P.~yCholoRy
in
the Schools
Volume
31.
October
1994
THE STATUS AND IMPACT OF PREREFERRAL INTERVENTION:
“WE NEED A BETTER WAY TO DETERMINE SUCCESS”
MICHAEL
W.
BAHR
Western Michigan University
This study assessed the current status
of
preferral practices in the state
of
Michigan.
Directors
of
special education for intermediate school districts
(N=
49)
responded
to a survey addressing issues such as whether prereferral intervention was required,
the suspected handicaps for which it is used, the nature
of
the interventions, and who
designs, implements, and evaluates interventions. Respondents also commented
on
the success
of
prereferral practices. Results indicated that (a) most districts either
re-
quire or recommend prereferral practices,
(b)
interventions are used predominantly
with students suspected of mild handicaps, and (c) academic and behavior manage-
ment strategies are equally prevalent intervention strategies. The respondents’ judg-
ment
of
intermittent success for prereferral interventions and the prominence
of
school
psychologists as evaluators
of
interventions prompt discussion of how psychologists
can assist in improving prereferral practices.
Interest in prereferral intervention has increased dramatically in recent years.
Although school-based interventions, particularly within a consultation framework, are
hardly considered new educational phenomena (Graden,
1989),
the systematic develop-
ment of prereferral intervention, which is designed to reduce referrals for special educa-
tion and to increase the accuracy of placement rates for children who are referred, is
novel (Ysseldyke, Pianta, Christenson, Wang,
&
Algozzine,
1983).
More important,
prereferral intervention exemplifies an educational practice that addresses the needs of
at-risk learners in general education, enhances the skills of school professionals through
collaborative problem solving, and embodies the spirit of least restrictive environment.
From a research perspective, the relative infancy of prereferral intervention (Graden,
Casey.
&
Christenson,
1985)
has precluded the establishment of an extensive knowledge
base. To date, only a few empirical studies (Bahr, Fuchs, Fuchs, Fernstrom,
&
Stecker,
1993;
Chalfant
&
Pysh,
1989;
Fuchs, Fuchs,
&
Bahr,
1990;
Fuchs, Fuchs, Bahr, Fern-
strom,
&
Stecker,
1990;
Graden, Casey,
&
Bonstrom,
1985)
investigating prereferral
implementations have been completed. In a recent review, Sindelar, Griffin, Smith, and
Watanabe
(1992)
concluded that preliminary findings from these studies were encouraging
and widespread implementation should ensue. Sindelar et al.
(1992)
hastened to add,
however, that future research on prereferral intervention should incorporate traditional
classroom interventions as well as more proactive practices derived from the research
on effective schools (for example, see Bossert,
1985,
and Brophy,
1983).
In addition to implementation studies, survey research has also provided useful in-
formation on prereferral practices. In
a
poll of state directors of special education, Carter
and Sugai
(1989)
found that a majority
(67%)
of states require
or
recommend prereferral
Research reported in this paper was supported by a grant from the College
of
Education, Western Michigan
University.
The author gratefully acknowledges Dr. Melanie Warnke for her editorial suggestions and Ms. Carolyn
Cardwell for her technical assistance.
Portions of this paper were presented at the annual meeting
of
the National Association
of
School
Psychologists, Nashville,
TN,
1992.
Correspondence and requests for reprints should be sent to Michael W. Bahr, Department
of
Counselor
Education and Counseling Psychology, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan,
49008-5195.
309