Student Support

What is a student support team?

Also known as Intervention Teams, School-based Problem Solving Teams, or Child Study teams, Student Support Teams (SSTs) are a formalized structure for a group of educators, administrators, and other staff to meet regularly to address concerns about individual students or groups of students. SSTs are designed to support students both by anticipating and preventing issues before they occur and by providing intervention and/or resources when issues do arise. At the same time, SSTs support staff members by introducing teachers who bring an issue to the team to new strategies and building their capacity to support a wide range of students; teachers can generalize successful new strategies beyond the SST process to meet the needs of other students in their classrooms, including struggling students and students who have already mastered the content being taught. Often, SSTs are also responsible for academic and non-academic whole-school initiatives, particularly those related to positive school culture and climate and academic tiered systems of support.