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Early Intervention Program (EIP)

The Early Intervention Program (EIP) is designed to serve students in grades K – 5 who are at risk of not reaching or maintaining academic grade level proficiency, as defined in the state Early Intervention Program Guidelines. The purpose of EIP is to help students reach grade level performance in the shortest possible time.

Students may qualify for EIP in reading and/or in mathematics. Fulton County Schools, in conjunction with the guidance provided by the Georgia Department of Education, has a rigorous, data-based identification process for determining if students will benefit from interventions through EIP. Students may qualify for the program based on a minimum of two standardized and normed scores that fall below the specified threshold of EIP candidacy. As the purpose of EIP is to address particular academic skills deficit, the importance of determining academic risk is a key component of EIP. 

Program Structure
The program design is developed in coordination with regular instruction and other educational programs. Instruction provided through the Early Intervention Program must go above and beyond the general education instruction. To address a specific academic skill, interventions and progress monitoring are used to target the specific skill deficit and data collection methods are used to monitor the impact of the intervention over time. Development and evaluation of the program involves teachers, administrators, and parents at the school level. The Early Intervention Program includes four components:

  • Staff
  • Delivery Models
  • Class Size
  • Instructional Segments of Service

Staff
The Early Intervention Program is staffed by certified teachers with experience and expertise in teaching students with diverse needs and abilities. Early intervention funds provide additional staff beyond that provided through regular funds. In K-5 schools, there are dedicated EIP teachers to provide EIP services. 

Delivery Models
Each participating school selects the delivery model(s) to be used. Any combination of state-approved models may be used within a school, depending on the unique needs and characteristics of the students and the school. The state-approved models are augmented, where an EIP teacher pushes into the general education classroom to provide interventions to the previously identified students, and pull-out, where an EIP teacher pulls a group of previously identified students out of the general education classroom to provide interventions. 

Class Size
A class for EIP must follow Class Size Rules in the state guidelines. An EIP segment is a maximum of 14 students. 

Instructional Segments of Service
A segment for grades K-3 is defined as a minimum of 45 minutes daily. A segment for grades 4-5 is defined as a minimum of 50 minutes of daily instruction.