The purpose of this study was to determine if the implementation of the Multi-Tier System of Support (MTSS) interventions influenced the number of office discipline referrals and student achievement as measured by students’ Grade Point Averages (GPAs). The MTSS program included three interventions: Tier 1 (a new discipline ladder), Tier 2 (a new discipline ladder and mentor teachers) and Tier 3 (a new discipline ladder, mentor teachers, and group counseling). The study employed a quantitative research design and used an existing data set. The first three research questions sought to determine if there were statistically significant differences between the total number of office discipline referrals for students during the 2017-2018 school year and the 2018-2019 school year after implementation of the MSTT Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 interventions. The last three questions ascertained if there were statistically significant differences in the GPAs of the three Tier groups after implementation of the MTSS interventions. The analysis of the data and findings showed mixed results. The Tier 1 student group demonstrated a statistically significant change in the number of discipline referrals. There was not a positive effect in the number of discipline referrals after implementation of the MTSS Tier 1 intervention of a new discipline Ladder. The students in the Tier 1 student group actually had more office discipline referrals after the implementation of the MTSS interventions. There was a slight decline for the number of discipline referrals for the students in Tier 2. However, this change was not statistically significant. There was statistically significant decline in the number of discipline referrals for the students in Tier 3. The study showed very little changes in GPAs for any of the Tiers. There were no statistically significant differences in students’ GPAs before and after implementation of MTSS for interventions with Tiers 1, 2, and 3. The study revealed that the subgroups among the Tier 1, 2 and 3 groups with the largest change in the mean for number of discipline referrals occurred with 11th and 12th grade students. Among the 12th grade students, female students demonstrated the most significant reduction in the mean of discipline referrals.

Thesis advisor: David Scanlon / School districts have been attempting to implement the response-to-intervention (RTI) framework in an effort both to comply with federal legislation (i.e., IDEA 2004) and to improve teaching for all students. Extant research on this framework has focused on exploring assessment practices across tiers and the efficacy of specific interventions, providing an overly simplistic view of RTI and overlooking the complexities involved in sustainable school-wide implementation. In September 2010, a large urban school district in the eastern United States began implementation of a reform effort premised on the RTI framework that was intended to provide a systematic, research-based, and collaborative framework for teaching all students. Drawing on a theoretical orientation that situates reform as a co-constructed process (Datnow, Hubbard, and Mehan, 1998), this qualitative single case study explored how educators at one urban K-8 school interpreted and implemented a district reform effort premised on the RTI framework. This research employed a qualitative case study approach, utilizing interviews, observations and document analysis, to: a) chronicle the sequence of events and process of decision-making in the school's development of RTI; b) explore factors supporting and hindering implementation; and c) understand how school staff responded to the implementation. Findings revealed that although the school adopted the model developed by the district, its implementation at the school, and particularly across grade levels, reflected a co-constructed and evolving approach shaped mainly by the school culture and community, individual teachers' beliefs and practices, and the variable availability and use of technical infrastructures. Results may be useful to school districts and educator preparation programs as they consider how to prepare and support educators in implementing an RTI framework. In particular, several implications emerged related to schools' implementation of RTI: a) self-assessment is critical to promoting quality, fidelity and sustainability; b) school leadership should share power and encourage co-construction; c) resources matter; d) elementary and middle school implementation must occur differently; e) culture and beliefs matter; and f) RTI implementation must seriously attend to issues of educational equity. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

The purpose of this study was to investigate teachers’ level of autonomy in a Response-to-Intervention (RTI) model school system and with delivering a Tier 2 reading intervention, as well as, to understand teachers’ perception of student response to the adapted reading materials. Qualitative data collection involved individual teacher interview, observations, post-intervention survey, and a focus group. Teachers selected reading materials that focused on sight word learning to adapt to fit student need and then delivered the intervention for six weeks. Quantitative data were the students’ progress monitoring scores of sight words learned and overall oral reading fluency rate. Results showed that each teacher adapted the materials differently, and that intervention practicality and elements of the current educational structure affect teacher autonomy. While specific elements can play into intervention practicality, it is truly difficult to analyze an intervention separate from the system in which it is being delivered. Teachers defined intervention practicality as ease of delivery, while additionally defining elements of district operations and governing forces of the system, as broader themes that placed control over their instructional practice, thus restricting autonomy. Implications for practice and future research encompass ways to empower teachers to build autonomy and ways to create teacher involvement during system-level change.

ABSTRACT This cross-case study of building and district administrators was designed to describe and explain the experience of elementary school administrators implementing a Problem-Solving Team (PST), the core feature of a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) framework. The Multi-Tiered System of Support Problem-Solving Team (MTSS-PST) organizes the review of student learning data to identify problems, apply solutions, and evaluate progress towards grade level learning outcomes (Cook, Burns, Browning-Wright, & Gresham, 2010; Eagle et al., 2015; Gamm et al., 2012; Tilly, 2008). Outside of the MTSS framework, the PST is recognized as a best practice approach to identifying and implementing academic and social emotional interventions to improve learning outcomes (Algozzine et al., 2014; Burns & Symington, 2002; Doll et al., 2005; Shinn, 2005). Contemporary policy implementation research frames MTSS-PST as complex educational policy whose implementation is contingent upon, and situated by, interactions between the people implementing it, the policy itself, and the place where implementation occurs (Honig, 2006). There is little research, however, on MTSS-PST implementation. This study was designed to add to scholarly understanding of the MTSS-PST implementation process by examining how and why school building-level administrators were thinking about and planning for it. Analysis of the data revealed the following: (a) MTSS-PST implementation is understood by building-level administrators as an essential component in fulfilling the school district’s K-12 directive to reduce special education referrals with a Multi-Tiered System of Support framework; (b) Building-level administrative thinking and planning for MTSS-PST implementation is focused on reorganizing and improving how the school’s support team sorts students for support services; (c) Building administrator’s implementation decision-making is influenced by the simultaneous feeling of relief and burden brought on by the early success of implementation and the significant challenges it faces due to limited planning and resources. Analysis also showed that implementation is rooted in a transactional approach to change focused entirely on meeting districtwide objectives to increase the efficiency and efficacy of the school’s teaching and learning services with no reference to the transformative potential cited in the research literature. Lastly, analysis of the findings revealed that more than 70 different interactions that occurred between people, policy, and place shaped the MTSS-PST implementation process demonstrating that implementation of this policy is both situated and contextual.

Thesis advisor: Lauri Johnson / For students who have experienced trauma, to succeed academically and feel that their social/emotional needs are being met, district and school leaders must create inclusive environments where students feel welcome, taken care of, and safe. This qualitative case study, part of a larger group study of inclusive leadership practices, examined how district and school leaders in a Massachusetts public school district provided an inclusive environment for students who have experienced trauma. The study utilized a qualitative case study design which included 24 semi-structured interviews of district and school leaders and a focus group with six teachers. Findings indicated that district and school leaders help foster a shared vision for inclusive practices by creating structures that can support the needs of students and by providing teachers with the support and training they need to support all students. Inclusive leaders created culture, provided resources, and allowed opportunities for professional development and training that aligned with the framework and cornerstones of social justice leadership (Theoharis, 2009). Implications indicate that district and school leaders have an opportunity to provide equal access, equity, and social justice for all students by assessing current practices in place, identifying areas for growth, and believing in a vision and mission where all students have the right to be educated in an inclusive environment. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2020. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome (MTSS, Shin splints) is very common in military personnel accounting for up to 35% of incidences, which is almost twice the incidence seen in the average active individual. Each year there is in increase number of injuries in Army recruits. Though Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) programs are known for commissioning approximately 60% of 2nd Lieutenants and 40% of generals on active Army duty, no research has been done examining MTSS occurrences in relation to military management practices. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between military management practices and the prevalence of shin splints in Army ROTC cadets. The study consisted of 63 Army ROTC cadets. The data was explored by addressing frequencies, descriptive statistics, crosstabs and correlations of the data. MTSS incidences had a significant relationship with days missed, endurance training, ROTC classification and ROTC club participation.

No description available.

In the American public school system, as of 2011, over 8% of students are placed in special education programs. To provide early intervention for struggling students before placement into special education services, three-tier model called Response to Intervention (RtI) was put into effect (FDOE, 2009). RtI (currently known as, Multi-Tiered System of Support-MTSS) is a multi-tiered system for struggling learners that provides increasingly intense levels of academic interventions and assessment (Bryd, 2011). Early intervention is a set of services for students who are at risk of, or who currently have, developmental delays or social emotional problems (Guralnick 2005). MTSS focuses on six core components: (1) evidence-based curriculum, instruction, intervention, and extension; (2) assessment and progress monitoring; (3) data-based decision making; (4) leadership; (5) family, school and community partnerships; and (6) cultural responsivity (Kashima, Schleich, & Spradlin, 2009). The goal of this research is to gain a clearer understanding of parents' perception of the MTSS process, their knowledge of the MTSS process, and their involvement in school-based reading interventions for their children who are receiving intensive interventions at the UCF Reading Clinic. I discovered that overall there was a dissatisfaction with both the communication between the parents and school, and the support that is provided for students. The majority of the parents surveyed recognized the term MTSS but they lacked a deep understanding of the process. Overall, there seemed to be a lack of understanding about how MTSS related to their student and what it meant for their child's education.

The purpose of this study was to make use of indicators of level of implementation collected during the enactment of Oregon Reading First in order to examine whether variation of implementation of the components of the Schoolwide Reading Program predicted better outcomes for students and schools. In particular, the aim of this study was to determine the extent to which each of three different types of measures of implementation fidelity, as well as a combined index of these measures, explained school-level variance in student improvement in 34 schools participating in the Reading First program. Hierarchical linear modeling was utilized to predict reading performance and growth on oral reading fluency and overall measures of reading performance. Mixed results, at best, were found when analyzing this association. In both second and third grades, one of three implementation indices and a composite total of all three measures were statistically significant but small predictors of oral reading fluency growth. However, this relationship was offset with the removal of one outlier school. Implementation threshold effects are discussed as a possible cause of nullification. No statistically significant relationships were found between implementation fidelity measures and overall reading outcomes directed at reading comprehension. Although not a focus of the study, school-level demographic characteristics including special education status and limited English proficiency appeared to explain significant differences between schools despite the use of evidence-based practices and strong support for implementation of these practices.

This study examined the relationship between the level of implementation of the Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) approach to service delivery in schools and educators’ beliefs regarding MTSS, their perceptions of MTSS practices in their schools, and student growth. The study used data from the Florida Problem Solving/Response to Intervention Project. Thirty-four pilot schools in seven school districts across the state of Florida were provided intensive coaching, training, and technical assistance in implementing the MTSS service delivery model for three years. The current study focused on the final year of support. Data collected as part of the project’s program evaluation model were used to examine the relationships between study variables. Multiple regressions were conducted to determine the relationship between the level of implementation of MTSS and the study’s dependent variables. Findings indicated that both Infrastructure and Implementation predicted educator beliefs about Data-Based Decision Making (DBDM), while Implementation alone predicted educator beliefs about the Academic Ability and Performance of Students with Disabilities (SWD). Furthermore, the overall regression model predicted educator perceptions of practices applied to both Academic and Behavior Content; however, none of the individual predictors were significantly related to either dependent measure. No other study dependent variables were significantly predicted by the level of MTSS implementation. Implications for practice and research involve the need for larger scale studies of MTSS implementation and the importance of researchers and practitioners utilizing reliable and valid measures to monitor implementation efforts.