Performance measures were not completed on 7,308 of these students because the student was either receiving homebound instruction, dropped out, transferred, or was deceased. While there was an increase in total number of referrals from 1998-1999, there was a higher corresponding increase in parental refusals. Despite the improvements, the increase in parental refusal indicates the need to continue educating the community of the presence and benefits of a school's Student Assistance Program. The need also continues for improvement of the SAP teams' skills in partnering with families. Through the efforts of all involved, SAP can become a viable, visible program to assist at-risk students.
Visibility leads to referrals.
It is significant to note that parents were the fifth largest source of referrals to the program, which seems to indicate a certain degree of awareness on the part of a particular population of parents. Also, of particular note is that self-referral is the sixth largest referral source, which is indicative of students' recognition and awareness of the program in their school. During 2000 - 2001, the Department of Education provided funding through intermediate units to provide training to SAP teams in incorporating risk and protective factors into the SAP process. In focusing on the strengths of students identified through the SAP process, it is hoped that more supports will be put in place to assist students with barriers to learning and parents and children will see SAP as a positive program and will become more involved in the process. Students may be referred for one or more reasons and they can be referred to the SAP team by a number of sources.