What is Student, Environment, Tasks and Tools (SETT)?

A strategy that helps teams gather and organize information that can be used to guide collaborative decisions about services that foster the educational success of students with disabilities. It's an ongoing, dynamic process which often is done separately from IEP meetings. Often a facilitator from the Intermediate Unit (IU) is a neutral party that listens to both sides. It's developed based on tools (supports-devices,services, strategies, accommodations, modifications, etc) teams must first develop a shared understanding of the student, the environment in which the student spends their time, and the tasks required for the students to do and learn to be an active participant in the learning processes that lead to educational success.

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When do you use SETT?

Parents can request a SETT meeting with their school district if their student continues to struggle meeting goals and/or making progress despite their IEP. It's also effective when you're working with a non-collaborative teacher who resists suggestions in the IEP meeting for supports that help your child succeed. You can write an email or send a letter to the school's special education department to request a SETT meeting to match a struggling student's needs with the most appropriate assistive technology options. Schools are set up different so the local IU can facilitate SETT meetings with the IEP team. Before the end of the meeting, schedule the next meeting until things are going more smoothly.

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Questions in the SETT Framework are...

• Designed to guide and deepen team discussions

• As each question is explored it is likely that many other questions come up

• The team is encouraged to keep talking until there is a consensus there is enough shared knowledge to make informed, reasonable decisions that is supported by data.

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Questions to consider when creating the SETT Framework

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Regarding the student:

• What does the student need to be able to do that is difficult or impossible to do independently at this time? (Talk, write, move about)

• What is the thing the students can't do where they need support to fully participate?

• What barriers keep the student from doing what they need to do?

• What are the student's current abilities related to these concerns?

  • vision/hearing

  • reading/writing skills

  • response time

  • motor skills

  • social skills

  • attention difficulties

  • endurance/fatigue

  • cognitive level

• Communication skills-how do they get their point across? with whom? what do they want to say?

• Computer skills-what platform? how familiar? word processing, editing? independence?

• What are the student's interests?

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Regarding the environment

• What are the physical environments in which the student best functions? Are there likely to be changes?

• What are the structure of those environments?

  • inclusion or mainstream setting? Self-contained class? How many students?

  • mobility requirements? transportation of equipment?

  • work independently, one on one, in a group

  • Materials and equipment that the students and teacher is using

  • stairs, push doors? (the arrangement/setup), lighting? noise levels?

• What materials, equipment and supports are available to the student? Are there likely to be changes?

• Transition issues? Position issues?

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Regarding tasks (be as specific as possible) focus needs to be on tasks that are derived from curricular demands).

What are the gaps within the functional and instructional demands for each environment? What specific learning tasks are essential in the student's achievement in the instructional environment that is aligned with their peers?  What activities support the curricular goals? what skills are needed to participate to the fullest? What are the critical elements of those tasks?

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• follow directions

• attend and listen to others

• ask questions

• answer questions

• writing letters and numbers, coloring

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Regarding tools

Tools include devices, services, strategies, training, accommodations, modifications-everything that is needed to help the student succeed. Tools need to address the needs of the student, issues in the environment that make it challenging for the student. Ask yourself, what is the most perfect tool for my child right now?

• High tech tools like i-pads, assistive technology

• Low tech or no tech tools like covering up extraneous info with another piece of paper, using a highlighter for students to locate and read the instructions or important information better. Writing tasks or instructions to remember it better.

• What tools or strategies can be used to motivate the student's performance?

• Plant the specifics of the trial and collect data on how effective they are.

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Other things to consider...

Time involved? Frequency?

Can activities be modified? How will technology promote inclusion into activities?

Everyone who will be involved needs to attend the meeting to ensure true collaboration. Contributions need to be respected and they need to be relevant to the conversation.

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Implementation

• Identify all of the people involved and their role in the implementation?

• Develop a timeline to properly assess how effective the plan is in intervention?

• What additional training do the teacher or staff need to successfully use these tools?

• How will you measure how successful or not successful the interventions are?

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It's important to schedule the next meeting while everyone is present. Continue to have meetings until the team finds a plan, system that is working for the student in the natural environment.

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