The graph has been flat for five weeks. It is tempting to change everything at once: new materials, new group, new goal. Then six weeks later nobody knows which change mattered.
A checklist slows that impulse in a useful way. Work through it in order. Each step is cheaper and quicker than the next one.
What the sources say to do first
NCII's decision rules handout says that when the trend or the median falls below the goal line, the team should consider adapting the intervention and assess fidelity. A PROGRESS Center module on intensifying instruction is more direct: before intensifying, educators should make sure current instruction is being delivered as designed, using something like a student intervention implementation log.
So the order is clear. Check the data and the delivery, then change the instruction.
The checklist
| # | Check | The question | If the answer is no |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Enough data | Has the minimum for your rule passed? | Keep collecting |
| 2 | Same measure | Same tool, form, setting, and timing each week? | Fix, and restart the count |
| 3 | The aimline | Is the goal realistic for this time frame? | Show the team the growth needed |
| 4 | Fidelity | Was the intervention delivered as planned? | Restore delivery, then re-check |
| 5 | Attendance | Did the student receive enough sessions? | Address the missed time |
| 6 | Dosage | Does the student get enough chances to respond? | Increase practice opportunities |
| 7 | Alignment | Does the lesson target this student's gap? | Retarget the content |
| 8 | Transfer | Can the student use the skill in new settings? | Teach and practice across settings |
| 9 | Cause | Do we know why the student is stuck? | Use diagnostic data |
| 10 | Decision | Is the change written, dated, and shared? | Update the plan and the graph |
Steps 1 to 3: is the data trustworthy?
Enough data. Check the minimum for your rule in decision rules: when to change an intervention. Fewer points than that is a reason to wait.
Same measure. A different passage level or a new scorer can move scores. Keep the conditions the same, and note any changes on the graph.
The aimline. NCII says that for students below benchmark, more than typical growth is often needed. If the goal asks for far more weekly growth than any typical rate, the line may be steeper than the instruction can support. That is a conversation about the goal, not a failure of the student.
Steps 4 and 5: was it delivered?
The PROGRESS Center module treats fidelity as the first gate. Pull out the implementation log, or the schedule, and count how many planned sessions happened and how long each ran. If half the sessions were missed, the line says little about the intervention.
Steps 6 to 8: three ways to intensify
The same module names three levers.
Dosage is the number of opportunities students have to practice and receive feedback. It can be raised by reducing group size, giving more response opportunities, using choral response or polling, or using peer-assisted learning or co-teaching, without necessarily adding time.
Alignment means focusing instruction on areas of need while limiting time on what is already mastered, and keeping a link to grade-level standards. The module suggests diagnostic assessments to find needs, and breaking complex skills into smaller parts.
Transfer means applying learned skills to new situations. The module says students with disabilities often struggle to generalize across contexts and assessments, so teachers may need to teach how a skill applies in other settings. The data may be flat because the student can do the task in the group but not on the probe.
Step 9: find the cause
NCII's data-based individualization process runs from a validated intervention and progress monitoring to diagnostic assessment (or a functional behavior assessment for behavior), then adaptation, then monitoring again. A student who does not respond goes back to diagnostic assessment. Guessing at a fix skips that step.
For behavior goals, NCII lists three things to consider when progress is not adequate: review the data to adapt or intensify the intervention; change the reinforcer or increase its schedule; and revisit the ABC data to be sure the intervention matches the function. See ABC data sheets explained.
Step 10: write the change down
Mark the date of any change on the graph with a vertical line and a label. Then the next weeks of data belong to a new phase. Change one thing at a time where you can, so the next review shows which change helped.
Share the graph and the note with the family. Whether a change needs an IEP meeting or an amendment depends on what you change and on your district's procedures, so ask your case manager.
A worked example
A student's fluency scores have been flat for six weeks. The plan calls for 20 sessions of 30 minutes in that time. The implementation log shows 11 sessions, and three of them ran about 15 minutes because of assemblies and a testing week.
Check 1 passes: six weeks of weekly data is enough for the four-point rule. Check 2 passes: the same probe, the same room. Check 3 passes: the growth needed is close to a typical rate. Check 4 fails. Eleven sessions of 20, some short, is well under the plan. Before touching the lessons, the team protects the schedule: a fixed time, a backup time for missed days, and a note when a session is cut short.
Six weeks later the log shows 18 of 20 sessions. If the line is still flat after that, the team has earned the right to ask about dosage, alignment, and transfer. If it climbs, the first fix was the right one, and nobody had to change the intervention at all.
Slips to avoid
- Changing three things at once. You will not know which one worked.
- Skipping fidelity. The flat line may be a scheduling problem.
- Blaming the student. The data describe the instruction as much as the student.
- Moving the goal to match the line. Change the goal only through the team.
For a plan that makes a weekly check realistic, see a weekly data routine for a caseload. Terms are in the glossary.
What this checklist cannot decide
The sources describe what to check. They do not say which intervention to use. That depends on the student and on your district's adopted programs. If you are unsure, ask your special education director or a school psychologist.