taking a step

back to critically evaluate the documents for developmental appropriateness that we are expected

to use with and for our students. Our students are extremely individualized young people, and it


is important to therefore approach the forms and programs we use with them with a full

understanding that what works well for one student, may not be appropriate to use with another.

Just because students’ ages may be the same, does not necessarily mean their development is.

The educational artifact I am choosing to evaluate is called ‘The Student Assistance

Team (SAT) and the Three-Tier Model of Student Intervention: New Mexico’s Response to

Intervention (RtI) Framework.’ This program was developed by the Governor, the Office of the

Secretary of Education, as well as the New Mexico Public Education Commission in June of

2004, and then later updated in 2007 and 2009. I found it very interesting that these documents

were originally developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education. This program is

incredibly detailed at 201 pages long, and therefore there is a lot of information! This

information is wide-ranging: from specific laws, policy, funding, programs, and pedagogy for

detailed and in-depth looks at the three different tiers of this program, as well as including

mention of studies with extensive findings, a glossary of terms, and many other forms for use in

schools (copyright free). Therefore, while I see great value in each of these aspects of the

program, for the purposes of this assignment, I am largely skipping over much of the beginning

and middle sections, and focusing specifically on pages 169-176, which is called the ‘SAT

Referral Packet’ (see Appendix A). This referral packet is intended to be used by a classroom

teacher, who is recommending to the SAT team that a student to be evaluated and considered for

Tier 2 interventions.

Before diving in to the evaluation of the SAT Referral Packet, a few definitions must first

be provided. The Student Assistance Team, or SAT, is

a cooperative, school-based group of people that assists students, parents, and teachers in seeking positive solutions for concerns about individual students. Its purpose is to provide supplementary support to students who are experiencing difficulties that are preventing them from benefiting from general education,


because they are either performing below or above expectations in academics and/or behavior. The SAT is made up of the student’s teacher and a core group that anchors the team. Core team members may vary by school, but should include at minimum professional staff from school administration, regular education, and specialists and/or resource areas as needed. (New Mexico Public Education Department, 2009, p.146)

Furthermore, the three tiers of this program have set goals and defining characteristics. In Tier 1,

interventions are provided in the general education classroom, and this tier is designed to be

preventative and proactive. The primary goal is for the majority (roughly 80%) of students in a

school to respond successfully in the regular education classroom (p. 8-9). In Tier 2, students

who have not responded significantly to Tier 1 are referred to the school’s SAT and may receive

an individual intervention plan. This plan could include more intense instruction, either

individually or in a small group, and is provided in addition to the general education curriculum

at Tier 1. The primary goal is to be supplemental, only include some students (roughly 15% or

less), and have targeted individualized interventions prescribed by the SAT (p. 9-10). In Tier 3, a

student qualifies for special education services and receives specially-designed instruction and

related services through an Individualized Education Program (IEP).The primary goal is to have

few students (18% or less), and to be highly individualized, intensive, and incorporate specially

designed instruction and services (p. 10-11).

This program is incredibly comprehensive and its uses are far-ranging. The process of

assessment, intervention, and progress monitoring in an RtI framework is applicable at any age

and in any subject area, grades K-12. As defined in the glossary, the Response to Intervention

(RtI) is a “multi-tiered organizational framework that uses a set of increasingly intensive

academic or behavioral supports, matched to student need, as a system for making educational

programming and eligibility decisions. It is a continuum of school-wide support” (New Mexico

Public Education Department, 2009, p. 129). This framework seeks ways to ensure success for


all students, and provide early assistance to students who are experiencing academic and/or

behavioral challenges, or for students who need opportunities for advanced learning (p. 6).

Furthermore, RtI is “part of a process that schools use to determine if a student has a learning

disability and needs special education services” (p. 6, original emphasis).

Overall, I believe this SAT Referral Packet has more strengths than weaknesses. One

reason I decided to choose this packet is because, when looking at the top portion, it is clear that

the intended user is the classroom teacher, as I will one day be. In this way, the packet seemed

very applicable to my future career, as opposed to forms that are best suited for administrators,

parents, or school counselors. As the aforementioned program details may suggest, this program

is highly specific, and it therefore follows that its referral would be as well. While on the whole I

believe its in-depth and pretty thorough nature to be a strength, a potential weakness could be a

perceived daunting nature of this form. Taking the time to be thorough, as this forms demands,

could possibly dissuade and already overwhelmed and busy classroom educator. However, while

there are sections for write-in responses, there are additionally sections where the checking of

boxes is all that is required. In terms of time, I believe this can be a potential time saver for many

teachers. Furthermore, the selections in these boxes are very thorough, as well; in the three

sections in which they appear, the number of selections possible range from 20 to 40 items. Not

only does this give a comprehensive air, it additionally may provide teachers with considerations

they may have otherwise neglected to think about, therefore prompting more comprehensive

answers.

In total, this referral packet has 5 sections for classroom teachers to fill out,

encompassing total of 7 pages. In section A of this form, the directions state to “mark only the

areas of concern that significantly affect the student’s classroom experiences. Rate your concern


as (H) High or (S) Some. If you are not sure, do not mark it” (New Mexico Public Education

Department, 2009, p. 169, original emphasis). What follows is a list of 30 items which the

teacher may choose from, with a brief write-in section as well in regards to academic progress.

Among this list are items such as “physical attributes,” “attendance,” “self-awareness,” “memory

skills,” “lack of responsibility,” “vocabulary,” and many more (p. 169). I believe this list to be

decently comprehensive, including items of physical, mental, behavioral, and emotional/social in

nature. In addition to these boxes, the remaining page of this first section has write-in sections

for medical/heath, behavior, emotional/social, and ‘other’ concerns. This first section, therefore,

encompasses the many layers of the student, with a nod to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Because

this form is used for K-12 school settings, I like that these terms are not overly specified, and

therefore can be applied to whichever developmental stages the student in question happens to be

at. However, this means that what the classroom teacher is marking is most likely determined by

comparing the student to his/her classmates. Therefore, the classroom teacher must determine a

baseline for what is ‘normal’ or ‘average’ development, suggesting an acceptance of stage theory

in general.

What most concerns me in this section is the directional comments at the beginning. The

classroom teacher is asked only to mark areas of high or some concern, thereby ignoring any

potential budding or developing concerns; I would like to see an emerging concern (E)

designation, as well as a direction for a positive (P) designation. Marking items as an emerging

concern may help direct the SAT to arising issues, therefore catching them in their early stages.

Marking items that the student does well could help the SAT to celebrate the student’s areas of

success, and perhaps help guide their interventions. Albert Bandura, noted learning theorist,

believes that “our self efficacy appraisals exert powerful effects on our levels of motivation.


When we are good at tasks, we work on them vigorously and persist with them despite

temporary setbacks” (Crain, 2011, p. 213). As a classroom teacher, helping students to build

self-efficacy is an important aspect in their development, as well as to their appraisal of self

worth. I believe that if educators do not recognize student achievements and strengths, the

likelihood that students acknowledge their own strengths is far reduced.

In fact, in all of these 5 sections, there is only one brief mention of noting students’

strengths, and this, section B, takes up merely a quarter of a page. As previously mentioned,

there are sections of this referral packet that have boxes to check off, which I feel can be used as

a time saver as well as for prompting more comprehensive answers; however, the students

strengths sections on this form is only in write-in style, providing merely 4 lines to insert text. At

a glance, the scant nature of this section leads me to believe that the authors of this program do

not expect many student strengths. Whether or not this impression is accurate, as the teacher

filling out this form, I would interpret the brevity of this section to mean that the SAT is far more

interested in the students’ weaknesses than their strengths. I think this could be a potentially

dangerous assumption to make, yet the space allowance as it currently stands leads my thinking

in that direction. According to stage theorist Erik Erikson, students age 6 to 11 are typically in

what he calls the latency stage (stage 4), in which the student struggles between industry and

inferiority in order to reach competence (Crain, 2011, p. 290). This stage begins roughly at the

time students enter school, and as each stage builds upon the previous stages, is highly important

for older students, as well. At this stage, “the danger… is an excessive feeling of inadequacy and

inferiority… And all too often, schools fail to discover and encourage the individual’s special

talents” (p. 290). Helping our students to become unimpaired by excessive feelings of inferiority,

regardless of if they are struggling in certain areas or thriving, should be one of a classroom


educator’s goals. This referral packet neglects the importance of this aspect of student

development.

Section C of this packet is called ‘prior actions taken to address the concern.’ I really like

this section because it shifts the focus from solely regarding the student and puts some

responsibility in the actions of the classroom teacher. This first section in part C is interested in

the actions taken by the classroom teacher specifically in regards to differentiated instruction,

changing student products, and the physical classroom environment. Additionally, this section

also has an area to check off boxes of interventions and accommodations already attempted.

With regard to developmental theorist Lev Semenobich Vygostsky, this section addresses the

need to find a combination of intrinsic student development and external development.

Importantly, Vygotsky understood a need for teacher-directed instruction, and noted that “before

children can perform tasks alone, they can perform then in collaboration with others, receiving

some guidance or support” (Crain, 2011, p. 244). Specifically in relation to these aspects of

section C of the referral, scaffolding and individual accommodations can and should be made for

the individual student of concern. In this vein, the student’s “zone of proximal development,” or

the student’s ability individually as compared to their ability with adult or peer assistance and/or

guidance, can be better addressed to assess the student’s true potential (p. 245). Furthermore, this

section of the referral packet can also be supported in regards to Albert Bandura’s developmental

theory in regards to the power of modeling and imitation, as well as vicarious reinforcement.

Through the scaffolding of instruction and assessment, as well as the physical environment of the

classroom, the student in question can observe the behavior modeled by the teacher, his/her

peers, as well as nonliving models, and therefore formulate expectations of outcomes without

direction action on the part of the particular student.


Although brief, Section D has some potentially interesting features. Section D asks the

classroom teacher to attach documents in regards to three potential categories: academic

difficulties, medical concern, or behavioral concern. The key wording that attracts me to this

section is the reference to “if the student is having __ difficulties…” (New Mexico Public

Education Department., 2009, p. 172, emphasis added). Additionally, I am attracted to the need

for attaching work samples, known medical information, and behavioral documentation if the

classroom teacher identifies a concern in these any of these categories. This section demonstrates

to me the acknowledgement by the SAT that academic performance is not the only area of

concern for a child, but rather, a whole-child interest. Just as children cannot be broken down

into their parts, neither can their areas of difficulty. Each student is highly individual, and so, too,

are their developmental concerns.

While optional, Section E is the longest in this SAT referral packet. This section is

entitled ‘teacher input for addressing problem behaviors,’ and as such, addresses student

behavior in a variety of ways. The supplemental material in this packets notes that “many

students who demonstrate problematic behavior also experience academic challenges. And,

students who struggle academically may eventually demonstrate social, emotional, and

interpersonal difficulties in efforts to avoid frustrating academic tasks” (New Mexico Public

Education Department, 2009, p. 106). I really value the way this program recognizes and places

worth in the integrated nature that perhaps seemingly distinct issues truly relate and play upon

each other. The first part of this behavior section prompts the teacher to identify the problem

behavior, yet to do so in a highly descriptive manner. To this extent, the packet provides an

example response to guide the teacher’s comments. Again, it is the details such as these that

highlight the thorough nature of this packet. In order to gain the largest picture possible to best


help the student, the SAT demands detailed assessment by the classroom teacher. The second

section of part E can be rationalized by Bandura’s theory of vicarious reinforcement, in regards

to prediction of the most probable outcomes from behavior, as noted previously. This second part

of section E provides space to note potential triggers students may experience, and therefore goes

beyond merely acknowledging areas of concern but additionally attempts to understand the

motivation of problematic behavior. For example, this section prompts the teacher to note “more

likely, less likely, or unlikely” behavioral concerns for situations such as “particular days of the

week’” “during certain types of activities,” “interacting with certain types of people,” etc., and

additionally prompts the classroom teacher to note the specific considerations that go along with

such triggers (p. 173). Part 3 of section E deals with student motivation, such as to “get

attention,” “to avoid attention,” “to avoid embarrassment,” etc. (p. 173). This section of

motivation really pleases me, for it requires the classroom teacher to go beyond

acknowledgement of the behavior concern and attempt to rationalize it from the student’s

perspective. In reference to Erikson’s stage theory of development, all people struggle between

the tensions of multiple desires and impulses, resulting (typically) in rationalized ego strengths

(Crain 2011). Student actions and behaviors are likely the results of these tensions occurring

within them, as they try to rationalized their trust, autonomy, and identity, to name a few. In

order to help regain control over the student’s behavior, a classroom teacher may be interested in

employing conditioning techniques such as learning theorist B. F. Skinner promoted. While

techniques such as operant conditioning and reinforcements may aid in behavior changes,

classroom educators should note that these techniques do not confront the emotion and

motivation that drives that student behavior. Modifying student behavior, often through

favorable consequences or the removal of negative consequences, can certainly be attempted;


however, educators must deny Skinner’s “empty organism” theory, in which he examined only

overt responses and ignored internal states and motivations (Crain, 2011, p. 194). Reinforcers

may be a way to gain control back from a student, but educators must not be satisfied by

behavioral modifications in deference to addressing the thoughts, emotions, and drives that cause

adverse behaviors in the first place.

Lastly in this referral packet, a section entitled ‘SAT Chairperson Certification’ states

The SAT Chairperson reviews grade- or class-level student performance data and compares it to the referred student. If that data reveals that this student is part of a group of students in that grade or class who are showing problems that could possibly be linked to a curricular or instruction issue, then the SAT chairperson should refer this student back to the grade-level team or other team who is overseeing Tier 1 interventions. (New Mexico Public Education Department, 2009, p. 175)

These statements interest me because they clearly demonstrate that a comparison of the student

in question must be made to the other students in that grade or class, thereby implying a

necessity of defining norms for a typically developing child. This, therefore, would favor a stage

theory of development, such as theorists Jean Piaget and Erik Erikson espouse. While this

statement comes at the very end of the SAT referral packet, I think it illuminates a key

assumption and dependence on stage theory in general, and a reliance on a ‘normal’

developmental progression, specifically.

While it is not a part of the SAT referral packet itself, I am including the ‘Notice of and

Invitation to SAT Meeting’ (see Appendix B) form as a part of my professional analysis of

developmental appropriateness because I believe it demonstrates the SAT to have an

understanding that the systems at play in a child’s life significantly impact their development.

The invitation to the parents from the SAT states: “We need your input and participation in

working with us to meet your child’s needs. We invite you to attend the SAT meeting to


contribute your valuable insight” (New Mexico Public Education Department, 2009, p. 176).

While attendance at the SAT meeting is not mandatory for the parents, I think parents are an

invaluable resource in creating real and valuable change for the child, and believe the SAT to

reference this concept in their invitation. Furthermore, according to scholar Patte Barth, parental

actions have a large impact on student's academic achievement (Barth 2011). Including this

invitation strengthens my approval of this program all the more.

The state of New Mexico has, in my opinion, created a comprehensive and thorough

program of identifying, monitoring, and supporting their public school students in a proactive

manner so as to deliver assistance and intervention in the most time sensitive means possible.

Scholar G. Reid Lyon and his colleagues substantiate that students served by prevention

programs using high-quality, effective instruction and interventions can lead to a reduction in the

number of students with reading problems by 70% or more (Lyon, et. al., 2001). As a future

English and social studies teacher, this statistic interests me greatly, and using a comprehensive

and developmentally appropriate intervention program such as the one New Mexico has created

truly invigorates me. While there are potential areas of concern for developmental

appropriateness associated with this program, its positives outweighs the negatives in my eyes.

Approaching its potential usefulness with the critical eye this course has helped to hone, I am

excited more than ever to enter the world of education, and feel confident in my abilities to

determine developmental appropriateness for various educational resources with which I will be

expected to use.


References

Barth, P. (2011). What can parents do?. American School Board Journal, 198(11), 32-33.

Crain, W. C. (2011). Theories of development: Concepts and applications. Boston, MA: Prentice Hall.

Gresham, F. (2001). Responsiveness to Intervention: An Alternative Approach to the

Identification of Learning Disabilities. Executive Summary. Retrieved from

http://web.ebs cohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=4 &hi d=125&sid=7feecc23-3904-429d-

861eae4df216909f%4 0sessionmgr111&bdata= ZQ%3d%3d#db =eric&AN=ED458755

Lyon, G., Fletcher, J., Shaywirtz S., Shaywitz, B., Torgeson, J., Wood, F., Schulte, A.,

and Olson, R. (2001) “Rethinking learning disabilities.” In C.E. Finn Jr., A.J. Rotherham,

and C.R. Hokanson Jr. (Eds.) Rethinking Special Education for a New Century (pp 259-

287). Washington, DC: Thomas B. Fordham Foundation.

New Mexico Public Education Department. (2009). The student assistance team (SAT) and the

three-tier model of student intervention: A guidance and resource manual for New

Mexico’s response to intervention (RtI) framework. Santa Fe, New Mexico. Retrieved

from http://ped.state.nm.us/sat3tier/sat3tierModelComplete.pdf

http://ped.state.nm.us/sat3tier/sat3tierModelComplete.pdf


Appendix A


Appendix B

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