Do you notice a student struggling?
Education
Intervention Central (Review)
Do you notice a student struggling?
An intervention may be needed if their grades are falling or their behavior is becoming increasingly worse. Intervening with a child can be a daunting prospect. Still, thankfully, websites like Intervention Central can provide you with support and resources to help guide you and your students down a successful intervention path. Browse our Intervention Central site review below.
The website predominately focuses on two kinds of intervention:
- Academic intervention
- Behavioral intervention
Education resources
What is an academic intervention?
According to Intervention Central, an academic intervention is a teacher’s actions once they notice a student or entire class is struggling with their work. For example, suppose a usually mathematically gifted student is struggling with fractions. In that case, an academic intervention may be needed to help them understand fractions to prevent them from falling behind in class. An academic intervention can involve providing the student with a timetable to complete extra work and resources to help them learn and practice a topic in more detail.
How can Intervention Central help with an academic intervention?
Intervention Central offers a database of useful intervention tools, including:
- Intervention apps
- How to deal with work/test anxiety
- Resources organized by subject/topic
- Cooperative learning exercises and tips
As the academic intervention section of the website is organized via subject and topic, it is easy to find resources to help a student with a particular academic intervention, e.g., for a child struggling with mathematics, you can browse the ‘Math’ or ‘Early Math Fluency’ resources.
You do not have to wait until a student is at a crisis level to use Intervention Central or stage an intervention. You can utilize the reading material and resources on Intervention Central as soon as you notice a slip in the student’s grades or attitude towards a certain subject. The website is simple and intuitive to use, which is one of the contributing factors to why Education World has awarded the website five stars
What is a behavioral intervention?
Behavioral intervention may be required for several reasons. For example, it can motivate students, address the causes of negative student behavior, or challenge students that are not pushing themselves. There, therefore, is no set way to conduct a behavioral intervention. It should be unique to the child, their behavior, and their circumstance, e.g., issues at home should be considered.
How can Intervention Central help with behavioral interventions?
Similarly to their educational intervention webpage, Intervention Central lists resources for behavioral intervention in clear sections, for example:
- How to diffuse a situation
- Communication tools
- How to help children with special needs
- Motivation activities
- Resources for how to challenge students
Often, when a child displays behavior problems, it can indicate larger problems such as trouble at home or bullying. This is why using a website such as Intervention Central is essential to ensure you approach the intervention sensitively and productively. The last thing you want to do, after all, is cause the situation to get worse or alienate the child.
Other website features
Check out these extra features:
Videos
The website has a dedicated video section full of informative intervention advice, guidance, and tips. The how-to videos are focused more on academic intentions and offer easy step-by-step processes to address specific academic issues. Even if you are not currently planning an academic or behavioral intervention, the short training values are incredibly valuable as they also offer general teaching tips and ensure, should you need to prepare an intervention, you will have the tools and knowledge to know how to do so successfully.
Products
Though most of the resources listed are free to use, the website features products that can be purchased through the website to help you conduct a successful intervention, such as an online course in behavior intervention strategies. The website offers a breakdown and quick overview of each product and course to ensure that if you make a purchase, you will purchase the right product for your needs.
Workshops
If you find the answers you are looking for on Intervention Central but would like to engage with the website further, the website founder and creator, Jim Wright, conducts regular workshops that you may be able to experience. The website lists the workshops available, which are usually conducted upon request.
The final verdict
Intervention Central is a website with a lot of value if you need resources to conduct an academic or behavioral intervention. Intervention Central can help you prepare for the future and advance your teaching skills even if you do not currently need to conduct an intervention.
