Child Study Team


Child Study Process

The goal of the Child Study Team (CST) is to maximize individual student success in the regular education classroom and to serve as a screening mechanism for students who may be in need of special services.  The CST discusses resources to help the student to be successful through cooperation between the home and school, and the coordination of all school resources.

Any elementary student who experiences academic or behavioral problems may be a candidate for the CST.  If you have an academic, behavioral, or social concern, please contact the child’s teacher to schedule a meeting. The first meeting is between the parent and the teacher to discuss concerns and come up with a plan together to assist the student in the area(s) of need.

**Please note that students must attend school daily and on time to be successful in school.**

If there are behavior concerns, discuss these with the child’s teacher. The first meeting is between the parent and the teacher to discuss concerns and come up with a plan together to assist the student in the area(s) of need. Consider starting a parent/teacher communication log, a reward chart, reteaching behavioral expectations, use of targeted positive reinforcement, and more. 

If you still have concerns after the parent/ teacher meeting and after interventions have been implemented, please contact the teacher and/or the school counselor to begin Phase 2 of the CST process. 

For Speech, OT, and/or PT concerns, please contact the child’s teacher directly for a possible screening.

After the parent/teacher meeting is held and the student is still struggling, a Phase 2 CST meeting is scheduled.  This meeting includes the classroom teacher(s), principal, school psychologist, reading specialist, math interventionist, school counselor, and the parent.  The school nurse, speech clinician, a learning support teacher, or other school personnel may be invited to participate when needed.  The Core CST is often utilized for the initial meeting to put interventions into place.  If so, parents would be invited to attend the second meeting. 

CST meetings are typically held in the school conference room or may be held remotely.  They are 20-30 minutes long.  At this meeting the team will discuss interventions and accommodations to help the student to be successful.  If a parent has behavior concerns, please bring a list of behaviors that are seen frequently.  The team will come up with 1-3 goals for the student to work towards. Parents and teachers should discuss the goals with the student.

After the CST meeting, a CST Action Plan is written up and distributed to participants in the meeting.  It will list interventions and goals the team has discussed.  Interventions will be put into place for approximately 6-8 weeks.  The parent and teacher work together to determine the child’s progress and whether another CST meeting should be held. 

If student still needs assistance, the team will discuss other interventions to put into place as well as the next steps to help the student to be successful.

Resources on parenting activities, academic websites, various resources for parents such as behavior plans, correcting misbehavior at home, stress and anger management activities, friendship problems, home contracts, enforcing rules and consequences and many others are available in the School Counselor’s office.