Serving Unit 5 and El Paso-Gridley District 11

Collaborative Action and Resources for Educational Success

CARES teams are in place in all twenty Unit 5 schools. The primary function of the team is to provide support in the form of intervention ideas, strategies, and resources to teachers who refer students experiencing some type of difficulty in the school setting. The critical goal is to find the best combination of methods, materials, and strategies to assist the student. Areas of difficulty vary; they may include, but are not limited to, academic concerns, social-emotional concerns, language/communication concerns, health concerns, attention concerns, and motor concerns. Teachers are required to notify the child’s parent(s) when they make a CARES referral, and, in some cases, a parent may be invited to the CARES team meeting. A parent, in consultation with the child’s teacher, may also request that his/her child be referred to CARES. CARES teams are also used to respond to a parent request for a 504 Plan or a referral for a full and individual evaluation. It is important to note that a gifted student can also be referred to CARES if the teacher would like ideas and strategies for better meeting the needs of the gifted student within the classroom.

CARES team members typically include a building administrator, a school psychologist, a school social worker, a special educator, and general education teachers, called CARES Case Managers, who have agreed to take on additional responsibilities. Depending on the nature of the concern other team members may include a speech therapist, a Title 1 Reading teacher, an occupational or physical therapist, a gifted lead teacher, etc. At the junior and senior high level a school counselor is a regular team member.

Once a teacher refers a student to CARES the building administrator assigns a CARES Case Manager to the teacher. The role of the CARES Case Manager is to work collaboratively with the teacher to precisely define the nature of the referral concern, the current functioning level of the student in the area of concern, and the interventions that the teacher has already tried and the student’s response to those interventions. All of this information, along with information from the student’s cumulative school file (group test scores, attendance information, grades, etc.), assures that the team will have a comprehensive picture of the student and will begin intervention planning with a clear understanding of the student’s needs.

Team members brainstorm a variety of intervention ideas, supports, and resources. The teacher selects those that are the most appropriate for the student. The team/CARES Case Manager then help the teacher select a data collection method and data chart that will be used to track the effectiveness of the intervention over the next several weeks. A follow-up meeting is scheduled at the conclusion of the initial CARES meeting. All of the decisions and recommendations are recorded on a formal CARES Accommodation Plan. The parents, team members, and any other teacher/support staff member who works with the student on a regular basis receive a copy of the plan and is expected to follow the recommendations that relate to them. Interventions are typically things that can be done at school, but at times interventions include things that parents can do to assist their child. At the follow-up meeting the teacher and CARES Case Manager review the progress the student made using the data gathered during the intervention period. Team members, based on the data, then decide next steps.

Depending on the outcomes achieved by the student, next steps could include a continuation of the successful strategies/intervention, an alteration of the intervention, continued monitoring, or a decision to refer the student for a full and individual evaluation if the team suspects that a disability may be present. Although a student may be referred for a full and individual evaluation at the first CARES team meeting, it is generally advisable to attempt interventions and note the student’s response to interventions to assist in determining if the student’s difficulty is a result of a disability or is, instead, a result of simply needing a slightly different instructional approach, more practice opportunities, or more direct instruction. General questions about the CARES process should be directed to Mackinaw Valley Special Education Association at 454-2220. If, however, you have questions about whether your child would benefit from a CARES referral, please talk with your child’s teacher.