<p> The purpose of this study was to investigate secondary school staff’s beliefs, practices, and skills concerning Response to Intervention (RtI), now known as multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS). The majority of research in RtI/MTSS has focused on the elementary level; however, little research has addressed its implementation at the secondary level. Using an exploratory mixed method design, this study explored the beliefs and perceptions of over 300 secondary school staff currently implementing RtI/MTSS in a large urban district in south Florida. The first phase, a quantitative research design, used three surveys developed and vetted by the Florida Statewide Problem Solving and Response to Intervention Project. The surveys assessed the RtI/MTSS beliefs of four secondary school groups: administrators, professional support staff, general education and special education teachers, and measured their perceptions about their RtI/MTSS skills and practices. The second phase of the study utilized a qualitative design that included four homogeneous focus groups to address in depth the issues that had emerged in the quantitative survey phase. In order to reduce the possibility of Type I error, only statistically significant findings at <i>p</i> <.001 were reported as there were multiple tests of significance conducted. MANOVA results showed that secondary special education teachers and administrators had significantly higher RtI/MTSS beliefs and perceptions of their RtI/MTSS skills than the other two groups, while secondary general education teachers had the lowest beliefs and perceptions about their RtI/MTSS skills. There were no significant differences in perceptions of practices among the four groups of participants. Major themes that emerged from the focus groups included the need for reorganization of urban secondary school structure, for extensive and intensive professional development, for authentic collaboration to build trust, for delineation of role clarity, and for improved knowledge of the RtI/MTSS framework.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:3571738 |
| Date | 05 September 2013 |
| Creators | Lesh, Jennifer J. |
| Publisher | Barry University - Adrian Dominican School of Education |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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