Academic Supports

Academic supports, such as the PASS program, are designed to support students by explicitly connecting the function of their (mis)behavior with academic difficulties. Preparing and Supporting Self-Managers (PASS) is designed as a Targeted Group Intervention, supported outside the general classroom for students not responding to supports provided at the school-wide and classroom levels. In some schools, existing group interventions (e.g. homework support club) can be efficiently ‘morphed’ into a PASS program with measures for assessing progress and success.

Adaptations to PASS:
Any adaptation made to PASS should be consistent with these principles:

1. The system should support the ‘function of behavior’ either by meeting the need (e.g. providing high rate of adult attention) or by reducing the need (e.g. decreasing the need to avoid a classroom task by increasing mastery)
2. The system should provide data relative to:
3. What we are trying to achieve through the intervention (what behaviors will be increase or decreased)
4. How evidence of progress will be gathered, summarized and shared
5. When progress will be reviewed and monitored
6. PASS is available only after assurance that effective school-wide and classroom systems are in place and implemented with fidelity

Possible Functions of Behavior Addressed: Escape / Avoid classroom tasks or activities; Escape / Avoid Homework; Gain Adult Attention

Problems not addressed by PASS:

1. Underlying and unaddressed learning disability that impacts the learning of presented material

2. Underlying and unaddressed emotional, behavioral or mental disorder influencing function of behavior

Personnel PASS ‘Big Idea’: Students are taught and supported by a PASS Mentor using a planning process for successful homework completion

FTE required (approximately one hour per day per Mentor): Requires a skilled instructor(s). Each may mentor up to 10 students per day. Tasks include:

1. Supporting a homework planning process

2. Providing support for organizational or content-related (general tutoring) practice

3. Gathering and summarizing data for progress assessment

4. Attending Targeted Team progress / review meetings

PASS should be delivered to no more than 10 students per PASS Mentor.
Schools with Teams or Grade Levels that would produce greater than 10 participants will need multiple mentors (could be structured by team or grade level).

Process includes: 1) Gathering baseline data pertaining to homework completion a. Homework assigned v. Homework completed Worksheet completed by teachers b. Homework completion predictors (i.e. types of HW likely to be completed v. types of HW not likely to be completed) 2) Identification of progress goals (individualized and incremental) 3) Teaching a homework planning process that includes the following plan components:  Student knows each assignment and can accurately articulate expectations for each assignment  Student knows and has the materials necessary to complete each assignment  Student has the requisite skills / knowledge to complete the assignment  Student can accurately estimate the amount of time it will take to complete each assignment  Student has identified a planned start time and end time that allows for adequate time to complete the assignments  Student incorporates self-knowledge into the plan (e.g. length of time able to spend at one time on a particular task)  Student has a plan to discuss with teacher any specific issues that impact work completion  Student has identified a distraction-free place to complete HW  Student has a plan for what to do when stuck

4) teaching of the homework planning process includes: a. Clear verbal instruction with visual tools for clarification b. Ample opportunity to practice the planning process c. Frequent positive feedback  Acknowledgement for successful planning d. Corrective feedback  Remind and reteach e. Assessment of progress (charting daily progress) f. Monitoring progress over time

PASS