The paper raises concerns about current intervention practices used with children who, while not handicapped, have academic and/or behavioral problems and who may be labeled handicapped. A lack of options for these high risk students is noted in regular programs, and the impact on the student and the system of the referral-to-testing-to-labeling process is explored. The paper suggests the need to examine notions about interventions and to see prereferral interventions as a series of preventive interventions. It is suggested that interventions may be viewed as strategic or nonstrategic actions, and may be classified as proactive (strategic modification at the classroom level), reactive (nonstrategic actions lacking a goal-directed, integrated, planned effect), or protensive (strategic and precautionary actions having continuance in time). The paper concludes by calling on practitioners to implement and evaluate preventive interventions before students are referred. References are appended. (CL)